I think Gibson has legitimately sunk in quality and is a shell of its former self, I’m not convinced Fender has. It is my understanding that QC slipped a bit during the pandemic and some instruments in rough shape left the factory, but I’ve seen reports of them honoring their warranty and replacing them with perfect instruments. I personally don’t need another Fender, my '96 fat strat is still fit for purpose.
I haven’t kept up with guitars in the past 20 years, but didn’t fender and gipson fall off super hard quality wise?
I think Gibson has legitimately sunk in quality and is a shell of its former self, I’m not convinced Fender has. It is my understanding that QC slipped a bit during the pandemic and some instruments in rough shape left the factory, but I’ve seen reports of them honoring their warranty and replacing them with perfect instruments. I personally don’t need another Fender, my '96 fat strat is still fit for purpose.
it’s not a production or design issue (and there are many)
it’s just that for some reason the quality control has sunk to levels that have become unacceptable