• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

beej

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Aug 16, 2004
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Toronto, Canada
everyone knows how pristine my main geetar is .:D
Of course, of course, it's spotless, right? ;)

tommy-morse.jpg


Glad to hear this is all worked out!
 

dfrady

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Aug 24, 2003
Messages
800
Location
West Virginia
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? :D

I keep y'all posted with how things transpire.

This is why we love our Balls so much, Top notch Quality, Great Playing instruments, and if by some chance something does go wrong it's dealt with and fixed without any hassle. When you buy a EBMM product it's as if you're part of the family from there on. You guys Rock !!!!
 

CudBucket

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Joined
Aug 3, 2004
Messages
1,400
I'm glad to hear EB is taking care of you FF. I personally, would want it fixed as well. Glad to know there is an avenue to take should it happen to one of my beloved Pets.

Dave
 

foolsfortune

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Messages
18
Location
Sarnia, Ontario
I raced home at lunch to grab the git and take it back to the store.

The salesman is a friend and was a little concerned over the fact that I'd gone through EB cust service rather than just calling him first. This is a small town and I was trying not to step on anyones toes, I just wanted answers and I got them very quickly on this here forum!

He was afraid EB would think that they (the store) weren't doing a good enough job of checking the instruments out. I tried to ease his mind saying that I was sure they'd checked it over but me being the one who would be the proud new owner would be looking a lot closer.

I think that being a guitarist I probably would have looked closer and if I owned a music shop I'd go over each instrument with the new owner so they could verify it's condition. Then I'd put a new set of strings on it and send them one their way. Could they have done better? Maybe. Lesson learned.

He then asked "you do know you'll be responsible for shipping this back right?" :eek: After a long pause he said "I'll take that as a no". I told him I couldn't believe he would even ask that! My money isn't even cold in the till yet....of COURSE your store is going to foot the bill to make sure I'm not out a cent! Sheesh.

I can only assume this is why the EB guys said to forget the store. I'm sure it will all be fine. I don't blame the store or EB and although the 3-4 week wait will be painfull, I'm not concerned about that either.

The EB folks have me feeling that "taken care of" feeling that I plan to enjoy for sometime now. When I get good customer service, the company gets a customer for life.

I know there is no BFR in my future, and I don't know this jonguitarz guy, but I've heard nothing but good about him so I'm pleased to hear the name dropped. Has it been 3-4 weeks yet?

I mentioned that Ernie Ball should also build cars. Could you also add pc's to that list? "Dude, you're getting a Ball" Oh the painful memories.....
 
Last edited:

CudBucket

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Aug 3, 2004
Messages
1,400
Your guitar is in good hands with Jon. He had taken care of most if not all of us at one time or another.

Dave
 

foolsfortune

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Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Messages
18
Location
Sarnia, Ontario
So a new twist to the saga....

I live on the Sarnia, Ontario/Port Huron, Michigan border and the guitar would have to go to California to have it's body swapped.

I guess to save on costs (brokerage fees, duties and tax), what they do is EB will build a new body and send it to the store here and they will strip the parts off it and put them into the new body.

Cost wise it makes sense to me but does it seem like the best idea to you guys? I'm not sure who the tech at the store is or what kind of experience he has but my guess is that his skills will be less that those of Jon or another Ernie Ball tech.

The store said I can swap the parts myself but I'd be responsible for the guitar from then on. No thanks. I've built/swapped parts on many guitars in the past but I wouldn't do this one.

I mean it's not like it's open heart surgery but suppose he solders the pickups in wrong or dings it or scratches it? The store dude said they just get another body at that point. I said no, I'd just get a refund at that point.

Maybe if A.J. sees this post again, he can keep me updated. The upside is that now instead of 3-4 weeks to get the whole guitar back, I'm told I should have the body quicker than that and that the store will have it back together for me right away.

I can just hear all the "crack ignorers" now. " I told you man, just leave it alone and rock on......"

Pessimistic me says it will all work out in the end.......
 

beej

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Putting the parts together isn't rocket science. But honestly, I'd be much happier keeping the original (crack and all) or having EB do the work. You'll have a guitar that's set up flawlessly vs something you may not be 100% happy with.

I'm in Canada so I'm sympathetic to the shipping issue. If you're on the border, perhaps you can drive down with it and ship it stateside. Any chance you can have it shipped stateside and then drive back over with it?
 

foolsfortune

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Messages
18
Location
Sarnia, Ontario
... or having EB do the work. You'll have a guitar that's set up flawlessly vs something you may not be 100% happy with.

That's what I'm afraid of. If some punk happens to be their tech and screws it up, I'll be very unhappy.

If you're on the border, perhaps you can drive down with it and ship it stateside. Any chance you can have it shipped stateside and then drive back over with it?

Well, Sarnia is 5 minutes across the Bluewater Bridge from Michigan so I could drive it over, ship it off and then have it shipped back to Port Huron and go pick it up. That whole scenario would cost me about $70 and two Fridays border hopping. My intent was to have the store take care of their customer.

I'm just a little shocked that Ernie Ball would trust this to a tech they didn't know. I'll call A.J. myself and his story right from the source.
 

Adwex

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Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
379
Location
Long Island, NY
In the world of Les Pauls, people actually go to great lengths to put finish cracks in their guitars. It costs extra to have a guitar artificially aged. They call it "mojo". I don't agree with this idea, I also like to put all the battle scars there myself.
 

Larry

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Nov 6, 2005
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Location
Iowa
I wouldn't let any Joe Blow guitar tech work on my balls. Especially anyone from around here.
 

lumberjack

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Mar 2, 2006
Messages
2,987
Location
Toronto, Canada
Hey Mike,

The body has to go to California, anyway. Send the whole guitar and let Jon handle it. That way, you know it will be taken care of properly. It will actually be better then when you bought it. Jon does great work. If the shop up here does something to mess it up you are screwed.

See if CS will help you out with the shipping. Maybe they will split it with you. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Scott
 

songman

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Joined
Feb 4, 2005
Messages
167
I just don't understand why your dealer won't just replace this guitar to a brand new one or order you another one. I mean I'm sure they know and you know that the cracks happened at the store. Isn't there any return policy or approval period??? Even if you are slightly passed return period, if this dealer has even a decent reputation or standards, it should replace the guitar with the crack.

To top it off, isn't he your friend?
 

CudBucket

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 3, 2004
Messages
1,400
So a new twist to the saga....

I live on the Sarnia, Ontario/Port Huron, Michigan border and the guitar would have to go to California to have it's body swapped.

I guess to save on costs (brokerage fees, duties and tax), what they do is EB will build a new body and send it to the store here and they will strip the parts off it and put them into the new body.

Cost wise it makes sense to me but does it seem like the best idea to you guys? I'm not sure who the tech at the store is or what kind of experience he has but my guess is that his skills will be less that those of Jon or another Ernie Ball tech.

The store said I can swap the parts myself but I'd be responsible for the guitar from then on. No thanks. I've built/swapped parts on many guitars in the past but I wouldn't do this one.

I mean it's not like it's open heart surgery but suppose he solders the pickups in wrong or dings it or scratches it? The store dude said they just get another body at that point. I said no, I'd just get a refund at that point.

Maybe if A.J. sees this post again, he can keep me updated. The upside is that now instead of 3-4 weeks to get the whole guitar back, I'm told I should have the body quicker than that and that the store will have it back together for me right away.

I can just hear all the "crack ignorers" now. " I told you man, just leave it alone and rock on......"

Pessimistic me says it will all work out in the end.......

The right thing to do is send the guitar back to EBMM and let them handle it. Your dealer is not doing right by you since they should be sending it back (since you bought the guitar that way). I'd pay for the shipping myself and find a new guitar store to spend money in.
 

darren

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Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
193
Location
Toronto, Canada
Cracks can sometimes happen in shipping. When i bought mine second-hand, the seller didn't recall seeing cracks before sending it out (he's a good guy, so i trust him) and he did come clean about a couple of minor bubbles under the finish before i bought it, but when it arrived, the cracks were one of the first things i noticed when i did a close inspection.

But as i said before, i don't mind them... they're a sign that the neck pocket is very tight, so as long as there's no structural damage (which there likely isn't) i'm okay with some hairline cracks by the neck pocket.
 

koogie2k

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Dec 28, 2002
Messages
5,859
Location
Moyock, NC
Ship the guitar to Jon. He works on the artist's guitars/basses and will give you the "Rockstar" treatment as well. Why trust anyone other than EB to replace the body, parts, etc? It will be set up to factory specs before it is shipped back to you.

The "body is being sent to the guitar store" is kinda fishy to me. Not to say that ain't the case, but I would not trust my beloved JP to some local "tech".

Take our word for it....send it to Jon at EB. :cool:
 

Beth

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Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
2,910
Location
Indio
Hey Everyone,

It's not fishy to have a body sent out to an authorized (I repeat, *authorized*) dealer to have the guts swapped out. This is how we normally handle international issues, because shipping back and forth is costly and a bit complicated (you can end up paying tax on it again if the documentation isn't done correctly). Since our neighbors to the north aren't that far away, people who are having repair issues in Canada have the advantage of a shorter and cheaper freight route.

-Beth :)
 
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