Re-Titled: My Adventure Buying Without Trying

[Shaker]

Disclaimer: I was full aware of potential problems when I purchased a used SR400EQT but I have to say, dumping basses with blatant defects is beyond my comprehension. If someone without the ability to make it a great bass bought this they would be pissing away a lot of cash for the headache that arrived this afternoon. To say it is comical is to putting it lightly.

This bass has a flawless finish but the setup is something GC needs to adress. I gave up as soon as I opened the box to find these issues. GC could not have been happier when it came to refunding a nice chunk of the purchase price. The knew it was a lemon when it was traded in.

The truss rod route was cut off center and the cover is missing a screw. The neck had over an 1/8” backbow. None of this is a big deal since I got a really good deal and also a nice refund for just speaking up. I really cannot stress enough to avoid online online buying if at all possible without lots of pictures and maybe a video link. Go to your local store and try something out to find the ONE that feels right. Online is hit or miss on its best day. Beware of the “deals” out there. I will post more pics as time permits since it is all on video.

The bass is in pieces as it needed end filing etc. and after the filing it will get a nice polish before I plug it in.

[Barney]

@Shaker

I really cannot stress enough to avoid online online buying if at all possible

I’ve bought numerous basses, amps, pedals etc online and never had a problem.

I had a faulty bass cabinet once. Contacted the store and got a full refund and free shipping as per their policy.

The key before buying is to confirm the refund policy.

A lot of us don’t live in big towns with access to music shops.

Rarely does absolute advice fit everyone in this forum. Unless it’s don’t drink bleach. That’s not a good idea. Hopefully we can all agree on that.

[Vader]

@Barney

A lot of us don’t live in big towns with access to music shops.

This.

The music store in my town has maybe 5 basses in stock at any time. And like two amps.

[Shaker]

They would have given me a full refund. That was not the issue. Poor work on the bench is, and it does not matter where you reside. Shit work is still shit. I wish I wasn’t close to any music store.

[Barney]

I genuinely don’t understand.

If you weren’t happy, then take the full refund.

If you were ok with the bass including the faults for the price then again no problem.

Life’s too short to complain about things out of your control.

[Al1885]

Well, they don’t know enough to do it properly anyways. How much do you have to pay people to care? That’s what GC is the king of low price. I scored some great deal misidentify model all the time. I’m kinda accept the inevitable and deal with the short coming for that deal.

[Rob5589]

A full refund is in order here. Why would you accept anything less? The potential future headache isn’t worth a partial refund, IMHO.

[MikeC]

I’ve bought all eight of my basses online. They all arrived perfectly fine without a single QC issue.

I think the moral is to really know the track record of a vendor you’re buying from. Personally, I’d consider GC to be more hit-or-miss than most other online vendors with pro staffs and bona fide customer service track records.

[Shaker]

I am happy with the results after nice partial refund. Customer service was glad to give me a nice discount for my trouble. Perhaps I hit the lottery again with regard to buying online on Reverb and GC.

It doesn’t seem like good policy to falsely advertise products knowing that someone with no ability to do their own repair work would have to pay another person to fix what should not be an issue in the first place. Returning would have been an option but I would rather keep it and set it up the way I want it. For a few hundred dollars more I could have just bought one when I was at the local GC or ordered one. Good help is hard to find I guess. In the end I have a bass with no blemishes, a new hard case, and more cash than I had when the day started.

It is about honesty. Period. We are only as good as our word. And yes, life is short, no need to deal with the headaches others create. I am old and set in my ways I guess. My apologies if some are offended by this.

[Shaker]

@Rob5589

A full refund is in order here. Why would you accept anything less? The potential future headache isn’t worth a partial refund, IMHO

Because I can do the work to make it right in less time than going through the return process.

[Shaker]

New title. Is that acceptable?

[Barney]

@Shaker

My apologies if some are offended by this.

I’m not offended but maybe going forward before you create a new topic and post maybe ponder; should I sit and think about it for a while? Cool heads and all that.

Otherwise it just seems like you’re complaining for the sake of complaining and nobody wants to hear that on here.

I mean if you like complaining there are other forums that really specialize in that and I can point you in that direction if that’s your thing

[howard]

I think it’s fair to call them out for deceptive advertising but after that I would have seen this as a positive experience. “I got a sweet kickback from GC because they lied about the condition.”

[Shaker]

@MikeC

I’ve bought all eight of my basses online. They all arrived perfectly fine without a single QC issue.

I think the moral is to really know the track record of a vendor you’re buying from. Personally, I’d consider GC to be more hit-or-miss than most other online vendors with pro staffs and bona fide customer service track records.

Sweetwater would be my go-to if I ever want another instrument. Buying used in person is probably the way to do it but it is hard to find just what you want. Anything setup related is no problem and I take apart everything to do things right. If it is playable out of the case then that is not false advertising. An instrument being sold as “Excellent! No scratches! Like New!” begs to take your money, especially when it comes with a hard case. This one is a keeper and will be king of the hill as soon as I polish the frets, oil the board, put the neck back on, and finish the setup. It really is a nice design and I cannot wait until tomorrow afternoon to get started.

It is my first quilted top instrument and I cannot find a scratch or ding on it.

[Shaker]

@Barney you are spot on and I will take your advice. In the end, it is all good and I wasn’t looking to butt heads. Also, the places you could direct me to have probably banned me already. Lol

I am a glutton for self-punishment sometimes. It is probably why when I was working, it was not that bad being very hard of hearing since it allowed me to filter out other people which allowed me to create some incredible plumbing/heating systems in the homes of the wealthiest clients and to have them request that I am the one they want to work on their projects was a nice bonus.

[Shaker]

One common denominator on the two used basses I have purchased is going to raise concerns in any future purchase.

[CrayWolf]

I had a similarly frustrating experience buying the bass I wanted online. I made a thread about it but the short version is (and mind you this all went down over about two weeks, I had all three of these floating on my credit card at one point):

First attempt: Guitar Center assured me it was brand new and had only been briefly out of the box. What arrived was covered in dust, the nut securing the input jack was missing, the knobs all crackled, and everything was out of adjustment. They offered me $50 off. I returned it.

Second attempt: Ordered one off Reverb from a supposedly reputable shop, one with a physical location that’s been in business for many years, listed as mint condition but with only one photo. This is what arrived. Sent it back too.

Third attempt: Sweetwater had one brand new one left … or at least, they did the day before. By the time I thought I’d just pay full price for theirs, it was gone.

Fourth attempt: Ended up buying another one from Reverb, this time a copy listed as B stock with detailed pictures of exactly what was wrong. It arrived in exactly the same condition shown in the photos, with a gig bag, I saved $300 on it, and I can live with the one flaw:

@Shaker

dumping basses with blatant defects is beyond my comprehension

This is how I felt about the first two. A Guitar Center manager told a blatant lie to the Guitar Center phone rep about the condition of the first bass to get it out of his store. The second shop from Reverb may have been lying or it may have been damaged after they last inspected it, but the lack of photos on their listing should have been a red flag.

But it’s not scaring me off of buying online. Instead I’ll stick to reputable sellers (which GC clearly is not) who put lots of detailed photos in their listing, and to make sure I always have a return option available.

I may as well plug the shop that treated me well. They specialize in B-stock and discounted gear.

Guitar Sloth

https://reverb.com/shop/guitarsloth

[howard]

Really amazing how they both messed up string winding in different ways.

[Shaker]

@Rob5589

A full refund is in order here. Why would you accept anything less? The potential future headache isn’t worth a partial refund, IMHO

It is now absolutely mint. Just finished the setup. Action is as low as I it gets which is how I like it. The nut width will take a bit of getting used to but for the $$$ I am not complaining from this point on.

I edited out and added a few things that upon reflection needed to be adressed.

The intonation was way off when you compare the photos. The notes really ring out nicely.

[Shaker]

Juat found out none of my plugins work due to the depth of the jack. Ordered 1/4” Female to male extensions. If it was a beat up pos it would get the dremel treatment. Lol

I am going to pull the cover off and see if there is a way to push if out further to eliminatd the extension but won’t hold my breath.