I wasn't looking for another guitar....but I guess I wasn't not looking either. Who isn't keeping an eye out for good deals these days?... I came across a deal thread on slickdeals.net for these Fender Player Plus Nashville Telecasters for $675 or something like that. Being curious, I clicked the link, but when it loaded the price was showing as $608. That made them nearly 50% the regular retail price. For that I figured what the hell. Worst case scenario I'm in for a cancelled order or I get a turd and it's a return to Amazon. Best case, I get a gem and I keep it. So, I quickly placed my order and then it was off to Reverb to see how much they were going for used. I was pleasantly surprised to see the cheapest used offering was about $200 more than I had just paid for brand new.
Key features that make the Player Plus an upgrade over the regular Player series:
- 12" radius fingerboard
- Rolled fingerboard edges
- 1.685" nut width instead of the standard 1.650"
- Fender locking tuners
- Fender Noiseless pickups
- Fender Deluxe Gig Bag
No damage or defects out of the box that I found during an intial once over. Amazon actually double boxed it. Arrived in a big box with the Fender box inside and the guitar was inside the padded gig bag. Most guitars I've received are usually in the manufacturer box and nothing else.
Out of the box the setup was okay. Action was high and neck had too much relief. Both easily remedied. The switch tip was easy to fall off so I added some electrical tape around the switch post and pushed it back on. Now it's nice and tight. There is some excess clear coat finish on some of the frets, but I'll take care of that at next string change and give all the frets a good polishing. The B string tuner button was covered in something sticky. I had to clean it off. No sharp fret ends. The nut was nicely cut and doesn't need any filing. The electronics work as they should.
LOL.