TalkBass.com

Sold me a bass that had two major issues (that were NOT disclosed).

1 - The bass had several frets that were not seated. 2 or 3 of these I could actually get a piece of paper under. The paper easily fit under the frets between the fret and the fret board and I could push the paper about 1/16" into the surface of the fret board under the frets. This caused buzzing when digging in with medium finger style, especially when attempting to let a note to ring. Had to jack up the action very high to prevent buzz.

I took the bass to a very well known and reputable luthier (Mike Forester of Forester Customs). He found the same issue and told me to fix it, several frets would have to be pulled, glued, reseated and leveled. Would have cost me $175 if I had kept her. The bass was only $320, so I asked to return it.

He posted videos of him playing the bass after he got it back. I'm sure that he had the action high and played with a light touch because if you lower the action to a reasonable level (especially on the E side) and dig in at all, it buzzes and rattles.

2 - The neck pickup's output was about 1/2 of the other pickups, even when I raised the height. This should have at least ben disclosed in my humble opinion.

I sent him pictures of the paper under the frets and also told him he could even call my luthier to let him tell him his findings with the bass. He wanted no parts of it.

Because of these issues (especially the neck issues), I asked for a return and asked because of the severity of undisclosed issues, that he pickup return shipping. He refused. I offered to split shipping with him. He refused again.


Addl info:
These two pictures alone should have justified the return. There were others similar frets as well. You can clearly see the paper well under the fret under the fret board. Looking down the neck, you could see these frets raised and higher than the others. This caused buzzing and rattling on the E string with anything lower than medium action. He refused to acknowledge this and claimed that frets like this were "normal".

My luthier, Mike Forrester (who is very well known and reputable) concurred that the frets had issues and many needed to be pulled, reseated (and glued) and leveled to make it right.






Timeline from my side

I buy the bass
I receive the bass
Upon unboxing the bass, I immediately notice a fret issue and contacted the seller letting him know and also stating I was going to take it to my luthier to examine
I offer to eat the cost if the repair is not too much as I really like the bass and did want to keep it
I take it to my luthier and he confirms the frets are bad and says it will be expensive to repair ($175)
I let the seller know and ask to return. I also ask for a prepaid shipping label since the fret issue should have been disclosed.
Seller says no to shipping so I ask to split. You again say no.
I asked that since the bass was going to be in route, would the seller consider processing my refund once shipped (after I provide the tracking), because Paypal refund process can take several days.
Seller again refuses.

Very tough to work with. I would avoid.

Thank you for your re-writing your feedback, Quadzilla. I appreciate and respect your take on the events.

However, I do disagree with the timeline of events, the condition of the instrument, it's frets, it's action, and what was stated that I "wanted no part of". You shipped the instrument back before I could answer all of your messages to me. I refunded the full purchase price immediately upon arrival and videoed myself playing as I normally play.

As full disclosure and to allow others to decide for themselves should they care to do so, the actual transcript of the transaction can be found in screen captured form at the link below. Also note, I am a luthier and bass tech, as disclosed in my profile and my discourse with Quadzilla.
(click the image to zoom in after the jump)
https://darrenmichaelsbass.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/fredyankefellow.jpg

My negative feedback on Quadzilla, which was posted before he left his negative feedback on me, can be found under his trading profile as a link cannot be shared here. It includes a video of me playing the bass before it was sold and a clip of me playing the bass immediately upon it's return. At the time of this posting, Quadzilla's and my initial back and forth about the negative feedback I left for the sale is in the comments there as well. Talkbass moderators may deem it necessary to alter that.

Also necessary for inclusion—upon leaving feedback for the sale to Quadzilla, I received a message from him to my private email account which he only had access to due to the sales transaction. I emailed him back indicating that I will be including his message on Talkbass to which he replied "Have at it." His entire email is quoted in the following,

Fred Yankellow (aka Quadzilla) said, "I'm 99.7% certain that the negative feedback you left me will have 0% chance of preventing anyone on talkbass dealing with me. You quite obviously are the angry one. Get some meds man (or get back on them). You obviously have some issues....."

Lastly, to address the pictures of the bass's frets with the paper.
1)This is a piece of copy paper in the photo, not a metal feeler gauge or other object that could not be torn, cut, or otherwise manipulated to look like it's underneath a fret.

2)Bound fretboards do not have a fret tang all the way to the binding. The tang is in the middle of the fret and cut short of binding as to not crack the binding.

3)Knowing the information about bound fretboards, take a close look at the other photo Quadzilla sent me (note the different angle and that it is not included in his feedback). The photo is below this bullet point. If you draw an imaginary line following the edge of the binding under the fret and follow the angle of the paper, you'll notice the paper is NOT crossing the intersection of these two lines as that's where the tang is seated into the fretboard. To restate: in the middle of the fret where the binding meets the board, there is a tang seated in the wood that keeps the paper from going further. This is a seated fret. Remember once again that Quadzilla did not include this photo in the feedback above, but it was in his messages to me.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff175/Quadzilla69/New/20151105_130326_zpsnfc6moz5.jpg

I feel I politely and respectfully made my case. Decide for yourself should you feel inclined to so.

Quadzilla, I wish you well in your future endeavors and harbor no ill will towards you. Be well and may peace be with you.

Darren Michaels

Other photo

Other fretboard photo should it become unavailable elsewhere
https://darrenmichaelsbass.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/20151105_130326_zpsnfc6moz5.jpg

Approximate position of the properly seated fret tang drawn in red.

I disagree and I had a professional, fulltime luthier (Mike Forrester of Forrester Kustoms) go over the bass in great detail before I asked to return it.

When I got the bass, I tuned it and played it., I immediately noticed a good amount of buzzing on the E string.

I then looked down the neck from the body and also from the headstock and I could clearly see a few frets sticking up higher than the others.

I then looked at the neck closely from the side and saw the gaps between the frets and the fretboard in a few spots.

I then took a piece of printer paper and was able to slide it under the frets that looked high.

I cannot do this on my other basses. The frets on my other basses are tight against the fret board.

I then raised the string saddles (mostly on the E string where the frets were highest off the board) and was able to play the bass without much buzzing, but the action was above medium-high and I prefer mine medium-low to low. To get it to stop buzzing, it had to be set on the side.

So I contacted the seller and told him about the issue and took it to Mike (my luthier). He took a good, long look at the bass. He said the bass was solid with the execption of the fret work. He also found the high frets and in addition, detected others that were not fully seated by tapping on them. The ones that were high clearly had a hollow ring when tapped and the others that were seated sounded very solid.

There were frets up and down the neck that were solid (well seated) and others that were hollow (not seated). The ones that were hollow, you could literally see the gap between the fretboard and fret and he was able to get a thin feeler gauge underneath without issue or forcing it.

He grabbed another bass there with good frets and showed me how they all sounded solid up and down the neck.


So I conclude that this bass in fact DID have loose frets. Making a video does not mean anything as you can raise the action to make it not buzz, or if he is a luthier as he says, he can pull and reseat the frets to make them right and then record the video.

Check my 385+ 100% positive feedbacks here. I've had hundreds of basses in my hands and know what I am talking about and just to be safe and back it up, I actually took it to a pro. Don't believe me? Feel free to contact Mike at Forrester Kustoms yourself. He will validate everything I said.

And I will post this publicly that two can play the social media game. He posted at least twice about me on his Twitter account, even disclosing my given name publicly. So I feel the need to also do the same. Shame I have to stoop to that level, but I feel that I have no choice but to defend myself.....