Customer Guidelines For Crystal Singing Bowl Concerns
Hello!
You are receiving this letter because you have expressed concerns about your singing bowl. Please review the information below to review our guidelines for various concerns customers may have.
We are a service oriented business. We take great pride in offering high quality bowls, that are some of the best tuned in the crystal bowl industry. It is our intention to inspect all bowls before they are sent out. But, as with any business, we can make mistakes. We do everything we can to resolve any issues with your order and insure your satisfaction.
We find that understanding the nature of the bowls and how they are made can take care of many such questions. For all bowls that do not meet our quality standards, have defects in workmanship, or are not tuned as indicated in your order, we will be glad to arrange a free exchange.
My Bowl Has A Scratch Around The Rim
Creating a crystal bowl, and then tuning it to the right pitch, is a difficult process that specialized equipment. During this process, there could form a small scratch or scratches around the rim. These scratches are not viewed as a defect of the bowl. They are a result of our fine tuning process, one of the best in the crystal bowl industry. If this is something you do not like, please return the bowl and we can see if we can select a different bowl for you that meets your specifications. You will need to pay all shipping for the return and exchange.
My Bowl Has A Small Divot Around The Rim
At times, because of the manufacturing of the bowls, there can be small divot on the outer rim of the bowl, that causes the striker to skip a tiny bit when playing. If for some reason, you have received a bowl that has a small divot on the outside of the rim, that interrupts the playing of your bowl, we will be happy to organize a replacement. If there is a small divot on the inside rim we will not organize a free replacement. Crystal bowls are not designed to play around the inside of the rim. If this is something you do not like, please return the bowl and we can see if we can select a different bowl for you that meets your specifications. You will need to pay all shipping for the return and exchange.
My Crystal Bowl Has A Small Air Bubble Or Mark On The Wall Of The Bowl
Every crystal bowl is individually made, and has many hand-made qualities, much like blown glass bowls, which give each bowl a different look and feel. Because of this, every once in a while a bowl is produced that has one of more air bubbles or small marks from manufacturing. This is more prevalent in the creation of clear bowls but is also possible in frosted bowls. These marks and air bubbles are not viewed as a defect or something that will affect the playing quality of the bowl, nor will it lead to the bowl breaking. Clear bowls also will have ‘ripples’ in their surface, more like hand blown glass that perfectly clear windows. If this is something you do not like, please return the bowl and we can see if we can select a different bowl for you that meets your specifications. You will need to pay all shipping for the return and exchange.
My Crystal Bowl Looks Discolored Or Dirty
Crystal bowls are not uniform in color. Some slight discoloration is normal. If you feel like your bowl is dirty, there is a small chance it missed inspection during its manufacturing and needs to be cleans. Please try cleaning the bowl with soap and water (do not do this on painted bowls). If you are not satisfied after doing this, or feel like your bowl is unnaturally discolored please send us a picture so we can make an assessment. The next step would be sending the bowl back to us so we can inspect it. If we find that the bowl is unnaturally discolored then we will replace the bowl. If we find the bowl to be very normal, we will ask that you pay for the original shipping back to us, and the return shipping back to you.
My Crystal Bowl Has A Different Level Of Roughness or Coloration On The Top And Bottom Of The Bowl
Every crystal bowl is individually made, and has many hand made qualities, which give each bowl a different look and feel. Further, they are often hand tuned which is a process of grinding down the bowl. For these reasons, for frosted bowls in particular, there can be a different level of roughness or coloration on one part of the bowls than another. This is very normal and is not considered a defect. If this is something you do not like, please return the bowl and we can see if we can select a different bowl for you that meets your specifications. You will need to pay all shipping for the return and exchange. If there is a strong amount of difference in roughness or discoloration, please talk with us. We may need to inspect the bowl to see if we can take care of the exchange.
My Crystal Bowl Is Thicker On One Side Of The Bowl Than The Other. My Bowl Is Too Thick Or Too Thin. My Crystal Bowl Is Not Exactly The Diameter Advertised.
Every crystal bowl is individually made, and has many hand-made qualities, which give each bowl a different look and feel. It is quite common during the manufacturing of the bowls for the bowls to have slightly different dimensions on both sides. Differences in wall thickness are not considered defects. Further, each crystal bowl ends up being a completely different size from the next. Bowls are rounded to the nearest whole number when being sold, thus a “12 inch” bowl may actually measure 11.5 inches, for example. Last, we do not view a bowl that is thicker or thinner to be superior to another bowl. Some bowls have to be thinner than others in order to provide a lower pitch in that size range, for instance. For all these reasons, if you do not like the bowl, please return the bowl and we can see if we can select a different bowl for you that meets your specifications. You will need to pay all shipping for the return and exchange.
My Crystal Bowl Is Not In Tune
#1) I ordered 432hz tuning; why is my C bowl tuned to 256hz, or other bowl not saying “432 hz”?
Just because your bowl is tuned to 440 or 432hz tuning, does not mean that your bowl will resonate at 432hz or 440hz. This may simply require a little musical understanding of the nature of tuning, pitch, and frequency. If you can imagine a piano, there is a key in the middle called Middle A or 4th octave A. This note is tuned to 440hz, and all other notes are tuned in relationship to that middle A key equaling 440hz. This is the international standard for tuning musical instruments. We can also flatten that middle A key to equal 432hz, and then all the other notes would be tuned in relationship to middle A equaling 432hz. However, all the other notes have much different hz values either higher or lower that 440 or 432hz. In our sets, they are all tuned accurately to one another, but that middle A note is the only note that actually resonates in either 440 or 432 hz. The others resonate in relationship to that note.
#2) My Bowls Are Not Accurately Tuned
We take great care in making sure the bowls we send out are within +/-5 cents from the advertised cent value. Precise tuning of every bowl is absolutely impossible in the crystal bowl world. These instruments are not hz frequency generators and should not be expected to be. Crystal bowls create many different tones depending on where the bowl is struck, how it is struck, what it is struck with, and how it is played. Below are instructions for getting a tuning from a bowl.
1) Softly tap the bowl, and sing the bowl around the rim for 10 seconds. Do not make the bowl play loudly. Just try to find a clear steady tone.
2) Stop playing the bowl, and let the bowl sustain. The sustain may be a single tone or it can oscillate between multiple tones. If the bowl is sustaining a single note, then record that note with a tuner. If the bowl is sustaining multiple notes, then wait until the sound dies down and record the most prominent sustaining note with the tuner. This is how bowls are tuned.
#3) My Bowl Is In The Wrong Octave
There are rare occasions when a bowl is in the wrong octave. For example, you may purchase a set with a bowl that is advertised as a 11” 3rd octave A, and you end up receiving a 4th octave A. These occurrences are rare and we will organize a replacement for you. Please take a recording of the bowl and email it to admin@sunreed.com. We will need to verify the issue, in order to process the replacement.
My Bowl Is Hard To Play
#1) 7-9 Inch Bowls Not Playing Well
7-9 inch bowls do not play the same way as larger bowls. These bowls will often be quieter, and with noticeably less sustain. Some smaller bowls just have a different sensitivity, and have to be played differently than larger bowls. This is just the nature of the bowl. If the bowl just doesn’t play, or its playing cannot be resolved with our advice on how to play it, we will be happy to send you a replacement. If the bowl plays just quietly, we will recommend that you purchase a silicon striker, or spend more time with the bowl. In this case if you do not like the bowl, please return the bowl and we can see if we can select a different bowl for you that meets your specifications. You will need to pay all shipping for the return and exchange. If on receiving the bowl we find that the bowl does not meet our own quality standards for playing, we will replace the bowl at our cost for shipping. We have played thousands of bowls and will be very honest in these cases.
#2) My Bowl Takes Awhile To Start Playing/Is Hard To Make Sing
Every bowls is inspected to make sure they sing properly. If for some reason you find that your crystal bowl does not play well, please try the following options.
1) Please play the bowl with the following technique. Hold the striker almost completely vertical, at a slight angle, to the side of the bowl. Tap the bowl to activate the vibration, and then run your striker around the rim of the bowl. Do not play the bowl fast. Play the bowl as slow as needed, and with enough pressure against the rim, to get the bowl sounding. You do not need to play bowls quickly. Playing bowls slowly with enough pressure will create more reliable sound. Every bowl plays differently, and every bowl will speak at a different speed and pressure.
2) Please purchase a crystal/silicon striker. Our crystal strikers with silicon sleeves have much better friction with the frosted bowls than suede strikers, and will make bowls play easier.
3) If you believe your bowl does not play well, you can speak with us further, or send the bowl back to us and we will inspect it. If on receiving the bowl we find that the bowl does not meet our own quality standards for playing, we will replace the bowl at our cost for shipping both ways. We have played thousands of bowls and will be very honest in these cases. If we find that your bowl plays fine, we will need you to pay all shipping costs to return the bowl to you.
4) You can make a video of yourself playing the bowl for us to see and send the video to admin@sunreed.com. In most cases we will just tell you to ship the bowl to us to inspect, but under certain conditions a video may be sufficient.
We want to insure your complete satisfaction with your bowls. We have some of the highest standards of quality and pitch in our bowls. However, through decades of service, we have found many people trying out the bowls for the first time, or with limited experience, do not understand these simple variations in bowls, methods of playing, or the nature of how musical tunings, frequency, and pitch are arranged and defined.
We will work with you to insure high success in your playing of the bowls, and that you indeed, have a quality set to be excited to own and play.
We also are in your service to provide training in their use, whether for your personal meditative practices, or in a professional practice offering services to others.