OK then. I bought my EMG DC35 and CS35 soapbar pickup like...now 10 years ago. Warranty is usually 1-2 year from the Swedish wholesaler. After 5-6 years one of the pickups (in this case, neck) started to "frazzle" and make som ambient noise. Of course I though batteries first, but no. Recorded onto computer, ramped it up with volume, and mailed it to them of what can the problem be...they took a while before they answered.
One week and a half they returned with "no, that noise shouldn't be there, we'll send you a new one, give us your details" To which I reply "oh wait, it's not within warranty it's 5 years old, and if so, how do I send this back?" to which they immediately replied "hey you don't need to, send it back, it's our gaffe, it shouldn't sound like that after 5 years or even... ever". Then I thought, there must be some catch to this, so I figured "I believe it when I see it". So 2 weeks later it turned up in my mail, didn't have to pay for shipment over the pond, or need to send that crapped-out one back. If it was within warranty period, I would've understood this, but 5 years?!
That's customer service to me.
Alright, they sure have calculated all this, and included in the price that if someone have beefs, don't hold grudges but just get on with it. It's more expensive for them to bicker back and forth, litigiations, bla bla, and just send a new one, and with this policy, everybody's happy and silent. And the internet "reviews" are on the good side always. I think the shipment these days are not much of a deal for them. And one pickup here and there, it's not a too huge loss. But anyway, I had worse problems with ESP/LTD which took almost more than half a year to replace a crappy vol pot because of its really obscure and unusual dimensions and values. On a brand new bass, that WAS within warranty.
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Thus: This is an anomaly for EMG.
