LeftyBassist.com

Alright, an odd story that only happens to some of us once in a while, but here it goes.
I have been saving for a while, also getting a nice tax refund helps, and wanted a nice high end 5 string bass. After looking for several months I came across a very nice Spector Euro5lx with Poplar Burl top. I ordered it and got it Wed. It was D.O.A. No sound no nothing, tried 3 different cords. Took it to my local Spector dealer, guy I know, he looked inside and some of the electronics have been "jarred" loose. Also at that time I noticed a couple of cracks in the "clear coat". I called the store where I ordered it from, of coarse they are going to fix it, but as far as the cracks I am stuck at what to decide, return the bass for refund, or, since these are no longer made for us lefties, work out a discount on the blemishes and keep it cause who knows when I may see one of these again.
So what would you guys do?...
a couple if pics so you can see, one is the bass itself, and 2 of the cracks
Thanks for everyone's time.

Talk to our friend Gravesbass who is the resident Spector expert here.

Spector won't refinish it under warranty?

I dunno... it looks like it might have taken a nasty fall or something.

I probably wouldn't keep it, but I'm a freak about those kinds of things.

Ah the one from Adirondack nice bass. There have been many threads about basses shipped in the cold and guys bringing them into their homes and opening up the case right away and the bass going from about 7 degrees from sitting on a UPS or FedEx truck for 5 days and then immediately going up to 70 and the clear coat does not expand as fast as the wood. The Euro Spectors in the last few years have become notorious for this there have been several threads on Spectors and a Rickenbacker cracking within a few hours of getting it. I know it's hard to wait but if you get a bass shipped during drastic differences in humidity and temperature its suggested to leave in the packaging for 12 or more hours maybe 24 before opening. Spector will fix it and it will look brand new I had a Spector Euro do the same thing. PJ will stand behind it and fix it so you won't even be able to tell. Sucks for the wait time it could be 4-8 weeks easy. Euro models have extremely thick clear coats and switched products or something lately just do a search on Talkbass you will see a few. You bought it new I believe and so you will be taken care of I'm sure.

The detached wire should be a 5 min fix for a guy who is pretty familiar with preamps not to worry. Since they do not make lefty Euro Spectors anymore I would get it fixed and hold on to it. It will be worth it.

The one on Talkbass cracked in the exact same spot...Crazy...I hate thick clear coats they look nice but I guess I'm a smudge freak and spiderweb scratch freak as well. OCD kickin sorry...

Ya, it's the one from Adirondack, I love the neck and action. Also have been talkin with Gravesbass as well and just trying to get everyone's opinion on the situation. Sure enough someone has turned in a Warwick thumb 5 bo at my local guitar center, so I picked it up just to check the neck out since I have never seen one, even though it's a righty, and it was pretty good to say the least.
I really appreciate what you guys have to say as I'm an old road dog and only play on weekends now for fun but it still means a lot.

I am a sucker for nice wood tops and considering how nice that looks and how rare these are going to become, if it were me, I'd get it repaired and live happily ever after ...
just my 2 cents of course ...

You can't repair that sort of thing, it's got to be a full refin, which is usually a b**ch and a half and is never cheap.

Have Dennis send it back to Spector. They will have it refinished under warranty. I had an issue myself with clear coats. They stand by their products 100% if purchased new.

Temperature changes do some pretty bad things to guitars. This is why they say leave the box or case alone for a few hours to acclimate to room temperature and not shock it.

Sorry to see this and the cracks WILL get worse in time.

Poly no it can't but nitro yes it can be. Mine was repaired and the crack started at a control cavity screw ferrule It and went completely across the back and started to go around the body and was on a matte finish. The whole bass was not refinished. There are tricks to melting into existing lacquer with lacquer thinner and then repairing far beyond my skill set but it’s been done and done well. Either way it was new it will be repaired or completely refinished but Spector 100% will stand behind it I am positive.

Man, you just brought back one bad memory... I had a 1972 Jazz bass - natural finish - that I left in the car overnight
and the next morning the entire bass was cracked like this. I thought it was worthless and I sold it for $200.
I've been told that running a warm iron over it (on top of a cotton shirt) will fix it but I dunno.

pete

Thanks for all your comments guys, after talking with Dennis again, he says the Spector factory, or one of their buildings, is not to far from their store, so hopefully the can just refinish it here instead of having to ship it overseas. But as long as all is fixed, I'm good with that.

They will refinish most likely in New York. No need to ship to the Czech Republic.

Good Luck. Thats a nice Burl.