NBD sad bass day, Willcox Lightwave

[Wyvern]

So, to start off, I had a Lightwave 5 back a few years ago, absolutely amazing bass, but I sold it to get something else and regretted selling it.
I got a used one from GC, bass was very well made, but it was thrashed so I decided to bite the bullet and get a new one from Willcox themselves.

Got a NOS SL5 Hex, but the neck was backbowed and the heel was shot, pots in the wrong holes, and the bridge pieces were loose.Local lutheir said fixing the neck was a lost cause, Willcox sent me a new neck that was better, very cool, but I wasn't liking the neck joint or the fat scratch plate that acted like a ramp and construction was iffy.

I asked to return it and upgrade for a VL (another $400) and returned the SL on my dime ($97) I told the associate several times to make sure it's right and tight, I'll be patient to get a good instrument.

I get it and it's the worst constructed bass I've ever seen, routing flaws, huge neck shim, neck was loose, pots wrong (again) cracked fretboard and a horrible setup with oxidized frets to boot.

I told him what is wrong and gave photos and completely ignored my concerns.


Finally I asked for a refund and explained that I don't want to get stuck with a poor quality piece and wasn't happy that no QC was done.


He gets back tells me to return, I'll get my money, he's "out" and never contact him again.

So, hours of chatting, going to a lutheir, and $300 in shipping I have nothing to show for it.

Awesome technology, absolutely horrible quality and QC, I hate to see small builders go out but they deserve it if this is the norm.

$1600 bass by the way- not a Fadora, but not a $100 Glarry.

 

[bholder]

sad

 

[ghostdog93]

Wow, that's crazy bad QC and maybe worse CS.

 

[Wyvern]

sad

I so much wanted to get a good bass and praise it up and down, even planned showcasing it on YouTube.
I would've accepted "Hey, this one has these issues, do you still want it or do you want to wait for a new one?"

I would've waited a month or two, but instead I'm sent something obviously kindling like I'm an idiot and I'm treated like the bad guy with unreasonable expectations.

18 years, 18 and I've never had production issues like this, a bad nut- yes, a bad pot yes, but on sub $500 basses
and that's easy for QC to miss

 

[hvymetallurgist]

I remember seeing a used Lightwave in my local GC for the first time...was excited to give it a try until I plucked it off the wall and sat down with it. Worst ski ramp I've ever seen, kinda kick myself for not taking a pic to use as an example when the topic comes up. Was used in a GC so have to take that (and the myriad other quality issues it had) with a grain of salt but was one of those rare n=1 sample size experiences that put me off the brand.

 

[Wyvern]

I remember seeing a used Lightwave in my local GC for the first time...was excited to give it a try until I plucked it off the wall and sat down with it. Worst ski ramp I've ever seen, kinda kick myself for not taking a pic to use as an example when the topic comes up. Was used in a GC so have to take that (and the myriad other quality issues it had) with a grain of salt but was one of those rare n=1 sample size experiences that put me off the brand.

I'm in the camp that a modern instrument should never need a shim, CNC work should have it dead-nuts on, just another place for the neck to warp.

The heel on the first is the worst the guitar tech has ever seen. Past 15th fret was unusable.

 

[John K]

Man that bites!!!

 

[KevInDaBassment]

He gets back tells me to return, I'll get my money, he's "out" and never contact him again...

Wow, that's some A+ customer service right there

Agreed, if you can find the things you pointed out tight as a snare drum on a sub-$500 production bass, a custom $1500+ shouldn't have those issues. The irritating part is his attitude when presented with the issues you showed him. You're not complaining about color or subjective perception of tone, these are workmanship flaws and not up for discussion as faults. Sorry to hear you had that experience, OP...hope you can find something that works out soon

 

[Thonk]

Wow seems Willcox have zero idea about customer service or how sales and customer feedback/perception shapes the modern market place in age of the internet...I did have a passing interest in trying/buying one of their 5 strings....No way will i take a chance now, (seem they have little idea of how to make a Quality instrument as well given your pics....)

thanks for your clear and level headed feedback, shame your so out of pocket because of Willcox's poopy customer support, take solace in the fact that many other ppl will see this and not be treated inn the same poopy way, good on you.

 

[ole Jason]

Are they not routing with a CNC or jig? How does that even happen?

 

[Hot Rats]

Man, I was intrigued by these when I saw them last month. I had an original prototype and was thinking of grabbing one of these Wilcox versions. I am so glad you posted this and bummed that you got a bunk bass.

 

[Wyvern]

Wow seems Willcox have zero idea about customer service or how sales and customer feedback/perception shapes the modern market place in age of the internet...I did have a passing interest in trying/buying one of their 5 strings....No way will i take a chance now, (seem they have little idea of how to make a Quality instrument as well given your pics....)

thanks for your clear and level headed feedback, shame your so out of pocket because of Willcox's poopy customer support, take solace in the fact that many other ppl will see this and not be treated inn the same poopy way, good on you.

I will say this, I bought a 6 string custom from a member here, absolutely stellar instrument, best made bass I have ever, ever owned.

It's from 2017 I think, MAYBE practices and management was better 9 years ago, but no way in hell would I fork them over $4000 today.

I was not expecting $4000 quality from their Korean models (suspect they are chinese now) but I expected at least low-end LTD quality for a $1600 piece of gear.

I suspect they are struggling as all their in-stock basses are NOS with rust on hardware, warped necksand dead strings.

They seem to be selling manufacture seconds as full fat new instruments.

But how hard is it to make sure the pots are in right and hardware tight?

 

[Wyvern]

Man, I was intrigued by these when I saw them last month. I had an original prototype and was thinking of grabbing one of these Wilcox versions. I am so glad you posted this and bummed that you got a bunk bass.

They are badass basses on paper, they just need to execute it properly.

Best thing they can do is sell the rights to the tech and let someone else make the woodwork.

 

[Wyvern]

No clue how they built the bass, scary that they said "yep that's good" and finished the build.

Korean instruments are usually neck and neck with Japanese builders.

 

[JamesGrant]

Wierd that the routing would be so sloppy, maybe they didn’t bother with a jig and just eyeballed it with a pencil outline. Which is MUCH harder to do!!

 

[Wyvern]

Currently waiting for a response to return the bass with an RMA, Kind of hard to do when customer service tells you not to ever contact them again.

Nuclear option is PayPal, but they are a pain to deal with too.

I'm just hoping they'll be professional and I won't have to file a claim.

I believe in honey vs. vinegar and I always give people second chances, but I'm not a sucker, I know when I'm being taken advantage of.

 

[Hot Rats]

Currently waiting for a response to return the bass with an RMA, Kind of hard to do when customer service tells you not to ever contact them again.

Nuclear option is PayPal, but they are a pain to deal with too.

I'm just hoping they'll be professional and I won't have to file a claim.

I believe in honey vs. vinegar and I always give people second chances, but I'm not a sucker, I know when I'm being taken advantage of.

Man, cover your ass. Don't let these clowns delay....make a claim asap. Anything can be resolved after wards but get it on record. Get paypal involved. Good luck.

 

[Wyvern]

Not a peep from Willcox.
Everything is documented, I'm going to ship it back and alert PayPal of the situation just in case.

It just sucks that one person is killing brand image, they'd rather post memes on Facebook than take care of their customers and products.

Going with MTD next, they seem to be on the ball with customer support and Quality control as "B-stock" basses only have minor defects on Kingston Chinese models- you also don't see people with absolute duds.

Look at Dingwall! Chinese instruments but absolutely stellar quality control and in-house finishing.

 

[Wyvern]

18 days no word, the first bass was delivered a while ago, the second "upgrade" was unable to be delivered because no one accepted it.

I'm out $194 in shipping and my $1500 is still up in the air.

Don't do business with them guys, this is BAD business practice.

I did absolutely nothing to deserve this, I was honest, patient and professional, Only thing I said is I compared his bass with a Temu bass and what you can see clearly is that was not an exaggeration.

I have never had a customer service issue with any instrument company like this or any company for that matter and I deal with many as I am a fleet manager and deal with dozens of vendors all over the globe.

 

[Wyvern]

Had the return for 3 days now, no word, no refund.

Just gets better and better.