BradHK
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2014
- Messages
- 1,057
- Reaction score
- 2,741
UPS delivered the 1971 M75 flamed maple yesterday morning. Here is a photo from the seller
I let the guitar acclimate for four hours (I usually let it sit longer but the outside and inside temps were not that far off yesterday) and then opened it up. This is what I found:
I debated whether to request a partial refund and get it repaired or just return it. I decided to return it and I dropped it off at the UPS store this morning. The condition of the guitar was not as nice as described and I think the back has been refinished based upon the texture of the finish and I found some signs around the binding where it appears to have been masked off. The finish on the back of the body definitely did not match the rest of the guitar and it needed to be wet sanded and polished as it almost looked satin with a fine spray texture. If the guitar was in better condition and all original finish I would have kept it and had it repaired as I have never seen the flamed maple version of the “semi-solid” M75 from the early 1970’s.
My opinion is that the guitar was damaged due to an improper fitting case and heavy handed shipping from UPS. It did not have an original case and the vintage case it was in was not designed for this guitar. If you placed the guitar in the case the headstock touched the back of the case and there was a 1/2” gap between the back of the neck and the neck support in the case. The back of the guitar was only being supported by the tip of the headstock and the back edge of the lower bout. To make things worse, the headstock was wrapped in bubble wrap with no support around the neck or neck heel. When the box was squeezed (there were signs on the outside of the box where you could see it had been “crushed” and the box wrinkled) there was no support for the neck and the neck joint broke. I am surprised it was the neck joint rather than the headstock.
You see people here recommend video recording the process of opening a shipped guitar and this is a good example why. I recorded the entire process of unboxing the guitar showing all tape being untouched, all marks on the box, cutting the tape, taking out the case, opening it, inspecting the guitar, noting the damage and a close up of the damage. All in one continuous video (taken by my wife). I sent this to the seller along with other detailed photos and later he sent the return shipping label. If I had run into issues returning the guitar then the video would have come in handy.
Definitely not a good day! Oh well, I am going to get out my 1971 flamed maple fully hollow M75 and play that for a while. That should help take my mind off of this! Especially since it is in better condition and was much less expensive. However, the two would have made a fabulous pair!
I let the guitar acclimate for four hours (I usually let it sit longer but the outside and inside temps were not that far off yesterday) and then opened it up. This is what I found:
I debated whether to request a partial refund and get it repaired or just return it. I decided to return it and I dropped it off at the UPS store this morning. The condition of the guitar was not as nice as described and I think the back has been refinished based upon the texture of the finish and I found some signs around the binding where it appears to have been masked off. The finish on the back of the body definitely did not match the rest of the guitar and it needed to be wet sanded and polished as it almost looked satin with a fine spray texture. If the guitar was in better condition and all original finish I would have kept it and had it repaired as I have never seen the flamed maple version of the “semi-solid” M75 from the early 1970’s.
My opinion is that the guitar was damaged due to an improper fitting case and heavy handed shipping from UPS. It did not have an original case and the vintage case it was in was not designed for this guitar. If you placed the guitar in the case the headstock touched the back of the case and there was a 1/2” gap between the back of the neck and the neck support in the case. The back of the guitar was only being supported by the tip of the headstock and the back edge of the lower bout. To make things worse, the headstock was wrapped in bubble wrap with no support around the neck or neck heel. When the box was squeezed (there were signs on the outside of the box where you could see it had been “crushed” and the box wrinkled) there was no support for the neck and the neck joint broke. I am surprised it was the neck joint rather than the headstock.
You see people here recommend video recording the process of opening a shipped guitar and this is a good example why. I recorded the entire process of unboxing the guitar showing all tape being untouched, all marks on the box, cutting the tape, taking out the case, opening it, inspecting the guitar, noting the damage and a close up of the damage. All in one continuous video (taken by my wife). I sent this to the seller along with other detailed photos and later he sent the return shipping label. If I had run into issues returning the guitar then the video would have come in handy.
Definitely not a good day! Oh well, I am going to get out my 1971 flamed maple fully hollow M75 and play that for a while. That should help take my mind off of this! Especially since it is in better condition and was much less expensive. However, the two would have made a fabulous pair!
