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Posted

Is it just me or is everything just getting through QC now? 
Now I don’t expect much from a £350 instrument but loose frets and the stain coming off on your fingers is a bit disappointing🤔

It’s not a massive problem for me as I always give my kit to Steve at Guitarlodge to setup anyway but if I’d been new to all this I think it would put me off from buying another one from that manufacture.

Hey ho😆

Posted

Surely a new instrument should not even require a setup before it is is playable, unless  you have none standard requirements. As for major faults the shop should not be selling stuff unfit for purpose.

Posted

Although the manufacturer should have rejected that through their QC, I'd have expected the shop to at least give it a check over before handing it over to you. 

My local shop has all guitars and basses checked over and set up by their guitar tech before the customer sees them. I think that's how it should be. Maybe margins are too tight for some shops to pay someone to do a proper set up.

Posted
43 minutes ago, mikel said:

Surely a new instrument should not even require a setup before it is is playable, unless  you have none standard requirements. As for major faults the shop should not be selling stuff unfit for purpose.

Big box shifters won't do anything to an instrument before handing it off to you.  I would guess they don't have the time/staff to do it.  So you're relying upon whatever was done at the factory - however long ago and however different the environment was in that time zone.  That's why learning to do your own setups is an absolute must as far as I'm concerned.  It's the second thing I do after the initial look over for any fit/finish issues.  Then I play it.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, Spewy said:

Is it just me or is everything just getting through QC now? 
Now I don’t expect much from a £350 instrument but loose frets and the stain coming off on your fingers is a bit disappointing🤔

It’s not a massive problem for me as I always give my kit to Steve at Guitarlodge to setup anyway but if I’d been new to all this I think it would put me off from buying another one from that manufacture.

Hey ho😆

No, not everything is getting through QC.  Recently bought an Epiphone Embassy in the same price range as this and its fit and finish were excellent - never mind loose frets, the fretwork was competent with no snaggy ends and the only dirt on my fingers was whatever nickel poisoning I'm going to get from whatever cheapass strings it came with :)  The only niggles were a loose knob - easily fixable with split shaft pots and the tuners are poor quality - I will likely replace them.  That's not because they're faulty, they do the job but they're just cheap and a bit jumpy with play in their movement.  I'm not bothered about these things at the £300-350 price bracket.

Edited by neepheid
Posted (edited)

Surely, if it's a brand new instrument purchased from a reputable seller, you have the right to return defective products for either a replacement instrument or your money back. It is your legal right to do so after all.

Edited by Skybone
  • Like 1
Posted

Agreed - loose frets is an absolute no-no, at any price.  I'd say return it - and because it's faulty not because you've simply changed your mind.

Posted

Yep. Send it back. As you point out, you can't expect miracles from a budget instrument, but actual faults such as loose frets are unacceptable at any price.

Posted

The retailer has been first class, it just really surprises me that they are let out like that. I’ve just noticed a few of my recent purchases have had similar issues .

Apart from Deans which have been excellent right out of the box!

Posted
8 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Ah, @Spewy, hello mate. I thought I recognised that photo in your avatar.

Yeah, send it back mate as @neepheid suggests.

The Rics still ongoing by the way🤣👍

Posted

I’ve had a few relatively budget (ie sub £500) instruments and none of them have had major problems like that.

Most need a set up and a fret dress in fairness - cutting the nut correctly also seems to be where cheap instruments fall down.

But I tend to factor that work into the cost anyway.

Posted (edited)
On 16/06/2021 at 09:20, neepheid said:

Big box shifters won't do anything to an instrument before handing it off to you.  I would guess they don't have the time/staff to do it.  So you're relying upon whatever was done at the factory - however long ago and however different the environment was in that time zone.  That's why learning to do your own setups is an absolute must as far as I'm concerned.  It's the second thing I do after the initial look over for any fit/finish issues.  Then I play it.

That's why I don't buy instruments on line. Pay a bit extra to buy from a shop and save the cost of a setup.

Edited by mikel
Adition
Posted
4 minutes ago, mikel said:

That's why I don't buy instruments on line.

Fair enough - it's not for everyone!  I don't know where you live, but as I am up in Aberdeen the local choice is pretty thin.  Travelling to Glasgow or Edinburgh is no guarantee that I'll find what I'm looking for either.  I would rather order a bass online (for the best price I can find) and pay the postage to return it if I decide I don't like it, it's still cheaper than travelling to anywhere with a well stocked bass department.

Also, a couple of years back I found what might have been one of the last Epiphone 20th Anniversary Jack Casady basses for sale new in the country - in a Yorkshire music shop.  I'm not traipsing all the way down there when I can get it couriered up to me for a fraction of that cost.

  • Like 1
Posted

I recently bought a Squier affinity P bass for £200 and the fret work was better than a recent Yamaha purchase in that I had to get the edges of the frets on the Yamaha dressed.

Call me crazy but when you are spending £500 on a bass, things like the frets should be spot on. 

 

  • Like 1
Posted
On 17/06/2021 at 17:03, neepheid said:

Fair enough - it's not for everyone!  I don't know where you live, but as I am up in Aberdeen the local choice is pretty thin.  Travelling to Glasgow or Edinburgh is no guarantee that I'll find what I'm looking for either.  I would rather order a bass online (for the best price I can find) and pay the postage to return it if I decide I don't like it, it's still cheaper than travelling to anywhere with a well stocked bass department.

Also, a couple of years back I found what might have been one of the last Epiphone 20th Anniversary Jack Casady basses for sale new in the country - in a Yorkshire music shop.  I'm not traipsing all the way down there when I can get it couriered up to me for a fraction of that cost.

And just what is wrong with a long weekend in Edinburgh or Glasgow trying out basses and talking rubbish in a variety of music shops?

Posted
On 17/06/2021 at 17:03, neepheid said:

Fair enough - it's not for everyone!  I don't know where you live, but as I am up in Aberdeen the local choice is pretty thin.  Travelling to Glasgow or Edinburgh is no guarantee that I'll find what I'm looking for either.  I would rather order a bass online (for the best price I can find) and pay the postage to return it if I decide I don't like it, it's still cheaper than travelling to anywhere with a well stocked bass department.

Also, a couple of years back I found what might have been one of the last Epiphone 20th Anniversary Jack Casady basses for sale new in the country - in a Yorkshire music shop.  I'm not traipsing all the way down there when I can get it couriered up to me for a fraction of that cost.

This is very true. Similarly, but nothing to do with bass guitars, we now have our groceries delivered, which is something I would never have contemplated before moving up here. It's cheaper for me to pay the delivery charge, than it is to drive the 52 mile round trip. 

Posted
5 hours ago, mikel said:

And just what is wrong with a long weekend in Edinburgh or Glasgow trying out basses and talking rubbish in a variety of music shops?

You couldn't fill a short weekend talking rubbish in Edinburgh or Glasgow music shops.

 

Lucky if they host a dozen shops between them. Of those dozen, 90% stock nothing more exciting than entry level Cort, Squier or Ibanez. 

 

Hell Fire, you can't even buy a set of La Bella strings from a shop up here.

  • Like 2
Posted
20 hours ago, mikel said:

And just what is wrong with a long weekend in Edinburgh or Glasgow trying out basses and talking rubbish in a variety of music shops?

I'm finding this rather argumentative - who said there was anything wrong with it?  I do take issue with your added point to the post I initially replied to - "Pay a bit extra to buy from a shop and save the cost of a setup."  So seeing as you brought up how cost effective buying from a shop is, let's see how it tallies up.  Travelling down and back to Edinburgh or Glasgow from Aberdeen is at least £40 - be it a tank of fuel or public transport.  Never mind your proposed long weekend and the costs that would incur, let's do it in a day (let's face it, you can do the main stops worth visiting in Glasgow - Kenny's, Guitar Guitar and Merchant City - in a day easily).  That'll be the whole day - as I'll be spending a minimum of 5 hours travelling.

It also depends what you're buying.  If I was going to buy a £1000+ bass then I might make the trip - make it a road trip for the ceremony of it more than anything else.  But for a £300 bass (which is what the bass I most recently bought cost)?  Forget it.

Did I mention that I do my own setups?  They cost me nothing, save for 20-30 mins of spare time.

  • Like 3
Posted
19 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

You couldn't fill a short weekend talking rubbish in Edinburgh or Glasgow music shops.

 

Lucky if they host a dozen shops between them. Of those dozen, 90% stock nothing more exciting than entry level Cort, Squier or Ibanez. 

 

Hell Fire, you can't even buy a set of La Bella strings from a shop up here.

Their problem is, of course, that they will sell many entry level Cort, Squier or Ibanez instruments for every higher end instrument. Ditto La Bellas (or flats in general - most shops carry one or two sets of flats, compared to dozens of rounds). So it just isn't worth their while having money tied up in them hanging on the wall for months on the off chance of the occasional sale.

Posted

@Dan Dare

I'm well aware of the reasons why shops carry certain stock. 

My post was to highlight how pointless a planned long weekend of visiting Central Scotland music shops would be.

 

A group of us were through in Glasgow for a mate's 40th, 4 guitar players and 2 bass players. Every music shop we could think of was visited ,inc the cash convertor/Tron Pawn type places.  Nobody had even the slightest interest in the wares for sale.

Posted
5 hours ago, neepheid said:

Travelling down and back to Edinburgh or Glasgow from Aberdeen.........

Just to put these distances in context....it's like saying to someone who lives in London to go check out the music shops in Birmingham. We in Aberdeen don't live at the ar$e end of the universe.......but we're close to it! 🤣🤣

  • Like 2
Posted
14 hours ago, Acebassmusic said:

Just to put these distances in context....it's like saying to someone who lives in London to go check out the music shops in Birmingham. We in Aberdeen don't live at the ar$e end of the universe.......but we're close to it! 🤣🤣

The perineum maybe?

  • Haha 1

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