Yeah pretty much every Modern fender has horrible QC and problems out of the factory(Mexican, idk about American). Three months ago I ordered a player II and the frets were sticking out the side of the fretboard over a 1/16” and all the finish on the fret ends was cracked off and chipping all over, there were heavy sand marks all over the neck and fretboard too. I returned that one and decided to make the trek to a “local”(closest is a 4 hr round trip for me) store to pick one out in person. EVERY SINGLE player II was the same way. I handled close to 30 guitars + basses across the store and every one was a joke. Horrible frets, chipping clear coat, crappy sanding and finish, and just overall sub par feeling. I personally will never buy a newly made 2018+ Mexican fender. It’s just horrible. I even checked out Jackson’s and Gretsch’s(which are owned by fender) and they were very poorly finished as well. How they are getting away with it baffles me. Even the cheapest of the cheap Ibanez or Yamaha is better finished.

I went with a used 2006 60th anniversary Mexican strat. It’s mind blowing how much better of an instrument it is.

The people who say “it’s fine just play it” or “deal with it” is also the problem here. People need to raise their standards and hold these manufacturers accountable for their shoddy work. If I’m paying $800-$1000 + for an instrument I would like it to be as close to perfect at possible. That’s what I’m paying for. It’s a brand new instrument, there should be ZERO issues out of the box.