Crank on a new Hohner B2AV

[Busty]

Hi there,

I'm very new here and i hope you don't mind giving me an opinion about the following issue:

I bought a new Hohner B2AV five string bass about three months ago (online).
After one two months of gentle use at home, i discovered a crank on the backside.
The instrument hasn't taken any knock and has always been handled with care…

The instrument was sold with a 12-month warranty. I took some time for the seller to take my reclamation seriously, and i finally had to send the Bass back, from Belgium to GB. Now i got this message from Hohner saying that "the damage has been caused by impact, and they are not willing to resolve it under the terms of the warranty".
Believe me: this bass has never suffered from any impact while i used it and there ar no traces of any so-called impact.
I own a Sandberg (for 15years), a Cort (for 10 years) and a Sqier PB who have never suffered from any damage.
As far as i know, you wouln't be able to cause such a crank unless you throw the bass from the second floor!

I'm very pissed off.
What would you do? You may have a look:

Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed

Doesn't it look like this is resulting from several combined causes?
— The binding of the leg rest.
— Screwholes of the battery space + the edge of the body around it beeing quite thin.
— Maybe even a default of the wood used for the body.

Cheers ;-)
Thanks for eventual input…

 

[Webtroll]

If they can't prove impact damage I can't see them putting up much of a fight. In the event you can't get it replaced it doesn't look like a serious repair job, but it would need a refin to look good and you'd likely lose the SN#. Since the crack appears to run through 2 separate pieces or wood and is near the lap rest I'd say it certainly looks like an impact crack, as if something torqed the bass near or at the rest. Sucks that it happened to a new instrument, good luck in getting that resolved!

 

[Busty]

Thanks, Webtroll

They can't prove it! I forgot to add this part of their "report":

On inspection we had found if there was a flaw in the wood the mentioned crack would have gone with the grain and not against the grain, indicating to us that the guitar may have had cause to be dropped although there were no impact marks it is possible it could have been dropped in a gig bag or on a carpet.

Seriously, i heard better jokes on april 1st. :scowl:

 

[bongomania]

How do you suppose the crack happened? And how did it take you two months to notice it?

 

[Busty]

How do you suppose the crack happened?

I have no clue except what i wrote before, meaning a combination of:
— The binding of the leg rest.
— Screwholes of the battery space + the edge of the body around it beeing quite thin.
— Maybe even a default of the wood used for the body.

All i did was playing at home, i took it once to go playing at a friends place. It never fell, no knock i know of.
But it's making its third transport at this moment… in a cardboard box.

And how did it take you two months to notice it?

I have no idea. A friend pointed at it while he was opening the battery space…

 

[THand]

what is that white looking stuff in the crack? I wonder if it was repaired at the factory and the repair didn't take? I would try to get a refund or replacement.

 

[Busty]

I'd say it's probably just the light colour of the wood contrasting with the finish…
And what about this:
"On inspection we had found if there was a flaw in the wood the mentioned crack would have gone with the grain and not against the grain"

If i got this right, isn't it exactly the opposite??
To me, the crack is following the same orientation as the grain…

 

[bongomania]

I think that's just a language confusion. "With the grain" means in the same direction as the grain, and following the lines/curves of the grain. "Against the grain" means going across, perpendicular to, the lines of the grain. The major crack shown is clearly against the grain.

 

[Busty]

OK i think that's the way i understood it. The way i see the crank on the side (top picture) it's going WITH the grain and the "continuation" of the crack on the bottom of the bass (bottom picture) going AGAINST… but i agree that's not very logical because its supposed to be the same piece of wood.