skidder652003 Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 (edited) Im after some advice folks. My best mate has just swapped a very nice Chapman electric for a bitsa strat from a facebook guitar dealer in Cornwall. Turns out the bitsa is a dog, heres my mates message to me "Went to setup the guitar I got yesterday and it's turned out to be a dog. To stop it choking on bends I have to raise the action by a silly high amount, and then it's unplayable. I thought the pickups were ok at his place (he just had a little tranny amp) but they suck, just Squiers. I knew the body was from a Squier but he told me it was alder, only for me to find out from the Squier site that it's either basswood or agathis (budget wood). Looked into finding a fatter block or even knew trem, but this has odd spacing for the posts, so I'd have to film them in and then redrill for a new trem - I need a drill press for that which I don't have. He's saying a huge b&ll-ache for him because he's done the paperwork and the photos, so I'm f+cked, I'm stuck with a bit of a dog. He says I should just sell it on, but I'm not sure who will want it. Kind of ruined my birthday. I'm such a soft tw&t so I'm going to have to suck it up. Sorry for rant, but you are my best mate an' all. x" Im fuming for him (its his birthday today as well and he hasn't got a pot to p1ss in). Does he have any rights? I feel he's been ripped off here and he's a top bloke. Edited May 27, 2018 by skidder652003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 If he bought it knowing it's a Bitsa and collected in person I'd say he's stuck with it unless the guy has stated in writing that the pickups were something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 phew that's a relief, I thought your mate had bought a dog from a puppy farm or something :), seriously if he bought from a private seller it he's stuffed, if it's a genuine guitar dealer trading standards may be able to help, I presume he's been in touch with the guy to try and swap it back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted May 27, 2018 Author Share Posted May 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: phew that's a relief, I thought your mate had bought a dog from a puppy farm or something :), seriously if he bought from a private seller it he's stuffed, if it's a genuine guitar dealer trading standards may be able to help, I presume he's been in touch with the guy to try and swap it back? yep no chance apparently, all the "paperwork" has been done and the Chapman re advertised on Facebook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 Who is the rip-off merchant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 1 hour ago, skidder652003 said: yep no chance apparently, all the "paperwork" has been done and the Chapman re advertised on Facebook That sounds like a lame excuse. If he was told it was an alder body and the indication is that it is basswood or agathis, that has been misrepresented. He should turn up and tell the vendor he wants to reverse the trade for both that reason and that the strat is not fit for purpose as it cannot be set up properly. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 What paperwork? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 1 hour ago, Graham said: What paperwork? I am wondering the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 Were the sellers initials A.L.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 (edited) I feel for the OP's mate. Couple of things... * If it's choking out on bends it's just as likely to be the neck relief as the action - best he check this before he gives up. And if it isn't the relief it could just be a high fret. Also, if it's a vintage spec neck the 7.5" board radius will always choke out with big bends up at the dusty end unless the action's jacked well high. * Alder / agathis / basswood? TBPH, it's not going to make a huge amount of difference anyway if it's a multi-piece Squier body. Whther it was ash, alder or agathis most people would have to be have to be a total cork-sniffing tone hound to tell the difference blindfold . People go on about alder and ash but afaich there's not much difference, unless it's a shoot-out between some really light, resonant old swamp ash and some boat-anchor alder. Even then the amp and the speaker make more difference than wood types (as the OP's mate has discovered). * I've done the steel trem block thing on a proper Strat and it made a microscopic difference to the sound - nowhere near as much as the difference between setting the bridge to float and setting it flush to the body. * Final thing: He's gone round, played it and walked out the door with it 'as seen'. Very difficult to turn that one around. The other guy claimed it was an alder body; maybe he genuinely thought it was; maybe he's a fibber; hard to prove either way without suggesting the guy's a liar which isn't going to get the Chapman back. Really, I think he's just going to have to suck it up and put some work into the guitar. Caveat emptor. Edited May 27, 2018 by skankdelvar 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 Contract of sale is void if it’s based on false information. https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/misrepresentation-act-1967 Tell the guy the deal is off and learn a lesson from it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 Misrepresentation - false advertising - more i cant think of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted May 28, 2018 Share Posted May 28, 2018 On 27/05/2018 at 22:11, Burns-bass said: Contract of sale is void if it’s based on false information. https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/misrepresentation-act-1967 Tell the guy the deal is off and learn a lesson from it. Is this a commercial sale or a private trade though? As far as I can tell he played the guitar at the guy's house and was happy so swapped his guitar for it. Although the friend of the OP may be gutted it's probably him who'll be learning the lesson I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted May 29, 2018 Author Share Posted May 29, 2018 Got an Update..and thanks to all your advice which I passed on to him, he stuck to his guns and has got the dealer to agree (very reluctantly) to swap back the guitars on the proviso that he pays £60, 30 quid for setting up the chapman before he advertised it on his FB page and £30 to put back the strat to its origional set up when they re-swap guitars, seems a bit harsh but I told him probably best to bite the bullet on that one and just get your axe back. Thanks for all your advice folks, love this forum, helped me out so many times 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 Needs to learn a lesson. If he checked out the instrument, and even played it at the vendors, then he is at least partly to blame. I know its a bummer to end up with something you are not 100% pleased with but If you are checking something out, then check it out properly. As for the choking its probably as Skank says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted May 29, 2018 Author Share Posted May 29, 2018 31 minutes ago, mikel said: Needs to learn a lesson. If he checked out the instrument, and even played it at the vendors, then he is at least partly to blame. I know its a bummer to end up with something you are not 100% pleased with but If you are checking something out, then check it out properly. As for the choking its probably as Skank says. Yes I think he has learned a lesson, don't swap a £350 chapman for a dodgy bitsa in the first place! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 (edited) So basically the other guy's made a £60 profit on a voided transaction, the 'justification' being a couple of vanilla set-ups. Nice work if you can get it. Really, everyone needs to learn how to fettle their own guitars. It's not difficult; the basic tools are dirt cheap; forums like BC are full of helpful people with bundles of experience; there's tons of information and vids out there; and even a little practical knowledge helps when trying out prospective purchases. Edited May 29, 2018 by skankdelvar 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianP Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 (edited) Or, to look at it in a more positive way, the best mate has learned an important life lesson. Think things through before acting. It only cost him £60 but it could have been a lot more. And he had a free guitar set up thrown in for good measure! Edited May 30, 2018 by AdrianP Spelling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 12 hours ago, skankdelvar said: So basically the other guy's made a £60 profit on a voided transaction, the 'justification' being a couple of vanilla set-ups. Nice work if you can get it. Really, everyone needs to learn how to fettle their own guitars. It's not difficult; the basic tools are dirt cheap; forums like BC are full of helpful people with bundles of experience; there's tons of information and vids out there; and even a little practical knowledge helps when trying out prospective purchases. As far as I can see the vendor gave every chance for the purchaser to do their own investigation before and during the exchange, he's a couple of sets of strings down and a couple of hours time out of pocket. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Your mate must be off his head swapping his stick for a dodgy bitsa at least he has learned a valuable lesson shame he's out of pocket but he got off lightly imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted May 30, 2018 Author Share Posted May 30, 2018 3 hours ago, AdrianP said: Or, to look at it in a more positive way, the best mate has learned an important life lesson. Think things through before acting. It only cost him £60 but it could have been a lot more. And he had a free guitar set up thrown in for good measure! well, not quite free, but I get your point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 9 hours ago, stingrayPete1977 said: As far as I can see the vendor gave every chance for the purchaser to do their own investigation before and during the exchange, he's a couple of sets of strings down and a couple of hours time out of pocket. Oh, don't get me wrong - I'd be the first to say the purchaser had his chance to give the axe the once-over. Caveat emptor, as I posted earlier. Indeed, were I to sell someone a guitar they'd played and then they subsequently wanted to swap it back because it choked a bit and they didn't like the sound of the pick-ups I'd be inclined to give them the hairy eyeball. What I meant was 60 notes for a bit of low level tweaking reinforces my view that we all need to get a bit handier with the Allen keys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlloyd Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 9 hours ago, Thunderbird said: Your mate must be off his head swapping his stick for a dodgy bitsa at least he has learned a valuable lesson shame he's out of pocket but he got off lightly imo Don't think it was a stick... rather the youtube Anderton's Chapman guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted May 31, 2018 Author Share Posted May 31, 2018 11 hours ago, dlloyd said: Don't think it was a stick... rather the youtube Anderton's Chapman guitars. yeah not a stick, something like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollywoodrox Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 That’s awful what happened to your friend, I am pleased he is getting his guitar back , £60 quid is a bit steep but it was a funny situation to be in, private swap’s are a bit of a grey area, the only other option would be to make a damn nuisance of yourself til he got fed up and swapped back . There are some very dodgy people on Facebook , gumtree is bad enough . A guy I know lost a few hundred buying a drone off a Facebook dealer when it’s a lot safer to buy on eBay. So pleased he is getting his chapman back though , it was a hard lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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