Seymour Duncan Quality Control

[sambencuda]

I was finishing up the wiring Wayne's Aldrich parts mutt, and the brand new SD Custom Custom was noisy as all hell and sounded way too weak. After checking all my joints and finding nothing I decided to pull it back out. I thought the wires were colored coded wrong. I ran a meter across the hot lead and the green/ground wire (the red and white soldered together) I was getting like 8.0ohms resistance which I knew was too low. It was as if the red/white wire was grounded killing one coil. I removed the ground shielding from the green lead and checked again. it was now around 13.0 ohms. So I decide to take the tape off of the coils to see if the red or white wires were shorted to ground some where and this is what I found.



The red wire was crushed between the base plate and the bobbin. Now, I have never had an issue with any new or used SD stuff, so I'm by no means complaining. I'm sure this is just a fluke. I do wonder how this made it through QC though?

[RacerX]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

[img]/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]

[StukaJU87]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

[img]/images/graemlins/fart.gif[/img]

[Brad]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

Oof..... My Kinda Luck. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[slayer]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

I have never had that before either, probably one in a million that gets thru. Jack.

[frankencat]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

I've had one in about a thousand that was bad from the factory. I get them straight from SD through an artist endorsement deal and sometimes they send "slightly used" stuff so it is entirely possible that that is what mine was. The lead was only about 5 inches long on an otherwise brand new pickup. I have been using thier stuff since day one and IMHO, they are THE best for quality and sound as well as customer support. Give them a call and let them know what happened. They will fix you up [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[delt]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

I had a full shred that exhibited similar symptoms (just one coil working).. took it apart and if i remember all the leads checked out, so the problem must have been in the coil itself. it was a cheap deal i got off ebay, so i don't think SD would have "fixed me up" anyway. i think i still have it lying around somewhere.....

[etaeniura]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

you would be surprised what some companies will do to keep customers. It never hurts to shoot them an email-the worst they can say is "F**K Off" and then you are right back where you started. YOu might get lucky and they will tell you to ship it back and they send you a new one-you will probably have to pay for shipping-no big deal. SO they might be out the 15 bucks or so it costs them to make and ship it to you, but later on down the line when you are buying other pickups, you will think "the people at SD were cool to me last time, so I'll stick with their products."

[Wayniac]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

Got off the phone with Scott (one of the techs there) - return authorized for a replacement !
Cool - inconvenient - but cool.

[etaeniura]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

cool deal. told ya so.....

[kmanick]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

that's the right way to do business! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Wayniac]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

Yep - no need to rule them out of future purchases ! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[SeventhSon]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

I always try to get resolution with customer service. Sometimes you need to write letters...it's a PITA, but I usually get what I want. Basic rule of thumb:

a) write on letterhead (use a professional letter template in Microsoft Word)
b) don't come off as an a-hole
c) detail your past history with the company (loyal customer)
d) why you were surprised by the current issue and what the inconvenience factor and cost was (include receipts)
e) why it's beneficial for them to keep you as a customer
f) and most important, what you feel would be a reasonable resolution

I've had out of warranty cars/fridges/etc fixed for free based on letter writing campaigns. Subaru even paid for my towing on an out of warranty alternator going bad on me.

[1trussell]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

I spend a lot of time on the Duncan board. Scott's a good guy.

[Wayniac]

Re: Seymour Duncan Quality Control

I contacted them via their e-mail link for services, then followed up with a phone call. After the call, I also got responses to the e-mail. Pretty cool, and I DID expect that e-mail might take longer, since I'm sure they get a high volume of mail.