Shipping craziness #1834

GAD

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Got a Blues-90 today. The guitar in its case (thankfully) was stuffed into 2/3 of a keyboard box with the end folded over and taped shut. No packing in the box.

I open the case and find this. The two knobs are crushed. The top of the volume knob is still attached to the pot and the skirt and cylinder spin freely.

ukmmm5mw7yrevs0augbt.jpg


Believe it or not the guitar itself is fine and so is the case! The pics on the ad clearly show intact knobs, and given the lame packing I have to assume that this is either an impact or crushing damage, but there's not a mark on the case!

2b07ba8e840dd4c960437dc202ab834d60fff9cad1ff6ec414c1ae9df95f5718.jpg
 

GGJaguar

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Geez, that's crazy. They almost look melted. Glad everything else is okay.
 

walrus

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The case has a little "give", or is that not true? I'm just wondering if it was hit by something just at that exact spot with a quick impact, and everything "sprung back" but it still wrecked the knobs. Weird...

walrus
 

GAD

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The case has a little "give", or is that not true? I'm just wondering if it was hit by something just at that exact spot with a quick impact, and everything "sprung back" but it still wrecked the knobs. Weird...

walrus

The case is basically plywood with covering. The top is also arched and very rigid. I would think an impact or crushing force severe enough to smash the knobs would have broken the case. I suppose it's possible that a drop on the face-side of the guitar could have caused an impact due to inertia of the guitar moving towards the case top...
 

adorshki

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The case is basically plywood with covering. The top is also arched and very rigid. I would think an impact or crushing force severe enough to smash the knobs would have broken the case.
Yep. Why the "deluxe" cases for flattops have the arched top: Impact resistance.
I suppose it's possible that a drop on the face-side of the guitar could have caused an impact due to inertia of the guitar moving towards the case top...
Assuming it didn't happen between the time the photo was taken and the packing job itself, yep, that's gotta be it.
Are they also underneath the "flat edge" of the case top and thus able to impact in that area without the center of the top coming into contact?
My sympathies.
Kind of a PITA to fix no matter what compensation you may recover.
 
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GAD

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The case is basically plywood with covering. The top is also arched and very rigid. I would think an impact or crushing force severe enough to smash the knobs would have broken the case. I suppose it's possible that a drop on the face-side of the guitar could have caused an impact due to inertia of the guitar moving towards the case top...

What also sucks is that those are about the only Guild knobs that I don't have any spares for.
 

Hobbesickles

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GAD, I have 8 of those knobs. Two are stripped though and move freely on the shaft. I don't think I will ever put them back on my Blues 90 or Bluesbird as they feel cheap compared to other options out there. Let me know if you are interested. I will have to go find them... I want to say one set is slightly yellowed and the other is clear.
 

Bonneville88

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What - no photos of the shipping box??
Sounds like one for the Guitar Packing and Shipping Hall of Shame!
 
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Guildedagain

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It's shock damage. I once heard tell that they always shipped LP's with the Rhythm/Treble switch knob off, because the same would happen to them. That was probably bakelite or similar though, before plastics.
 

adorshki

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It's shock damage. I once heard tell that they always shipped LP's with the Rhythm/Treble switch knob off, because the same would happen to them. That was probably bakelite or similar though, before plastics.
From the usual source:
"Bakelite was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark on November 9, 1993, by the American Chemical Society in recognition of its significance as the world's first synthetic plastic.[4]"
Ok to be fair plastic's a very generic term and truth to tell, my aging memory had Bakelite confused with Henry Ford's soybean based plastic.
For sure Bakelite's pretty brittle stuff though, and I get what you mean, the way those knobs compressed and sheared without actually breaking (and are clear) probably indicate a polycarbonate plastic.
On reflection wouldn't surprise me if vintage Gibson knobs were actually NC-based plastic (celluloid) like was used for bindings in the '50's and which breaks down over time becoming very fragile.
 
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GAD

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From the usual source:
"Bakelite was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark on November 9, 1993, by the American Chemical Society in recognition of its significance as the world's first synthetic plastic.[4]"
Ok to be fair plastic's a very generic term and truth to tell, my aging memory had Bakelite confused with Henry Ford's soybean based plastic.
For sure Bakelite's pretty brittle stuff though, and I get what you mean, the way those knobs compressed and sheared without actually breaking (and are clear) probably indicate a polycarbonate plastic.
On reflection wouldn't surprise me if vintage Gibson knobs were actually NC-based plastic (celluloid) like was used for bindings in the '50's and which breaks down over time becoming very fragile.

I think he means the old knobs were bakelite - not the ones on my guitar.
 

GAD

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GAD, I have 8 of those knobs. Two are stripped though and move freely on the shaft. I don't think I will ever put them back on my Blues 90 or Bluesbird as they feel cheap compared to other options out there. Let me know if you are interested. I will have to go find them... I want to say one set is slightly yellowed and the other is clear.


PM Sent - thanks!
 

adorshki

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I think he means the old knobs were bakelite - not the ones on my guitar.
Right.
I was addressing this comment:
"That was probably bakelite or similar though, before plastics "
And probably should have bolded it to make that clear in my post.
Suspect the modern stuff's polycarbonate plastic.
 

S100

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I must be one of the luckiest people on the planet because I had a Les Paul shipped in only the case with no packing material and it wasn’t in a box. Somehow, it made it unscathed.
 

mountainpix

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It's shocking how some people ship guitars. Last week I got an S-100 from a seller in Quebec, advertised as "near mint" condition in a "brand new case." I knew going in based on the pictures that the guitar was more of a "very good" to "Excellent-minus" condition example, priced accordingly, so I overlooked the overstatement of condition. The "brand new case," however, arrived with a 10-centimeter hole bashed into the lip of the lid. This maybe... possibly... might have occurred because the seller shipped the guitar in the case alone, WITHOUT A FRICKIN' BOX or any protection or padding around the case, of any kind. He just taped up the case latches and put it in the post. Fortunately, the guitar made it in good shape, and it plays like a dream with a perfect setup.

When I mentioned to the seller that the case arrived in somewhat less than the advertised "brand new" condition, he responded, "You could have taking [sic] a blade and done the damage yourself for all I know just yo [sic] get some money back."

Needless to say, I was not impressed by this particular seller.

IMG_5012-1024.jpg

IMG_5019.jpg
 
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adorshki

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When I mentioned to the seller that the case arrived in somewhat less than the advertised "brand new" condition, he responded, "You could have taking [sic] a blade and done the damage yourself for all I know just yo [sic] get some money back."

Needless to say, I was not impressed by this particular seller.

IMG_5012-1024.jpg

That begs the reply that "If you wanted to prevent the possibility of having to deal with false claims you'd have put it inside a box like most people do".
But yeah probably not much point to it unless it was purchased on a site that allows buyer feedback.
And gotta admit it's a gray area because if the question of proper packaging wasn't asked then one can't lay all the blame on seller for not telling you how he was going to pack it...(sorry, I know hindsight's always 20/20).
At least it looks like you could probably glue it back down almost invisibly, with the right stuff.
I'm thinking along the lines of rubber cement for the "flap" itself and then something like this
079340685734xl.jpg

or this
s-l300.jpg

to seal the edges of the tear together.
:friendly_wink:
 
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mountainpix

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Thanks! Very helpful, indeed!

That begs the reply that "If you wanted to prevent the possibility of having to deal with false claims you'd have put it inside a box like most people do".
But yeah probably not much point to it unless it was purchased on a site that allows buyer feedback.
And gotta admit it's a gray area because if the question of proper packaging wasn't asked then one can't lay all the blame on seller for not telling you how he was going to pack it...(sorry, I know hindsight's always 20/20).
At least it looks like you could probably glue it back down almost invisibly, with the right stuff.
I'm thinking along the lines of rubber cement for the "flap" itself and then something like this
079340685734xl.jpg

or this
s-l300.jpg

to seal the edges of the tear together.
:friendly_wink:
 
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