Why not to buy a Morgan Monroe

[almeriastrings]

This is one of the huge issues when purchasing internationally. You get hit for very high shipping costs inwards, plus any taxes or duty, and should something be seriously wrong, as in this case, returning an item can cost an arm and a leg. Unfortunately, also, when purchasing between continents, many of the normal consumer protection safeguards either do not apply or are impossible to enforce. This is why, where possible, it is best avoided. Even though you are not at fault at all here, you lose. Paypal can certainly force the dealer to refund - but as already noted, they may require you to return the item (tracked) at your expense. From Australia to the US that is far from cheap. You will also not normally get a refund for any duty or import taxes paid (there are procedures for this in some cases, but it can be very complex). I would look to source your instruments in Australia next time. Might cost a bit more upfront, but at least if something like this happens, you are in a far stronger position.

Having taken a close look at your first pic, I see something metallic there too. If there was no rod, there should just be an empty (wood) channel. It looks like there could be a rod in there, way back under the nut?

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm not sure it's within forum guidelines to name the dealer here. That might amount to using the Cafe for leverage in a bad transaction. Advice is OK; leverage is not...

Correct.

From the Posting Guidelines:

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[tc9486]

It is a completely round hole running down as far as I can see. Being a guitarist, I have assumed until now that the truss rod is adjustable with a socket set, not an Allun key.

Trying to find my Allun keys to make sure but not overly confident.

[sunburst]

Being a guitarist, I have assumed until now that the truss rod is adjustable with a socket set...

Being a repairman, I've long since given up assuming anything when it comes to truss rods in unfamiliar instruments. I have several bent, welded and otherwise fabricated wrenches in a drawer. I had to make them to perform a $5 adjustment on various guitars!
Try a broom straw, a guitar string, anything long and thin as see if it goes all the way into the neck, and if not, try a 4mm Allen, and if either of those gets to the bottom of the situation, my curiosity will be satisfied.

[tc9486]

Thanks Sunburst. It seems to be there, but stripped. This is nowhere near as bad as first assumed.

I will leave this post up for the next day so people can see how stupid I am then take it down. It's still not ideal having a stripped truss rod socket on a new mando. Time to go get some powdered graphite...

[mrmando]

If the shipper forgot the case, it's still Substantially Not As Described, and you are owed a case with free shipping.

The neck is still bowed, and if the truss rod is stripped, you can't use it to do anything to help the neck. So it's still a problem.

The postage amount doesn't include insurance, so that might account for the discrepancy.

Oh, and you can't take down your posts once they are posted.

[trevor]

The supplier should refund you all costs as a matter of good business practice.

[rf37]

Sorry to hear of your trouble. I have had 3 Morgan Monroes. The first an MMs8 had an issue with truss rod. The process of getting another was very good. I dealt directly with their indianapolis hub. They did all the calling and talking for me. I bought online and the Dealer Was awsome with the situation. (Alway use a reputible dealer. Folkmusician, The Mandolin Hut, Big Joes etc etc.) I only say these through personal experience I had to do some driving but in the end it was worth it for the mandolin. The replacement was great. The other was an oval hole A and the top caved in. Once again avery pleasing ending. I ended up tradin both in for "The Loar 500" when all was said and done. But the dealers I dealt with were second to none. Here is a link to SHS http://www.shsint.net/index.php Deal with them and let them take care of you and see if you have a better response. It was Carey Jones I dealt with. I think she is married so her last name may be different no but the number is 800-475-7686

Good luck my friend

[Jim Rowland]

I agree with John. That is a rather confusing image to begin with,but you have to wonder what that ringlike object in the center under the nut is,if it isn't a truss rod.
Jim

[Jim Rowland]

Sorry for the misplaced post. I didn't realize there was a page two. Are you sure it's stripped? Did you try both metric and standard wrench sizes?
Jim

[Folkmusician.com]

I snapped a pic of one I have here....

The truss rod is in there much further than it looks..



If the instrument was sold as new by a dealer and there was no mention of "as is", they are liable for this. Now eBay sellers make virtually no profit, and their business models are not usually customer friendly, but that doesn't change the fact that they are at fault here. I have no doubt that you can force them to cover shipping.

....Hey, I just missed the second page as well!

Sometimes it takes some fiddling to get the allen wrench in there. Like John, I have various lengths and angles of allen wrenches to get to these. It may be stripped, but usually it is just hard to get the wrench in.

Be sure you are using a 4mm.

[hedgehog]

My mandolin has a similar set-up. The first time I tried to adjust the rod it felt like the wrench was ingaging, but it actually wasn't. A bit of fiddling later the wrench dropped in the socket, but it was far deeper than expected. A nice deep socket makes for a solid engagement area. Yours might actually be okay just a bit difficult to get your wrench seated properly.

[tprior]

How was it determined there is no truss rod ? That would be my question as well. If we are expecting to see the NUT from the truss rod after removing the cover , it ain't there !

I too am curious, how was it determined there is no truss rod ,it may very well be down the hole out of sight. But then again..maybe it is missing...

[tc9486]

I've got it to move using powdered graphite. I'm using a 4mm but it's still slipping and needs powdering up and a fair bit of fiddling around after every turn. I also broke a string in the process but was gonna get new ones anyway.

Gonna wait until the light strings I've ordered arrive (I live in a small town in Australia where I'd be one of the only mandolin owners so can't buy 'em locally) to properly get it right as the different tension may mess with the neck.

The dealer has said that the case is on the way. Still a bit annoying as I'm apprehensive about taking it on a train for a practise this Sunday without a case.

Overall, it's still probably not the best for the money. Wish I'd found this site before buying it. The binding (particularly around the horns) is pretty rough and I don't imagine getting much more than a year out of it before upgrading. The advantage is, it has a cheap Fishman (a brand I haven't been a fan of since I discovered L.R. Baggs) already installed so that saves the hassle of installing one myself and will do the job for now. It's not as though I'm a mandolin virtuoso - I didn't even realise that a lot of them had socket truss rods.

[houseworker]

It still sounds as though you've not managed to get the allen key fully into the socket. I can't see how the graphite powder is supposed to help.

I presume you know to release the string tension before you attempt to adjust the truss rod?

[Steve L]

There might be a truss rod wrench in the case.

[hedgehog]

You will find adjusting the rod easier .... no much-much-much easier when the string tension is reduced. I'm in agreement with the above poster. try getting the wrench in then tap it with a hammer... remember your not driving nails, just a few taps. Like I wrote above, these sockets are deeper than you would expect.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Trevor - "The supplier should refund you all costs as a matter of good business practice.". I agree Trevor,but not all suppliers subscribe to your higher brand of trading ethics.
A question - Would the truss rod adjustment bolt on a Morgan Monroe brand instrument be a 'generic' type,available from another supplier ie. Stewmac ?. If so,i'd be tempted to remove the existing one & replace it if it's possible.The hex.socket in the existing one seems quite poorly formed in that the corners of the hex.seem a bit rounded.I'd certainly be asking the supplier if they could get a replacement TR bolt. Also,as hedgehog mentions above,the sockets can be a bit deep & if it's not that well formed,maybe making your own allen wrench by grinding down a larger sized one might do the trick. I've had to make more than one such item in the past,
Ivan

[tc9486]

It still sounds as though you've not managed to get the allen key fully into the socket. I can't see how the graphite powder is supposed to help.

I presume you know to release the string tension before you attempt to adjust the truss rod?

The powdered graphite is meant to get in and basically take the form of the parts that have been stripped. I use it on my bass as I bought it secondhand with stripped action adjustment sockets and it worked ok. This is not working as well but I managed to get it moving. It only needs a final adjustment once the strings arrive.

Yeah. The string broke winding it back up.

[Ted Eschliman]

Inflammatory post title, false accusations, incendiary/knee jerk comments about dealer ethics, if anyone ever question Forum policy about taking personal grievances out on sellers and manufacturers, all they'd have to do is look at these two pages. It's textbook.

This is why we have these rules, folks.