GUITAR BOARD

Just bought one on eBay.

It looks quite nice, but unfortunately it arrived damaged.

Although well packed by the seller, Parcel Force have managed to crush
it, to the extent that the top has several long (6 inch plus) cracks
along the grain of the spruce, as well as several cracks that look like
they are only in the varnish.

Additionally, there seems to be some looseness in the bracing inside,
and the top has distorted enough to create a lot of fret buzz etc. by
allowing the bridge to rotate with the pull of the stings, if you see
what I mean.

I will of course be seeking redress from the vendor and/or Parcel Force,
but does anyone have any thoughts about whether a top can be repaired,
or do they always have to be replaced? I paid a hundred quid for it, so
I doubt it would be worth the cost of major repairs.

Thanks
--
Jon

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:57:02 +0100, Jon wrote:

-------------------8><

Not with only Ł100 at stake, I wouldnt have thought.
Remember when youre talking to the seller, that ParcelFarce are his
agents, who were carrying his goods. Only when youve accepted safe
delivery does the item become yours (unless you signed something that said:
Received in good order and condition, IWC ParcelFarce will probably claim
that it was undamaged when they delivered it).

Jon wrote:


Correct!

The repairs can be done; longitudinal cracks in a spruce flat top can be
glued (and even filled), but you need to be looking at an expensive
instrument before it becomes worth it.

I once saw it done (to one relatively minor crack behind the bridge) on
a Gibson SJ-N (current price probably Ł2500+)...

Jon wrote:


Depends on the Lamaq. I have now sold all my several Lamaqs except one
original larger GAL (5990?) in very lightly built solid rosewood and
cedar top which my son has got and will keep. The one I kept longest was
a GAL5190, very similar but smaller body, which I simply decided to part
with when a gas engineer installing a boiler started talking to me about
his sons need for a decent guitar and how hard it was to find one on a
budget - hed seen my travel guitars for sale. I told him if he had the
money Id got one guitar I was willing to sell which would make his
kids guitar teacher really raise eyebrows, he came back later and left
with the Lamaq. I knew a lot of his friends including the teacher,
wouldnt have sold it without knowing it went to a good home.

Both those - GAL5990 and 5190 - would be worth spending Ł200-300 on
repairing despite costing only Ł140 or so each. Ive never encountered
such finely (thinly, for the ribs and back) made solid wood acoustics
under Ł500. But two or three of the cheaper dreads I bought from Marc
would not have been worth expenditure. They resold at a small margin
locally to players who were looking for budget guitars of good quality,
but Ive done the same with cheapie Washburns etc and decent boxes
around the Ł100 mark are no longer hard to find - for the moment.

David

In article ,
bruneval@cathcart.ukfsn.org says...


Yes tops can be repaired easily, I have had cracks a few inches long
repaired in a couple of guitars. Fitting a new top is rarely done and
would cost several times the price of your guitar

I think the last crack repair job I had was around Ł50-Ł75 IIRC, though=

Im sure that included a few set up tweaks as well.

Braces are easily glued back in place too.

Whether its worth it is your call, difficult call to make if you havent
heard the guitar in a non-broken state. Hopefully you signed for the
package as not checked or not inspected when you received it (which
you should always do), in which case you can claim. If not, I probably
wouldnt bother and would put the money towards a guitar that I could
actually hear and play before buying.
--
Jon
www.jonboyes.co.uk

On 2008-04-15, Jon wrote:

Thanks to all who replied.

The vendor is being very co-operative, and the parcel was insured, so I
should get my money back at least.

Shame really, it was a very nice looking guitar (GAL2190E), but apart
from the Fishman and not-so-good chinese tuners, I fear its just
firewood now.

--
Jon