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New bass, neck defect/blemish, worth keeping? (RESOLVED)

#41
A lot of people saying this is no big deal, and they’d keep it. Which is true, and I might end up keeping it as well, but they seem to be glossing over something I said in post 18.. That is I had known about it, I wouldn’t have bought the bass.

And it’s not that I feel wronged by the vendor because I don’t think they purposely hid it, I just feel a bit down about it, and it taints a NBD.
 
#42
Koshchei said:
It would not bother me at all. If it affected playing, I'd take some very high grit sandpaper and wet sand it down very gently.

I'd also change the title of this thread. What you have is a cosmetic blemish, not a neck defect, or a defect of any kind.
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That’s fair. I didn’t know what it was at first, which is why I said defect. But isn’t “imperfection” one of the definitions of defect?
 
#43
beaglesandbass said:
A lot of people saying this is no big deal, and they’d keep it. Which is true, and I might end up keeping it as well, but they seem to be glossing over something I said in post 18.. That is I had known about it, I wouldn’t have bought the bass.

And it’s not that I feel wronged by the vendor because I don’t think they purposely hid it, I just feel a bit down about it, and it taints a NBD.
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Understood - if you decide to keep it and want more detailed instructions on how to clean it up, pm me. For point of reference, I bought a Fender Players P Bass with a maple neck and didn't like the look of the glossy finish on the fingerboard, so I wet sanded the whole thing. Came out perfect. Took me maybe 30 minutes, and that was every inch of the fingerboard. My take - if you love the bass otherwise, its worth fixing it. You might send it back and get another bass that doesn't feel as good to you as this one. Minor cosmetic things like this are easy to fix, playability issues not so much.
 
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#45
A little scraping with a razor blade would probably fix it in less than a minute.

Razor-Scrape-300x225.jpg
 
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#46
beaglesandbass said:
Even if it doesn't affect the sound or playability, the bump is definitely going to bother me. I don't mind the discoloration, but the bump is going to nag at me
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All the more reason to send it back if that’s the case IMO. Why live with buyer’s remorse when you don’t have to.

beaglesandbass said:
I sent a message to the store and and explained my concerns. I basically told them that if I knew about this issue I would not have bought the bass. The manufacturer would probably replace this under warranty as is it's a brand new bass, but that involves me sending the neck to them. There is a local luthier that I would trust to work on it, but again that costs money. I'm not willing to pay to fix a brand new bass.

So basically, either they give me a partial refund to fix the bump (whether it's from the manufacturer or a local luthier), or they're going to have to eat return shipping. This was a Reverb purchase and I'm fairly sure I would win this if it came to a dispute.
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Way too complicated. Plus it opens you up to all kinds of aggravation. Just send it back and get a refund. There’s a bump on the neck. That’s a defect. Nothing says you have to jump through hoops to make it right.

I ran a business for 35 years. One of the first things you learn is you might as well offer an unconditional return/refund policy. Because if somebody is unhappy with your service or product, you’re either going to have to (if you’re wise) give them a refund, send a replacement, or somehow make it right either way. You never truly win a battle with an angry buyer. So you might as well make a strong guarantee a selling point for doing business with you.

BTW, If you paid with Paypal they will invariably side with the buyer in situations where a product is claimed to be defective, or it arrives damaged, regardless of the merits of the claim. Had a scammer do it to me and I ate the loss. Just part of the cost of doing business. Sad but true.
 
#48
bherman said:
Very easy fix with wet sandpaper and a sanding block. If it was a high spot on a fret, different story.
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To all that are saying that this is a finish issue, it is roasted maple, and the is most likely no finish on it.
That is one of the benefits of a roasted maple neck, no finish.
@Bob Clayton have you attempted to remove it with a damp towel and elbow grease? it may simply be a drip from someones lunch. It looks like it's a demo, as the dents in the fretboard indicate that it took a bump.
all the more, there appears to be scrapes and dents in the fret on the E side of the fret just above the "drip" and scratches in the fret at the bottom of the photo.
If this was sold as new, the seller needs to be more careful with handling the instruments for photo ops .
 
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#52
beaglesandbass said:
So I picked up a new bass today, and I noticed a little bump in the 2nd fret across 3 of the strings, it's raised ever so slightly. When I say slighy, I mean it doesn't even look raised when looking at it from the side and it doesn't register anything on a string action ruler. Playing around on the bass for about 15 minutes, it doesn't seem to affect any notes at all.

It’s a roasted maple neck, list price on the bass was $899.

So I'm wondering ...
1) Is this a manufacturing defect where the neck just wasn't sanded all the way in that area? If not what else could have caused this.
2) Is this something that's going to get worse over time?
3) Is it unacceptable for a brand new bass? In which case would I be better off contact the store I bought it from or going through the manufacturer?

The fret in question:

View attachment 4206029
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What make of bass is it?
 
#54
I'm in the "if I like the feel and sound keep it" camp. I'm no luthier, but it looks like a drip of stain or something and is not likely to get worse with time. That would probably sand off if it bugged me that much.

If I bought it local, I'd probably take it back and see if there is another. I might be inclined to ask a for a blemish discount if I bought it on line and I wanted to keep it, but unless I can feel that, no problem for me - if I otherwise like the bass.
 
#58
beaglesandbass said:
A lot of people saying this is no big deal, and they’d keep it. Which is true, and I might end up keeping it as well, but they seem to be glossing over something I said in post 18.. That is I had known about it, I wouldn’t have bought the bass.

And it’s not that I feel wronged by the vendor because I don’t think they purposely hid it, I just feel a bit down about it, and it taints a NBD.
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And to your point the tainted feeling will always be there staring at you. Personally I think it is a big deal. I don’t feel it’s right to spend 2, 3, 800 or more dollars on a brand new item that has blemish like that. What is it was a missing piece of the finish chipped off. I mean it’s right on the board and blends in but still should not be there. At the very least I would require a partial refund.
 
#60
Ruknrole said:
To the best of my knowledge roasted maple is still sealed. This one looks like a thin satin urethane finish on the freetboard.
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Many are not sealed or finished in any way. It's truly not necessary. This one could be, but if that is the case, sanding or scraping would remove the sealant layer and exacerbate the problem.

This is a roasted maple neck from warmoth. No sealer, and no finish required even with their draconian warranty. When sanding it smells like maple syrup :)
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