PRS QC Issues

[László]

Les and I are sharing a brain now.

Unfortunately for me, Serg uses it most of the time. I only get it on special days.

 

[Klale0819]

I would be very surprised if that left PRS in that condition! That would surely have been picked up by any of the QC checks before it moves on to 'buffing' for example, before they added the hardware. Its not just '1' final check as its put in the case that missed it, but would have been picked up at 'numerous' other QC check points after it left the spray booth.

I don't know how old your guitar is to know how long it could have been hanging around at Sweetwater, whether it was out on display for months allowing customers to come in, play it and possibly knock the edge on a stand, against other guitars hanging up etc. If its hung sideways (as some do to cram more guitars into a smaller area), It may of knocked against something on the edge causing a bit of damage. There is often a LOT of potential for guitars to be less than 'perfect' after they leave PRS and their 'final' check as they are cased ready to ship out. All the 'hangtag' states is that the guitar was 'passed' to be shipped on that specific day.

My latest guitar for example, was fit to leave on 11th Jan 19. I received it 26th June 19 and the shop said it came into them in April. That's nearly 6months after it was cased - it was then shipped to PRS Europe for a Rep to take round to different stores who may of picked it up out of its case, eventually selected by a store for them to sell who would then handle it to take photo's to upload on their internet pages, may even of been hung on the wall for months for customers to try it before buying (or just try it because its a 'Special' guitar) and then do their usual check, set-up and clean before it gets shipped to the customer - in this case Me.

Point is, all the hangtag states is that the guitar was checked and passed as fit to leave PRS on the day indicated on the hangtag. If your guitar is older than mine was - a 2018 or older, that means it could have been hanging in store for months ans months. The 'damage' could have occurred because of the way it was 'handled' and displayed. If it's hung sideways for example to fit more guitars in a smaller area, the edge could of been knocked by people taking it down and putting it back up or even by the guitar it was next to as that was taken down or put back.

I cannot believe that this wasn't picked up by the buffers, by the person that installs the hardware, the person that does the set-up and the person that gives it a final check before its cased ready to go to a retailer. There are numerous other steps after the spray booth that are also part of the QC process too. If I had to put money on it, I would think that has occurred between it leaving PRS and you receiving it. If it was something off in the spray booth (for example) it wouldn't just affect the edges and it certainly would have been picked up by the person who buffed it. Even if it wasn't, the chances that it was missed as the guitar moved through the final areas and then sent out like that is very unlikely.

Anyway, I hope they sort it out for you and I do think that would be the best option - even if you have to go without for a while. You know exactly what you are getting, how it sounds and plays - even the quality of the grain too if that matters to you.

The guitar is new ---->made this year. It was only on SweetWaters site for a week before I purchased it.
It's not damage......The defect is perfectly uniform along the treble side of the guitar. In my experience, man-made damage is not perfectly uniform.
I agree with you, I can't believe this was not caught. There were numerous opportunities during the manufacturing process and final inspection to catch this.......but they didn't. Its a knock on both PRS and Sweetwater's inspection process.

 

[Klale0819]

The update from Sweetwater:
Keep the guitar I have for now. They have requested a replacement Guitar from PRS and they will let me know when it ships.
It looks like I will get to make an informed decision when picking my resolution.

 

[Rockmark]

That sounds like the best of both worlds for you. If you don't like the replacement it sounds like you'll have the option to have this one fixed up. And you get to play it until decision time. Excellent.

 

[Geo408]

I don’t blame you at all for being upset. I went through a similar experience with a mail order retailer, too. Like you, I was on the fence about keeping it, and ultimately I sent it back. The issues were playability and structural. I wound up with a second guitar that was awesome, but had some very uneven, and high frets, and another minor wiring issue. Again, I thought long and hard about it, and decided to go the PTC route...And I am happy that I did that. This happened in 2016, and I still have that guitar. Yes, it was a core model, and maybe it shouldn’t have made it out of the factory, but these guitars are made by people, with the aide of machines, and sometimes things happen.
The PTC is amazing. They took a great guitar, and made it even better. It was worth the two week wait, and I made some good contacts in the company. The turnaround on warranty work is much faster, than on mods, from what I was told. Since yours is a cosmetic issue I have no idea how long it would take, so you’ll need to explore that. So what it comes down to is if the guitar is amazing to you, then by all means go the PTC route..I think you’ll be genuinely glad you did...just my 2 cents. Good luck!

 

[Klale0819]

I don’t blame you at all for being upset. I went through a similar experience with a mail order retailer, too. Like you, I was on the fence about keeping it, and ultimately I sent it back. The issues were playability and structural. I wound up with a second guitar that was awesome, but had some very uneven, and high frets, and another minor wiring issue. Again, I thought long and hard about it, and decided to go the PTC route...And I am happy that I did that. This happened in 2016, and I still have that guitar. Yes, it was a core model, and maybe it shouldn’t have made it out of the factory, but these guitars are made by people, with the aide of machines, and sometimes things happen.
The PTC is amazing. They took a great guitar, and made it even better. It was worth the two week wait, and I made some good contacts in the company. The turnaround on warranty work is much faster, than on mods, from what I was told. Since yours is a cosmetic issue I have no idea how long it would take, so you’ll need to explore that. So what it comes down to is if the guitar is amazing to you, then by all means go the PTC route..I think you’ll be genuinely glad you did...just my 2 cents. Good luck!

When you say they made it better than it was....what exactly did they do to make your guitar better?

 

[IKnowALittle]

now, i haven't read the thread in it's entirety. but from the op post i agree.
i'm not a fanboy who will defend prs to "the death.".
it simply is not possible to go thru all the qr processes that prs and sweetwater proclaim, only to morph into bull**** and nonsense.
it really isn't acceptable for a quality company like prs.
... disappointing.

 

[shimmilou]

 

[Geo408]

When you say they made it better than it was....what exactly did they do to make your guitar better?

The PTC completely re-fretted it, cut a new nut, and I believe they planed the fretboard, just a hair. The setup was perfect, and it felt like a well “broken in” guitar...to me, it was amazing. Normally, when you get a new guitar, it takes about 6 months of regular playing to make a guitar feel loose and playable, so I was impressed. It takes a highly skilled luthier to pull that off. I also had them rewire it to my specs, so I could switch the pickups in and out the way I wanted. And the cherry on top was I paid a minimal charge for the wiring, and one-way shipping! That’s what I call service...going the extra mile.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

My only recommendation is to be a stand-up guy as you work through the situation. If you’re not going to just return the guitar for a full refund and decide to go through the process to have the finish repaired, don’t be one of those d-bags who continually whines about their emotional distress or go on and on about their disappointment (especially online) as a strategy for free sh!t or an upgrade.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

My only recommendation is to be a stand-up guy as you work through the situation. If you’re not going to just return the guitar for a full refund and decide to go through the process to have the finish repaired, don’t be one of those d-bags who continually whines about their emotional distress or go on and on about their disappointment (especially online) as a strategy for free sh!t or an upgrade.

You can just go ahead and use my name when you’re talking about me.

 

[bodia]

My only recommendation is to be a stand-up guy as you work through the situation. If you’re not going to just return the guitar for a full refund and decide to go through the process to have the finish repaired, don’t be one of those d-bags who continually whines about their emotional distress or go on and on about their disappointment (especially online) as a strategy for free sh!t or an upgrade.

You can just go ahead and use my name when you’re talking about me.

Pretty sure he's talkin' 'bout me. That's my M.O., fer sure.

 

[merciful-evans]

Despite reassurances, I would advise going through the replaced/repaired guitar with a fine toothed comb. Make a checklist of things to check and do it at the point of the return. I say this because its very easy to get carried away thinking 'wow, I've got it all sorted now & its wonderful' only to discover a few days later that it wasn't quite so wonderful after all.

 

[Rockmark]

My only recommendation is to be a stand-up guy as you work through the situation. If you’re not going to just return the guitar for a full refund and decide to go through the process to have the finish repaired, don’t be one of those d-bags who continually whines about their emotional distress or go on and on about their disappointment (especially online) as a strategy for free sh!t or an upgrade.

I feel really bad for the OP. Saved up for an expensive first PRS (over 4K), the price of some cars and received a product from a large retailer that sent it out not properly inspected. I don't see him whining at all but asking appropriately for suggestions from us of what we think since it's his first PRS. He stated that this was basically an Artist spec'd guit. just downgraded since the top may not be the best. I don't see him working a strategy for anything free or anything other than the same spec'd instrument as replacement. However since it sounds like they don't have another downgraded Artist pack what is unreasonable to ask them to replace it w what they have? Which is what he did. My goodness, the OP was so excited for this piece and now he has to be bummed. Shame on Sweetwater actually for not being stand-up on this and going above and beyond to tickle him to death on this one. The OP sounds like he already knows how to be a stand-up guy, not a whining ------bag.

 

[Klale0819]

I feel really bad for the OP. Saved up for an expensive first PRS (over 4K), the price of some cars and received a product from a large retailer that sent it out not properly inspected. I don't see him whining at all but asking appropriately for suggestions from us of what we think since it's his first PRS. He stated that this was basically an Artist spec'd guit. just downgraded since the top may not be the best. I don't see him working a strategy for anything free or anything other than the same spec'd instrument as replacement. However since it sounds like they don't have another downgraded Artist pack what is unreasonable to ask them to replace it w what they have? Which is what he did. My goodness, the OP was so excited for this piece and now he has to be bummed. Shame on Sweetwater actually for not being stand-up on this and going above and beyond to tickle him to death on this one. The OP sounds like he already knows how to be a stand-up guy, not a whining ------bag.

Wow.......Thank you for your assessment! It's much appreciated.

 

[Klale0819]

Despite reassurances, I would advise going through the replaced/repaired guitar with a fine toothed comb. Make a checklist of things to check and do it at the point of the return. I say this because its very easy to get carried away thinking 'wow, I've got it all sorted now & its wonderful' only to discover a few days later that it wasn't quite so wonderful after all.

That's a good Idea. I'll do that.

 

[Klale0819]

The PTC completely re-fretted it, cut a new nut, and I believe they planed the fretboard, just a hair. The setup was perfect, and it felt like a well “broken in” guitar...to me, it was amazing. Normally, when you get a new guitar, it takes about 6 months of regular playing to make a guitar feel loose and playable, so I was impressed. It takes a highly skilled luthier to pull that off. I also had them rewire it to my specs, so I could switch the pickups in and out the way I wanted. And the cherry on top was I paid a minimal charge for the wiring, and one-way shipping! That’s what I call service...going the extra mile.

Nice!

 

[mark cassidy]

I can't comment directly, based on experience, but from what I have seen on this forum I cannot imagine that PRS would do anything other than look after you properly. I will be interested to hear how your issue plays out.

 

[Tremontinator]

This isn't the first QA/QC problem I've heard about recently.


I bet PRSh comes unglued when he finds out sub-standard guitars left the factory


I would hit the roof if I paid that kind of money and it wasn't mint

 

[Klale0819]

The update from Sweetwater:
Keep the guitar I have for now. They have requested a replacement Guitar from PRS and they will let me know when it ships.
It looks like I will get to make an informed decision when picking my resolution.

Update #2
Prs finally got back to Sweetwater regarding the replacement guitar (July)......prs told them the build would take over a year!!! That's crazy.......So I told them to repair the one I have (July).....prs then tells them the repair won't be complete until December!!

I'm totally bumed to be without my guitar for such a long period of time. This better be one heck of a Christmas present. On a positive note, Sweetwater did give me a 10% discount for my trouble.