NGD Non-PRS FedEx Sadness

[dmatthews]

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

Didn’t realize Yamaha was making headless guitars. Sorry, bad joke. That is truly painful to look at. Wishing her a successful head surgery.

 

[frankencat]

It’s fixable. Leave it right there and don’t mess with it. Take it along with all of the pieces to a good repair shop and they should be able to get you back in business. If you are in the Tampa area you can bring it to me. I fix these all the time.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Yikes….that sucks. I gotta guy….pm-ing you


EDIT: not sure why, but it won’t let me start a PM conversation. Keeps giving me an error. Try sending me a message and I’ll reply with the info.

PM'd!

 

[aphantomvaper]

try George or Chip at the Music Gallery in highland park. He and Chip are the only people I trust with my guitars. Tim Shroeder might do it to, though I think he has shifted to selling high end stereo equipment. He worked on all of Wilco's gear. He also is the Highland Park area.

I know this place, its on the way to one of my wife's offices, that I drive her to get once a Month. This is the week for that travel, so a convenient place to drop by. I'll call first of course.

Thanks for the direction!

 

[show_a_little_faith]

Hey all. A few years back there was a thread about the "one guitar that got away". There were many wonderful posts, and I mentioned the Yamaha Image Custom and I think it was Sergio that called it right with the LED in the fretboard. These were cool as they faced forward and reflected off the bass string for position reference.

Imagine my joy when I finally found one, super clean and I could swear it's my guitar from 1991. I had purchased one brand new, ordered from Yamaha back then.

It arrived, and looked almost exactly as I remembered. This was noted as the guitar that was to give PRS and Gibson a "run for the money". It was excellent!!

Another angle

The seller had bought the safe shipping insurance, so it was covered. I waited until that was settled before I went deeper with the investigation on how bad this was. A substantial, more than half, was refunded to me so I kept the guitar as I had checked with some luthiers and it is possible to repair with great care and may play again.

However after taking the strings and TRC off, it's a full break.

So that's my first experience with this. It was a bummer, but I wasn't out a lot of money and may get to play this baby someday.

In closing I suspect the guitar was shipped at tuning pitch by the seller, which I never do to avoid these type issue. The box was pristine and the guitar was packed very well. Fragile stickers all over the box. Stupid Fed Ex.

Thanks for your consideration.

Wait a minute - not to be all suspicious, but how well do you know & trust the seller?

You said the box was undamaged, and it was packed well. I'm assuming the guitar was inside the case shown here too? Can't be 100%, but from the photos it doesn't look like the case is damaged at all either. How could there be enough downward pressure to snap the headstock (and not where it meets the neck, but at least an inch above it) inside the case without significantly damaging the case too? And the cardboard box as well!

Seems much more likely to me that the seller knowingly deceived you and packed up a broken guitar, and is trying to blame FedEx for it...

 

[Gtrbldr]

Wait a minute - not to be all suspicious, but how well do you know & trust the seller?

You said the box was undamaged, and it was packed well. I'm assuming the guitar was inside the case shown here too? Can't be 100%, but from the photos it doesn't look like the case is damaged at all either. How could there be enough downward pressure to snap the headstock (and not where it meets the neck, but at least an inch above it) inside the case without significantly damaging the case too? And the cardboard box as well!

Seems much more likely to me that the seller knowingly deceived you and packed up a broken guitar, and is trying to blame FedEx for it...

Your forum name is a little ironic, isn't it?

However that thought crossed my mind as well. A broken headstock is (I think) only possible with direct stress on that headstock and this crack is viscious (no, don't say it).

Good luck with repairing the guitar, hopefully it makes a full recovery!

 

[aphantomvaper]

Wait a minute - not to be all suspicious, but how well do you know & trust the seller?

You said the box was undamaged, and it was packed well. I'm assuming the guitar was inside the case shown here too? Can't be 100%, but from the photos it doesn't look like the case is damaged at all either. How could there be enough downward pressure to snap the headstock (and not where it meets the neck, but at least an inch above it) inside the case without significantly damaging the case too? And the cardboard box as well!

Seems much more likely to me that the seller knowingly deceived you and packed up a broken guitar, and is trying to blame FedEx for it...

That would suck and I'd rather not consider a Reverb seller with good feedback would defraud me and FedEx. Too much bad feelings in the world as it is.

 

[show_a_little_faith]

Your forum name is a little ironic, isn't it?

Haha,in this case it certainly is! It's actually one of my favorite Springsteen lyrics, "Show a little faith, there's magic in the night" from Thunder Road

 

[László]

It doesn’t take all that much shock to break some headstocks. I’ve seen Gibson headstocks break in tip-overs leaning against an amp, or from low stands tipping over, that would merely ding a Fender or PRS.

I hope it’s repairable.

 

[Davey]

Ugh, that's just....Yeah (places hands on hips and stares at the ground)
So sorry.

 

[aphantomvaper]

try George or Chip at the Music Gallery in highland park. He and Chip are the only people I trust with my guitars. Tim Shroeder might do it to, though I think he has shifted to selling high end stereo equipment. He worked on all of Wilco's gear. He also is the Highland Park area.

Update...I stopped by the Music Gallery today and met with Chip (ironic, given the nature of repair). The website for this shop was quite informative and George and Chip have a ton of experience.

Anyway, I went for the repair and beauty treatment after Chip's evaluation. The price was really acceptable so in 8 to 12 weeks we'll see how it turns out.

Thanks for the recommendation! After this evaluation I'm totally sure it can be repaired to playable, and lookable(?) status. See you then!

 

[Glide-bpm]

FedEx f#$%ed one up for me a few weeks ago as well!!!!!!!!! They are really starting to suck the worst!

 

[GuitarJammin]

Wow, I guess that case was too shallow for the guitar.

I've always heard that if you have a particularly valuable thing you need shipped, pay the money for the fastest shipping possible, and don't ship on Friday.

The less time it spends in the shipper's posession, the less likely it is something will happen.

Sorry this happened, but this looks 100% repairable!

PS: After getting it fixed, see about getting a case that fits the guitar so the headstock doesn't touch even with moderate pressure.

THIS! That case was too shallow..and that will snap a headstock if it gets enough pressure. This can happen on gibson guitars. I've sold lots of guitars and shipped with strings at Pitch...heck..PRS does this as well. It definitely wasn't that. It was the case the seller shipped in and of course the shipper.

 

[bodia]

Update...I stopped by the Music Gallery today and met with Chip (ironic, given the nature of repair). The website for this shop was quite informative and George and Chip have a ton of experience.

Anyway, I went for the repair and beauty treatment after Chip's evaluation. The price was really acceptable so in 8 to 12 weeks we'll see how it turns out.

Thanks for the recommendation! After this evaluation I'm totally sure it can be repaired to playable, and lookable(?) status. See you then!

That's awesome! Quick turnaround, too.

 

[fstrat76]

Back in the day (~20 years ago, when they had a store in Evanston) I witnessed the Flynn Brothers (Mike and... sorry, I forget the other's name) work magic on the most horrible of tragedies--a 6/12 double-neck PRS with a broken headstock. If they could be entrusted with that job, they can be trusted with yours. If they're still around doing jobs, that is...

It my number one store. Chip does good work. Mike and Pete Flynn also work with Muisc Gallery now so you should be in good hands over there.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

@aphantomvaper You did make sure the lights work, yeah?

 

[aphantomvaper]

@aphantomvaper You did make sure the lights work, yeah?

I had to, they are still in perfect working order. Good memory, dude!!

 

[Glide-bpm]

Wait a minute - not to be all suspicious, but how well do you know & trust the seller?

You said the box was undamaged, and it was packed well. I'm assuming the guitar was inside the case shown here too? Can't be 100%, but from the photos it doesn't look like the case is damaged at all either. How could there be enough downward pressure to snap the headstock (and not where it meets the neck, but at least an inch above it) inside the case without significantly damaging the case too? And the cardboard box as well!

Seems much more likely to me that the seller knowingly deceived you and packed up a broken guitar, and is trying to blame FedEx for it...

I had a Les Paul with a perfect looking box upon arrival. I always request hold at location and film and open with a witness.

The shipper put zero extra neck and headstock support in the case.

That is begging for a tilted headstock guitar to shift around inside the case and possibly fram the crap out of the headstock! SNAP

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I had to, they are still in perfect working order. Good memory, dude!!

All that matters.