NGD - Yamaha FS5

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by Martin_F

The place I got it offered a 5% discount or to exchange the guitar. But, they don’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to get me a new one. I bought this guitar to play while I am home more during this current crisis. It is looking like I won’t have another one for a while. It’s soured me on the experience. I do love the sound of the guitar though. I just don’t appreciate the service so far. Took just under a week to get an email back.

I am calling a little bit of a failure on this guitar so far. I don’t want to tie up my money and still not have a guitar. If I can’t get it fast, I might talk to them about just returning and I will buy elsewhere.

Martin

They were pretty much the same with my RainSong. Very relaxed attitude about it. They even let me keep the original one the entire time I waited for the replacement. Worked for me. In my case there was nowhere else to go in Canada anyway for RainSong, as they have exclusivity in Canada in the product.

If they were to let you keep that one while waiting, wouldn’t that be pretty reasonable? Maybe that’s their plan? Not sure.

What did they tell you? To be fair, they are working at a low capacity right now, so things will be taking longer.

You should just call them and talk to someone if you haven’t already. I called their online number the other day about ordering a stand. Pretty responsive.

I believe their website says their stores have a skeleton staff present during the day as well to answer phones and fulfill orders curbside with minimal interaction.

[Wellington]

St. John’s Music in Canada sell them if you want to return it and order through somewhere else.

[Martin_F]

Originally Posted by Dbone

They were pretty much the same with my RainSong. Very relaxed attitude about it. They even let me keep the original one the entire time I waited for the replacement. Worked for me. In my case there was nowhere else to go in Canada anyway for RainSong, as they have exclusivity in Canada in the product.

If they were to let you keep that one while waiting, wouldn’t that be pretty reasonable? Maybe that’s their plan? Not sure.

What did they tell you? To be fair, they are working at a low capacity right now, so things will be taking longer.

You should just call them and talk to someone if you haven’t already. I called their online number the other day about ordering a stand. Pretty responsive.

I believe their website says their stores have a skeleton staff present during the day as well to answer phones and fulfill orders curbside with minimal interaction.

I do get it that they are in a special time. But, they want me to ship the guitar to them. They will quarantine the guitar when it comes in and get me another one when they have it - if I understood correctly. I asked how long it would be, he didn’t know and didn’t check. I told him these are hard to get - he didn’t seem to care too much. I might call again tomorrow and talk to management. He wasn’t a bad guy, likely just too busy.

I don’t want to be too hard on anyone at this time. But, I have a stressful job right now too in an essential service and I want to be able to relax and play my guitar. Now that I had the FS5, I find it hard to go back to the 000-15m without missing the sound.

Martin

[Martin_F]

Originally Posted by d.loseth

St. John’s Music in Canada sell them if you want to return it and order through somewhere else.

I’ll check them out. Thanks. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I just don’t want this to frustrate me. I’ve been trying not to play the guitar too much in case something happened to it before it gets returned. So, I’m on that fringe of giving up on this and just ordering elsewhere.

Martin

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by Martin_F

I do get it that they are in a special time. But, they want me to ship the guitar to them. They will quarantine the guitar when it comes in and get me another one when they have it - if I understood correctly. I asked how long it would be, he didn’t know and didn’t check. I told him these are hard to get - he didn’t seem to care too much. I might call again tomorrow and talk to management. He wasn’t a bad guy, likely just too busy.

I don’t want to be too hard on anyone at this time. But, I have a stressful job right now too in an essential service and I want to be able to relax and play my guitar. Now that I had the FS5, I find it hard to go back to the 000-15m without missing the sound.

Martin

Yeah, I’d ask a manager to call you.

Unless they can provide you with clarity on a time frame for a replacement I don’t blame you. I would want my money back.

I guess you ordered this strictly online did you? Perhaps there are advantages to dealing directly with one of their brick and mortar stores. I received different treatment. With the RainSong there was also quite a bit more cash involved than we are talking here, so maybe this played into how accommodating they were...mine was also quite bad compared to this situation...

I wonder if they will try and give you a hard time when you ask for a refund. If they can’t get it quickly for you they should return your money.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by Martin_F

I do get it that they are in a special time. But, they want me to ship the guitar to them. They will quarantine the guitar when it comes in and get me another one when they have it - if I understood correctly. I asked how long it would be, he didn’t know and didn’t check. I told him these are hard to get - he didn’t seem to care too much. I might call again tomorrow and talk to management. He wasn’t a bad guy, likely just too busy.

I don’t want to be too hard on anyone at this time. But, I have a stressful job right now too in an essential service and I want to be able to relax and play my guitar. Now that I had the FS5, I find it hard to go back to the 000-15m without missing the sound.

Martin

Rather than having to ship, maybe you could organize a quick drop to one of their stores instead.

[ahorsewithnonam]

Honestly, I wouldn’t let that small little indentation bother me at all. If the guitar sounds great.....keep it! You could get another that is perfect aesthetically and sounds dead. I know of buddies that had that happen.

I wouldn’t care if a guitar had a freaking Malibu Barbie sticker on it, if it sounded awesome.

A few years ago, daughter ordered a new stainless steel refrigerator from Home Depot. Perfect.....except for a small little ding hardly noticeable at the bottom of the freezer door. She was upset, called them. Offered a $150 discount. I told her to take the $150 and move on. No!!!! I expect it to be perfect. So they brought another one. Within 4 days........her kids dinged it worse than the first fridge! And now a year later , the ice maker has died twice!

Keep it if it sounds good. Look at Willie Nelson’s guitar!

[Beakybird]

You can also haggle for 10% merchandise instead of 5% money back, but I understand that your main concern is having a good ax to play on.

[guitarsforlife]

I don’t know that I’ll have anything different or new to add: but for me, personally, the question id have to ask my self is, “would I be happier, or ok, if I got a replacement w/o said blem—but sounded worse?” And the answer these days (much more likely so than in past times), is “no, no, no...” but ask me a decade ago & I might have freaked if there was a fingerprint I couldn’t buff out w/some breath & a polish cloth! is there a way you can audition it with a potential replacement (assuming that it is within reasonable driving distance?)? Or could you have them send you a new one - put money on it - & then return the one you like least? It would all come down to my priorities, honestly. But if it sounds anything like a 000–18, I’d be pretty darn satisfied! I wish Guild were currently making their F-30. Nice to know that something like this exists in the marketplace & that could be something worth checking out (I tend to favor a traditional flavor over more new-ish; sorry forgot the descriptive terminology..). Good luck w/whatever you decide! It must be a stressor that cant be fun to deal with...

[Cool555]

Keep us updated on what you decide to do. Interesting story (senario) you’re faced with. I remember all the sales person/s I buy my guitars from and it’s hard to have a positive feel for the guitar if the service wasn’t good. If it’s at all possible, just separate this good guitar from the “poor service” you received. Negotiate for a 10% discount if possible. If not, just accept the 5% and tell yourself you’ve got a great sounding Yamaha FS5 MIJ Red Label guitar!

[Matts67]

Originally Posted by ahorsewithnonam

Honestly, I wouldn’t let that small little indentation bother me at all. If the guitar sounds great.....keep it! You could get another that is perfect aesthetically and sounds dead. I know of buddies that had that happen.

I wouldn’t care if a guitar had a freaking Malibu Barbie sticker on it, if it sounded awesome.

A few years ago, daughter ordered a new stainless steel refrigerator from Home Depot. Perfect.....except for a small little ding hardly noticeable at the bottom of the freezer door. She was upset, called them. Offered a $150 discount. I told her to take the $150 and move on. No!!!! I expect it to be perfect. So they brought another one. Within 4 days........her kids dinged it worse than the first fridge! And now a year later , the ice maker has died twice!

Keep it if it sounds good. Look at Willie Nelson’s guitar!

Funny story I moved recently and had a new fridge delivered from Lowe's. I didn't even noticed it was dented because it was all the way on the top right / back side of the fridge where it backs up to the cabinet. Delivery guy pointed it out and instructed me to complain to the store manager...ended up with over a $500 discount.

[Martin_F]

Thank you all for the comments. Today I am happier. The dealer extended the time you can return the guitar and I am going to keep this one until things become a little more "normal". They said just try not to scratch it. For me, this isn't too much of an issue because I tend to baby my guitars. I guess worst-case scenario that I am just going to have to keep this guitar -- not really torture.

Every time I play this guitar it just sounds so amazing. It keeps getting better as it breaks in a little bit. Today I have been playing some John Prine stuff and Doc Watson on it and it has such a great fingerpicking sound.

As with any shorter scale guitar (being 25"), drop D tuning is a little tougher if you aren't careful with the strings sliding off the edge of the fretboard because they are loose. But, it still does a good job with it -- no worse than any other shorter scale guitars.

I would really love to hear this guitar side by side to a 000-18. My feeling is that it will sound at least as good. Of course, I am going by memory of a 000-18. I remember my 000-15m sounding richer than some 000-18's and this guitar sounds much more vibrant than the 000-15m. They definitely have different vibes though. At the time when I bought the 000-15m, I do so purposefully to play some older country blues, which it really does extremely well. So, I would never take anything away from that guitar. It's not a great strummer. If you strum too hard the sound gets harsh. Fingerstyle is good though and finger strumming is ok.

So, the saga continues for now. I decided that I was not going to risk my health going out to return a guitar for no good reason. Not that I am overly worried. But, I have 2 kids and a wife that I really don't want to make sick.

Martin

[Martin_F]

Originally Posted by Matts67

Funny story I moved recently and had a new fridge delivered from Lowe's. I didn't even noticed it was dented because it was all the way on the top right / back side of the fridge where it backs up to the cabinet. Delivery guy pointed it out and instructed me to complain to the store manager...ended up with over a $500 discount.

Appliance stores are good that way. Imagine what the markup was like for them to just shrug that kind of discount off as nothing?! I bought a bed frame from a store not too long ago and it came damaged -- small scratch but in a noticeable area. They took it back and sent me a new one. I think the Frame was around $1200 or something. I saw it in the store later advertised as damaged for $200! I thought about returning mine and re-buying that one. But, my wife said no. For them to do that, the markup must be huge.

Music stores -- not so much. You rarely see good instruments with that much discount. It would likely have to be unplayable.

Martin

[Martin_F]

Originally Posted by guitarsforlife

I don’t know that I’ll have anything different or new to add: but for me, personally, the question id have to ask my self is, “would I be happier, or ok, if I got a replacement w/o said blem—but sounded worse?” And the answer these days (much more likely so than in past times), is “no, no, no...” but ask me a decade ago & I might have freaked if there was a fingerprint I couldn’t buff out w/some breath & a polish cloth! is there a way you can audition it with a potential replacement (assuming that it is within reasonable driving distance?)? Or could you have them send you a new one - put money on it - & then return the one you like least? It would all come down to my priorities, honestly. But if it sounds anything like a 000–18, I’d be pretty darn satisfied! I wish Guild were currently making their F-30. Nice to know that something like this exists in the marketplace & that could be something worth checking out (I tend to favor a traditional flavor over more new-ish; sorry forgot the descriptive terminology..). Good luck w/whatever you decide! It must be a stressor that cant be fun to deal with...

Yea, I have had these thoughts too. I wouldn't want one that sounded worse. Although, I am something of a gambler and I also think that I could get one that sounded better! (hahaha.. can't win!) It is a very nice sounding guitar. For the price, you can't go too far wrong with it -- even with a little mark. If you ever get the chance to play one, I highly recommend it.

We'll see where I land in few weeks. I just want this virus crap to be over so we can go about our lives.

The funny thing is that I am letting this stress me out and I have no idea why. I would generally have returned it anyway because I like my guitars fairly pristine. However, it's not a huge deal. It's not really too much money for the level of guitar. In my guitars, it would definitely be in the bottom range. Of my 6 classical guitars, 3 are handmade by individual luthiers, 2 are Ramirez and another one is a handmade Yamaha from 1971 -- signed in Japanese by the luthier who made it. I think it's the fact that I can't return it easily that I am letting it bother me. Pretty foolish of me! hahaha..

Martin

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by Martin_F

Thank you all for the comments. Today I am happier. The dealer extended the time you can return the guitar and I am going to keep this one until things become a little more "normal". They said just try not to scratch it. For me, this isn't too much of an issue because I tend to baby my guitars. I guess worst-case scenario that I am just going to have to keep this guitar -- not really torture.

Every time I play this guitar it just sounds so amazing. It keeps getting better as it breaks in a little bit. Today I have been playing some John Prine stuff and Doc Watson on it and it has such a great fingerpicking sound.

As with any shorter scale guitar (being 25"), drop D tuning is a little tougher if you aren't careful with the strings sliding off the edge of the fretboard because they are loose. But, it still does a good job with it -- no worse than any other shorter scale guitars.

I would really love to hear this guitar side by side to a 000-18. My feeling is that it will sound at least as good. Of course, I am going by memory of a 000-18. I remember my 000-15m sounding richer than some 000-18's and this guitar sounds much more vibrant than the 000-15m. They definitely have different vibes though. At the time when I bought the 000-15m, I do so purposefully to play some older country blues, which it really does extremely well. So, I would never take anything away from that guitar. It's not a great strummer. If you strum too hard the sound gets harsh. Fingerstyle is good though and finger strumming is ok.

So, the saga continues for now. I decided that I was not going to risk my health going out to return a guitar for no good reason. Not that I am overly worried. But, I have 2 kids and a wife that I really don't want to make sick.

Martin

So what is the deal? Are they ordering you a new one while you wait with this one?

Returning this would be quite easy in reality. You organize the return over the phone to your nearest location and hand it to someone through the door. They are still doing limited interaction curbside business this way.

I just ordered a stand and will pick it up curbside this way. Other than something like this I basicallly haven’t left my house since this whole silly thing started...even getting groceries delivered....etc...the odd isolated/distanced walk with the kids so that they don’t go bananas...

This crap is going to go on for months. We will not be having a summer as we know it...that is what the messaging is slowly starting to become. I predict the government will be clamping down with much stricter measures, because there are many many clowns out there that still do not get the seriousness/selfishness of their actions, and the overall severity of what is happening here...sorry...mini rant over ;-0