Jackson USA SL2H -- Warranty Claim Log

[stevoc]

I had some warranty work done on one of my DK1's a while back. The typical clear coat lifting from the headstock. I sent it to Jackson via my local authorized service center and was told it would be 30 days turn around time. Luckily, I got it back in about three weeks, and it was better than ever! Of course, my issue wasn't as serious as yours, but there is always hope! Good luck.

[DocNrock]

I love the discussion in this thread. There is a lot of great information. I think Newc nailed it with "tomorrow turns into six years." Honestly, it blows me away that it indeed was six years ago that I bought the guitar. Time goes by so fast, anymore. Anyway, it is my bad for procrastinating, so I guess I can't complain about a four to six month wait for a resolution.

Moving along, the more I think about the fill and redrill solution, the less acceptable it becomes. Not only would they have to route the trem recess wider towards the low side of the guitar, but they would have to extend the pickup routes, as well, to maintain string alignment over the pole pieces. They would also have to extend the route on the spring cavity to keep the trem springs straight. And then they would have to fill the gaps when all of those components were shifted to their new positions. On a guitar with a solid color finish, it could probably be done and not be visible. But on a clear coat finish, I would think the wood patching would be obvious.

That said, I really hope they decide to replace the guitar.

[leftykingv2]

That's why I said I wouldn't accept the fill and re-drill option. When they see the issue I would expect them to ship you a new guitar. I just don't see how fixing all that would be cost/time effective. Not to mention the guitar will not look right in my opinion if they do fill and re-drill.

[BlackRR]

The reason that the alignment issue is so common is that the amount the posts are out of alignment is very small, in most cases around 1/32" is all it takes. Wood is not the easiest material to work with when it comes to small tolerances, it's not uniform like metal and drill bit's and cutters will wander if they hit soft or hard spots within the wood itself. A simple fill and re-drill might solve the problem , just because the holes are slightly off the mark doesn't mean the trem route or any other route is wrong.

[stevoc]

If fill and re-drill is an acceptable solution for a solid paint job guitar, couldn't Jackson take his guitar back and replace it with one waiting for paint, then fill-n-drill his current one and put it in place of the one used to replace Docs? Not saying its honest, but if it is acceptable, then they should be able to turn his around quick and not disrupt the service of one on the line. (providing there is one on the line)

[leftykingv2]

The reason that the alignment issue is so common is that the amount the posts are out of alignment is very small, in most cases around 1/32" is all it takes. Wood is not the easiest material to work with when it comes to small tolerances, it's not uniform like metal and drill bit's and cutters will wander if they hit soft or hard spots within the wood itself. A simple fill and re-drill might solve the problem , just because the holes are slightly off the mark doesn't mean the trem route or any other route is wrong.

If they fill and re-drill the tremolo is going to move from the high string side of the board to the low side. Basically when you look at the guitar face on the tremolo is going to have to be moved from the right to the left slightly. This is why I said the trem route may be an issue. The tremolo can end up getting hung up on the route cavity on the left side because that's what direction the posts are going to be moved with the fill and re-drill option. This is why they're going to have to do more than just fill and re-drill the posts in my opinion. When a Floyd Rose route is done properly and the tremolo is mounted in the correct position we all know there's not much room from side to side between the base plate of the tremolo and the route cavity wall. This is why in my opinion just moving the Floyd posts isn't going to correct the problem. One side of the cavity will have to be filled and the other side of the cavity is going to have to be shaved to accommodate the position change. Unless they're okay with having a huge gap on one side and no gap on the other side of the route. The posts being off the mark shows that the route isn't square because if they had squared the posts the trem wouldn't sit right in the route cavity.

[leftykingv2]

Probably the same guy over the years.

Maybe it was Pablo.

[Chad]

The reason that the alignment issue is so common is that the amount the posts are out of alignment is very small, in most cases around 1/32" is all it takes. Wood is not the easiest material to work with when it comes to small tolerances, it's not uniform like metal and drill bit's and cutters will wander if they hit soft or hard spots within the wood itself. A simple fill and re-drill might solve the problem , just because the holes are slightly off the mark doesn't mean the trem route or any other route is wrong.

That's why being a luthier isn't for everybody. If a person can't do tasks like this with precision accuracy, day-in and day-out, then they shouldn't be a luthier. It's unacceptable on any level, but ESPECIALLY for a luthier working for a high level brand like Jackson/FMIC. Also, this still doesn't explain why the error is almost always the same (to the treble side). Last I heard they are using jigs for this kind of thing. Perhaps the tremolo rout jigs for say an SL1 and an SL2H are slightly different and unique to the specific model, and they occasionally grab one jig instead of the other when laying out the lines for the tremolo rout and posts?

I KNOW some of the jigs they use are slightly off. For example, I thought my SL1T had a unique problem with the neck pickup rout being off center to the bass side. Then I started looking closely at other SL1Ts and found they are ALL that way. When it was still in production, even the SL1T pictured on the Jackson website had the problem. So I came to realize that the rout being off-center was actually normal/"correct" for that model.

[leftykingv2]

^^^^^^^^+1

[DocNrock]

That's why I said I wouldn't accept the fill and re-drill option. When they see the issue I would expect them to ship you a new guitar. I just don't see how fixing all that would be cost/time effective. Not to mention the guitar will not look right in my opinion if they do fill and re-drill.

Yeah, I am going to sit back and let them look at it. The more I think about it, I think you are right. They probably will replace it. But, if they try the fill and drill, I will have to call them on it.

[Axewielder]

It will look right if they do a fill and redrill and refin.

EDIT: Eh, with that trans finish I guess not.

[leftykingv2]

Yeah, I am going to sit back and let them look at it. The more I think about it, I think you are right. They probably will replace it. But, if they try the fill and drill, I will have to call them on it.

I said a few prayers to the Guitar Gods for you the last couple days bro. I really hope it works out in your best interest. Regardless of how long you waited to send it back, a lifetime warranty is just that and it should be honored in my opinion.

[leftykingv2]

It will look right if they do a fill and redrill and refin.

EDIT: Eh, with that trans finish I guess not.

+1 That's been my feelings on the matter since I read the first post. The trans finish is going to be all F'ed up if they go the fill and re-drill route.