Any experience with returning guitars to the US?

Hendrix89

Hi guys,

My 62 reissue Fender strat has been in with Derek Nelson for about a week. Today he contacted me saying the guitar has a serious fault with the truss that he cannot fix (it won't tighten). It's been like that since I got it. He suggested that I contact the seller (which is in the US) and try to have my guitar replaced.

Now i'm really worried! Has anyone here had any experience/success with returning Fender guitars to the states?

My guitar seems to have a long warranty but I'm just very weary of doing this.

I'd greatly appreciate your feedback guys. Thanks.

smellslikeshoes

Who did you buy it from?

Doctor J

If you bought it new you should have a Fender lifetime warranty which you might be able to process over here. Give Musicmaker a call and ask them if they'll do it.

Hendrix89

smellslikeshoes, I bought it from a site called GGuitars(.com) a few years ago.

And DoctorJ, I was not aware of that, thanks for telling me. I might try that then. My warranty info is actually with Derek right now (left it in the guitar case) as he still has my guitar. I did briefly write down a few codes and numbers that Derek kindly read out to me from it but I suppose it would be better if I just go and collect everything from him and have it first hand.

If this goes well, hopefully I won't have to wait too long as I really need my guitar at this time. I assume I'll have to send it off to Fender. So has anyone tried doing this through a guitar shop like musicmaker before then? Did it go alright?

Johnny Storm

It might be worth outlining the situation to fender.co.uk (distributor for UK and Ireland) and asking them what they suggest you do. If you do that first then you will know exactly where you stand before you contact music maker or whoever.

Doctor J

I had an issue with the neck on my old strat, bought it in musicmaker. Brought it back to them, they sent if off to the UK, a week later it came back with a new neck, no questions asked.

Hendrix89

But guys, as you know, I did not buy the guitar here, I bought it from the US so will I still be able to have it dealt with here without complications?

Doctor J, you say you bought that strat from musicmaker. Are you sure they will accept mine for this, even if I did not buy it there? I can't understand why they would do that unless they have a deal with the Fender service centers or something? Sounds to good to be true!

Doctor J

I can't tell you what they'll do, that's why I'm suggesting you try it and see what happens. They're an authorised Fender dealer, they should at least be able to tell you where to go if the don't sort it out themselves. Put on an American accent and say you brought it over with you.

Alternatively, you could cut your losses and buy a new neck on ebay. It should still work out cheaper than the cost of shipping the whole guitar to the US. Sell the dodgy neck (it will sell) on ebay to recoup some of the losses. There are a few ebay shops who specialise in parting out Strats, you'll get a real Fender neck for about three hundred euro or so, most likely less.

Johnny Storm

What are the terms of my U.K Warranty?

Every new Fender® guitar or amplifier purchased within the U.K and Ireland carries a two year manufacturer’s warranty. Should the product be found to be faulty due to a manufacturing fault, you are entitled to return it to the shop where you bought it within two years of purchase. The shop will then send the instrument back to us and we will assess the damage. Providing we are satisfied with the validity of the warranty claim, we will carry out the necessary repairs and return the instrument to the shop free of charge. After the two years warranty period has expired, the owner of the instrument will be responsible for any subsequent repair costs incurred. We would advise, therefore, that you keep the purchase receipt for your Fender® product in order to validate the date of purchase.

FYI this seems to be quite different from the US warranty. Best of luck.

Hendrix89

Okay well I just checked ebay for 62 necks and all the US made ones (same as my current one) are well over $500. There are some Japan made 62 necks there for around the 300 mark but I don't really want to go that way as I would prefer to have the original US type.

I'll start out by contacting Fender UK anyway and see what they can tell me. It would be fantastic if I could just have the guitar dealt with and replaced here or from the UK.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give an update soon.

Doctor J

TBH, I'd give the Japanese neck a shot. If the US ones were up to scratch you wouldn't be in this position

Johnny Storm

Did Derrick Nelson say how much he'd charge to fix the current one?

Doctor J

To fix a gammy truss rod he might have to remove the fretboard or skunk stripe. It'd be easier to make one from scratch or buy a Warmoth one.

Voodu Child

I'd imagine it'd have to go back to the US to have warranty work done. You'll pay shipping both ways.

I'd say you're going to have a lot of hassle and emailing and phoning back and forth in front of you. Best of luck.

FWIW, a Japanese neck should be quite satisfactory.

Hendrix89

Alright I'll take the Japan neck into consideration then. The only reason I would prefer to have a US one is because I want the guitar to be exactly the same as it was. Original. Looks like I might not have a choice though.

Dord

I don't think Fender UK will be able to do anything about it. A guy from Dublin posted on the Harmony Central forums a while back about a similar problem with his P bass. Fender UK wouldn't touch it, and Fender US said he'd have to send it back to them (shipping at his cost both ways!).

Here's the thread in question... http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=1713319

TBH, I'd probably get a nice Warmoth neck as a replacement.

Hendrix89

Was really leaning towards the replacement neck option until just now when I realized that I will of course be hit with import tax... I can probably add 100 euro or more onto the overall cost right?

Doctor J

Depends how much you spend. It'll be roughly 25% of the cost of the neck.

Quattroste

Will shipping back and forth really be that expensive? If the issues is with the neck then surely only the neck needs to be shipped? Send the dodgy one back to Fender in the US and they fix or replace. In an ideal world I guess but................

Hendrix89

Yeah I didn't bother trying Fender UK. I'm pretty sure they won't want anything to do with it.

I'm going to contact Fender US (Arizona) now. Hopefully I can give enough details to prove my purchase because currently all I have is a few numbers and codes scribbled all over a piece of paper (still have to collect the actual warranty papers from derek).

Hendrix89

Well I'm in luck. Just got off the phone with Fender US and they instructed me to send my guitar over to a Fender service center in New York. There they will check it over and if it's faulty Fender will send them a replacement neck and the service center will then send the guitar (with new neck) back to me.

Apparently they will pay for the return shipping. So not as bad as I expected really.

Only thing I'm concerned about is, Derek had removed the nut on my strat before he noticed the faulty truss rod. He said he will just glue the nut right back on and it shouldn't be a problem. Now before I send my strat off overseas I must ask.. could this have voided the warranty? Removing the nut I mean.

Voodu Child

Hendrix89 wrote: »

Only thing I'm concerned about is, Derek had removed the nut on my strat before he noticed the faulty truss rod. He said he will just glue the nut right back on and it shouldn't be a problem. Now before I send my strat off overseas I must ask.. could this have voided the warranty? Removing the nut I mean.

Nah, just don't say anything. When Derek replaces it, it'll be impossible to see that it had been removed. I don't see why it would matter, but don't tell them anyway, should be grand.

Good to hear Fender US will pay return shipping, that's very surprising. Best of luck getting it sorted. (also make sure you send it to them by fully insured shipping)

Hendrix89

Okay that's good to hear then.

And I'll make sure to send it insured shipping thanks for the heads up.

It's actually perfect because I will be collecting the strat from Derek on Friday which is just on time for our gig on the weekend. I can get one last play with it before it'll go off to Fender next Monday.

And lets just hope I get a PERFECT neck this time!

Doctor J

Good news, good stuff.

Hope the new neck works out.

moonboy

cant you just send the neck over?

Hendrix89

moonboy wrote: »

cant you just send the neck over?

No, I have to send out the whole guitar.. unfortunately...

By the way guys it wasn't just the nut that was worked with, Derek has also put a filling in a gap under a bushing. Can't stop being slightly concerned about the possibility that Fender might declare a voided warranty due to these small touch-ups.. Okay the nut most likely won't be noticable but not too sure how the filling will look. Once I collect it on Friday I'll know I suppose.

fasty

I wouldn't worry. Chances are they'll check the truss rod, confirm the problem and just replace the neck. I'm sure a load of guitars pass through their doors on a week by week basis.

Johnny Storm

I really hate to drag this up again but if i were you I'd clarify with the courier what paperwork may need to be done to ensure you don't have to pay VAT and duty when your guitar is sent back to Ireland

Hendrix89

I was just thinking about that. Glad to know there is a way around it. I'll be sure to enquire about that. Thanks for letting me know Johnny.

Got my strat back from Derek today and it actually looks perfectly normal. I shouldn't run into any problems with Fender.

Voodu Child

You (or Fender) just need to ensure that its clearly stated on the declaration form that the guitar is receiving warranty repair works. The value will need to be on the package for insurance purposes, so its just a case of making sure the customs dept don't see the value and charge you vat on it.

Its a standard procedure, there shouldn't be a problem. Whoever ships the guitar back should know the craic because its a common occurence, but if you do manage to get physically taking to the person you're dealing with, it might be something to just double-check.

And ditto for when you're sending the guitar to them in the first place.

mikeonfire123

howdy all-best place for replacement fender parts is an online shop called stratosphere.they have a lot of stuff on ebay all the time its prob the best way to get to them.they buy huge amounts of fender stuff an split it up an sell it in parts right down to the screws.you can buy any part more or less from any strat sig models an all its great and they have loads of auctions so if you bide your time you can be lucky an get a bargain!!!most of the stuff is new but they do have jap necks an bits an bobs too.i reckon this is the best spot to buy a neck,i think you can import around 150 euro without bein hit for tax,not too sure bout this but its worth a try:)