Picked out my next guitar

Tonedeaf said:
Give it a chunky neck and make it 22 frets and I would be in the market.
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ESP caters to the metal heads. They tend to like 24 frets and thin necks. I'm sure Gibson will be happy to give you what you want. Granted at 3x the cost probably. ;)
 
Reporting on the guitar:

I like it as far as far as how it feels in my hands, the plek job is nice, the nut is well done, but the electronics are screwy. I won't go into detail, no need to. The guitar is broken.

Oh well!

I'll send it back and get store credit. I rarely if ever send things back. I've been wanting to get some rack drawers for the recording desk, some guitar tools, and supplies.
 
Cave Man said:
Reporting on the guitar:

I like it as far as far as how it feels in my hands, the plek job is nice, the nut is well done, but the electronics are screwy. I won't go into detail, no need to. The guitar is broken.

Oh well!

I'll send it back and get store credit. I rarely if ever send things back. I've been wanting to get some rack drawers for the recording desk, some guitar tools, and supplies.
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Not worth fixing, either yourself or having them do it?
Those electronics can't be super complicated, it shouldn't be that hard (not that I know anything about that wiring...).

I'm surprised you can have them Plek a guitar and still return it.
Or was that part of their standard new setup for that instrument?
 
Cave Man said:
Reporting on the guitar:

I like it as far as far as how it feels in my hands, the plek job is nice, the nut is well done, but the electronics are screwy. I won't go into detail, no need to. The guitar is broken.

Oh well!

I'll send it back and get store credit. I rarely if ever send things back. I've been wanting to get some rack drawers for the recording desk, some guitar tools, and supplies.
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Sorry your guitar isn't right. I've had problems with Sweetwater, so much so that I won't do business with them again. I almost spoke up when I saw you were going to use Sweetwater, but didn't want to be "that guy". Sounds like the issue with you guitar should have been found with the "55-point inspection" they brag about - before they did the plek and nut work.

I bought three guitars, $2000+ each, from Sweetwater last year (pre-COVID) and ALL of them had problems. Sadly, Sweetwater didn't do much to help. I returned one of the guitars and repaired the other two. On one of the repairs, I sent it back for repair and it was sent back to me still inop. I ended up taking the guitar apart, plugging in my soldering iron and fixing the "dead" bridge pickup myself. They sent me three sets of strings for my trouble.

Later, I got the usual "checking in" email from the salesman, many months after the last issue and I told him I wouldn't do business with them again, even after over 20 years of doing so.

Here's part of my last email exchange:

"...
My latest experiences with Sweetwater were so disappointing, that I decided I wouldn't do business with them again.
...
That was the last straw for me.

Guitar arrived not working, dead bridge pickup.
Returned to Sweetwater for repair.
Guitar wasn't fixed.
I fixed the guitar myself.
Received three sets of guitar strings for my troubles. (Repairing myself, plenty of emails back and forth, two extra trips to drop-off/pickup the guitar for shipping).

Another guitar ordered at the same time. Pickguard very noticeably "lifted" above the body on the lower horn. Inspection revealed a wood chip from the body at the screw hole preventing the Pickguard from seating properly.

Similar problem with another guitar around that time that I returned.

These are problems that should have been caught on the 55-point Inspection.

I'm adept at fixing plenty of things on guitars, but don't expect to have to repair a new guitar upon receiving it.
..."

I'd had other issues with Sweetwater before, over the years (waiting weeks on custom-order pickups that were wrong, for example). Sorry for sounding so negative.

I'm sure many of their customers are happy and have nothing but good things to say. I hope your experience is better than mine and that Sweetwater does right by you and turns this into a positive experience for you.
 
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Bummer, so sorry to hear... hopefully they will make it right and cover all your shipping and plek charges. My last new guitar I bought a month ago wasn't perfect either. I decided to fix the issues myself because the availability of Wolfgangs has kind of been scarce since the passing of the Great One.
 
Well that stinks. Sometimes that can happen to a demo model. They say they check them over, but you never know what the previous owner might have done to it electronics wise. Might have installed new pickups and then decided to return it and did a hack job reversing it. I bought a EBMM Majesty Demo from them for crazy money off and it had been Pleked also. I was the best playing guitar I have ever had. My body shape and the Majesty shape just couldn't get along though. They gave me a full refund including shipping.
 
I’m extremely cynical about any store inspecting anything; I’ve read many complaints about the 55 point inspection. So sorry it was a disappointment, but ti’s good to know the plek may have worked. You’d imagine after taking the trouble to plek it they’d take the trouble to plug in the thing! I used to get phone calls really often from a salesperson there; I would never answer, but finally one day I picked up and asked for them to stop calling all the time. I hate that way of doing business.
 
I liked the JB Bridge in this guitar. I was playing hells bells with the ax's hells glockenspeils preset and the tone had major mojo, I was like oh yeah!!!!!

Then I started messing with the piezo pickup and realized this guitar is f'd up.

Anyway, the guitar I linked to in the previous post has the same bridge pickup, so I'm sure I'll like the mojo in that respect.
 
Cave Man said:
That Adrian Smith Jackson is too rich for my blood right now, so I'm thinking:

I'll accept either store credit or I'll do a exchange for the guitar linked below

Basically It is the same guitar but with an Evertune bridge, non locking tuners, and no finicky electronics. I'll also get it pleked and a tusq nut upgrade.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...-eclipse-ec-1000-evertune-dark-brown-sunburst
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I love the ET. It might be a little off putting if they don't set it up properly before shipping it out to you and your first experience with it is not being able to bend any notes. With Sweetwater, that's highly likely. But if you're patient and follow the setup instructions online it's a game changer.
 
I've heard back from SW they are paying for the return shipping and I'll probably get my choice of a refund or store credit.

I have been wanting rack drawers, shelves, and various strings n things. I feel a shopping spree coming on, lol.
 
Cave Man said:
Reporting on the guitar:

I like it as far as far as how it feels in my hands, the plek job is nice, the nut is well done, but the electronics are screwy. I won't go into detail, no need to. The guitar is broken.

Oh well!

I'll send it back and get store credit. I rarely if ever send things back. I've been wanting to get some rack drawers for the recording desk, some guitar tools, and supplies.
Click to expand...

Electronics are easily fixed though. Some new pots, wiring, no biggie, easiest thing. Especially with a backrouted control cavity. Strats with their pickguards, those are more a PITA. If the pickups are wonky, that's......, harder to fix.
 
SW sent me some pictures of the actual guitar. I was not sure if this one came with the locking tuners, yet it looks like it does. PLuS+

It has shipped and is scheduled for delivery on Saturday.

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