Not impressed with Suhr or their dealers (a rant)

jma

jma

Inspired
For anyone thinking about ordering a custom-made Suhr, read this first.

Seven months ago I put $1000 down on an order for a custom Suhr. I spent the next two months with the local dealer hashing out errors and unexpected changes with the work order. (Yes, we can give you that special feature. Oops! No we can’t… Did you want a mid-cut? I thought you meant mid-boost…) It took four revisions to get the work order correct. Even after that, Suhr would contact me at various points in the production asking things like, “Did you want a satin or gloss finish on the neck?”, and “How did you want the 5-way switch configured?” I only spent two months going over these details with the dealer.

Every month I would send an email trying to get an update on the status of the order, waiting for the next thing to go wrong. For the past two months it seemed like there was no progress at all. Then after my last inquiry I got a reply from Suhr customer service that said, “there was an issue with the body and we are unable to use it for the build”. No further details were given. At this point I have absolutely no expectation that my order will be finished before the end of the year. I have even less expectation that I will receive what I ordered. One thing is certain: I will never buy another custom-made Suhr, ever.

I’m presently scouring the web for a PRS Johnny Hiland, hands down the best-sounding, best-playing guitar I have ever owned, and the only model I regret selling. (If it's so great, why did I sell it? To get the deposit money for the Suhr. Oh, cruel irony...)
 
Sorry to hear about your rough experience; however, I am willing to bet that the majority of issues you are dealing with are the responsibility of the dealer you order from. With both of my orders, the dealer took my specs filled out an invoice sent it to me for verification and then sent the order to Suhr. At that point, a rep at Suhr checked the specs, asked questions, or made clarifications. After each 'check' I was emailed a revised invoice. I ended up getting 4 revised invoices before the order was finalized.

On my last order I accidentally asked for clay dots on roasted maple instead of black-which I actually wanted-someone at Suhr caught this oversight and emailed to clarify.

As for the scrapping of the wood--that is a case of bad luck. I have been to the Suhr factory, a couple times, and they openly state that if materials don't pass their QC they reject them and start over. It is obvious to point out...but wood is organic and doesn't always react in the way we want.

I urge you to visit the Suhr forum and voice your unhappiness-I am pretty sure someone, possibly John Suhr himself, will assist you in sorting this out.

Good luck,
tyler
 
In my experience Suhr have always made exquisite guitars and their service is impeccable.

He's something that you don't know. I emailed Headline music (UK PRS distributor) to ask them about a very specific finish that I wanted. I was looking for a psychedelic stain like a rainbow or oil spill in the road. They told me that they couldn't do it.

Years later Al Dimeloa gets a sig that has pretty much all of my specs AND my finish. Yes, IMO they stole my idea, but is still regard PRS as my favourite guitars to play. Sometimes shit goes south and you just have to live with it. I'm sure that your experience is in the minority. Best of luck with your build.
 
Part of my frustration through this whole ordeal comes from the feeling of being kept out of the loop. Unless I initiate contact, I never hear from anyone with any updates. This is not a small purchase and I would expect to be kept informed as the guitar advances through each step in production. Just a couple lines in an email once a month to let me know how the guitar is progressing would be enough.

I found a PRS JH on Reverb.com in excellent condition, called the dealer and talked him down to a more reasonable price. I should have it by the middle of next week. It will definitely ease the pain!
 
When you get it, you will forget about it. Sounds like dealer issues to me. I've got two, phenomenal guitars. Be grateful they are just thoughtlessly throwing it together and shipping you something. Did the dealer tell you it would take about a year? That's what my dealer says and the two I have we're about 12 months.
 
As someone who deals with dealers on a regular basis placing orders for customers, I can tell you that most dealers don't have any idea how to order what the customer wants. They leave out option details all the time. I mean ALL the time. Things as simple as color, even.

It usually takes me 5 or six times to get all the details from them before I know what the customer actually wants, as far as options go.
 
Sounds like dealer issues to me as well. As the matter of fact sounds like the dealer I had. Very similar issues. In the end the guitar came to me damned near perfect. The only issue I had was a minor cosmetic issue which was the dealer's fault. The Suhr rep immediately offered to take the guitar back and fix my concern. Honestly, the guitar played and sounded so good to me I decided to keep it as is. I didn't want to let it go for another few months. But I'll never deal with that dealer again.

My advice for anyone ordering a Suhr would be to find a dealer that works for you. IE price and location. Make the order. After you have confirmation that anything has been submitted ask for the build number. Contact Suhr support with that number and go over everything with them.
 
Womac911 said:
As someone who deals with dealers on a regular basis placing orders for customers, I can tell you that most dealers don't have any idea how to order what the customer wants. They leave out option details all the time. I mean ALL the time. Things as simple as color, even.

It usually takes me 5 or six times to get all the details from them before I know what the customer actually wants, as far as options go.
Click to expand...

I was amazed at how options differed from dealer to dealer for the same build. After talking to Suhr support I learned what was possible and what wasn't. Scary when you have that much money in limbo and that much time involved. And if it's wrong it could possibly take just as long to have it corrected.
 
I had an issue with my Suhr, partly because of the dealer and partly because people there at Suhr didn't catch the different issues. It took about 2 years before it was resolved and John Suhr made sure I was 100% happy and even threw in an upgrade on the guitar and other things as a "sorry for your troubles" so I can't complain, things happen and to me as long as a business does all they can to fix the issue, then I can't really say much, because in life we all screw up, and so when we point fingers at others for doing it while we do it ourselves I just see that getting us no where. Not saying the OP is doing that, but that is why I didn't get all negative on Suhr and would purchase another one, though I am looking at the Carvin guitars they look like a great buy for what you get.
 
laughyouraxeoff said:
...I am looking at the Carvin guitars they look like a great buy for what you get.
Click to expand...

Recently I showed my DC127 (circa '01) with Lace Deathbucker in the bridge to a local brick and mortar store guitar guy, whom I've 'known' for almost twenty years, who had never experienced a Carvin. He has three-grand custom Jacksons in his inventory, and recently has had his own line of guitars made, which he carries in the store. He (really likes the Kemper, and plugged into that and) kept saying, with some emphasis, "I really like it." The HH2 I got a couple years ago has been flawless.

Segue off.....
 
Zemurray said:
When you get it, you will forget about it. Sounds like dealer issues to me. I've got two, phenomenal guitars. Be grateful they are just thoughtlessly throwing it together and shipping you something. Did the dealer tell you it would take about a year? That's what my dealer says and the two I have we're about 12 months.
Click to expand...

One of the things that really got my goat was when the dealer posted on the Suhr forum boasting that they could presently deliver a custom built guitar in about 3 months. At the time I read it, I had already been waiting 5 months. When I originally placed the order last November I was told by the dealer it would be ready in 4-5 months. In all fairness, he may have meant from the time the work order entered production, which wasn't until January, but he did not specify this.

Womac911 said:
As someone who deals with dealers on a regular basis placing orders for customers, I can tell you that most dealers don't have any idea how to order what the customer wants. They leave out option details all the time. I mean ALL the time. Things as simple as color, even.

It usually takes me 5 or six times to get all the details from them before I know what the customer actually wants, as far as options go.
Click to expand...

I agree. I was very specific with the dealer on every aspect of the build. A simple thing like the satin finish on the neck got left out of the work order, even after I told them this was a deal-breaker if they got it wrong. The dealer said they use satin finish by default so it's not necessary to put it on the work order. Then Suhr has to write me to find out the kind of neck I want. Miscommunication every step of the way.

laughyouraxeoff said:
I had an issue with my Suhr, partly because of the dealer and partly because people there at Suhr didn't catch the different issues. It took about 2 years before it was resolved and John Suhr made sure I was 100% happy and even threw in an upgrade on the guitar and other things as a "sorry for your troubles" so I can't complain, things happen and to me as long as a business does all they can to fix the issue, then I can't really say much, because in life we all screw up, and so when we point fingers at others for doing it while we do it ourselves I just see that getting us no where. Not saying the OP is doing that, but that is why I didn't get all negative on Suhr and would purchase another one, though I am looking at the Carvin guitars they look like a great buy for what you get.
Click to expand...

I very rarely rant about a personal problem – or anything else. But I felt compelled to post my experience just to let other first-timers know that ordering a custom-built guitar isn't a walk in the park. It's a huge investment in time and money and many things can - and probably will - go wrong before it's over. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't do it again.
 
I had the same experience a couple of years ago, never had a single update from them so I changed brand, a very small one, near to me so I can see the guitar grow. Very satisfied of that choice ;)
 
As everyone else has stated, this is all dealer related. The people at Suhr go the extra mile.
I had a custom build. John advised me not to go for birdseye maple for the neck as he thinks it can be unstable for a long time after the guitar leaves the factory. I insisted on having it. Guitar was everything I wanted when it arrived. A few months later, neck starts buzzing and the shop could not correct it. Told John, he just built me a whole new guitar. No questions asked even though he had told me to go for a different neck material :)
Top company and top service too. My dealer Soundsgreat in Manchester are also a great shop to deal with and got all my orders correct when getting my Suhr guitars.
Hope you enjoy your guitar when it finally arrives. They are my main gigging guitars and they never let me down.
 
vinnyburns said:
John advised me not to go for birdseye maple for the neck as he thinks it can be unstable for a long time after the guitar leaves the factory. I insisted on having it. Guitar was everything I wanted when it arrived. A few months later, neck starts buzzing and the shop could not correct it.
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Dang, sounds like more potential problems for me. Neither the dealer nor anyone at Suhr gave me any indication there might be a problem with the birdseye maple. I did a quick Google search and there is a lot of debate on this. General consensus is that there is a small chance you may have stability problems. :(
 
jma said:
Dang, sounds like more potential problems for me. Neither the dealer nor anyone at Suhr gave me any indication there might be a problem with the birdseye maple. I did a quick Google search and there is a lot of debate on this. General consensus is that there is a small chance you may have stability problems. :(
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One of my main guitars, a Hamer built in 1990, has a birdseye figured neck. It's probably the most rock solid, dependable guitar I've ever owned. I know it's just one data point, but fwiw....
 
jma said:
Dang, sounds like more potential problems for me. Neither the dealer nor anyone at Suhr gave me any indication there might be a problem with the birdseye maple. I did a quick Google search and there is a lot of debate on this. General consensus is that there is a small chance you may have stability problems. :(
Click to expand...

I would not worry too much. It is only a small percentage that ever have a problem. There are lots of pre CBS strats that have no problems whatsoever :)
 
ElectricPhase said:
One of my main guitars, a Hamer built in 1990, has a birdseye figured neck. It's probably the most rock solid, dependable guitar I've ever owned. I know it's just one data point, but fwiw....
Click to expand...

I agree completely. It's a tiny percentage. It would not stop me buying a birdseye maple neck in the future.
 
I love how people feel the need to defend their pet company like they owned it. The dealer is the front face of the company and the direct communication to the customer unless the company is a direct marketer like Carvin. Company's like Suhr should be working with dealers to make sure their product is represented appropriately by dealers , i.e. train sales staff on options, timing, etc otherwise they shouldn't we working with those dealers. If the company treats the dealer as just an order taker and not an essential cog in the supply chain then really its a crapshoot what the customer is going to get.

BTW birdseye is for sure a less stable wood than quarter sawn maple. I had one birdesye neck that warped but 3 that have no issues.
 
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