HELP! Southern Jumbo looks like trouble

[Smurfbird]

The lure of FleaBay hit me one night and I impulsively bid on a 2004 Southern Jumbo that had only "pick marks and swirl marks" and hadn't been played in a long time, according to the ad. I looked at the pics and they weren't as telling as I should've requested but I've had mostly good luck on the bay (all streaks come to an end.)

 

WELL, PLEASE, you tell me. I took a look at the bridge and saddle when it arrived and I see cracking marks on the top near the ends of the bridge& saddle, sloppy glue showing the bridge has been re-glued on, and the underbridge panel has that hole very near the site of the 3rd and 4th string pins.

 

PLEASE tell me what you would do in this situation. There are no returns, but I'd say this is misrepresented if what I think I see, I see. I think I'm entitled to claim the guitar was misrepresented.

 

But I need confirmation from more knowledgeable and experienced eyeballs.

 

Thanks!

 

The north crack and GLUE!

 

 

Another angle of north crack

 

 

The south side and cracks and glue

 

 

Zoomout of south side

 

 

The underside of the saddle

 

 

Another shot of the underside:

 

[torca]

The holes under bridge plate are made by Gibson during manufacture for locating template jig,nothing unusual there.

The bridge may have had glue inserted under bridge, as the visible excess seems wonky, but I have seen factory models come out with this also present. The crease/lacquer checks at bridge ends are quite normal, stress and nitro. I see nothing that I would deem worthy of returning guitar, and no repair mods needed. Maybe take a nice sharp razor and score the glue overflow from top and bottom to remove, and you'll be good as new.

[blindboygrunt]

The marks may be down to manufacturing process , marking the bridge position.

 

Excess glue , if someone says that's from the factory then it's not good but not a big worry.... If someone else has glued then I'd be annoyed .

 

Good luck with it all

 

Edit... You have fantastic break angle on that bridge / saddle !

[Smurfbird]

Thanks.

 

My concern is that there's something going on with the bridge, that it's been pulled up at some point somehow and that explains the cracking on the sides and the poor glue.

[jedzep]

I think you're OK with this, too, Smurfy. Heavy strings, too many lacquer coats, quick temp changes all could be part of those tiny checks.

 

Hope you get to loving it.

[zombywoof]

Martins are notorious for having those whisker cracks coming off the corner of the bridge. Just cosmetics so no big deal.

 

The bridge plate looks Kosher. The bridge, yeah pretty sloppy looking if done at the factory (pretty sloppy looking for having been done anywhere but certainly less forgivable if done at Bozeman) but now you see what gives rise to those Gibson quality control discussions.

[onewilyfool]

Well, you could go to a Luthier, find out how much to clean it up or repair, submit the bill to the E-Bay seller, and if he doesn't reimburse you, give him a truthful bad review on E-Bay, and let others know that he didn't fully disclose all the issues in your transaction....if he is fair, he will re-imburse you, if not he will have a permanent black mark on his seller rep. Good luck with you resolution! One good thing is that you have a nice high saddle and won't have to worry about a neck reset for years!!!

[ponty]

If you are not happy, and you feel the item is not as described do the following

1. Contact the seller and tell him of you dissatisfaction.

 

2. If no favourable response, lodge a complaint with the Mafia....sorry I meant eBay.

Go to the resolution centre.

 

3. Complain under section ' Not as described' and exercise 'buyer protection'

 

4. Ebay will decide who is correct. If you find favour with ebay you get your money back

after you have shipped the guitar back.

 

I have had recent dealings with Ebay and Paypal, and have found them to be

nothing more than a scam as a seller. I asked the girl at customer service if

Ebay and Paypal were owned by the mafia....she said she didnt know!

[Smurfbird]

Thanks for all the advice and information. I'm simply asking the seller if there's a story here about a reglue of the bridge.

 

I suppose it's possible that Gibson let out a sloppy glue like that. I've just never come across one that bad before.

 

In my mind, I'd feared the worst. But upon further inspection, it could just be weather-related. The guitar had been sitting in a closet or under a bed for many years in New Mexico, so....

 

Fact is, the guitar plays nicely and the break over the saddle is excellent, as others have pointed out.

 

I'm not just wondering if there's a story here. Soon enough, I'll find out.

[Del Nilppeznaf]

Id guess it came from the factory like this.

 

my HB TV..has small glue globbuals visable..not as much as this..but it happenes.

 

also the hole in bridge plate is normal for |Gibson at the present.. been lenghty discussiona about it here..but we got to the bottom of it.

 

i wouldnt worry about it... carfully..and i mean CAREFULLY remove the excess glue and your sound.

 

good luck