NBD Disappointed

[Grangur]

Yesterday I opened the box on a new vintage style bass, bought mail order from a seller with a great reputation and I have no wish to "name and shame".

The description of the bass I bought included the term "b-stock", so as per the description I expected that there could be signs of use and such.

The bass looks great. Nice tone, but low volume. The pup was set low, so it looks like a setup is in order. I checked the neck relief and it was a touch large, so I pulled out the supplied Allen key and it took a turn or so as the double action truss rod was loose. Then the key slipped in the socket. I tried a few other Allen keys and thy either didn't fit, or they slipped.

The question, dear friends, is do I get a refund or do I get another one as a replacement? I'm just nervous of if this is a sign of something worth avoiding?

Edited March 26, 2016 by Grangur

[HazBeen]

Metric vs Imperial hex sizes? If the bolt looks intact it is most definitely hex size related. Any bassist should own both in any case... Since you state double action and based on your description I am guessing you bought another Wick. Those are metric, perhaps the one provided and the ones you tried were imperial?

Good luck.

Edited March 26, 2016 by HazBeen

[GrammeFriday]

Sorry to hear about this - how disappointing!
In your position I think I would be looking to get a refund - get back to square one and start again.

[NoirBass]

As suggested above - if it is a Wick I would get a full refund. The truss rods can be problematic (depending on which year your bass was built) I had trouble with the key not catching on a Wick once and it turned out the threaded part of the rod was pushing the key out so it wouldn't catch. This could be due to underlying neck issues.

[spyder]

Send back for a refund.

[EmmettC]

Contact the seller, the term B-stock generally means ex-display, sometimes in their own shop sometimes by the manufacturer, or possibly it has been bought and returned by a previous customer.

Chances are whenever the decision to make it B-stock was made it was given a once over and cleared for selling. They probably just missed the truss rod problems, they were most likely looking out for dings and electronic issues that are far more common.

I'm sure if you contactvthem they will attempt to rectify the problem, if they don't then you have every right to return it for a refund. If they don't help you I would suggest it is probably worth naming and shaming to prevent others having the same problem, but give them a chance to fix it first, we all make mistakes, the important thing is how we deal with them.

Edited March 26, 2016 by EmmettC

[Twincam]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1458975755' post='3012490']
Yesterday I opened the box on a new vintage style bass, bought mail order from a seller with a great reputation and I have no wish to "name and shame".

The description of the bass I bought included the term "b-stock", so as per the description I expected that there could be signs of use and such.

The bass looks great. Nice tone, but low volume. The pup was set low, so it looks like a setup is in order. I checked the neck relief and it was a touch large, so I pulled out the supplied Allen key and it took a turn or so as the double action truss rod was loose. Then the key slipped in the socket. I tried a few other Allen keys and thy either didn't fit, or they slipped.

The question, dear friends, is do I get a refund or do I get another one as a replacement? I'm just nervous of if this is a sign of something worth avoiding?
[/quote]

It sounds like you just need another Allen key. I have both metric and imperial.
If you like the looks and tone keep it just find a correct key. Assuming the pup output is OK after adjustment.

[Marvin]

I'd send it back for a refund. Once doubt, about the reliability of a piece of equipment, creeps in it's best to send it back and move on.

[Subbeh]

If it's the seller I think it is B stock tends to include instruments that were not deemed acceptable by the first buyer and they just chance their arm on someone else
taking it at a discount. Send it back for sure if there's an issue with the truss rod.

[Norris]

B-stock doesn't mean broken. If the truss rod doesn't work send it back

[NancyJohnson]

Sorry, I've read through this a couple of times, just to clarify, this is just a case that the nut for truss rod adjustment won't take the hex/allen key?

Edited March 28, 2016 by NancyJohnson

[Grangur]

Actually I've taken another look at it. There's nowt wrong with the TR. It simply needs the A&D relaxed to allow you to get the key in there correctly.

I'm not greatly impressed with it though, so I'm working on sending it back. I could spend on getting a new pup and working on it, but I'm going off of working on basses right now. It's too easy to spend on pups, strings, paint etc, etc and in the end you're the owner of a cheap pimped bass that no-body will pay more for than the "used" value of the original bass.

[Black Coffee]

Refund seems the best way to peace for you.

B stock shouldnt mean anything more than ex showroom model or maybe a couple of cosmetic nicks. Its a musical instrumant and as such it needs to perform the basic setup and playing functions. By the sounds of it you are not happy that it does.