Martin D-28 Neck Finish "Blemish" - Advice?

[samcatluth]

Had similar things happen to my guitars over the years and came to the conclusion that sometime in the past I caused it either by bumping it, something on my hands, or some other thing I didn't notice at the time. If you play a guitar it's not going to remain perfect. I used to obsess over keeping it perfect, not anymore. Stuff like this is inevitable. I'd forget about it and just play it.

[Earl49]

It could be as simple as a somewhat greasy hand grabbing the raw guitar neck in the factory before the finishing. The deposited skin oils would be invisible but later might make the finish separate. That is my theory anyway. Regardless of the reason, I would let a good local tech drop fill and buff some nitro to remove any feelable edges, then forget that it ever happened.

[wdean]

Again...thanks everyone for the advice. Since I am a bit of a perfectionist I will take my guitar into the shop and talk to them about repairing it. I did talk to a shop on the phone and what I described they said is not "uncommon" and like others have said not a difficult repair. They also confirmed that if I wanted to pursue a warranty claim with Martin even though they are an authorized Martin dealer, I would have to likely send my guitar back to their factory in Nazareth, Penn. They said Martin have authorized them to do a few warranty repairs in the past but not very often..

Warren

[Earl49]

Local repair is the way to go. My experience with Martin is that they default to "shipping back to the factory", even when a local authorized repair station is nearby. Then when they deny coverage (quite likely for finish repairs) you are on the hook for inbound shipping, the actual repair, and shipping back. Cut out all the risk and delays and just take it to a good local repair person.

I had a Taylor guitar with a small dent on the back of the neck around the fifth fret caused by the metal lip of its thermo-plastic case after a gig. Eventually I came to rely on that dent as a tactile fret marker, and was glad that it never got repaired. [making lemonade out of lemons mode]

[wdean]

Earl 49

Thanks for the advice about Martin factory warranty claims. It sounds like they are like car manufacturer's...do everything to try to get out of warranty claims. i guess i forget they are a business at the end of the day.

As someone mentioned the "blister" in the finish could likely have been from someone with some oil on their hands before the final coat of finish was put down. The repair shop I talked to said the same thing. I asked him what he thought my chances of getting a warranty claim were and he was "non-committal" but I could tell by his tone probably not likely.

Makes me wonder how much value the "lifetime warranty" really is or what sort of defect would Martin actually cover under the lifetime warranty?

[Earl49]

wdean, I don't want to get into M-bashing but have to tell the truth. I'm sure that most of their guitars need no warranty support at all, ever. But I had two (of the four that I bought new) that needed a neck reset and they fought it all the way. One was a new guitar that needed a neck set in its first year, and the other was a custom shop 40 series that needed a reset after just 4-5 years. On the custom shop model some of the binding let go and the bridge peeled up. They steadfastly refused to cover either as soon as they learned that I lived in Alaska (at that time). "It's all because of poor humidity control" was the party line, end of discussion. Never mind that a half dozen other quality guitars handled, humidified, and stored in the exact same way had zero issues. Shipping each way "to get a repair quote with no guarantee to cover the repairs" was going to be over $250 (UPS Blue Label 2nd Day air was the only option from Alaska). So I paid about $400 out of pocket for bridge and binding repairs that really should have been covered, according to several repairmen.

Eventually they did relent and covered both neck resets, but I had to fight hard for it. So in my direct experience, they love to tout the lifetime warranty when selling but often do not stand behind the guitars in real life. I have no idea what their warranty would actually cover, but have learned the hard way what they won't cover. I have not bought any Martin product since. Fool me once.....

[MartinGibsonFan]

If there is anything that I can't stand, it's a blemished neck.

I'll take a dinged up sound board, back and sides ANY DAY over a dinged up neck.

I'd get that fixed in the cheapest way possible.

MGF

[wdean]

Earl 49

Thanks for relating your warranty issue story. I would have thought a neck reset in the first few years and/or major binding issues would have been slam dunk warranty claims!

I guess makes my neck blisters and stain finish blemish trivial and from a cost/hassle practical point of view I can see this clearly not worth it. I guess it's fighting insurance Co's for a small claim...it's sometimes just not worth it!

Thanks!

Warren