NBD - Shocking stuff from PMT, pre dinged and missing backplate

[Machines]

20 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Did it not come with a gigbag? I know it was a b stock but it seems odd as by default from ibanez, they come with gigbags (they are slightly offset, like a triangle profile, and they just fit the EHBs and nothing else.

 

Mine did but it's very disparate in quality to what you'd expect from a £1300 instrument. I wouldn't put much trust in it lasting long (zips etc).

[lemmywinks]

26 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Did it not come with a gigbag? I know it was a b stock but it seems odd as by default from ibanez, they come with gigbags (they are slightly offset, like a triangle profile, and they just fit the EHBs and nothing else.

 

Yeah, the premium gigbag it's supposed to come with although I didn't really want to use as it's quite flimsy and I don't like how the shoulder straps sit. I got the Gator ProGo Deluxe one as it's the only reasonably priced gigbag that is sturdy enough and can also fit all my cables, laptop, in ear stuff and preamp in the pockets.

 

I don't think this bass has had all that much use tbh, the jack socket has only just started loosening up and the fingerboard has zero wear on it. The gigbag was as new and all the accessories were still in the sealed bag when I got it, the ramp hasn't been taken out of the packaging either.

[lemmywinks]

Btw this might sound like a stupid question but if you change strings are the old ones still usable as spares after being taken off the bass? I always keep an old set of strings as pre cut spares on regular basses but not sure if the locking posts on these facilitate reusing old strings.

[Woodinblack]

21 minutes ago, Machines said:

 

Mine did but it's very disparate in quality to what you'd expect from a £1300 instrument. I wouldn't put much trust in it lasting long (zips etc).

 

Normally I would say yes, but traditionally expensive instruments came with proper cases and everything, but over the last decade that seems to have gone, so getting a gig bag seems to be a bonus - I noticed when I was looking at buying a Spector Dimension 5, for £1599 (at the time, now gone up) from bass direct (other suppliers were the same, but BD were cheaper), you get the option to get a spector gig bag for it for only £65!

[Woodinblack]

4 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Btw this might sound like a stupid question but if you change strings are the old ones still usable as spares after being taken off the bass? I always keep an old set of strings as pre cut spares on regular basses but not sure if the locking posts on these facilitate reusing old strings.

 

Well, I keep old strings as spares, but I never use them, I just keep a new set so I don't know why I do it. But generally I would say I would be less inclined to keep the old strings off an EHB as putting them on and clamping them down does kind of mush the string a bit at the end, so I am not sure I would trust it. On a normal string, you have a few turns of 'good string' before the bent part so it would be easier to reuse.

[Woodinblack]

Does seem odd thought that the EHBs come with a gig bag whereas the SR premium come with one of those soft hard cases (the hard case shaped bags)

[lemmywinks]

Is there somewhere that lists what gigbags fit these basses btw? I know the Gator Pro Go Deluxe the Transit bags do, the TGI extreme might make a nice cheap but good bag.

[Machines]

55 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

But generally I would say I would be less inclined to keep the old strings off an EHB as putting them on and clamping them down does kind of mush the string a bit at the end, so I am not sure I would trust it. 

 

I learnt the hard way that you shouldn't stretch new strings on these things as hard as you would on a normal bass. Even when it was quite tight on the clamp it just pinged out.

[Ed_S]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

Does seem odd thought that the EHBs come with a gig bag whereas the SR premium come with one of those soft hard cases (the hard case shaped bags)

 

I don't believe they do any more, or at least not all of them. I've sold my P 4s and switched to SR 5s in the last year or so, buying new premiums with the proceeds. They have 19/20/21 date codes respectively and none of them came with the semi rigid case - just a branded soft gig bag.

 

Personally I don't mind as I'll keep the soft bag for storage at home, but the first thing I do with a semi or fully rigid case after retrieving the contents is put it back in the cardboard box it arrived in and send it off to whoever will give me a few quid for it. Takes too much room to store, unwieldy to carry, doesn't top-load, gets scruffy and damaged quickly, pain to fit in the car, offers no more protection than a good bag and often a lot less than a proper hard case. Just my opinion of course... I'm sure many people love them, and indeed I never have any trouble finding somebody to sell them to 🙂 

[diskwave]

Stuff happens and in the music trade it happens a LOT. All that matters now is how they rectify the situation. If they mess you about etc etc ...THEN use this righteous ole board to give em hell!

[petecarlton]

Got to say, I had a good experience with PMT over the past few days.  I wanted to replace my existing practice/rehearsal rig (GK MB200 + Ashdown OR-110 cab) with a relatively lightweight combo, for ease of transit and kindness to dodgy back, and marked out the Boss Katana 210, the Laney Digbeth 210 and the Trace Elliott Elf 110 combo as possible replacements.  PMT in Nottingham said they could get the Katana and the Trace in for me to try (I had to pay quite a deposit, but it was refundable, so I wasn't too bothered). 

 

Between arranging this on Saturday morning and getting home that afternoon, my regular tech suggested trying PJB and I found a used but excellent condition GB-400 amp on eBay, with the C4 extension cab.  By Sunday evening, I'd tried it, paid for it and had it back home.  So I rang PMT to say please don't bother with getting the Trace and Katana in and please refund my deposit (feeling somewhat guilty as I'd mucked them about a bit).  In fact, they'd already got the Katana and the Trace was due in later today; but Joe, who'd sorted out the original arrangement, couldn't have been more charming, arranged the refund there and then over the phone and wished me well with the PJB.  I was really impressed and relieved.  Thanks, chaps!

[lemmywinks]

Well yeah shops in general are supposed to provide a good service. Even if the item you receive has missed QC at the factory that's fine as you can send it back, not the shop's fault and not a big deal. Sending out a new bass with dings down to the bare wood and a missing cavity cover with the preamp hanging out the back is an entirely different story however, as was the Ashdown head they sold as new covered in scratches with a broken eq slider.

 

I think this recent clearance was a case of them getting rid of excess stock from the Liverpool warehouse by someone looking at an online inventory and nothing getting checked on the way out, the very helpful staff having to deal with the fallout. I've always had good service from PMT but this did make me think twice about bargain items in their clearance sale.

[dieseldalziel]

What I've taken from this thread is that if I order something discounted at PMT I should maybe expect it to arrive in less than perfect condition and that PMT will sort it out if it's something that I find unacceptable ..so that's pretty useful information and if anything I'm more likely to buy from PMT👍

[Ralf1e]

On 01/08/2022 at 10:24, lemmywinks said:

Ordered a brand new Ibanez EHB 1505 from PMT on Friday, just arrived now in this state:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q-ADkua8rm9LYMkqTJmf4lkv0JBPMRYc/view?usp=drivesdk

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pokb3v5CRYLCeLmSpoKXtgdJACdWBjb_/view?usp=drivesdk

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PiNidaiBSQ0TJc_sWPREPRlMol1Af5kZ/view?usp=drivesdkPp

 

 

Possibly worst of all is that it's completely missing the backplate and parts of the preamp are hanging out of the cavity.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PjeLKlYfsGm3EBncOiUVV3Ax1eLM6Azh/view?usp=drivesdk

 

Obviously a used item or customer return that hasn't been checked. There's also insane fret buzz on every string all over the neck when tuned to pitch.

 

These aren't cheap items, why the hell are they sending them out like this?

 

It's PMT. I bought a brand new Ibanez ff5 from them online. Instructions it was not to be messed about with by staff etc. Turned up to collect it. No box no paperwork. They went to get it. Few minutes later after I had a quick look at the store stock I come back to the counter and some spotty git is playing my brand new (don't unbox) it bass.

The excuse was we don't keep the boxes there isn't room to store them. I also bought a Sheckter ff studio 5 from them which I waited 16 weeks for. Some time afer I got it The body burst right next to the output jack while it was stored in it's case for some while not being used. Sent them photos and all I got out of them was "it's been dropped"

It had only been played about 3-4 times in church and treated like a baby

Bad use of grain using over accelerated kiln dryed timber is the real culprit. They were not interested in helping me one bit other than to offer to charge me for one of their guitar tecs to fix it. My experience leaves my to not trust them anymore. Instead of driving 22 miles to Oxford I now head the opposite way to Andertons in Guildford. They sell B stock as B stock not pretend it's new in box.

Looking at the way your wires are all yanked out I question why was anyone nosing around in there in the first place. The cover didn't take itself off.

I hope it all ends up doing what you want it to.

As for PMT. The staff need retraining to stop the vandalism.

[lemmywinks]

6 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

It's PMT. I bought a brand new Ibanez ff5 from them online. Instructions it was not to be messed about with by staff etc. Turned up to collect it. No box no paperwork. They went to get it. Few minutes later after I had a quick look at the store stock I come back to the counter and some spotty git is playing my brand new (don't unbox) it bass.

The excuse was we don't keep the boxes there isn't room to store them. I also bought a Sheckter ff studio 5 from them which I waited 16 weeks for. Some time afer I got it The body burst right next to the output jack while it was stored in it's case for some while not being used. Sent them photos and all I got out of them was "it's been dropped"

It had only been played about 3-4 times in church and treated like a baby

Bad use of grain using over accelerated kiln dryed timber is the real culprit. They were not interested in helping me one bit other than to offer to charge me for one of their guitar tecs to fix it. My experience leaves my to not trust them anymore. Instead of driving 22 miles to Oxford I now head the opposite way to Andertons in Guildford. They sell B stock as B stock not pretend it's new in box.

Looking at the way your wires are all yanked out I question why was anyone nosing around in there in the first place. The cover didn't take itself off.

I hope it all ends up doing what you want it to.

As for PMT. The staff need retraining to stop the vandalism.

 

 

Ah you see mine had the box, paperwork and sealed-in-bag accessories, was just a 2019 model with missing cavity cover/paintwork and a cranked truss rod!

 

Tbh if they'd have said it was B stock, made sure it was setup correctly and made me aware of the dings I'd have still bought it as they go for more than that used (albeit a used one is likely to be made more recently), it does take the shine off the NBD though. I don't really spend much on bass gear now as I've had all I need to gig with for years and don't really change my equipment all that much so it was a luxury purchase for me, luckily the bass is great and sounds immense so I'll probably buy the cheaper version as a backup, possibly not in the PMT sale though.