My baby broke her neck


kingdavid
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kingdavid
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Joined: 01/25/02
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05/02/2003 9:16 am
Sometime back,I was playing my guitar(a cheap acoustic from China)in a friend's room here in college.Then I put it down upright aginst the wall.Some girl was standing next to it.I was going to make a cup of coffee or something.My buddy is sitting on his bed.I have my back to my guitar,I'm facing the table,and the bed is to my left side.Then my boy suddenly starts yelling some incoherent things to the girl.I'm hardly finished wondering what's with him when I hear this dragging noise,followed by a combination of wood(the guitar) and metal(the worm and gear)falling on concrete,coupled with srtings jangling like someone strumming an out-of-tune guitar rather loudly.So I turn,and my baby(it's a cheap thing that I bought for the equivalent of around US$52 which,having seen some really nice guitars on the web and in a guitar book I have,I don't think much of,but now I don't have it,I know it's a baby.Talk of "love me when I'm gone")is doing like the second or third bounce(progressively smaller).
Realise that all this has happened in the space of maybe five seconds,but this being written narrative,it looks long.
I can't remember how I cursed,but curse I did.When my buddy(he plays too) was yelling at the girl(she doesn't),he was trying to tell her to catch it,but couldn't get the words out.He saw it going down(I heard it-the dragging noise-going down).
So I bend down and pick it up.I check it out.It looks just fine.But don't let go of your breath yet.I've just remembered,the girl was his sister.So I take the guitar to my room.I'm excusing them,they got some personal stuff to talk about.Back in my room,I try to strum something,and it sounds soooo out of tune.I look again,and notice the action(height of the strings above the fretboard,for those who don't know)is like three inches or something.That's when I realise that the neck is broken.I turn it upside down,and the joint where the neck joins the body smiles back at me.

So there.

I went to a music store,and the guy there(he is in fact the very idiot who sold the guitar to me,while working at another music store,which was later closed)tells me that the standard price for that kind of repair is Shs 2500.I bought the guitar for 4000 bob.WTF?!?!?!?By the way,the guitar in question isn't actually the original.The true original had,guess what,a bad neck-body joint(it could be neck-headstock,d'uh),and I sent an e-mail complaining,and he said to go and change,so I did.Then here he is charging me that kind of money and asking me if it's an imported model(like that has anything to do with anything)and showing someone else's guitar,which needed similar repair,and which was charged that much.
So I left that store,and went to another.They said 800 bob.That's something,compared to the 2500.Then I went to a third store(it's the oldest,my favourite,I buy strings from there,they are the best stocked,I should have gone there first,only it's the farthest from college).They said 400.
That was agreeable to me.But the guy who was to do it wasn' there.So I left my now fatally injured baby,and told them to get it done.But when the guy came,he said it would cost not 400 but 800 bob,it was a lot of work blah blah blah.
Now,800 bob isn't a lot money,even for me.It's about 10.5 dollars.But I'm a bit broke right now,so it'll have to wait a bit.So I took mt baby back to college with me.I'll probably do it when I finish college,in five weeks time.
So now I'm childless.And shall remain so,for at least five weeks.And have to borrow from friends when I can and when they are not playing and feel like giving me...

It's tough being childless.
# 1
hairbndrckr
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hairbndrckr
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05/02/2003 6:50 pm
I would say to go ahead and reset the neck joint yourself with some titebond brand wood glue and gentle tapping with a rubber hammer (this of course is after you clean all the old glue out) but if it's only 10 bucks then let them fix it. It would cost you more than that to buy the materials.


So. If you throw a cat out of a car window, is it considered "kitty litter"?
# 2
SLY
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SLY
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05/03/2003 12:01 am
Oh , I know that feeling.
I had a cheap acoustic too (nylon strings) which was my first guitar , and I spent 2 years with it before getting my Jackson elec.
One day I was lying on my bed playing that acoustic guitar , and a friend of mine was doing something with my computer then he was going out to do something (may be to get some water to drink) when he lost balance (may be hit something , I don't remember) and fell on the bed with his elbow in my guitar's body making a nice whole in it.
I heard the wood cracking noise , then I was going to smash the remains of the guitar on his motherfu*king head , but I checked it before and realised that it was a minor damage and the guitar was still playing cleanly and no buzz or stuff , so I decided to live with it till I get a better acoustic .

The good news is that I always hated that guitar cuz of the bad tone and ugly playability , so it wasn't a great loss, but still it was my first axe ever .
# 3
kingdavid
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kingdavid
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05/07/2003 1:24 pm
I'll start to get me some nice stuff when I finish college.Shipping can always be arranged,and if it's too expensive,I know people whose sisters are air hostesses,I know a guy who was ahead of me in college and is now working in the management rank and file of Kenya Airways....
Bottom line:Stuff can be gotten.It'll get gotten.


I'm editing coz I've just seen a kramer acoustic on musicyo that's selling for $99.It normally costs $139.Now,you who know tell me;do you think it's agood guitar?I'm skeptic.I'm I a victim of looking at an item's "snob value",a concept applied in marketing whereby if something is priced low,it's sales may even fall even though the quality's unchanged?Where people associate higher prices with quality?

[Edited by kingdavid on 05-07-2003 at 08:29 AM]
# 4
hairbndrckr
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hairbndrckr
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05/08/2003 12:34 pm
hey man just look at the sig. It tells all :)
So. If you throw a cat out of a car window, is it considered "kitty litter"?
# 5
spanky10940
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spanky10940
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05/08/2003 4:09 pm
that's actually a good question and one I asked when I was looking for my acoustic...
the answer is yes.. cost does make a difference with acoutics... the more you pay (in most cases) gets you better wood, solid neck and headstocks.. better sound boards and just in general, a better guitar. Don't think it's true? Go to any GOOD guitar store that has a separate acoustic room and try a few.. pick up the $99 blue light special and then grab what you would if you had a wad o' dough to spend.
Lastly, I would never buy a guitar that I hadn't played first. In another post I had asked a question and one of the replys made a great deal of sense to me.
All acoustic guitars seem to have their own kind of "personality" some are good strummers, some are good finger pickers.. some are jacks of all trades..

If it's just so you can have something to play on, $99 is cool, if you wanna play it for a long time, spend some time looking (and not just at the price tags) there are plenty of good guitars out there that won't break the bank.

"The one truly great thing about this life is that noone can sincerely and truly help someone, without helping themselves"

Ralph Waldo Emerson
# 6
AmpWarfare
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AmpWarfare
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05/08/2003 10:34 pm
man so so so so weird. almost the same exact thing happend to me 4 months ago with my baby.
a B.C Rich mockingbird plat, edition with emg active pickups and a floyd rose trem.
all i heard was somthing grinding down the wall then i turned my head hoping it wasent what i thought it was.
Except my headstock broke. the e machinehead cam clear off......cost me 225.00 for the replacement neck but well worth it.
# 7
SLY
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SLY
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05/09/2003 1:11 am
Originally posted by spanky10940
cost does make a difference with acoustics...


Unfortunately , that's 99% correct... Unlike elec which you can get a cheap one that plays good but su*ks tonewise , replace the pickups with better ones , then you've got a nice axe.
# 8
kingdavid
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kingdavid
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05/09/2003 11:10 am
Originally posted by AmpWarfare
...cost me 225.00 for the replacement neck but well worth it.

That's almost the price of a reasonable guitar!!
How much is a mockingbird worth?
# 9

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