A Question Regarding % Of Guitars in Shops with Problems

[Glenn F]

Hi there,

 

Well, my recent experience at this local shop where I bought 3 guitars this summer was not a pleasant one. First time around, I bought an Ibanez Artcore AF95 VLS. It had a nasty rattle, string buzz, and wouldn't stay in tune. I tried everything I knew, but these problems wouldn't go away. The second time I brought it back to the shop, I basically had to say that our relationship would be over if the situation wasn't remedied. I was allowed to exchange, but not before I was told that my playing technique was responsible, that I expected too much from a cheap guitar (it was

[Cripes]

Few to none, actually. The places range from chains to private mom/pops. The ones I have visited seem to have rather responsible staffing. One little mom/pop has some guitars that are frequently out of tune - I retune them (relative) - but that's about it. Seems to me the proprietor of the shop you speak of needs a lesson in customer service.

[Tony Burns]

That sounds like a very unusual problem ,which might stem from where you place your fingers on the fretboard in relationship to where the strings are- all of the guitars you mentioned are decent instruments ( not top end but good value guitars ) and shouldnt buzz , so this is odd to me . Not saying your at fault -you might want to spend some time at another shop just to make sure , that possibly the shop you were in maybe had a few problems or humidy was to high or low-- if your homes lower than the store that might give you problems and could cause buzzing-( slim chance thou )- without the guitar in front of me its really hard to diagnose this - you might want to show a guitarist thats a friend where its buzzing and let them try a song or two and see if its still doing it - it might just be you need a humidifier - but this is a tough one to nail down. Good luck !

[Sparhawk]

I have been in shops that are just like you describe. Fortunately, there are some very nice ones near where I live now (and I am going to check out another one next week). I have also found that the 'master luthier affiliated with the shop' is not always what they say they are. The best guy around here absolutly refuses to be called a luthier. He says he can work with guitars. He does a darned good job too. This may or may not relate to what you have experienced. Food 4 thought...

[Kap'n]

 

I bought an Ibanez Artcore AF95 VLS. It had a nasty rattle, string buzz, and wouldn't stay in tune.

 

 

 

Were they there when you bought it?

[guitarist21]

 

It had a nasty rattle, string buzz, and wouldn't stay in tune. I tried everything I knew, but these problems wouldn't go away.

 

 

These all kind of sound like issues fixable with a regular setup (except possibly the staying in tune issue but it might be fixed by a setup also). Did you get this guitar setup? Possibly by an unbiased third party? I also think Kap'n brings up a good point, did you/they notice this when you bought it?

 

Anyway to answer your question, I'm going to agree with Cripes. Many small shops are good. Of course you get a handful of idiots wherever you go (even at my trusted mom and pop store, there's a few employees I avoid because I know they aren't going to be helpful).

 

If you weren't happy with the guitar, a good guitar shop owner should try to figure out if there was anything wrong with the guitar. Many small guitar shops employ techs and set up the guits they sell when they sell them. Small shops especially are often rather accomodating because they want your business. Guitar Center and Sam Ash don't really have to worry about earning your business, but the little guys do. So the one thing you could do is just not give them your business anymore if you're truly unhappy with them.

 

Ellen

[Hudman]

The last time I bought as guitar from an actual store was in 1997. I buy online with little to no problems. I do my own setup work.

[Glenn F]

Hi there,

 

Thanks for your replies! regarding the Artcore, the rattle and buzzing were intermittent. When I brought it back the first time, the nasty sounds wouldn't perform on cue! So, I had to make a recording of the sounds and burn it to CD before the guy would accept that there was a problem. It didn't make those sounds when I bought it, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. The second time I brought it in, the tech checked the frets and told me there was a hill up around the 14th fret. That's when he brought up fixing the guitar and charging me for it. It seems a bit of a scam to me: sell sub-standard instruments, and when a customer complains, tell them that the guitars are within spec because they are cheap guitars, and then offer to have them fixed for a price (for which the store gets a cut).

 

It is doubtful that this has anything to do with my playing technique. I have no problems with the guitars I bought elsewhere. Hell, when I moved to Germany from Canada 3 years ago, and all my stuff was in transit for 2 months, I bought a cheap

[eflat]

I guess my next guitar will be bought online. That way, I'll be able to return with 30 days, no questions asked, at the shop's expense. Again, thanks for your replies! Cheers, Glenn

 

That sounds like a good idea.

 

Given your situation and more importantly your location, I would definitely recommend http://www.thomann.de - excellent prices, cheap delivery, guarantees and warranties etc, and 30-day no questions asked returns. Good luck.

[Glenn F]

That sounds like a good idea. Given your situation and more importantly your location, I would definitely recommend http://www.thomann.de - excellent prices, cheap delivery, guarantees and warranties etc, and 30-day no questions asked returns. Good luck.

 

Thanks,

 

I've done quite a bit of business with Thomann in the last couple of years, mostly for electronics and software. I had decided to try to develop a working relationship with the local shop, but they seem to have a different philosophy than I do regarding what their role is in that equation. So, yeah, Thomann will be my choice if I go for a Martin D-28 next year, but they don't carry Larrivees, so I may go for a visit to Musikschmidt.de in Frankfurt should I choose to try out some of them. The prices they charge for the Larrivees seem a bit exhorbitant, though.

 

Cheers!

 

Glenn

[Freeman Keller]

Glenn, first, I would say that your experience is atypical, at least with respect to the stores that I am familar with. My local mom and pop store has a good selection of well set up instruments and knowledgable staff - all this in a town of 50K people. The have free clinics by people like the local Martin rep (who will change the strings on customer's guitars for free and give out some great swag).

 

One of the things I like to see when I go into a store is that the acoustics are in a separate room (for one thing it is quiet when I want to play them). I like to see the controls and indicator for the room humidifier - that way I know they are taking care of their inventory (many of the problems you describe might be due to improperly humidified guitars). I like to find the guitars in tune and with fresh sounding strings.

 

If I'm serious about buying a guitar I expect the tech to sit down with me and talk about action and the way I play. I expect her to watch me play, and to make whatever changes are necessary for my style. I expect her to tell me to bring it back in 30 days so she can tweak it if necessary. I expect her to talk to me about the care and feeding of my new guitar - do I have a good humidifier, will I keep it in its case, do I have any questions?

 

My store does all of that routinely and I have come to expect a good product and good service, and I don't haggle over price because they provide it. Sounds like you need a new store.

 

However, to answer your original question - I believe zero percent of new guitars in stores should have problems.

[Glenn F]

Thanks, Freeman,

 

Those are generally my views on the issues I've raised. Oh, did I mention that they put this Artcore back up on the wall to be sold as new, after I'd had it for a little more than a month? I was actually shocked to see that they'd done that, given that the tech had found a problem with the frets. I would've expected them to send it back to the company, but nope.

 

Welp, I think I've given them more than a fair chance at my money. I don't particularly like the idea of buying a guitar unseen/unplayed, but I would assume that an internet vendor as large as Thomann must inspect their guitars before they ship, otherwise they'd lose a fair bit of dineri from people shipping guitars back to them on their nickel. It is a shame that there is no shop in town that remotely comes close to meeting reasonable expectations.

 

Cheers,

 

Glenn

[guit30]

Sounds like a shop near where I live, their tech thinks a set up is adjusting the truss rod

Jim

PS- find another store or go online Pulse Music online is good, they inspect and give a general set up to each guitar

[eflat]

 

Thanks, Freeman, Those are generally my views on the issues I've raised. Oh, did I mention that they put this Artcore back up on the wall to be sold as new, after I'd had it for a little more than a month? I was actually shocked to see that they'd done that, given that the tech had found a problem with the frets. I would've expected them to send it back to the company, but nope. Welp, I think I've given them more than a fair chance at my money. I don't particularly like the idea of buying a guitar unseen/unplayed, but I would assume that an internet vendor as large as Thomann must inspect their guitars before they ship , otherwise they'd lose a fair bit of dineri from people shipping guitars back to them on their nickel. It is a shame that there is no shop in town that remotely comes close to meeting reasonable expectations. Cheers, Glenn

 

 

Yes they do. I bought my first *real* guitar from them in April, a Taylor 310 that had been lowered in price, probably because the new Taylor line was just about to come in then. I got at least 4 phone calls from them, one from a guitar tech, and 3 from 'Paul' I think his name was, pointing out a mark on it, and consequently negotiating on prices with me.

 

The mark looks like a baby's dug his little fingernail into it - it cant be more than 1mm actually, but yeah, thats how well they check their guitars. Regarding set-ups, I have never had to alter action, its about 4mm on the low E at the 12th fret, intonation or anything like that. Every guitar you buy from there comes with a tag saying who checked it over when etc. I was worried about spending what I considered to be a lot of money on a guitar bu the 30-day return deal was very reassuring in that respect -

[dhoenisch]

 

Sounds like a shop near where I live, their tech thinks a set up is adjusting the truss rod Jim PS- find another store or go online Pulse Music online is good, they inspect and give a general set up to each guitar

 

 

I'll second Pulse music. I ordered an OS Uke from them about three or so years ago. It was in November, and was very cold when they got the shipment in. I had called them to find out the status, and they said it would be a couple of days before they would send the uke out because they wanted it to slowly get to room temperature so that they could properly set it up, and make sure it was flawless before I got it. Than, they explained to me what I needed to do once I got it since it was so cold out. Definately a great online store.

 

Dan