New to forum and resonators!

[twistedbiscuit]

Cheers mate!

[Michael Messer]

I hope you get your guitar today.

There is no way to totally protect a guitar in transit from damage or loss, but I do have a few tips that might be helpful to people posting guitars.

Regarding the labelling - I put the delivery address in three places on the box; in thick black felt tip pen I write the name and address in giant letters across the front of the box. Then I print two Parcelforce barcode labels and put them on two different sides of the box, these I really smother in wide clear parcel tape to make sure they won't peel off or get pulled off. With three destination labels on the parcel, if one or even two come off, there is always the third one. This is one form of insuring the parcel doesn't get lost.

In large black felt tip pen I write FRAGILE!! all over the parcel. I believe that the more a parcel stands out from the crowd with labels and FRAGILE written everywhere, it stands less chance of getting lost, stolen or damaged.

I try not to ship guitars on a Friday. I do this so they keep moving from van to van and don't spend the weekend stacked in a depot.

Pack the guitar in a case in the box and pad it out with newspaper, bubble-wrap etc...

My MM guitar boxes have plastic handles. This I think and hope makes people pick the box up using the handle, rather than trying to carry a large box under their arm which is easy to drop....etc.

None of these tips make the delivery foolproof, but I do think they help.

Shine On
Michael.

[twistedbiscuit]

Thanks Michael. The guitar has finally arrived but not in one piece. It's split along the join between the heel and the neck. Is there likely to have been damage to the truss rod? The cone is fine and hopefully I can claim on the courier insurance for a neck repair. Not a difficult repair for a luthier, I just hope it hasn't damaged the truss rod.

[Pickers Ditch]

Blimey Moses, how do they do such things?
It may be worth trying to force the issue for a new MM guitar as the cost of repair and the resulting final set up could be higher than the price of a new one from Michael.
Not sure, but most insurance companies will always take the cheapest way out to minimize cost and hassle.
Just a suggestion, FWIW.

[twistedbiscuit]

Thanks for the suggestion, it would be nice to resuscitate the old girl though!

[Michael Messer]

Hi Twistedbiscuit,

OUCH!!!! .....phew, was it packed properly and was the parcel insured? If it wasn't, UPS will not pay out anything.

The guitar is repairable. I would use glue and a screw down into the heel at an angle, and then cover the screw with a heel cap, either plastic or a piece of veneer. A bit of refinishing and you won't know it's happened. In a luthier's hands that is not a cheap repair.

Another option is that you hang on until my next shipment arrives, around Christmas time, and I get you a new MM BLUES neck for it. It might be cheaper and a better way to go.

JUST IN CASE ANYONE READING THIS THREAD GETS THE WRONG END OF THE STICK >>>THAT GUITAR WAS NOT SHIPPED BY MM GUITARS, IT WAS A PRIVATE SECOND-HAND SALE.

Shine On
Michael

[twistedbiscuit]

Well it wasn't packed as well as I would like but it was in a hard case and it was insured. Thanks Michael, I'll see what the courier insurance people say, they will come and inspect the packaging to decide if I have a claim.

[orbital]

Hi Twistedbiscuit
I'm glad your MMB has finally arrived. This goes down as a particularly bad courier experience but you can now move forward with a claim, with it in your possession.
Either it will be fixable, or else you could potentially end up with a new one.
You can 'gaze' at her in the meantime!
Regards,
Orbital.

[Deleted]

Sept 17, 2015 8:45:09 GMT Michael Messer said:

In large black felt tip pen I write FRAGILE!! all over the parcel. I believe that the more a parcel stands out from the crowd with labels and FRAGILE written everywhere, it stands less chance of getting lost, stolen or damaged.

I received a parcel a few weeks back wrapped in "Fragile" tape. The driver (believe it was UPS, or a company that works with them) told me that when they get a package marked "Fragile" like that, it's a guarantee they'll go out of their way to toss it around.

Why? Because that's basically telling them they don't know how to do their jobs. In theory, every package is "fragile" after all.

[twistedbiscuit]

Sept 17, 2015 16:16:29 GMT orbital said:

Hi Twistedbiscuit
I'm glad your MMB has finally arrived. This goes down as a particularly bad courier experience but you can now move forward with a claim, with it in your possession.
Either it will be fixable, or else you could potentially end up with a new one.
You can 'gaze' at her in the meantime!
Regards,
Orbital.



Yup, you're right. My gut feeling is that it can be repaired, if the worst comes to the worst I can get a new neck from Michael!

[Michael Messer]

If you do want a new neck, I need to know before the end of September so I can include it in my next shipment.

Shine On
Michael

[twistedbiscuit]

Thanks Michael, insurance assesser should be here monday so I won't know what I need to do for a few days. Do you have an approximate price for a replacement neck?

[twistedbiscuit]

Still waiting on the insurance but I decided to go ahead and glue it anyway. All sorted now, glued, strung and making noise! Action is very high - 5mm on low E and 4mm on high E. Is that likely to drop a bit as the cone settles in? I'll need to get a set up anyway.

It's hard work after my electrics but I love it!

[Pickers Ditch]

Luverly job.

You'll find the electrics a lot easier to play afterwards.
Even my old basses with heavy gauge flat wounds seem easier after a session on the Dobro.

[twistedbiscuit]

Yeah I bet!