New Petrucci...and a broken heart HELP Big Poppa!

[foolsfortune]

So after scouring all over for the exact EBMM Petrucci that I wanted, I happened to be strolling through my local music store and there it was hanging on the wall.

I had been asked by wife and mother-in-law what my dream guitar was and I told them. Saturday I played it and loved it. Today (Monday) I come home from work and it is laying in it's case in the living room! A 2007 Ernie Ball John Petrucci Music Man 6 string with Piezo in Pearl Redburst. Beautiful!

Oh happy day right? Such a lucky boy. I raced down to my little studio and played it and played it and I asked myself "what kind of music store sells someone an $1800 guitar and doesn't restring it before it leaves the store?"

I grabbed a set of strings from the drawer and put them on and it sounded 10x better. I love the guitar, I caressed the guitar, I polished the guitar, and I looked deeply into the guitars......finish. My heart sank.

At the corner of the neck joint, she is cracked. It's not a severe crack but it's a crack in the finish of the first new guitar I've had in 18 years and it's a crack in the single most expensive instrument I've ever owned!

It was hard to photograph, but maybe you can see it in these pics

What do I do? I plan to call the store tomorrow and see what they'll do for me. In my mind, they need to send it back to Ernie Ball and order me a new one.

Am I overreacting and being a baby? If it were a $200 pawnshop guitar, I wouldn't care, but it's not. This guitar was bought for me as a family heirloom in memory of a lost loved one.

Hopefully the store takes good care of me. Guys from Ernie Ball, what do you think?

Thanks
Mike

 

[jongitarz]

Welcome. Call customer service tomorrow at 1 866 823-2255. Give us a chance to take care of the problem ok?

 

[foolsfortune]

WOW! Fast reply. That puts my mind at ease. Should I be calling the store first to let them have a go at it? I know the guys there and they're good guys. They should have inspected the guitar and caught this when it arrived at the store. I'm sure the owner will want to know about it.

 

[jagged]

I would call EBMM first just to be sure. They're the guys who made the guitar. They know it best

 

[beej]

Jon has good advice- call MM customer support first. They'll fix you up

That looks to be a stress crack btw- it's purely cosmetic and in no way affects the stability of the guitar. It's just a crack in the finish.

 

[foolsfortune]

Sounds good guys, I'll give them a call see what's what. I would just hate to see it spread and I keep all my gear in perfect shape (or at least try to). The guitar does play like a dream, but the crack will pick at me like a hangnail.

MM

 

[jazzbo jim]

Definitely DO NOT go to the store first!
Call customer service, El Juardino knows (more than just coffee)!

 

[Norrin Radd]

Definitely DO NOT go to the store first!
Call customer service, El Juardino knows (more than just coffee)!

+1 ^^^^^^!

Just to make sure - CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE AT EBMM FIRST - and welcome to the forum.

 

[Big Poppa]

make sure you get the serial number and lets make sure that the guitar was in fact new.
SOunds like shop worn at best. Actually the first order of business is to take it to your dealer but we spoil everyone so go directly to CS

 

[germangallardo]

WOW what a reply BP, and yes we are spoiled. Thank you so much

 

[CudBucket]

That doesn't look like Pearl Redburst. Looks more like Candy Red or whatever it's called.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Right, there is currently no "apple" in Candy Red.

Nice lookin guitar tho!




Edit: Just checked and mine is still in the living room

 

[greeny]

Lots of Guitars get these type of cracks, (My Axis Supersport has one) It is nothing serious. (assuming it is just a stress crack in the finish, which is what it looks like).

However with a new guitar you expect either a price reduction or a perfect guitar.

 

[banjoplayer]

in older posts I´ve read, that CS replaces the body, which i s absolutely great. On the other hand, in a thread I found, it is discussed, that the guitar will not be the same after replacing the body. Read this: http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-guitars/9840-should-i-send-my-axis-back-repair-stress-crack.html

There is another thread, where Jon says he is absolutely sure, that every stress crack is only a cosmetic issue, because he had removed the finish from many stress-cracked-guitars and it has always been just cosmetic. Read this, VER>Y interesting: http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-guitars/1823-john-petrucci-stress-crack-issue.html

PS. my morse has one too, it took me a few weeks to calm down, not looking everytime at it. I KNOW that it is harmless...

 

[tommyindelaware]

IF...................................... it were me.......& the geetar hits a sonic bullseye for me.......i wound keep it.....
i find the tone completely over rides the cosmetic apparence.
not to mention.......if it sounds that good to me..... i'm gonna use it alot......& it's gonna get battle scares that will dwarf the tiny stupid little stress cracks sooner than later anyway.

don't let that dumb little crack spoil yer honeymoon.......go play til yer fingers are sore.
corse.....thats just me. & everyone knows how pristine my main geetar is .

 

[jeffrey]

Both of my JP7's have stress/finish cracks at the neck pocket and I couldn't care less.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I would have it replaced. I take pride in keeping a guitar pristine even when it is used frequently. It would be hard to live with a new guitar that has a cosmetic flaw right out of the case, especially given the price and wait time for EBMM guitars. If i did it myself somehow, i would live with it, after I said a few choice words and threw some things across the room....

 

[darren]

To me, stress cracks at the neck joint are a sign that the guitar has a very tight neck joint (as it should) and i'm not concerned about it at all. My JP7 has minor stress cracks on both sides, and it's still rock-solid.

 

[foolsfortune]

Well after having a reply to my post minutes after posting it and then getting a reply right from the man himself (Sterling), I called customer service to see what needed to happen.

A.J. in CS told me that they would make me a new body and scrap the old one and in 3-4 weeks I'd have it back brand new and flawless.

I'd only had it 5 hours so there was really no time to "bond". Will the new one sound different? Not likely. It did have a n odd resonating sound to it when I stopped playing....maybe that will be gone with the new one. I'm sure the crack is just cosmetic but I waited 18 years for a new guitar so I'd rather add the love marks to it myself!

I must say I'm completely impressed with Ernie Ball as a company and the service so far makes me wonder why I waited so long to get a Music Man. So many companies now just don't care once the product leaves their factory (are you listening Behr*nger?). If EB made cars, I'd buy one for sure.

I feel confident that I'll get this back with a new body with no flaws and it will all turn out aces.

As for the colour, man I have no idea now. My photo in no way represents the actual color of the body. It is a redish burgandy with a bit of silver sparkle to it. I have the serial handy....maybe someone from EB could shed some light.

Now what are the chances that out of the goodness of their hearts EB will simply replace my JP6 with a shiny new ruby redburst BFR F-1 for my inconvienience? Hey, it doesn't hurt to dream does it?

I keep y'all posted with how things transpire.

 

[SteveB]

Now what are the chances that out of the goodness of their hearts EB will simply replace my JP6 with a shiny new ruby redburst BFR F-1 for my inconvienience? Hey, it doesn't hurt to dream does it?

Well, I doubt you'll get that.. but you WILL get the bonus of having jongitarz work his mojo majik into your guitar. I expect when you get it back it will feel amazing and be as fast as lightning.