Mr. Moon
Force of Naked
OK. I will make this quick and to the point. Long story short, I will never ever ever buy another guitar/bass without being able to play it first!! ...I know, you're all saying "DUH!!", but up until now I have purchased a couple of low-buck guitars without incident. However, with what I have been through in the past 2 weeks, I have had enough and will not even look at any instrument ads whatsoever... (yeah, right....)
Guitar/bass number:
1. Epiphone Iommi SG: Purchased new from Music123 after reading really good reviews, I received the guitar and it seemed to be in good shape. I took it to my local luthier and he informed me that the nut had been replaced and showed me the damage to the headstock and offset nut which were the result. The guitar also sounded really "flat" compared to my 1992 Gibson LP Studio as well as my others. Guitar sent back.
2. ESP B-255 bass: I decided to get a bass instead, as I have enough guitars and could use a bass for recording. I purchased this from American Musical Supply. It arrived in damaged/defective shape with chips and cracks in the finish and the strings and fretboard looked like they had been played extensively. I tried to exchange for another bass, same model, but they were all out, go figure. Bass returned for refund.
3. Another ESP b-255 bass: This time from Musicians Fiend, and this one looked like it had been used as a paddle and as a scrub brush, as there was gunk all over the strings and fretboard and chips in the finish along the neck and on the body. It definitely looked "used" so I decided to ship it back. After several candid and honest emails with MF, I called one of their managers and he wanted to know what they could do to make me a happy customer, so they sent me a...
4. Ibanez SR505 bass, for the same price as the ESP went for, which was like a $150.00 price cut. So I get the bass home today and guess what? One of the mounting screws for the battery cover was stripped ...well, not so much stripped, but the metal sleeve that was inserted into the wood for the screw to screw into was stripped and the battery cover could not be opened. Not to mention that the truss rod buzzed when I played a "C" note on the "A" string or played any note above the 11th fret on the same string.
I just got off the phone with MF and they offered to send out another sr505, but I declined, due to the fact that I believe that I'm not supposed to have another guitar or bass for the time being, or something.
So, after 4 attempts, I'm surrendering to the fact that online instrument purchases are not my "thing" as it were... I should point out that all the companies were good to work with for the returns and didn't make it difficult or anything ...except, of course, for the crappy quality of the gear that they sent me, well, so I guess it does boil down to the fact that they should have sent me NEW instruments in "NEW" condition, when I purchased NEW instruments! Whatever...
Well, YMMV with online instrument purchases, so all I'm really doing is trying to blow off some steam.
-mr moon
Guitar/bass number:
1. Epiphone Iommi SG: Purchased new from Music123 after reading really good reviews, I received the guitar and it seemed to be in good shape. I took it to my local luthier and he informed me that the nut had been replaced and showed me the damage to the headstock and offset nut which were the result. The guitar also sounded really "flat" compared to my 1992 Gibson LP Studio as well as my others. Guitar sent back.
2. ESP B-255 bass: I decided to get a bass instead, as I have enough guitars and could use a bass for recording. I purchased this from American Musical Supply. It arrived in damaged/defective shape with chips and cracks in the finish and the strings and fretboard looked like they had been played extensively. I tried to exchange for another bass, same model, but they were all out, go figure. Bass returned for refund.
3. Another ESP b-255 bass: This time from Musicians Fiend, and this one looked like it had been used as a paddle and as a scrub brush, as there was gunk all over the strings and fretboard and chips in the finish along the neck and on the body. It definitely looked "used" so I decided to ship it back. After several candid and honest emails with MF, I called one of their managers and he wanted to know what they could do to make me a happy customer, so they sent me a...
4. Ibanez SR505 bass, for the same price as the ESP went for, which was like a $150.00 price cut. So I get the bass home today and guess what? One of the mounting screws for the battery cover was stripped ...well, not so much stripped, but the metal sleeve that was inserted into the wood for the screw to screw into was stripped and the battery cover could not be opened. Not to mention that the truss rod buzzed when I played a "C" note on the "A" string or played any note above the 11th fret on the same string.
I just got off the phone with MF and they offered to send out another sr505, but I declined, due to the fact that I believe that I'm not supposed to have another guitar or bass for the time being, or something.
So, after 4 attempts, I'm surrendering to the fact that online instrument purchases are not my "thing" as it were... I should point out that all the companies were good to work with for the returns and didn't make it difficult or anything ...except, of course, for the crappy quality of the gear that they sent me, well, so I guess it does boil down to the fact that they should have sent me NEW instruments in "NEW" condition, when I purchased NEW instruments! Whatever...
Well, YMMV with online instrument purchases, so all I'm really doing is trying to blow off some steam.
-mr moon