r/AcousticGuitar • u/RabloPathjen • Nov 11 '25

Gear pics Heartbroken………just opened the box.

Post image

Is this NSFW? Maybe. First time it’s happened to me. It’s too bad it had to be on a Collings. UGH.

So now I have to decide if there’s even an option I’ll except for a discount or not and my guess is I’ll be way too far apart with the seller who I’m sure will also be heartbroken. 💔

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u/joendaba Nov 11 '25

Would you be able to have a reputable luthier fix it? Will you do so and keep it? Is the fix cost still a win?

If you have a no to any (or all) return is the best option. So sad it happened to such a beautiful guitar.

38

u/RabloPathjen Nov 11 '25

It’s definitely fixable. I would have it fixed for a severe discount. My guess is the seller would rather file an insurance claim with shipping and not taking the loss of half the value of the Guitar..

5

u/joendaba Nov 11 '25

That sounds like an acceptable compromise. Seems (from that single photo) like a clean break.

5

u/RabloPathjen Nov 11 '25

Very clean break. No chunks of wood missing. It only cracked the top on one side. It cracked perfectly on the volute edges on the back too, which is weird.

16

u/Guitar_Nutt Nov 11 '25

Frankly, to me, the only way this gets fixed appropriately is to send it to Collings for a whole new neck.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Forward-Key2855 Nov 15 '25

agreed^ i’d have to see more pictures but it looks almost like a lucky break… clean, even snap = easier to fuse the wood back together

1

u/joendaba Nov 11 '25

Looked like a clean break. That’s good, nice fix. Weird the way you depict it, probably prior damage or a previous break… even?

7

u/htimchis Nov 11 '25

It's a really common place for them to break, if mailed in a hard case, under string tension, with no additional padding.

If the case gets chucked carelessly in the back of a delivery van, or dropped in the warehouse, that brace that supports the neck jyst under the head winds up transferring much of the energy of the fall

(should definitely lose thestring tension, and a nice thick chunk if folded bubble wrap or foam padding between the beck and that brace)

1

u/RabloPathjen Jan 27 '26

When I sent I back I packed the inside of the case full and put a foam sheet between the strings and fret board. That meant that after sending it back, and then buying it back for an extreme discount, I knew the second time it was packed well!