Unfortunate recent EBMM experience

[Danielwinkler02]

Hi guys! Long-time lurker, new register. Over the past several years, I've owned a JPX, a JP15, a cutlass, an axis BFR, and a couple majestys.

I decided to buy a new guitar last week, and I was totally torn between a Bali burst majesty, and the new rosewood JP15. Very last moment at guitar center, I had them place an order for the Bali burst. I'm a sucker for blue, and for maple.

I got it last week. It looked amazing. I was very excited. I plugged it in, changed the strings, tuned it up, and then... bam. 12th fret G and high E string, the notes died in half the normal time. Clean, dirty, saturated, whatever... the notes always died out on me. It happened a few other spots, but those were the most noticeable.

Lame... weak... curses! I don't expect perfection out of every guitar a company makes 100% of the time. Mistakes happen, they slip through. I checked relief, it's fine. Action was fine, and frets were level. Bizarre. A weird piece of wood, I thought. A fluke. I returned it, and guitar center shipped me another one.

Exact same problem, in the same places. Very disheartening, to say the least. I took it in, the tech looked at it, he was baffled. He said he could try a fret job, but he'd return it if he were me.

So, I did. I ordered the jp15. As I said, those two were basically tied in my book, but now I'm wondering, what is the deal? On the FB group, one guy said he went through a few Bali bursts before giving up. Was this particular guitar snakebit, or is it just me and this dude getting all the bad luck?

 

[DrKev]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!

I don't what to tell you. Yes, bad luck happens. Every brand of just about everything (not just guitars) has small percentage rate of warranty returns. And statistically if, say, 1% of customers have an issue, then 1% of those customers will have a second issue. Yes, it happens. And of course the internet gives us a distorted view of the landscape, because most of the 99% of customers with no issues guitar don't sign up to forums to write about guitars no issues. So it's easy for people to jump to wrong conclusions and think "there is a problem with all of these guitars!" when that's just not the case at all.

But issues do happen and that's exactly why warranties and customer service exist. Talk to your store, call EBMM customer service for advice too. That's their job, what they are there for.

And we're here too. And we like photos of new guitars. Hint hint.

 

[daneford]

As DrKev said, it happens some times.

I had a similar experience with a new Sabre. Absolutely killer guitar. Great workmanship, beautiful anesthetics, but had a couple spots where notes decayed very quickly.

I noticed that when I touched the headstock of the guitar to the wall, the quick decay went away. I ended up returning it.

All guitars have their quirks, and each piece of wood is different. That's not a manufacturer issue, that's just nature.

 

[Danielwinkler02]

Yeah, I know. I'm not upset with ebmm, that's why I stuck with them it happens, no worries. I was just wondering how unlucky I got lol.

And yeah, I tried the headstock thing. No real difference. And thanks for the welcome!

 

[xjbebop]

Have you contacted customer service about this? I have no doubt they would want to know the details...

 

[Danielwinkler02]

I figured guitar center would. But since they just put them back up for sale, maybe not lol

 

[momomama]

You motivated me to sign up for an account here. I'm not sure what the policy here is regarding specifics like serial numbers or dealer names. Ordinarily it would seem like an interesting exercise to have people share this sort of information in order to see if there are any commonalities amongst those who are having problems and those who aren't, but I can also see some reasons why forum mods might not want to encourage that activity.

So, that being said, I am willing to provide my SN and the name of the dealer that I bought mine from if the community decides that would be good information to share. Until then, I will say that I have a Bali Blue Burst Majesty 6, it is my first Majesty, first EBMM guitar, and first guitar purchase in two decades. So far I have not noticed any dead spots on the fretboard that match your description.

The only problem I have had to date was caused by my failure to properly read the controls manual. I was concerned that the magnetic pickup controls may not be functioning properly, which was purely a result of my having the upper switch in the "piezo-only" position.

 

[johnnyboogie]

Sounds like the saddles needed some adjusting...

 

[xjbebop]

Momomama - This forum is a very friendly & helpful community... welcome!
As for your question, EBMM customer service is the same... very helpful & professional. Remember, it's still a family owned and run business.
Highly recommend to anyone with questions or concerns about a Music Man instrument contact EBMM customer service FIRST, especially with details like serial numbers, etc.. If there is a problem with their products, they are going to want to know about it.
I learned a long time ago it's always best to go straight to the source for that type of info.
Then sharing information here on the forum is very welcome!

 

[johnnyboogie]

Momomama - This forum is a very friendly & helpful community... welcome!
As for your question, EBMM customer service is the same... very helpful & professional. Remember, it's still a family owned and run business.
Highly recommend to anyone with questions or concerns about a Music Man instrument contact EBMM customer service FIRST, especially with details like serial numbers, etc.. If there is a problem with their products, they are going to want to know about it.
I learned a long time ago it's always best to go straight to the source for that type of info.
Then sharing information here on the forum is very welcome!

+1!!

 

[Boosk21]

Hi guys! Long-time lurker, new register. Over the past several years, I've owned a JPX, a JP15, a cutlass, an axis BFR, and a couple majestys.

I decided to buy a new guitar last week, and I was totally torn between a Bali burst majesty, and the new rosewood JP15. Very last moment at guitar center, I had them place an order for the Bali burst. I'm a sucker for blue, and for maple.

I got it last week. It looked amazing. I was very excited. I plugged it in, changed the strings, tuned it up, and then... bam. 12th fret G and high E string, the notes died in half the normal time. Clean, dirty, saturated, whatever... the notes always died out on me. It happened a few other spots, but those were the most noticeable.

Lame... weak... curses! I don't expect perfection out of every guitar a company makes 100% of the time. Mistakes happen, they slip through. I checked relief, it's fine. Action was fine, and frets were level. Bizarre. A weird piece of wood, I thought. A fluke. I returned it, and guitar center shipped me another one.

Exact same problem, in the same places. Very disheartening, to say the least. I took it in, the tech looked at it, he was baffled. He said he could try a fret job, but he'd return it if he were me.

So, I did. I ordered the jp15. As I said, those two were basically tied in my book, but now I'm wondering, what is the deal? On the FB group, one guy said he went through a few Bali bursts before giving up. Was this particular guitar snakebit, or is it just me and this dude getting all the bad luck?

The Bali Blue Burst Majesty is a BFR model, correct? If so what numbers in the build run were they? Early or later in the series of 95 if it was the 6 sting version? That could also give some insight as well if there was an issue in a couple of these if they were in a close range of time in being built. I just got my Bali Blue the other day, #89, haven't had a chance to play it yet, but will look to see if I notice the issues you had with mine at all when I get the chance to spend some time with it tomorrow.

 

[momomama]

The Bali Blue Burst Majesty is a BFR model, correct? If so what numbers in the build run were they? Early or later in the series of 95 if it was the 6 sting version? That could also give some insight as well if there was an issue in a couple of these if they were in a close range of time in being built. I just got my Bali Blue the other day, #89, haven't had a chance to play it yet, but will look to see if I notice the issues you had with mine at all when I get the chance to spend some time with it tomorrow.

Serial numbers might be more useful than run numbers, because it's easy to go from serial numbers to build dates. I don't know of a publicly-accessible way to deduce build date from run number.