Help! A Tough Situation... =S

[Smallmouth_Bass]

So, this hump between the 5th and 11th fret did not really exist? Is that what EBMM confirmed?

 

[Musicman Nut]

Hi guys, haven't posted in a long time but I thought I'd share my current predicament. I bought a beautiful Blue Dawn SR4 last summer, one of the 2007 LE's, and after having the guys I bought it from lower the action I was noticing quite a lot of buzz. I assumed they didn't do that good of a job because of how unprofessional their timelyness was as far as getting it done, so I just assumed I would get it redone again sometime soon. That ended up being sometime in early 2008 and I asked a tech at a store I trust (not GC) to take a look at it, put some new strings on it and properly set the action, as low as playably possible. Well the next day I get a call saying there is something wrong with the neck and that he is going to take it home to his workbench because he has some better tools for this sort of thing, so I say ok. The next day I get a call saying he spent 8 hours on it and hasn't seen anything quite like it. He says there is a hump from the 5th to the 11th fret that only gets worse no matter which way he turns the truss rod. He told me that I need to call the people I bought it from or the manufacturor. I get the bass back eventually (my friend picked it up for me) and I notice that those aforementioned frets are all substantially shaved down. I assume this is just to compensate for the hump and that it won't matter as the neck will have to be replaced anyways (in his opinion). Notice how I took it in for essentially a tune-up and received major fretwork without my consent. So I continue doing college type things like homework and eventually get around to calling AJ (EBMM) and he says to send it in to have them look at it as it is still under warranty. So I send it in and get the dreaded voicemail that I need to call them about my bass. After a good conversation with AJ, one of the very nice people at EB who is looking out for my best interests (thanks AJ =) ), tells me that the neck appears to be just fine but because of the condition of the frets the bass is out of warranty. So this puts me in quite the bind, I definately trust the manufacturor's assesment of the instrument they made and if they tell me that the frets are messed up and the neck is fine, then I believe them. But now I have to find a way to pay to have the neck refretted and I don't feel that I should have to do it. I feel kind of bad because the guy who worked on it was trying to help me out but on the other hand his help voided my warranty and he charged my an extra $75 after the fact. I feel like the answer is obvious, I need to call him and ask for a refund or for him to cover the repairs, but he doesn't really have any reason to listen to me since he already has the money and I'm from out of town. And also I am pretty terrible at this particular type of confrontation, so there it is. Thoughts? Opinions? Advice??? All will be greatly appreciated...Thanks

-BDBD

Sorry but no New Ernie Ball Bass ever needs new frets, your bass was a 15 minute set up from anyone who has a clue, I set these basses up daily and this Company Makes these basses right, 10 minute setup job and your done. Good Luck.

 

[AnthonyD]

Back to SquidLizard - she makes a very good point.





Always assume good intentions...

 

[rhythmCity944]

Sorry but no New Ernie Ball Bass ever needs new frets, your bass was a 15 minute set up from anyone who has a clue, I set these basses up daily and this Company Makes these basses right, 10 minute setup job and your done. Good Luck.

i agree...unless the neck is twisted ( i have only seen on pre EBMM basses )...a set up job takes no time at all on a musicman bass...it isn't hard at all, just some knowledge

like i said before, a good guitar luthier can refret or level frets on your bass for no more than $300 on a maple fingerboard...my dad has always told me when working on cars, don't make more work for yourself, be careful, move slow, fix the problem, don't create more problems

i hope all works out for you

 

[INMT]

Sorry but no New Ernie Ball Bass ever needs new frets, your bass was a 15 minute set up from anyone who has a clue, I set these basses up daily and this Company Makes these basses right, 10 minute setup job and your done. Good Luck.

I can't agree more. Of all the instruments I have done work on MM's are by far the quickest to setup.
Not long ago I started charging half price for setups to customers with post EB MM instruments. 99.9% of the time it only "needs" a setup because someone figured they could do it when but couldn't.
My favorite is "Oh, I didn't do that, my friend set it up".