New Guitar Day - W-what Would You Do?

[CBA]

Fuzzers-

I bought an American Standard Telecaster today from a high-end new & vintage guitar store. It's an amazing guitar... sounds wonderful, feels wonderful, looks wonderful. Cost me a bit over a grand.

ANYWAY. As I'm paying for the guitar, the clerk goes to get some shit to "clean it up" for me, i.e. getting some of the slight dust and fingerprints off of it. As he's doing this, he lifts the guitar out of the Fender hardshell case that comes with the Tele and bonks the lower left edge of it against the metal binding on the case. He looks at it and says "Oops... well, it didn't leave a mark... sorry about that." and puts the guitar back in the case.

I get home and enjoy my time with the guitar and my fuzzes, and it sounds super dope. However, I examine the area in which it was bonked whilst being "cleaned up", and like I said, there is a very small SMALL dent in the body (like if you were holding it to play it, it would be on the top side where your picking arm crosses the body, but on the back edge). For the most part, it's imperceptible unless you look for it, but it is there nonetheless.

I am quite picky with my equipment. I take VERY good care of it, and rarely nick or scratch my stuff, from guitars to pedals to amps to whatever. I am somewhat beside myself that there is already a dent on the body of my new and moderately expensive guitar... although it is a very very small dent. The guitar is great, and is everything I wanted... I'm just not good at accepting damage, however superficial, by someone else on one of my instruments, especially as it's being purchased.

What would you do in this situation? Suck it up? Get a replacement? Shrug it off and not worry about little things like this? Get pissed off?

C

[Achtane]

Mmm...well, I understand your desire to keep your stuff in good condition. Having a guitar you just bought dinged is cringe-worthy, but I think getting a replacement would be excessive if the damage is truly superficial. I don't actively place my guitars in harm's way but I feel that they're gonna get roughed up a bit through use anyway so personally this wouldn't bother me too much.

So...I know what you're saying but I think you should let it go and roll with it. The initial shock will heal and besides, you won't be able to see it when you're playing

[nieh]

I would get very pissed off. I'm the same way with my gear. I would go back and ask for a replacement.

[Mudfuzz]

I would get very pissed off. I'm the same way with my gear. I would go back and ask for a replacement.

It might not sound the same though, no two ever really do... or the replacement might sound better... or not...

If it was me I would have not brought it home without getting the price knocked down at the very least.

[CBA]

Friends,

I wrote to the showroom manager with whom I had been in contact about the guitar before going in to play it. I explained the situation to him (politely) and we'll just have to wait and see what his response is.

I do understand both sides of the argument here, as far as the two previous posts between Muddy and nieh. It is possible that the replacement would not be as good (or could be better!), so it's all risky. The truth is, I would rather have a guitar that I personally know is pristine from the start, especially at $1,000 plus some tax, and that any wear and tear on it is strictly because of me and thus easier to swallow or take responsibility for... even if it wasn't quite as good as this one. It's all about making the guitar MINE, special, as opposed to someone else's, or Mine Yet There's That Scar That Happened Due To The Carelessness Of Someone Else (Especially In This Case At Point Of Purchase).

We'll see how I feel tomorrow, I guess.

C

[theactionindex]

Good luck mang. Definitely not cool to have your new gear blemished at the fault of the salesperson, of all people. Who knows, maybe you could get discountz?

[Mudfuzz]

If that is how you feel then yes I would push for a replacement. As nieh said I would also have been pissed, but I would not have left the store before looking it over myself. And THAT could be the one point that might go against you, you took his word for it and took it home. That is way I said if it was me I would have asked to look at it after saying DUDE many times and asked to have the price knocked down for a now used/flawed instrument.

[CBA]

As silly as it MIGHT sound, I'm not interested in a discount. I went in there with my cash (figuratively), knowing what I was going to pay for a brand new guitar, fully expecting to get what I paid for.

And yeah, perhaps I should have looked it over ONE MORE TIME as I was leaving, and not just taken the guy's word for it. D'know. I'm admittedly not good at confrontations like that.

C

[Mudfuzz]

The discount thing is not about money as much as making them be responsible, same as a replacement in the end, if you can live with the dent and LOVE THAT guitar if you can't and want a pristine guitar then I'd say I hope they replace it for you, I also hope the salesman cops to it. I don't like confrontations either but a G is a lot of money and if you are willing to pay that out for a instrument you have to make sure you are getting what you are paying for, that's all.

[Achtane]

As soon as I posted that I knew it wasn't really the best viewpoint.

The discount thing is not about money as much as making them be responsible, same as a replacement in the end, if you can live with the dent and LOVE THAT guitar if you can't and want a pristine guitar then I'd say I hope they replace it for you, I also hope the salesman cops to it. I don't like confrontations either but a G is a lot of money and if you are willing to pay that out for a instrument you have to make sure you are getting what you are paying for, that's all.

This is how it is.

[htsamurai]

Yeah, I'm of the opinion that you handled it the right way and that Muddy is correct. best wishes man

[starcastic]

I would sock a motherfucker in the eye. And then not recall.

[Holy Schnikes]

Dude, that is quite the shitty situation. I'm also very good to my gear but regardless, these things will happen over time, especially if you play live. That being said, I vividly remember each moment that one of my new guitars took it's first damage, but eventually I no longer noticed or cared, just gives the instrument some character. However, this initial damage never occurred DURING purchase DUE to a sales guy, always something caused by myself which is much easier to accept and forget about.

I agree that if you're happy with the price you paid, a discount would be irrelevant compared to a pristine guitar, which is what a new guitar should be. Sadly though, guitars vary so widely in playability, sound quality, and overall build quality that it could be a HUGE risk letting a good one go and receiving a lesser instrument without a small cosmetic issue, one nobody will ever notice but you. Then you'd be stuck and when it comes down to it, how your guitar sounds and plays is what's truly important.

[starcastic]

Once I get a guitar in my hands I fuck it up regardless. First show gets at least 3-5 dings when I smack it up, flip it and rub it down. But if someone else does the fucking-up I want $$ off that.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

What would you do in this situation? Suck it up? Get a replacement? Shrug it off and not worry about little things like this? Get pissed off?

C

Honestly, I'd stick with an instrument that has the good feel. In use the instruments, no matter how good looked after, are very likely to catch a few nicks here and a few dents there and then it's going to get some belt buckle rash from Your friend if not from You, and a clumsy tech trips on the stage right before You're getting on, and so on and such...

...but I understand You, been in the situation with a Hamer Ch-12 bass. Had a visible mark that I noticed only after back in home, but the thing also had a piece of shit saddle that broke during the first string change Had it fixed, like, properly, by the shop and they did it with a smile since I clearly said I loved this specific axe 'even if You nicked the neck already fo rme'.