[Tedder]

Hey all - Looking for for feedback on anyone who has had the above done by Long & Mcquade. I've had other warranty work done here on the east coast by a great luthier in Halifax but its a helluva drive for me. There is a L&M in Fredericton as well as Tonys Music box that both do Martin warranty repairs.
My ol 77 D-35 is in need of another neck reset.
Cheers and thanks in advance
Ted

 

[guitarman2]

When I had Warranty work done on a D-28 I bought from Long&Mcquade they just sent it back to Martin. Of course it was a refinish. I've heard that even some shops that were capable of doing Martin warranty resets that Martin requested the guitar be returned to the factory for the reset in order for it to be covered. Thats if its even covered. Martin has been clamping down a lot on the resets they do and its not covered unconditionally as once understood. Theres a couple of very long discussions about it over at the Unofficial Martin guitar forum. A lot of very unhappy customers.

 

[Tedder]

Thanks for this. Thankfully there are a couple luthiers in the Halifax area that are both more than qualified for the job. I did talk to Martin department directly and from all the evidence I have given them they will cover the reset. Not any fret work or cost of saddle and nut though. From what the fellow at Martin told me the resets they are NOT covering are those what they consider neglect over they years. Unheated spaces, being under a bed for 30 years,not properly humidified in drier climates etc. Mine has been played hard and has the scars to show it but never been neglected. This will be the second reset in 40 years so not bad really.

 

[guitarman2]

Thanks for this. Thankfully there are a couple luthiers in the Halifax area that are both more than qualified for the job. I did talk to Martin department directly and from all the evidence I have given them they will cover the reset. Not any fret work or cost of saddle and nut though. From what the fellow at Martin told me the resets they are NOT covering are those what they consider neglect over they years. Unheated spaces, being under a bed for 30 years,not properly humidified in drier climates etc. Mine has been played hard and has the scars to show it but never been neglected. This will be the second reset in 40 years so not bad really.

I'm glad your reset will be covered and hopefully without being sent to the factory. Maybe I'll add this link the Martin guitar forum discussion going on as it seems many don't have this same experience. I'm hearing experiences of guitars only a few years old that have been well taken care of that are being denied and that Martin them selves have said that they are clamping down on resets.

 

[Tedder]

I thought Martin did away with/changed their lifetime limited warranty years ago?
Perhaps this is the issue with newer guitars? Hell, they were so confident years ago they didn't even bother with truss rods.

 

[guitarman2]

I thought Martin did away with/changed their lifetime limited warranty years ago?
Perhaps this is the issue with newer guitars? Hell, they were so confident years ago they didn't even bother with truss rods.

Yes both my guitars a D-18 authentic and a d-28 authentic do not have adjustable truss rods. Martin has never made guitars with out truss rods just without adjustable truss rods. Basically done right to begin with and won't move. An example, I had an HD28-V for 7 years. Every winter if not humidified properly the action would go right down to the fretboard with all kinds of buzzing. In the summer with lots of humidity the action would raise very high. So with that guitar the adjustable truss rod came in handy. Adjustable truss rods do nothing if the angle of the neck is wrong and needs to be reset.
With my authentic from winter to summer the action didn't move one bit. Of course one worry I have because the guitars are very lightly built is that a neck reset is definitely in the future. Hopefully 15 to 20 years down the road.