Fender PD-220E Natural

Terrible quality control from Fender

Purchase because of the great price for all solid guitar c/w hard case. Hesitated as it seemed to good to be true. This proved to be the case.

Unboxing was good. Gutiar looked great at first glance. Tuning up, guitar sounded balanced and bright although lacked a little in the lower range. The guitar is extremely light for a solid wood guitar. The purfling and rosette looked great. Inside, the braces looked clean with no squeeze out. Unfortunately this is as far as I got.

Problems

1. Pick up controls had come of the inside of the soundhole and were loose inside. Upon closer inspection, the entire inside of the soundhole appears to have some tacky substance. I suspect this prevented the controls from adhering correctly.

2. The strap button on the upper bout was badly fitted. The felt washer was completely bunched up and pushed out to 1 side. Also, it appears that it should be screwed into a cleat on the inside. The installe missed the cleat and the button is suspended only by the side of the guitar. Any attempt to remove and reinsert could lead to damage of the side. It is also not advisable to suspend the weight of the guitar with the strap button in the side of the guitar. No other manufacturer puts the button here for very good reason. If it was in the cleat then it would be fine.

3. Bridge pins not seating correctly.

4. Fret ends on both sides of the guitar were like razor blades.

This is a nice guitar. It is supposed to be Fenders premium acoustic. Given the amount of surface issues that should be clearly visible to anyone paying attention, I am deeply concerned about the quality of the constructin of the guitar and future issues that could arise. I have started a return.

Very good value

I was worried about the quality control of these guitars, as I had read about copies with sharp frets and high string action. However, the guitar I received was quite well set-up straight out of the box. Completely straight neck (might need a quarter turn of relief) and slightly less than 2mm at the 12th fret of the high e-string. No fret sprout.

Very beautiful guitar, easy and comfortable to play. The built-in mic system sounds pretty good, although I prefer the acoustic sound, which is very good. I have played one or two dreadnoughts in the 400-500euro range that might have sounded a tiny bit better to my ears, but very happy with the sound of this one. As the guitar comes with a very sturdy hard case, and is really nice to look at, I think it is a very good deal for the current price of around 400 euros.