Paint defect on brand new Mark Holcomb sig

[Brae]

Hey guys, i just bought a brand new Mark Holcomb SE 6 online and got it today and noticed theres a slight defect in the paint on the body, its about 15-20cm of bare wood near the strap hook on the edge of the guitar, looks like some of the paint came off when they polished it (probably too much pressure or didnt clean it properly before paint). Im wondering if this is a regular thing as im pretty new to guitars.
So far ive had bad luck with finishes on brand new guitars.

My first guitar was a schecter omen elite 6 which also had some pretty major defects in the finish.
I dont know if i should send it back for a replacement or not.. it doesnt look as bad in a photo.

Its the indonesian model with the black nut

 

[alantig]

It's not the norm, and you're right - it doesn't look horrible in the pics.

There are two questions you have to answer - one, is this going to bug you as long as you own the guitar? Can you treat it like a ding and ignore it, or are you going to think about it every time you think about the guitar? And two, how much do you like this particular guitar? Not the model, this actual guitar. If you feel like this is THE ONE, that it's got magic in it, then you have to balance that against the first question. If you don't think it's particularly magical (not that it's bad, just that it's not on that magical level), then swapping it becomes much easier.

 

[ElrytNamrogo]

Unfortunately, defects, errors in procedure, and malfunctioning parts can come at all levels and price-points of any product, especially things like guitars that go through so many processes before finally being sold to consumers.

The main thing you should ask yourself is "is this something I can live with?". Does the guitar play great? How does the rest of the guitar look? It's possible that returning this one will lead you to another guitar that looks great and plays great, but maybe doesn't have the grain pattern on the top that speaks to you as much. Or maybe you'll get one that ticks all the boxes in looks, with a perfect finish, but has some sort of playability issue. Or maybe returning this one for a different one will lead you to the absolute perfect one for you. No matter how you look at it, you're gonna be rolling the dice.

If the paint missing on the back edge is enough to bother you and you don't think you'll be able to look past it, I'd say return it and try to find another one that also speaks to you. It's your money and you deserve to be happy with your purchase.

 

[Brae]

It's not the norm, and you're right - it doesn't look horrible in the pics.

There are two questions you have to answer - one, is this going to bug you as long as you own the guitar? Can you treat it like a ding and ignore it, or are you going to think about it every time you think about the guitar? And two, how much do you like this particular guitar? Not the model, this actual guitar. If you feel like this is THE ONE, that it's got magic in it, then you have to balance that against the first question. If you don't think it's particularly magical (not that it's bad, just that it's not on that magical level), then swapping it becomes much easier.

1. Yes its going to bug me, but im not in a position where i can go to the shop to inspect another one so i dont know what to do, if i spend the amount i do on a brand new guitar id expect it to atleast look brand new lol

2. This is literally my first real guitar, ofcoarse its got the magic and ofcoarse i love it but at $1500 and from what ive seen online that prs has a really high standard when it comes to finishes and stuff im thinking how the hell did this pass 3 inspections? 1 inspection in Indonesia, 1 inspection through prs, and then another inspection from the shop i bought it from. It almost looks as if the veneer is lifting off the body but its not, the bare wood is on the front of the body, im trying to figure out if its me or if im just having bad luck with guitars, my brand new schecter omen 6 extreme had severely corroded frets, deep scratches near the knobs and deep swirls from a bad polish job. now this guitar im finding weird residue on the neck near where the neck connects to the body and the 20cm of bare wood on the edge of the face that looks alot worse than the photo. Am i being over dramatic or unlucky? I dont know because ive never bought a brand new guitar before these 2 haha

 

[Brae]

Unfortunately, defects, errors in procedure, and malfunctioning parts can come at all levels and price-points of any product, especially things like guitars that go through so many processes before finally being sold to consumers.

The main thing you should ask yourself is "is this something I can live with?". Does the guitar play great? How does the rest of the guitar look? It's possible that returning this one will lead you to another guitar that looks great and plays great, but maybe doesn't have the grain pattern on the top that speaks to you as much. Or maybe you'll get one that ticks all the boxes in looks, with a perfect finish, but has some sort of playability issue. Or maybe returning this one for a different one will lead you to the absolute perfect one for you. No matter how you look at it, you're gonna be rolling the dice.

If the paint missing on the back edge is enough to bother you and you don't think you'll be able to look past it, I'd say return it and try to find another one that also speaks to you. It's your money and you deserve to be happy with your purchase.

Yeah thats true i understand defects happen during these processes, but from what ive read PRS has an extremely high standard when it comes to the finishes of their guitars, but from what im seeing with this guitar im not so sure, i sent my brand new schecter omen extreme back because it had extremely corroded frets, deep scratches near the knobs and severe swirling on the face from polish. Now with this guitar im finding some weird residue on the neck near where its glued to the body, the 20cm of bare wood is on the face of the guitar not the back, its right on the edge where the rear strap hook is and goes basically half way around the end of the guitar, i dont live near the shop that sells them so i cant go in and inspect another one.

i just dont know if im getting unlucky or if im being "too" picky about the finishes, i wouldnt know because i havent owned a guitar before. My acoustic from thomann came in prestine condition, not a single fault but every electric guitar has just looked like absolute sh** other than those defects i love the guitar and the grain, but im worred the bare wood will get worse, i dont know what to do haha, can i take it somewhere to fix the paint maybe?

 

[alantig]

You're definitely not being too picky. It's your money, and you deserve to be satisfied.

I'd suggest calling the shop and explaining what's wrong. If nothing else, you can ask them to pay special attention to any replacement they send.