Who on earth would ship a guitar like this. Soon to be returned NGD :(

[bender66]

Send it back & be patient. A Firebird is worth it.

As ChrisM said, hoist it and check it out with a strap if you havent already. They're the Cadillac of the guitar world.

 

[drf64]

From last week.

View attachment 1056456

Go on...

 

[StrangerNY]

I had a Firebird and it neck dived and was as big as a bass guitar on stage-- very unwieldy. Try it on for size
before you return it. Maybe your GAS for a Firebird will dissipate once you see how dang big it is.

I've had 3 of them, sold 'em all. Very cool guitar, but I can't put one on without knocking something over.

- D

 

[bgmacaw]

Well - I don't see any "FRAGILE" stickers on it...

Ra-gee-lay. Must be Italian.

 

[marc2211]

I'd send it back too. Also, I see no reason why they can't just do an exchange and send you another one.

Apparently there is a 10-12 week delay everywhere. This was the only store with one in stock sadly. Had another look around this evening and it seems I'm in for a long wait.

 

[marc2211]

I had a Firebird and it neck dived and was as big as a bass guitar on stage-- very unwieldy. Try it on for size
before you return it. Maybe your GAS for a Firebird will dissipate once you see how dang big it is.

I had a quick try - it seemed ok. I am used to playing a 335 as my main guitar, so apart from the headstock, I didn't find it too unwieldy I think. I did like the sound of the pickups too, although this example was set up appalingly, borderline unplayable due to a terrible action/string height and nut. It's almost put me off trying another.

 

[Boreas]

I was just looking at your picture of the finish crack again. Take a step back and look at the area surrounding that crack. There is like a 2-3 square inch area that is discolored and with a different grain pattern. To me, it almost looks like there is a knot directly under that crack. I am beginning to think it had nothing to do with shipping, but rather a bad neck blank. Epiphone can add it to their "Wall of Shame" of instruments that should never have shipped.

 

[vcs700s]

I would return it.

 

[Blazer]

This is why I always buy my guitars from a shop and retrieve them in person. That's THE way to make sure they'll arrive intact.

 

[BorderRadio]

Yep, return, it's worth it.

 

[Milspec]

I have seen a lot of really bad packing jobs this season. Far greater than any year prior for some reason. Amazon, for example, doesn't seem to like taping flaps with anything more than a single narrow strip of tape. Never holds up and I end up re-taping it myself before delivery.

Then there was this guy.....good grief.

 

[jays0n]

Return! Point them to this thread so they can see you tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but the public shot you down.

 

[AquariumRock]

From last week.

View attachment 1056456

Jeez do you have velociraptors roaming your neighborhood? I’d be embarrassed to have dropped that off if I was the courier.

 

[Mr. St. Paul]

Not even close to the level of a Firebird, but I got a Grote jazz box delivered earlier this year packaged like this:

It went from China to California to Minnesota in that box and arrived without any damage. Go figure.

 

[soundchaser59]

No way would I keep it, for any discount.

You were probably sent that guitar after it had already been opened and then returned.

This is exactly what I thought. Eventually they will ship it to someone who will accept their discount offer. Not me, no way in hell. I'd be cussing them out on the phone while standing at the shipping counter waiting to ship it back. Make sure they understand how pissed you are and how stupid they were to bother sending it out in the first place.

However...... @marc2211 why do you have to return the case? If you are intent on buying a Firebird one way or another, wouldn't the case you bought separately fit any Epiphone Firebird you end up buying?

 

[Tenderfoot]

Return it! 10 days waiting for a replacement is well worth the alternative of countless days of grief that you would most likely experience accepting a discount.

 

[marc2211]

Well, it’s packed up ready to go. I am pretty sure I’d like a good one, so will keep the case. Thanks for the support everyone!

Sadly the wait for another one is 10-12 weeks, not days at the moment, so it’ll be a delayed NGD for next spring!

Still pretty sore about this one.

 

[Skyhook]

So, as an early Xmas present, I bought a new Epiphone Firebird last week from a well known online retailer (Not Thomann as they were out of stock). The guitar turned up today...

View attachment 1056438

You may see something wrong here... to add further detail, there were no packing materials within, only the Epiphone box which wasn't sealed shut before shipping, and 2 small peices of crumpled up paper...

View attachment 1056439

Result? On opening the outer box, the Epiphone box inside hadn't been sealed, and the guitar was just floating around... On inspection, no surprises, a nice lacquer crack in the back of the neck. My guess is that it took a hit or flexed enough to bend and crack/crease the lacquer. If you run your finger across it, it's really noticeble:

View attachment 1056436

I am going away and can't send it back before next Tuesday. Would you keep it if given a discount? I opted for no.

As you can imagine, chez marc2211 is subject to a good selection of choice expletives at the moment. The Firebirds are out of stock for 10-12 weeks everywhere, so I have asked for a refund. I already bought a decent case for the now to be returned Firebird elsewhere, so that'll have to go back too!

Apparently refunding can take 10+ days too. Not fun, especially for the time of year.

/sigh

You're still aiming for a Firebird as soon as they're in stock, right?
If so, then keep the case! If the case is ok, then why dump it?
It'll just have to wait for its inhabitant for a while longer.

EDIT: ... aaand I just saw that you decided to do just that.

P.S.
Get yourself a rebound guitar from Thomann in the meantime. Just to tide you over, like.

Something like this thing for instance.

Harley Benton EX-76 Classic AN

Electric Guitar Tribute Series, Mahogany body, Set-in neck attachment, Mahogany neck, Amaranth fretboard, White dot fretboard inlays, Slim Taper C neck profile - Thickness at the 12th fret: 25 mm, Scale: 628 mm (24.72"), Fretboard radius: 381 mm...

www.thomann.de

 

[goonie]

Nope, a European company. Someone guessed from the box, although I don’t know why I am sparing their blushes…

No one else knows why either.

 

[marc2211]

No one else knows why either.

Well, gear4music.com it is (well gear4music.ch), and shame on them.