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  #61  
Old 11-09-2018, 03:34 PM
zoopeda zoopeda is offline
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Originally Posted by DenverSteve View Post
Next, a neck reset is not a factory defect. Warrantees cover factory defects. If a neck reset is needed in an unreasonable time, that may be considered a factory defect and will be covered. I’ve seen it many times. 40 years after the purchase of a guitar, if a guitar needs a neck reset, that is not a defect and may not be covered. Warrantee’s do not cover normal wear and tear, aging or failure to maintain proper humidity.

To the OP, only you can decide if a warranty is worth it to you. When I buy a new guitar I care less about the warranty than I do about buying that particular great guitar.
Totally. But when people say they value the warranty because they've "had several neck resets under warranty" that argument no longer applies since, only RECENTLY, Martin CHANGED their policy.

MARTIN USED TO COVER ROUTINE NECK RESETS. THEY NO LONGER DO. So yes, if a Martin needs a reset one year after purchase, they may cover it. If it's a 5 year old guitar, no way. There really isn't a whole lot of common, expensive issues that can go wrong on a Martin. So it's not a personal preference or feeling. The math of it just doesn't make the lifetime warranty worth nearly as much as back in the day when they covered routine neck sets.

(That's not "yelling" caps. Just "attention other readers" caps.)
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  #62  
Old 11-09-2018, 04:23 PM
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DenverSteve DenverSteve is offline
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The question from the OP is still the same - what is the warranty worth. That has to be determined by the buyer. Martin has done resets over the years and many of them have been for age related issues - that was not the policy but the practice.

The policy has always been to repair neck issues - reset or other - that are defects in manufacturing or warranty issues. Knowing that the "policy" of repairing guitars due to factory defects or manufacturing issues should be all anyone expects from any company's warranty.
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  #63  
Old 11-09-2018, 04:53 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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.....only RECENTLY, Martin CHANGED their policy.....MARTIN USED TO COVER ROUTINE NECK RESETS. THEY NO LONGER DO. So yes, if a Martin needs a reset one year after purchase, they may cover it. The math of it just doesn't make the lifetime warranty worth nearly as much as back in the day when they covered routine neck sets.....
I just looked on their web site, and the only way you can see the actual warranty language is "...in the booklet that comes with your guitar....".

If it is truly the policy that neck resets are now only covered for the first year or two, then the value of the warranty is greatly diminished in my mind. It is fairly rare to have actual manufacturing defects, but not at all rare to see brand new guitars with under-set necks that will need significant work sooner than later. Yes, they may well be "within factory specs" at the time of delivery, but if anything changes..... it becomes neck reset time.
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  #64  
Old 11-09-2018, 05:16 PM
zoopeda zoopeda is offline
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I just looked on their web site, and the only way you can see the actual warranty language is "...in the booklet that comes with your guitar....".

If it is truly the policy that neck resets are now only covered for the first year or two, then the value of the warranty is greatly diminished in my mind. It is fairly rare to have actual manufacturing defects, but not at all rare to see brand new guitars with under-set necks that will need significant work sooner than later. Yes, they may well be "within factory specs" at the time of delivery, but if anything changes..... it becomes neck reset time.
Greatly diminishes the value. If a neck set is $500 or $700 on a dovetail Martin, and previous owners saved $1000 or $1500 over decades on routine neck work in the past, that's a huge value. The Martin warranty booklet does NOT specify an amount of time after sale they'll reset a neck, but multiple postings here and on UMGF suggest that once the guitar is a few years old, they really start to scrutinize before approving that work.

I once brought my guitar in to the factory for a Chris Martin signing--not even warranty work--and a factory employee commented that I let my guitar get way too wet, which was evident in the top grain and would never be covered under warranty. The guitar was 6 months old, I bought it new and picked it up from the Martin factory, new, and stored it in case at 50% for the first 6 months. Zero belly. And this lady is going out of her way to accuse me of mistreating the guitar in a way that voids the warranty. BS. The Martin warranty is not worth what it once was.

It's true, neck resets are inevitable on even the highest quality build. But the fact is, routine neck sets used to be covered by the factory, and Chris Martin realized how much $ and manpower he was losing on routine neck sets. So they are no longer covered unless they are on fairly new guitars (ie the rare result of a bad factory set).

To those who say the warranty value is determined by the buyer--that's categorically false. If we used to save $1000-2000 on routine neck sets over the life of the guitar, the warranty is now worth exactly $1000-2000 less than it was a few years ago, now that they don't cover routine sets.

Last edited by zoopeda; 11-09-2018 at 05:33 PM.
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  #65  
Old 11-09-2018, 05:42 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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As I said in my first post (#44) Martin did eventually cover both neck resets under warranty - but I had to push repeatedly for them. Both were initially denied simply based on my location, citing presumed humidity issues. Then they refused to admit that there was a local authorized repair tech. Customer Service wanted me to pay shipping both ways back to Nazareth to just "get a repair quote".

The unstated policy these days seems to be "find whatever excuse you can to deny coverage". So the lifetime warranty seems to be a marketing tool and a piece of paper with no real value any more. JMO. I'm prepared to stand corrected......
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  #66  
Old 11-09-2018, 05:48 PM
89bruin 89bruin is offline
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Having used Martin’s warranty service within the past year I’ll throw in and say it’s not worth much. Very poor service that required one trip to an authorized service cnter and two trips to Nazareth. I won’t say I’ll never buy another new Martin but the warranty won’t be a consideration.
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  #67  
Old 11-09-2018, 05:58 PM
zoopeda zoopeda is offline
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I'll pile on with another Martin warranty anecdote and add that my wife sent her guitar to the Martin factory about 15 years ago for warranty issues. After 12 months (the second 6 of which, they held the guitar hostage and refused to return it), they adjusted the truss rod and sent it back. It still needed a neck reset.

So much easier and cheaper to just buy a mint used Martin and pay someone local to care for it now and then. If you buy one that's a few years old, those initial quirks like loose bindings or lifting finish will have already revealed themselves.
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  #68  
Old 11-09-2018, 06:05 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Originally Posted by zoopeda View Post
.....So much easier and cheaper to just buy a mint used Martin and pay someone local to care for it now and then.....
Or choose any number of top quality makers that use bolt-on necks that are much easier to do a neck reset on - if they ever need them.
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  #69  
Old 11-09-2018, 06:07 PM
zoopeda zoopeda is offline
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Or choose any number of top quality makers that use bolt-on necks that are much easier to do a neck reset on - if they ever need them.
A Martin standard with a bolt on neck is simply not a Martin! :-p
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  #70  
Old 11-09-2018, 08:26 PM
BT55 BT55 is offline
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Originally Posted by Earl49 View Post
Or choose any number of top quality makers that use bolt-on necks that are much easier to do a neck reset on - if they ever need them.


Or maybe Martin should rethink their neck assembly and update it to bolt on design. Glue on necks were the only design before bolt on neck technology was invented. Bolt on necks are a much better design as neck resets are an inexpensive thirty minute adjustment vs. an expensive time consuming repair.
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  #71  
Old 11-10-2018, 05:37 AM
Steadfastly Steadfastly is offline
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Originally Posted by zoopeda View Post
Everyone's citing neck resets as the big value in the Martin warranty.

MARTIN NO LONGER COVERS ROUTINE NECK RESETS UNDER THEIR "LIFETIME WARRANTY."

Suddenly, the Martin warranty is worth a whole lot less. If the guitar is more than a few years old, the Martin is essentially worthless in my opinion, since other expensive warranty issues that appear after the first few years are few and far between on a Martin (except, of course, for neck resets...).
It has been my experience that paying for a warranty is a sales tactic and they make companies millions of dollars, maybe billions for large corporations. Employees are made to push these warranties and one way is they are given a percentage of the warranty sale.

As has been stated earlier, warranty issues usually appear right away or soon after the purchase. That being the case, buying an extended warranty makes good financial sense.................for the manufacturer.
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