NBD: Excitement then disappointment … and now happiness

[SamIAm]

I've been trying to get my hands on an Ibanez GSRM25, a five string sub short scale (28.6 inch) bass for some time now.

 

About a week ago, whilst checking to see if there were any about, I stumbled across one on Muziker.co.uk listed as 'just unboxed' which they describe as meaning 'New, unused product in original packaging. 100 % functional with no signs of usage. Full warranty of at least 2 years applies. Product was purchased, unboxed and returned in non-used condition by a previous customer, or opened only for visual check or to be photographed for eshop.' and I clicked the buy button as fast as I could 🤣

 

UPS delivered it this afternoon, packaging looked OK... an outer box with large bubblewrap containing the inner Ibanez bass box, bass inside wrapped in the white slightly foam like bag.

 

With great excitement I unwrapped it and took out what at first seemed to be a lovely bass ... and then discovered it is damaged around the bottom strap pin 

 

 

When I looked again I saw that the inner box shows damage and has been taped over.  There is no corresponding damage on the outer box.

 

I've sent an email off to them and hopefully they will resolve this ... my quandary being that the bass seems OK otherwise and there are none to be had anywhere for love nor money so I cannot imagine they will be able to send me a replacement.  Given it is cosmetic damage I imagine it can be repaired, tho I've no idea of how much it would likely cost (or if I could do it myself).

 

Great sadness at present 😢

 

S'manth x

Edited January 30, 2023 by Smanth

[BreadBin]

Take a partial refund, leave it and call it mojo? It plays fine you say? 🙂

[Waddo Soqable]

Now I'd just moan at them, try and tap them for a big partial refund, keep it and use it as is if you like it as a bass.. 

^BB above beat me to it while I was typing 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Waddo Soqable

[SamIAm]

Just now, BreadBin said:

Take a partial refund, leave it and call it mojo? It plays fine you say? 🙂

Nods. Given it will be covered by the strap I could live with that; will just need to see what they come back with.

It's just that 'sick in the tum' feeling of a damaged new thing (coupled with the angst of will they actually sort it out)

S'manth x

[tauzero]

The slivers of paint may be re-attachable with a drop of glue. Better check whether you get on with it first.

 

If you keep it and decide to refinish it, it looks as if the old finish will just chip off, which would be handy.

[Waddo Soqable]

As above with the glue, you can get black cy glue too.. Just a thought

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Waddo Soqable

[Burns-bass]

Yeah, stick it back on and blend it back in. 

[PaulThePlug]

As it was hard to find, i'd be looking more for a favourable discount...

What was the postage? So it's gonna cost them that to get it back...

Then they have got to try and sell it Damaged B Stock... and pay post out again.

Outer box undamaged, Inner box damaged

They can't blame the Courier as must of been like it when second boxed.

Pull em up on how disappointed you are, and meant to be new...

Paid say £200... gonna be £8 - £10 post..

I'd be asking for a partial refund of £50...

Keep the paint chips safe - should glue up fine, and touch of black nail varnish - not that i wear it you understand... ahem!

If it plays nice and it's what you are after, mainly as they are quite hard to find.

Edited January 26, 2023 by PaulThePlug

[Ralf1e]

As above cyno it back on. The chips look like it is all there. Any leftover gaps or edges can be drop filled then razor scrap and polish it out.

Hint if you can get one a carbide stanley blade makes a great scraper. Incredibly sharp and lasts a long time.

If you cant get one on it's own pm me and I will post you one.

[fretmeister]

I had no idea they did a super short 5 string!!!

 

I want one now too! As long as they are lightweight enough anyway!

[Waddo Soqable]

@Smanth could we poss. have a shot of the whole instrument please? Be interested to see it in its entirety 

[SamIAm]

Muziker responded to my email in a very timely fashion and asked me to submit a damage claim, they indicated that a partial refund is an option; given the bass seems OK otherwise and  I like the tone, look, weight and feel (and they are hard to find) I am asking them to cover the cost of a local repair, the cost of shipping to/from the repairer and a wee bit extra for the hassle involved.  In total I am asking for  £130 (which is about 50% of the total I paid for the bass and shipping) ... I expect they will come back with a lower counter offer, but nothing ventured and all that ... I shall report back on what happens.

 

If they come back with a reasonable offer I would intend to carry out the repair myself.

 

16 hours ago, tauzero said:

The slivers of paint may be re-attachable with a drop of glue.

It looks that way, I'm not sure I have all the chips but I think this approach has legs.

 

7 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

Any leftover gaps or edges can be drop filled then razor scrap and polish it out.

Cool!  I actually have some polishing compound and a Dremel that made it thru my fire (tho I do need to replace the bit things for the Dremel)

 

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I had no idea they did a super short 5 string!!!

 

I want one now too! As long as they are lightweight enough anyway!

I think this and the ESP LTD B-5JR are the only examples that were mass produced.  You can find details on the Ibby site (finding one to purchase tho is a difficult task!) The B string is on the floppy side, but is playable and sounds good to me.

I don't have scales but I'd say it is probably in the 2-2.5kg range.

 

3 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

@Smanth could we poss. have a shot of the whole instrument please? Be interested to see it in its entirety 

Here it is with my Harley Benton B550-FL (34 inch) for comparison.

 

S'manth x

Edited January 27, 2023 by Smanth

[rushbo]

Another vote for a partial refund, here. Those chips should glue back on pretty well. I've always found that black poly is a pretty "forgiving" finish when it come to repair. Add to that the fact that the damage will be covered by your strap means that you'll probably be the only person who'll ever notice it. I'm sure I'll be shot down in flames, but I've covered many chips and dinks in black instruments with some carefully applied, black nail polish.

 

[Ralf1e]

2 minutes ago, Smanth said:

Muziker responded to my email in a very timely fashion and asked me to submit a damage claim, they indicated that a partial refund is an option; given the bass seems OK otherwise and  I like the tone, look, weight and feel (and they are hard to find) I am asking them to cover the cost of a local repair, the cost of shipping and a wee bit extra for the hassle involved.  In total I am seeking £130 (which is about 50% of the total I paid for the bass and shipping) ... I expect they will come back with a lower counter offer, but nothing ventured and all that ... I shall report back on what happens.

 

It looks that way, I'm not sure I have all the chips but I think with this approach has legs.

 

Cool!  I actually have some polishing compound and a dremel that made it thru my fire (tho I do need to replace the bit things for the Dremel)

 

I think this and the ESP LTD B-5JR are the only examples that were mass produced.  You can find details on the Ibby site (finding one to purchase tho is a difficult task!) The B string is on the floppy side, but is playable and sounds good to me.

I don't have scales but I'd say it is probably in the 2-2.5kg range.

 

Here it is with my Harley Benton B550-FL (34 inch) for comparison.

 

S'manth x

I wish I hadn't seen that photo being a long scale fanatic

The repair. No need for a dremel. Polish out carefully by hand using something like Solvo Autosol or one of the other auto polishes.

If any doubts about the timber below showing through it can be stained with black ink or a Sharpie before you start the gluing and filling process

[SamIAm]

Just now, rushbo said:

Another vote for a partial refund, here. Those chips should glue back on pretty well. I've always found that black poly is a pretty "forgiving" finish when it come to repair. Add to that the fact that the damage will be covered by your strap means that you'll probably be the only person who'll ever notice it. I'm sure I'll be shot down in flames, but I've covered many chips and dinks in black instruments with some carefully applied, black nail polish.

 

I seem to recall seeing a youtube video where the fellow added black ink to superglue and applied it in several layers ... after scraping and polishing it came up very nicely!

S'manth x

[gjones]

12 minutes ago, Smanth said:

If they come back with a reasonable offer I would intend to carry out the repair myself.

 

 

Ssshhhhhh.....  😂

[lemmywinks]

Ahh this is rubbish, especially as you've been searching for one and can't just get a direct replacement or buy one elsewhere. Are Ibanez going to do another run of them or have they been quietly canned?

 

As already said it's good that the finish came off in big chunks, hopefully Muziker will give you enough of an incentive to keep it.

[SamIAm]

13 minutes ago, Smanth said:

 

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I had no idea they did a super short 5 string!!!

 

I want one now too! As long as they are lightweight enough anyway!

I think this and the ESP LTD B-5JR are the only examples that were mass produced.

Further to this is this youtube comparison of the two

S'manth x

 

[Woodinblack]

If I could get a partial refund I would be happy to just take some black paint to it.

[SamIAm]

Just now, lemmywinks said:

Are Ibanez going to do another run of them or have they been quietly canned?

Not sure ... I'd backordered ordered one from Thoman who are currently quoting 5-7 weeks and they seem to still be available at a couple of US sites.

S'manth x

[rushbo]

6 minutes ago, Smanth said:

I seem to recall seeing a youtube video where the fellow added black ink to superglue and applied it in several layers ... after scraping and polishing it came up very nicely!

S'manth x

 

ooohh, that's clever. The superglue would be more resilient, too.

[Ralf1e]

Is this the one your going to convert to the headless one you spoke about? If it is Result

[SamIAm]

1 hour ago, Ralf1e said:

Is this the one your going to convert to the headless one you spoke about? If it is Result

No.  I tried out an Ibby TMB-35 with that in mind but there was not enough room on the body to take the tuners I've got without them protruding beyond the edge.

The HB (in the photo above) is one I'm considering for a major mod; this would involve shortening the neck (remove fingerboard, shorten it, replace truss rod with shorter one, reassemble) and converting to headless. As I can resize the neck to almost whatever length I want, I'd be able to shift the effective position of the saddle point so the tuners fit.  I'd need to route a recess in the body to allow access to the tuners so I'd be looking at a total strip of the body and a natural oil or wax refin (HB say the body is alder so it could look quite gorgeous).  All of this is something I'd be prepared to do myself, but the effort is large ... so it is just a twinkle in my eye at the moment, the HB is really good as it is (tho heavy!) so I could look at moving it on (I struggle with long scale fret spacing ... long scale fretless doubly so!).

 

Alternatively, I might just well view it as a short EUB and continue to develop my Simandl technique ... it sounds and plays so nicely it would be a shame to risk bu66ering it up!

 

S'manth x

Edited January 27, 2023 by Smanth

[Ralf1e]

Thanks for that. Look forward to seeing how you choose to go. I am getting back into fretless after many years away. I am only just under 5 ft 8 in short but I have shoulders and arms like an Orangutan lol

[SamIAm]

1 minute ago, Ralf1e said:

Thanks for that. Look forward to seeing how you choose to go. I am getting back into fretless after many years away. I am only just under 5 ft 8 in short but I have shoulders and arms like an Orangutan lol

I really like the tone and feel of fretless and am really fortunate to have a fretless five string ubass (which is quite amazing and I absolutely love!).

S'manth x