Thanks for the support and commiseration guys. This really sux. I don't mind admitting to you guys that seeing that damaged guitar was practically like seeing an animal or person get injured. I know you guys can understand the feelings one can have for a musical instrument.
The seller is being fully professional and helpful and has great communication etc. He's had insurance claims payout in the past which is very reassuring.
I just had a nice long painful frustrating ordeal at the post office. If you are not from the USA you might not know the USPS has a pretty terrible reputation for customer service. They usually do a great job in my experience but wow if something goes wrong good luck getting help.
I may or may not have initiated a claim for the insurance, and they may or may not have done what they are supposed to do to get it rolling (references to non-existing forms etc etc etc). They insisted they always keep the damaged item! But I managed to argue them into letting me take it back. Like I'm really gonna let them throw the pickups and tuners and everything into some unheated warehouse that's gonna be auctioned off 10 years from now or whatever. I'd have to totally strip the guitar before I take it up to leave it there if they insist on it.
it is probably repairable. The crack is above the truss rod juncture I think, I haven't had the heart to take the truss rod cover off to see where the front of the crack ends up. The headstock veneer is holding it all together now and I figure the best thing I can do is not move it around much until I can get it to a luthier. Obviously it's not gonna be worth as much after a repair.
But the people at my local post office do not understand any of the relative factors that give a collectible vintage Japanese guitar its value, go figure.
I think next time I'm going to have to factor in the cost of getting it shipped in a case.
I very much appreciate you guys comments about the durability of a straight neck-headstock. I never thought about it before. Last few times I flew on business I took a mexican strat! :lol: But only because I didn't care too much if the guitar was damaged :lol:
Actually it's worth mentioning, becuase on one of the legs of the flight my luggage was SMASHED beyond anything I've ever seen. The guitar was in a nice Carvin ABS case and the case actually got cracked around the bottom! But the guitar was fine. My luggage's retractable handles and wheels and whatever were all just crushed. I had a Pod XT and pair of full size headphones inside the luggage and they were all OK! *)
Ok I've rambled enough, I'm just real happy to have this forum where I can have a little therapy.
I got to at least see and hold the guitar and get a sense of it. It was pretty impressive. It was in very good condition. It had smaller frets (with minimal wear) than any of my other guitars which I was interested in trying. My Greco LP has low-wide or oval or low profile or whatever you call 'em. This would have felt quite different and I was excited to try it.
I will try again. There was something so exciting about getting a guitar from so far away and from Japan and everything. I guess part of it was the sense of adventure :-?