Damaged NBD Advice Sought

monquixote

As people following my other thread will know my excellent wife bought me a Classic Vibe 70’s Jazz V for my birthday 

Unfortunately it arrived damaged 

The box has a dent in it and I assume that it’s been dropped in transit and the neck has flexed and cracked the urethane.

In all other regards it is excellent. So “what to do?”
The obvious choice is just to get it replaced but last time that happened Amazon shafted me. They refunded the item but didn’t send me a replacement because the item “wasn’t in stock” and then when it came back into stock it was way more expensive.

I suspect this might be the case this time as I bought it for £269 and they are now £400. 

I don’t want to just accept it although frankly I’m a clumsy oaf so I’ll probably ding it again in a week and I don’t really care about banged instruments as they are for playing not looking at.

So things I want to know are. Is this just cosmetic or should I be worried about cracks propagating or other hidden issues?

If I ask for a partial refund and get it repaired how much is it likely to cost?

Any other advice from the great wisdom of @Corvus @ICBM and the other repair gods.

Winny_Pooh

Is the piece that came off in the box? 

monquixote

I haven't checked

Good point I imagine it could be super glued back in.

ICBM

It looks like the neck has been shifted fairly violently towards the bass side and pinged off a bit of the lacquer. If the chip is in the packaging you can probably superglue it back into place. From the pic, it looks unlikely that the damage is any more serious, and given the hassle of returning it I probably wouldn’t, especially if they’re willing to offer a partial discount.

If the missing piece isn’t there it must have happened before shipping, but you can probably still fix it quite well with some black paint or nail varnish, although given the obvious thickness of the finish it may take some time to build it up!

Corvus

Looks fixable Nick, not 100% invisible because of the paint type, but we can make it all but go away to where you'll forget about it in time.

monquixote

Thanks guys much appreciated.

My son found the paint chip in the box so it should be possible to repair without too much trouble I think.

monquixote

They knocked 10% (financially and literally  ) So I'm a happy camper.

Dave_Mc

Glad you got a bit of a refund there- I was looking forward to this NGD and was annoyed for you that it was damaged As you said, getting a full refund isn't much use when you want the actual item at the sale price!

(I didn't help with any advice about the chip since I'm terrible at DIY!)

ICBM

monquixote said:

They knocked 10% (financially and literally  ) So I'm a happy camper.

That's a very good result, given the already discounted price.

BillDL

Good result there, and a nice bass.  I really like the black fretboard binding and the block inlays.

The last time I had to fill a chunk of missing thick lacquer on a black guitar I used a small tin of Humbrol gloss black enamel paint as used by modelmakers (No. 21).  I wouldn't use that on an area where it needs to feel like the original lacquer, but where the damage is on your bass it should be fine.  It's thick enough not to run if you dab it into the affected area sparingly, allow it to dry while standing upright and at an angle where it won't run while it's wet and freshly applied.  It takes a while to dry though and can't really be sanded if you overfill it, but it's glossy enough to blend in really well with the surrounding black lacquered side.  Don't use it if you intend to later use something else like nail varnish though, because that will probably bubble and crinkle the enamel.

With other repairs I often find a felt-tipped pen of the same shade, colour in the damage (bearing in mind that it will go darker on bare wood), and then gradually drop-fill it with superlue that can be filed/sanded and polished when dry, but the ink in black felt-tipped pens often dries with a bluish or purplish sheen and the superglue can also change the shade. 

Kittyfrisk

To be fair, if you are playing in a Clash tribute band, I doubt that the chip will be a problem.

Musicwolf

I wouldn’t be too worried about the chip, but the presence of a superfluous fifth string should be reason enough to return it.

Basses have four strings, guitars have six or twelve.  Anything other than this marks you out as a deviant. 

Funkfingers

Neil Peart said: "Everybody gotta deviate from the norm." 

fretmeister

Funkfingers said:

Neil Peart said: "Everybody gotta deviate from the norm." 

BottMusicwolf said:

I wouldn’t be too worried about the chip, but the presence of a superfluous fifth string should be reason enough to return it.

Basses have four strings, guitars have six or twelve.  Anything other than this marks you out as a deviant. 

Before Bottesini basses only had 3 strings.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

Before Bottesini basses only had 3 strings.

Douglas Hart only had two...

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

fretmeister said:

Before Bottesini basses only had 3 strings.

Douglas Hart only had two...

So, in his very earliest playing days, did Barry Adamson of Magazine.

fretmeister said:

Funkfingers said:

Neil Peart said: "Everybody gotta deviate from the norm." 

Neil really did say it, in the song Vital Signs.

monquixote

Piece glued in and it's pretty much impossible to see there was ever an issue.

Thanks for the help everyone.

BillDL

Excellent job.

Dave_Mc

monquixote said:

Piece glued in and it's pretty much impossible to see there was ever an issue.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Excellent result