I just read your story and felt like helping out. Sorry to hear that my friend.
Are you talking about the front panel chassis being a little springy around the top corner areas (like you can push it down a little - this seems to be normal if so. It’s the part that lifts up when needing service. I have had two LP machines here, so it’s definately normal if the unit has a little give on the top panel corners. My LP SE does this too (as did my previous LP Tribute) If this does not seem to be the case:
First things first - get in touch with Turnkey service and speak to them about the damaged box and how it ‘may’ have affected the unit ‘physically’. Tell them that you prefer a replacement as a first option. Just wait it over and all will be fine But…i personally think your unit is perfectly normal.
If you do decide to take it further, note the serial number down and make sure that you make it public so that it cannot be resold as new (if you wish to do so).
Also remember you have a 1 year warranty, and Turnkey have to sort any problems out for you in that period, even a replacement if things go wrong in that time.
Note: as for the box, my box had no factory seal as such (or staples or tape) other than the two flaps that keep it closed, which i was pretty happy with. The box is quite thin and light, can easily be squashed even in transit by other boxes next to them. I made huge thumb prints on mine just carrying the damn thing
With instruments such as Moog, things are handmade - so its likely that any finger prints, slight blemishes or marks etc are naturaly there (just something to think about).
i hope that makes you feel a little more positive, and i’m sure its all fine to be honest…now smile.
Yeah, i just pressed down on my unit and i get about 4 mm of a push and it lifts back up. It happens on one side more than the other side. I can also see that this panel is a lift up type of panel (maybe) when needing access inside of the unit, so it obviously has a little give to it.
The box thing is fine from looing at your picture. I picked my unit up from Turnkey, and it is very easy for dents and damages. Mine was not perfect either. Main thing i did, was to make sure the unit plays and works, and it looked and smelt new…lol. And yes, my mains lead looked like it was just squashed into the side looking a bit out of shape.
Just for the heck of it, you may want to send an email to Turnkey service and let them know about your unit, that it works fine, but the box was a little cornered.
I remember when i bought a shop demo Akai MPC 4000 Plus from them last year and it was sold to me as mint condition, boxed with manuals and 12 month warranty, etc. When it arrived, the box looked like it went around the world and back (completely falling apart - no joke), and to top it off, the unit was damaged. It had a CD RW floating around inside the unit and a dead HD. I did take it up with Turnkey and got a new CD RW and a new HD out of them. And lucky for me, my brother is handy with the tools and sorted it all out for me.
All the new stuff today is a hit ‘n’ miss imho. Alot of the stuff is rushed and put out the doors faster than the assembly time. I cannot stand most of the China made music gear, so much inconsistency. I own alot of it too, but it makes me wonder sometimes why i buy it.
Yep that tape thing you mentioned , my Akai box was wrapped up like a mommy, it even had a luxumbourg sticker on it. The sales dude told me that its a shop demo (yeah right). I kept it in the end, they were getting rare (and not available now) and it’s fully working and not a single mark on the panel, which suprised me. It looked like it had been in the middle of a simple service job but left pending and then resold in a rush. That is what Turnkey confirmed after a month or so. I had there so called engineer on the line.
The LP is something special though, the analog rawness is great and makes the softsynths sound like plastic lightweights in comparison. I have lots of softsynths from refx, spectrasonics, arturia, NI, etc. The real analog gear sounds and feels much better and more natural. They cut better in mixes too.
I also own an Andromeda, which sounds amazing too, as well as a Oberheim matrix 1000. I just really love analog sounds. wish i had a Jupiter 8 too.
The upper-right side LPTE panel flexes inward but less than 1mm. The left side, nothing. But, I’d ask for a prepaid shipping label/box & a replacement Phatty so you can just box up yours when you get a new one. They should eat the cost to make you happy.
All of this with the panel is pretty well normal… the panel is held in place by two screws at the lower left and right corners. The top of the panel is not screwed down, rather it rests in a groove or channel in the aluminium back panel. As somebody mentioned, this whole panel lifts up for service. So, it’s possible for there to be a bit of give in the top corners of the panel and this is both normal and harmless.
The warranty period is 1 year in the USA but I think that there is a mandatory 2-year minimum warranty on new products sold anywhere within the EU. I know that this is true on the continent; not sure if the UK has its own set of rules or not.
But…i personally think your unit is perfectly normal.
, my Akai box was wrapped up like a mommy, it even had a luxumbourg sticker on it. The sales dude told me that its a shop demo (yeah right). I kept it in the end, they were getting rare (and not available now) and it’s fully working and not a single mark on the panel, which suprised me. It looked like it had been in the middle of a simple service job but left pending and then resold in a rush. That is what Turnkey confirmed after a month or so. I had there so called engineer on the line.