Jackson USA SL2H -- Warranty Claim Log

[DocNrock]

I have a Jackson USA SL2H that I purchased new from an E-bay store in 2008, and am making a warranty claim on it. This thread is for me to chronicle the timeline of the claim and it's outcome.

The claim is a bit unusual in that the problem was present ever since I bought the guitar, and am just now making a claim. The reason for the delay is a long story, but I am the original owner and it is a lifetime warranty. I would not think the timing of the claim should affect the claim's resolution.

The problem is that the holes for the Floyd mounting studs were misdrilled such that the bridge is not centered and the high E string gets closer and closer to the edge of the fretboard as the string goes up the neck. At the 24th fret, the string is just a hair away from the shoulder of the fret. The nut is positioned appropriately. As a result, when playing above the 12th fret, the string has a tendency to slide off of the fret edge when fretted. Has anyone else seen this with any Jackson USA guitars? I'm actually surprised that it passed QC.

I contacted the seller who directed me to take the guitar into a Jackson Authorized Service Center. The closest one to me is Guitar Center. After they had they inspected the guitar and communicated with Jackson/Fender, Jackson authorized them to ship the guitar to them for further analysis. This took about three weeks. It is supposed to go out this week. The guy at Guitar Center said he was told they need to "rework the body," and that it will take four to six months. This is why I want to chronicle the claim.

Has anyone ever made a warranty claim to Jackson Guitars? If so, what was the outcome, both in terms of your satisfaction and the length of time it took? Four to six months seems like a really long time, to me.

Pictures are below. I think the last picture really tells the story.

Nut:



Neck/body junction:



Stud locations:

[shramiac]

Yikes!!!

[Jack Napalm]

I had it happen on a new Custom Shop Select just last year. I returned it immediately and it took three months for me to have a new guitar.

[leftykingv2]

Sadly I have seen this before as well. Not just with Jackson but on a number of different recessed Floyd Rose instruments. I have never had a warranty issue with any of my three USA Jackson's. I am left handed and one of my USA KV2's came with a right handed tremolo bar when I got it. I called F.M.I.C and they apologized and they shipped me a left handed bar the same day without any issues. (On a side note I gave that tremolo bar to forum member Adrock as I had no use for it and Fender didn't want it back.) Fender is usually very good with handling defects or issues. I've had nothing but good experiences when dealing with them and I own quite a few Stratocasters as well as Jackson guitars. They've always taken good care of me that's why I don't ever worry when I buy their products. After all a product warranty is only as good as the company supporting it and Fender has always stood by their products in my experiences. Sorry for your trouble and I hope everything works out. Which I am sure it will. Looking at the stud location anybody with eyes can see it wasn't done correctly.

[Radiohead]

Yep. Had this happen on SL2H-Mah. Noticed it within hours of bringing the guitar home and the Authorized dealer returned it immediately and I got a complete new one. No offense, but sounds like Jackson is doing good on you - even though you got it on fleabay? Why the thread?

[Jack Napalm]

Why did you wait this long to bring this issue up?

[Axewielder]

Yeah that issue happens far too often and is a real bummer. You are handling it correctly.

[walshula]

I had a few like that in my day that I got on the used market and never could file a warranty claim due to no original proof of purchase. It is a crying shame how something that noticeable and completely fucked could get by quality control actually. :think: Good luck with the process and let us all know how it goes for you if you don't mind.

[leftykingv2]

Why did you wait this long to bring this issue up?

+1 I would've sent it back a long time ago as well. I don't see any reason to wait almost six years to report such a gross mistake.

[DocNrock]

It's my bad for waiting so long, but like I said in the original post, it is a long story. But many of you asked, so here goes.

I got the guitar in early 2008 and did not notice the defect right away. I had ordered parts for my first custom Warmoth and was spending a lot of time on that, putting it together and playing it, etc. I ended up building about 14 Warmoths. Somewhere along the line I noticed the defect. It was one of those things that was like, I have to take care of this someday. Someday just kept getting put off. Yeah, I paid top dollar for what was a really sweet guitar, except for the string alignment, but I also had a number of other sweet guitars I was building and noodling around with.

Then, in mid 2009 I traded in my 350Z for a Nissan GT-R. To see what the car could really do I did a track day. I was instantly addicted to tracking. So much so that I didn't even touch my guitars, literally, for the next three years. After 25+ track days, maintenance, and tuning sessions in between, I began to see the cost of tires, brakes, tuning, etc. adding up. So last year I pretty much stopped tracking. Also, in 2012 my wife and I moved so I could take a better job, and did a home renovation after the move. It was only after all that, sometime late last year, that I picked up my guitars again. When I got around to the Jackson, I was like, "Oh yeah, I need to do something about that." So, three weeks ago I did.

Sorry for the long story.

Also, for Radiohead's comment, sorry, I guess I wasn't clear in my original post about the E-bay purchase. Yes, I bought the guitar through E-bay, but it was from a music store that sells via E-bay. I purchased it as a brand new instrument and I am the original owner. I still had my sales receipt, as well. I don't think Fender/Jackson would have given me the time of day if I wasn't the original owner with a receipt. The reason for the thread was just to see if anyone else had seen similar issues and, if so, how they were dealt with. It seems as if the issue is not uncommon, but it is dealt with fairly. I have already learned a lot from the replies posted. I also wanted to chronicle a time line from submission to resolution.

[DocNrock]

Sorry for the bunched reply. I tried breaking it down into paragraphs, but for some reason the site is not saving it as such.

Edit: it finally saved with formatting

[leftykingv2]

I still don't understand how this could be considered a "I have to take care of this someday" Issue. Or how you could "Keep putting it off." I have a ton of guitars but every time I've ever had an issue even close to like this I've sent the guitar back within 48 hours. I've sent guitars back for far less. Especially a guitar with a 2K plus price tag. A flaw like this on a guitar of this price/quality is inexcusable. The whole idea of waiting almost six years really makes no sense and it only works against you in my opinion. This mistake should have been noticed in less than 24 to 36 hours at the most bro and it's inexplicable that you didn't notice/report it and send it back to the factory asap.

[Devotee]

I still don't understand how this could be considered a "I have to take care of this someday" Issue. Or how you could "Keep putting it off." I have a ton of guitars but every time I've ever had an issue even close to like this I've sent the guitar back within 48 hours. I've sent guitars back for far less. Especially a guitar with a 2K plus price tag. A flaw like this on a guitar of this price/quality is inexcusable. The whole idea of waiting almost six years really makes no sense and it only works against you in my opinion. This mistake should have been noticed in less than 24 to 36 hours at the most bro and it's inexplicable that you didn't notice/report it and send it back to the factory asap.

It's called procrastination. I'm an expert when it comes to this particular field.

Hope it works out for the OP.

[Dog Boy]

I imagine everything will turn out fine. Keep us updated on your progresss.

[DocNrock]

Thanks for the kind replies, everyone.

Leftykingv2, I'm not going to argue with you. I did not intend my timeline of what happened to be an absolving excuse. It is simply what happened. In some ways, I agree with you, and I should have taken care of it as soon as I noticed the defect. The simple fact is, I did not. I said it before -- my bad. So here I am today.

As far as working against me, I'm not sure that I understand that. The guitar carries a lifetime warranty for the original owner. I read the warranty card before moving forward with my claim and I did not see anything in the warranty verbiage that limited the time I had to make a claim against a manufacturing defect. I then contacted Consumer Relations at Jackson, who encouraged me to take the guitar into Guitar Center to be evaluated. The only thing Fender/Jackson might do differently is that had I made the claim immediately after receiving the guitar, they likely would have replaced it. Now, with their comment about "reworking the body," I'm wondering if they will just plug the stud holes and redrill them, then route the trem recess wider to accommodate the shift in the bridge position.