Custom 24 Artist finish faded from 'blue matteo' to 'dull grey' in 4 years - options?

[show_a_little_faith]

And Takamine, as requested:
The following items are not covered by this warranty:

1. Any instrument whose serial number is missing or has been altered or tampered with in any manner.
2. Any instrument that has been modified after original shipment from Takamine.
3. Any instrument whose warranty registration card has been altered or upon which false information has been given.
4. Any factory-installed electronics and hardware after a period of one (1) year following the original date of purchase.
5. Any instrument that was NOT purchased from an Authorized Takamine dealer, or upon which any unauthorized repair or service has been performed.
6. The cost of an initial setup, adjustments, or regular maintenance of your new instrument, including neck/truss rod adjustments, string changes, action adjustment, intonation, or loose hardware.
7. Normal wear and tear on any serviceable part of the instrument including electronic controls, switches and jacks, worn frets, plated surfaces, tuning machines, string replacement, scratches in pickguards or plastic parts, saddles and nuts.
8. Normal paint wear and tear including damages, cracking, sinking, discoloration, and paint shrinkage of the instrument finish for any reason.
9. Subjective issues such as tonal characteristics, grade and color of wood or finish.
10. Cosmetic characteristics related to finish consistency, replicability, application, retention, and durability.
11. Cosmetic characteristics that do not impede the playability or standard functionality of the instrument.
12. Defects in finishes such as cracks, splitting, or warping of wood due to changes in temperature or humidity, exposure to sun, fire, moisture, body salts and acids, other chemicals or non-industry approved polishes.
13. Instruments that have been subjected to extreme humidity or temperature conditions.
14. Playability of an instrument whose “action”, or string height, is lower than recommended standard “action” settings defined in the Takamine owner’s manual.
15. Damage as a result of strap button pulling out of body (Note: Factory straps mounted to the body can only withstand so much pressure. They are not intended to withstand any severe abuse. If player will be using a strap, Takamine recommends that player check strap and buttons prior to use in order to avoid any mishaps. Takamine will not be responsible for any such claims.)
16. All other defects, deterioration, and damage due to normal use, wear and tear, aging, misuse, neglect, improper operation, abuse, accident, theft, or acts of Nature.
17. Case, and case hardware, wear and tear of any kind.
18. Shipping damages of any kind.
19. Freight charges to Takamine or Authorized Takamine Dealer for customer owned goods.
20. The labor reimbursement cost or parts replacement cost of any repair not authorized or performed by Takamine.
21. Any and all charges if no problem is found at time of repair/inspection.
22. Any and all charges incurred from priority service requests (Rush Service) or priority shipping for replacement parts or return of customer’s merchandise.

 

[show_a_little_faith]

Thank you Counsel. Your $400 check is in the mail. Enjoy your free Internet Point™

Shall we opine what the attrition-rate of the Gibson legal department is to the PRS legal department, and vice-versa?

You literally said "show me Gibson, Fender Takamine" similar policies, and I did. It took 3 minutes to google.

 

[sleeplessknight]

You're absolutely right, thank you for that. How long did it take for you to pass your state's bar?

Look, you have me beat on the facts. Congratulations. I still have you on subjective, squishy, not-legally-enforcable emotion - normal people expect their guitar's colors to stay more or less the same over a period of decades. Do these other manufacturers have this reputation that I, an otherwise-ignorant purchaser of PRS was completely unaware of, for blue/green/purple finishes not being durable?

 

[show_a_little_faith]

 

[sleeplessknight]

Pretty much

 

[RC Mike]

Who in their right mind, other than practicing lawyers, reads the fine print when buying a guitar? You have a certain set of expectations vis a vis "this guitar will not explode in my face when I plug it into an amp" and "this guitar will not turn to goo when exposed to relative humidity greater than Arizona in August". One of those 'reasonable person' expectations is "my guitar will stay the color I bought it at for at least a few years, outside of extenuating circumstances like storing it on my uncovered outdoor deck, or participating in an OK Go music video".

I understand PRS has the reputations of "the lawyer's guitar", but c'mon people....

I'm an attorney, but not a practicing one. I read it when I got my first PRS. It's not like there's a lot to read when you get the guitar.

Not sure why you're going on about this, but it's certainly pushing me towards my first impression of you--the kind that will say things that might not be true in order to get their way. How long did you leave the guitar out of the case for? Are you talking about having kept it in the case because of your wife? Just curious.

Again, I think it's dumb to get huffy and be an Internet Tough Guy about things. It's not going to help you. It's an emotional band-aid, maybe, but certainly not a good look.

 

[sleeplessknight]

I'm going on about this because, to me, $5000 for an instrument is an absolutely princely sum. Having the instrument materially change its appearance - a major factor in its purchase - over the course of a few short years is the definition of outrageous. To find that PRS CS just blithely disregards that this is an issue worth fixing under warranty as "a flaw or defect in workmanship" is horrifying.

If you, someone whose income is/was almost assuredly at least an order of magnitude more than mine, are having trouble putting yourself in my shoes, mentally start adding 0's to that $5000 price tag until you start getting upset. If you still can't muster the empathy "over a silly guitar", pick a meaningful object in your life where "color" is an important external characteristic, and apply the situation to that.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

Personally, I’d have escalated this at PRS. You don’t have to accept the front-line customer service person’s response. PRS refinished a guitar that had hazing on the clear coat, and I wasn’t the original purchaser. Maybe I got lucky, but they took care of the problem, with no fisticuffs involved.

 

[SinSir]

Dealer photos are often taken under unusual lighting conditions to highlight the stain.


I would take a moment to pull the pickup rings and document the degree of fading.

A pic of under the pickup ring is a good suggestion. It's hard to compare dealer photos in optimal light and one taken with our phones. It's obviously faded, but removing the pickup ring would tell all.

 

[Tone-y]

Frankly, this amount of fading in 4 years is not what I'd consider normal wear and tear even if left out of the case and in direct sunlight unless there was a specific warning for this stuck to the guitar when bought. It really doesn't matter if this is a well known occurrence with certain colours the general uninformed consumer shouldn't be expected to know this unless directly informed. If this was in the UK I'm sure you'd have a case under the consumer rights act to get warrantee cover or sue the manufactures in the small claims court.
If this has faded like this over 20 years or more then you could make the normal wear and tear argument

 

[sleeplessknight]

That is a fine suggestion, re: pictures under the pickup ring. Here you go!

https://imgur.com/a/s5yN1jm

 

[sleeplessknight]

re: escalating at PRS... how does one DO that? I'm just a ticket in their ticketing queue - do I call them directly? Do I just put my Karen-face on and ask for a manager in-ticket? Something else?

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

re: escalating at PRS... how does one DO that? I'm just a ticket in their ticketing queue - do I call them directly? Do I just put my Karen-face on and ask for a manager in-ticket? Something else?

Get creative

 

[sleeplessknight]

What, like starting silly internet slap-fights on their public, branded, forum?

 

[bodia]

re: escalating at PRS... how does one DO that? I'm just a ticket in their ticketing queue - do I call them directly? Do I just put my Karen-face on and ask for a manager in-ticket? Something else?

I would pick up the phone and call. It's too easy to say "No" in an email. I'd ask for the "Director of Customer Service". Not sure if that's a title, but that's where I would start.

 

[Rider1260]

Sorry for your issue , the pictures don't show the fading as much as I was thinking and to me the guitar still looks killer BUT its your guitar and when folks buy that forever high end thing and it does not meet expectations its hard , I would also call PRS they have been great with me over the years , but it does seem that things have changed some as they have grown.
Hope it gets sorted for you.

 

[Gtrbldr]

I would pick up the phone and call. It's too easy to say "No" in an email. I'd ask for the "Director of Customer Service". Not sure if that's a title, but that's where I would start.

Yeah, I'd do that too.

I am conflicted. Is it buried? No, I dont think so. Do I think it is reasonable? No, especially not if you kept your guitar cased, and especially a guitar from a manufacturer who tests everything. I suspect he even tested the dies for tone.

However I get why they are stonewalling you. If they cover this, you get a precedent and there are a great many blue faded guitars hanging on walls. They could go belly up if they had to cover the repairs. A risk bigger than loosing your business.

That being said; totally sucks. I have no words for it, other than that is a spectacular guitar, both faded and not. If I were on the hunt for a CU24 (which I am not) I could see myself makeing a lowball offer ;-).

 

[sleeplessknight]

Welp, PRS up and closed my support ticket on me, so that right there told me their opinion on the matter. Sent the guitar out to Pat Wilkins for a refin, and it just came back yesterday. The man did, in my opinion, a sublime job. He even put a "UV layer" on it, to prevent exactly this situation in the future. It's a noticeably lighter shade of blue than the original, but not in an unpleasant way. I am very happy with the result, and I hope all those involved at PRS get papercuts between their fingers and have to soak their hands in salty lemon juice for an extended period of time. This is my last PRS guitar, and Mr Reed Smith can go whistling for any future business from me in the future. What a horrible way to treat one's customers.

https://imgur.com/a/v9nP7P8

 

[Bogner]

Looks Good! Congrats!!

 

[Gtrbldr]

Looks great!

And it is really a shame you had to deal with this situation. It is a mystery to me why PRS uses these dyes and legally kneecaps the customer with regards to the shortcomings that come with these (magnificent) colors. For a company that excels in - and takes pride in - making guitars technically as perfect as can be, it not coherent (in my book) to use these stains. THE reason why I will never own a blue PRS.