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craigkim

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Hey Guys, I was pretty excited to receive my first les paul today.... and it showed up damaged! Pretty bummed. I purchased a 2017 Standard HP in Blueberry Burst from GC online. I had it shipped to my office. When I opened the packaging, I instantly noticed that there was a sizable dent in the aluminum case, but it was adjacent to the "accessory" storage area and not the part of the case containing the guitar, so I was hopeful that the guitar survived unhurt. So, far, all I have done is quickly inspect the guitar and it seems pretty good with the exception that the bridge volume control knob acts like it is stripped or something. As I turn it it sortof acts like it is slipping or not turning the post underneath compared to the other knobs and it seems like it may just fall off. Maybe it is just the knob? The others seem a little off, but I can tell they are turning the post underneath.

 

Given the thickness of this case, to put a dent in it like this, UPS must have really given it a good beating. I called GC online and they said to take it to my local store and they will do an exchange. This all makes me somewhat nervous. Haven't called the local store yet, but will do that shortly. Any advice?

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Take it to the store, show them the wonky pot you want fixed, and get a new case. If the guitar is good the guitar is good, don't blame it for UPS kid glove treatment!

 

rct

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The two sound unrelated. The impact on the shipping container/case is likely not at all related. you may have just received a "Crappy" pot or two.

 

What RCT says..

 

get GC to replace the case, and then, see what the deal is with the hardware.

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If it were me, I would make sure to get every part of the guitar completely checked out by a competent technician.

 

You may or may not find one at your Guitar Center. It's definitely a warranty claim, though. I hope you have better luck with their tech and warranty claim department than I've had and that they make it right for you.

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Good thinking, I was a little bit irrational there at first, but decided to start to try to figure it out. The the good news is that I removed the "wonky" control knob and switched it with another one and I think the issue is limited to the knob. The knobs have a nylon friction fitting or whatever you would call it and this particular one seems to be stripped. It doesn't seem like the posts are bent or damaged.

 

I think that the case may have saved the guitar from much damage. I am going to tune it up and see how it plays. I am much more relaxed about getting a new case and replacing a knob than I am about exchanging the entire guitar.

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Update: It's pretty awesome!

 

I temporarily fixed the knob by taking a few tiny pieces of plastic bag and holding them over the post while I seated the knob. Now it still wobbles a little but it functions normally. When I have time, I will start a NG post.

 

Thanks Guys!

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Pull the knob off... if the pot post is the split type (which I think it should be) just use a screw driver to widen the distance between the split, then push the pot back on. Easy and common fix for loose knobs.

 

As for the dent... that sucks! Taking it to GC should net you a new one. If they try to claim it's UPS' fault (which it almost certainly is, BTW), tell them that's fine... they can battle UPS... you just want an undamaged case pronto. :)

 

HNGD... sorry it wasn't quite as perfect as you'd hoped. Enjoy your new Standard.

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Best advice of all is to take it to the local store and tell them the online store told you to tell them to exchange the guitar for a new one. Don't mention anything else about it, it was damaged during shipment. GC local store will order you a brand new one from their nearest warehouse and should get it in a couple days. Let them ship the new one to the GC store. Tell them to not open the box at all until you are present to open it. Then you know it is brand new and has not been tampered with at all, it will arrive as it came from the factory.

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Best advice of all is to take it to the local store and tell them the online store told you to tell them to exchange the guitar for a new one. Don't mention anything else about it, it was damaged during shipment. GC local store will order you a brand new one from their nearest warehouse and should get it in a couple days. Let them ship the new one to the GC store. Tell them to not open the box at all until you are present to open it. Then you know it is brand new and has not been tampered with at all, it will arrive as it came from the factory.

 

I like this advice. Plus, why open it there? Take the unopened box home. Let it acclimatize. You can always return that one if anything's wrong. Take photos of the unboxing....

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Best advice of all is to take it to the local store and tell them the online store told you to tell them to exchange the guitar for a new one. Don't mention anything else about it, it was damaged during shipment. GC local store will order you a brand new one from their nearest warehouse and should get it in a couple days. Let them ship the new one to the GC store. Tell them to not open the box at all until you are present to open it. Then you know it is brand new and has not been tampered with at all, it will arrive as it came from the factory.

 

That's what I would do. It's a brand new, premium instrument that you received damaged. Doesn't matter if was GC, UPS or martians. It certainly wasn't you. I wouldn't feel a bit bad about it either. All this stuff is accounted for by pricing, insurance, etc, etc. Besides, at GC they gave very liberal return policies.

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The reason I would open the new one at GC is that way you can look it over good, play it, and if there is something wrong with it they can order a new one right there. I went through it with three 2014 LP Customs in a row, had gouged body paint, uneven frets from bass side to treble sides of necks, and one had very bad finish that was dull (It was an ebony Custom)....The 4th one was the keeper!!!! And if I would have discovered something wrong with it after it was home, I could have taken that one back too!

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I will finally be able to take the guitar back to GC this afternoon.... been too busy the last week. Having looked at the box and the case more thoroughly, it looks like it got thrown onto one of those rolling racks pretty aggressively in shipping. It had to be a fairly substantial blow to dent this case, but I will add that the case is very well made and engineered. I would say it is pretty well overengineered. The foam insulation inside it is super dense and firmly compresses the guitar in place when closed. I am pretty confident that the guitar wasn't damaged. That being said, I really don't like the case. It's too damn heavy, with the guitar its about 35 pounds. My guitar instructor said, "well, that is an airline case! We never used those for gigs unless we were flying, we hated them, they were too heavy!" I can't agree more.

 

I also had my instructor inspect the guitar pretty well and run it through its paces. We both agreed that it plays well and sounds good. He seemed pretty impressed with it and he has been playing Gibsons since the 60s. The only issue with the guitar is that loose knob. After having googled it more, it seems like that is not an uncommon issue at all and may just be poor QC. I am hesitant to want to exchange it which to me would be another roll of the dice. Unfortunately, those knobs look to be pretty pricey.

 

So, I am going to head into guitar center and suggest these options:

(I would prefer to keep the guitar and resolve the knob/case issue separately and that shouldn't be too hard.)

-Can GC get me another knob from Gibson and ship it to my house? The knob seems like a Gibson issue to me. I can buy the vintage style ones for cheap but not the chrome unless someone has a source on those.

- Can they discount my purchase by enough to buy another, cheaper and lighter weight case in the store? Or just comp me a lighter case? Should be about $100-150, on a guitar that cost $3200+tax.

 

If I absolutely can't keep the guitar (worst case):

-Can they just refund and give me in store credit to use on an in stock LP? One that is a "known quality" versus another roll of the dice from the factory and UPS! I doubt they have a BB color though.

-or just exchange the whole damn thing and have it shipped to the store as initially suggested.

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It's probably too late but totally loosen the strings up overnight and see if a crack develops in the neck up by the nut.

I had a Martin show up and as soon as I changed the strings the neck cracked. A fellow with a 355 here had the same issue.

The string tension was keeping the damage hidden.

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It's probably too late but totally loosen the strings up overnight and see if a crack develops in the neck up by the nut.

I had a Martin show up and as soon as I changed the strings the neck cracked. A fellow with a 355 here had the same issue.

The string tension was keeping the damage hidden.

 

Ugh, I hope that is NOT the case. My manual says not to let all of the tension off all of the strings at once anyway. SO, when you change strings you do them one at a time.

 

I thought it over yesterday and I ended up calling Gibson and they are sending me a new knob. I gave them the serial number and he confirmed that the guitar was brand new. Easy breezy.

 

Then I went in to GC with the hopes that I could resolve the case issue easily too. My experience at GC was pretty painless. It might even be described as abnormally smooth compared to returning an item at ANY store.

 

I showed the guy working the counter my case, explained that it had been dented in shipping, and then asked him what he thought. He seemed eager to avoid an exchange, which I understand from a hassle aspect on his part, but he also agreed with me that the top was so nice that it might be difficult to get another one that looks as good. He may have been blowing smoke, but he siad he didn't think they normally looked as good as this one. My iphone probably didn't do it justice, but it looks almost as good as the online model from the Gibson site. He then says, "hey, I have another case like that with a few scratches on it in back!" So, he brings out a used case with a few minor scratches on it, but it looked a lot better than a dent... and I swapped the guitar over and walked out the door. I bet I was there for 5 minutes total. No paperwork exchanged, no fuss.

 

I was pretty happy all in all. Sure, they replaced my new case with a used/blem one, but the scratches on it aren't bad and I will likely add some to match them within a week or two in and out of my car.

post-85046-027763400 1493316862_thumb.jpg

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Ugh, I hope that is NOT the case. My manual says not to let all of the tension off all of the strings at once anyway. SO, when you change strings you do them one at a time.

 

Well, I don't know when that became...law. Something. I've never changed a set of strings one at a time, in 46 years of guitar playing I've only ever taken them all off. Nothing has ever happened.

 

rct

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...My manual says not to let all of the tension off all of the strings at once anyway...

msp_blink.gif

 

I'm with rct.

Take them all off; put them all on.

Never once had even the slightest problem (although I only have 42 years behind me as compared to rct's 46). Then again; my guitars never came with user manuals.

 

Nice guitar! Glad the case issue was resolved to your satisfaction and I hope you have many happy years together!

 

Pip.

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Hey, Grand-Daddio. As we Young Punks are beginning to say to your worn-out regime;

 

"Your old road is rapidly aging'

Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand

Cause the times they are a-changin"...

 

Pippio.

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