UPDATE - What Does this Damage Look Like to You? (Nitro Fender American Vintage II 1960 P-Bass)

#62
DJ Bebop said:
I had my dad’s B-15 too but it had been road hard and put up wet sort to say. It needed help that I wasn't ready to give so I sold it and took the money to get my new B-15 replacement. I need to do a video of the two together.

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The WD 800 man! And the Subway 115, definitely a smoking combo!!! That amp is so killer, I remember when you were considering it, so glad you got it! While I love all the Subway cabs, I have to say that the 115 was probably my favorite and did it ALL. I be they sound mean together — rock on my friend :)
 
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#63
dune said:
So, you insisted on inspecting it together before handing it over and then his first instinct was to just throw the box into the case in front of you?
That says all I would need to know about his level of concern regarding damaging someone else's instrument.
Obviously, the most likely scenario is that he caused the damage himself. I think the whole "factory coverup revealed" theory is just CYA BS - plausible deniability.
Sorry that this has happened to you. You're obviously taking the high road in being so understanding.
If it were me, I would not be letting him do the repair, I would be taking it somewhere I could trust absolutely to fix it perfectly and sending him the bill.

I once took a brand-new car to a shop to get the windows tinted. When the guy was showing me the work, I immediately saw several holes in the leather seat on the passenger side and said, "What's up with that???". He denied it immediately, saying "I never keep anything in my back pockets for that very reason.". Fortunately for me, he then sat in that seat to tweak an edge of the tint and created 2 or 3 more holes which I immediately pointed out. He reached back and pulled a very sharp implement out of his back pocket and said something like "I can't believe I forgot that was there." Fortunately, he was a standup guy who was insured. While he offered to "have his upholstery guy take care of it", I insisted on having a local dealer order and install a brand new factory seat cover. Happy ending to that incident and he paid for it all but given his initial immediate denial, I've always had doubts about it turning out that way had I not been right there when it happened again.
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Yowch, that’s a painful story, and thank goodness you were there… that hurts watching that “live” though I bet… you definitely did the right thing, I’m glad they did the factory replacement for you on the seats, proves that even when someone might honestly not believe they did it, there’s always room for error and or a one-off mishap.

Yeah thank goodness the box was a soft cardboard on the Aguilar pickups, but still, you’re right that was alarming — but I did make it a point to drive home again that it was new, and moving it…. But yeah, should’ve been a red flag for me.

Thankfully he said that if I don’t approve of the work (and I’ve seen his neck repair work, etc prior), that he’d pay to have it fixed. I can live with the cover up, it is a nitro bass — just one glaring bare wood gash wasn’t what I had in mind when I dropped it off for a swap…

Here’s to hoping he does a great job and it can be put to making great music after that :) thanks for the kind words and the tale, and for the story — I definitely know this kind of stuff just happens, will try to take it in stride and learned a valuable lesson (again) :thumbsup:
 
#64
I'll
sludgetail said:
Yeah @Gilmourisgod thank you for the insight, I have to wonder to the same thing. I don’t like blaming folks or getting upset because I mean what’s done is done, but there’s no way I (or probably anyone) wouldn’t have noticed that prior.

If it’s not damage from the tech, it’s gotta be an old fill and fix at the factory to get it off the line, the bass wasn’t a factory second or demo or anything, so I’m just left wondering.

Good news is he said he’s going to repair it for free, and if it doesn’t look up to specs for me he’s going to pay to have it fixed which is integrity on his behalf. That said it’s still a bummer and I am just left wondering what happened there.

I was gonna keep and play this bass so I’m sure it’ll see its share of weird things over the years, so I guess this is the first of those, making it my own — that’s the only way I can look at the situation. Hoping it turns out great and thank you for the help with the repair insight too!!
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I'll Bet he's going to fix it for free, because he very likely caused the damage. I see no integrity in lying. Better be just admitted it was an accident and said he'd make good. Let him fix it and never use him again.
 
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#65
SJan3 said:
I'll

I'll Bet he's going to fix it for free, because he very likely caused the damage. I see no integrity in lying. Better be just admitted it was an accident and said he'd make good. Let him fix it and never use him again.
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Man I wish I could speculate what happened exactly but I do know that whatever did happen, happened on his watch so you’re right there… I feel you on the integrity issue, it would’ve been cool if he had admitted it, but without me seeing it happen it kinda just made it to where I had to accept it unless I wanted to go the hard route or make more problems. Initially he was a bit stand offish about it which was weird — as all I told him was “what can I do at this point, thanks for letting me know,” but I am glad that he offered to fix it and/or pay to fix it if I was unhappy. But that text didn’t come until a while after our initial contact and me just accepting the damage for what it was at that point.

I definitely agree on never using him again, I usually go to a place that is extremely popular and they tape everything off with diapers/towels and blue tape and just take that extra care of my instruments when I need them Plek’d etc… I went to this guy because he had posted great work online and had very reasonable prices (some techs charge $185 for two pickup swap here in Orange County — I wish I was kidding).

That said man, yeah not going back and probably the last time I’d ever pay for a pickup swap or simple setup again. The funny part was is so many of my instruments have a spare set of pickups I want to try in them and I’m reluctant to give them to anyone but also haven’t had the time to do it myself. This was the one time in a long time that I did that and trusted someone, and then got that news :)

It is what it is though, keeping my fingers crossed on the repair, should be decent on a black bass 🤞
 
#66
I’m kinda late to the party. I’m very particular about my basses, so much so that it causes me grief when something happens to any of them.
A couple of weeks ago I was set up outside to play a gig. I brought a brand new Spector NS Pulse II and a Lakland Skyline Red 44-51 without scratch on it and placed them on stands.
About 30 minutes prior to start a pop-up storm came through. I quickly covered my gear with a tarp and bungeed it closed.
There was no way anything was going to get wet. A gust of wind came along and blew both basses over onto the brick flooring.
Needless to say there was some damage but only to the Lakland and it was some minor scratching along the edge of the body.
I’ve decided that everything I play from now on will be a distressed relic.
No worries anymore.
 
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#68
Pep said:
I’m kinda late to the party. I’m very particular about my basses, so much so that it causes me grief when something happens to any of them.
A couple of weeks ago I was set up outside to play a gig. I brought a brand new Spector NS Pulse II and a Lakland Skyline Red 44-51 without scratch on it and placed them on stands.
About 30 minutes prior to start a pop-up storm came through. I quickly covered my gear with a tarp and bungeed it closed.
There was no way anything was going to get wet. A gust of wind came along and blew both basses over onto the brick flooring.
Needless to say there was some damage but only to the Lakland and it was some minor scratching along the edge of the body.
I’ve decided that everything I play from now on will be a distressed relic.
No worries anymore.
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Man I promise you, I’m equally as meticulous and OCD about my gear…. ughhh I feel for you on that wind gust, that sounds terrible and what a crap sight to behold after getting everything locked-down safely and covering it with the tarp… that hurts man, I know it was probably in slo-mo too like a movie. That’s how that stuff always happens, it’s after you’ve basically made it bomb proof and some weird thing like this rears its head. So sorry to hear about that experience =\

I hear you on the distressed/road-worn stuff moving forward lol, that’s the way to go to just ease any worry moving fwd for guys like us :)
 
#69
DrBnz said:
Looks like impact damage to me. But that also looks like a lot of finite scratches around that damage. Kinda odd for a brand new bass.
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For sure pls see the first couple replies where I address this, for whatever reason they seem to be just around the impact damage like they got polished and wiped with something unclean — you can see the surrounding area with the LED on it is clean. Me not being there, I can’t control what he does after the damage is made and/or found(?) so not sure how they got there either, but see the zoomed out pic and zoomed in pic for surrounding areas hit by the same LED.

And yeah the pickguard plastic is still on it as another member pointed out that area looked “rough,” they tend to look tougher with the rough edged opaque plastic on them.
 
#70
I wanted to first and foremost thank everyone who commented and chimed-in here, as well as lent a comforting ear and shoulder or felt for a fellow bass player… moreover, thank you to the guys who shared their horror stories and mishaps, it was a kind “commiserate with me” vibe and that went a long way.

So I have great news! And I didn’t want to post until I went to pick up my instrument, but a couple days after the initial debacle, I got a text from the tech, wherein he let me know that “Since it is likely to have been damaged here, you shouldn't have to deal with a damaged or even repaired body...”

The guy was kind enough and had enough integrity and just good hearted enough to replace my bass with a new one!

Got the COA/matching neckplate, since he was setting it up for me, he got me gut shots of the pickup cavity with all the barcodes and product, as well as the neck pocket with the stamps — alongside my old one which had the same markings/codes and serials all matched up on the decoder too. He’s going to fully refinish the other one and sell it, but he took quite a loss and I feel for the dude — I know that accidents happen and it’s definitely not the outcome either of us we’re looking for when I dropped off my new bass =\

Unbelievably grateful and what I didn’t mention because I may have been a bit embarrassed about the situation and also the fact that I didn’t wanna jinx it, but he had 5 of my instruments with him for setup and pickup switch-out (like I said I just haven’t had the time given the circumstances we’re in and they just been sitting)…

Happy to report that those came back beyond stellar!

Anyhow, just a thank you to all who chimed in and for the help/friendship as well as to let you know there was indeed a happy ending. I like to think that cooler heads prevail and that given the situation, I’ve learned that staying positive is the key.

Amazing stuff and here she is with the new Aguilar DCB-4P dual ceramics installed. Will report back once I get some time to thump on her through the SVT Anniversary or GK Fusion S 212 Combo with some YYZ pedal thrown in for good measure :)

Thanks again and stay happy/think positive y’all… now time to oil up that board on this thing!

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