Members nylon rock Posted January 26, 2007 Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 Flying out Sunday night to N. Ireland in Business Class. Then will be picked up by an associate and we head over to George Lowden Guitars Ltd. to pick up my S35JazzX. The guitar will be in a Hiscox case and will have several layers of bubble wrap. Should protect it from temperature and handling. Found out that Continental, and most other airlines, only allows linear dimensions of 51-inches, L + W + H. So, this guitar is going in the hold. But, intend to gate check it. All of this is so tight on my schedule that it will be a miracle if it goes without a hitch. I will be saving a bundle by picking it up in person and bringing it back myself. I can claim a VAT refund on it by picking it up in person. Lowden has already filled out the VAT refund papers. This is an immediate discount, on top of the original discount of 10%, of 17.5%. Then, Continental may allow me to check it as regular baggage, but if not it will be $80.00. I figure shipping would have been $400. I will owe US Customs 6%. By bringing it back myself, I am saving around $1500. I will be so lucky if on my return, also in Business Class, I know that the VAT refund went as it should and that the guitar was properly gate checked. Then I will thoroughly enjoy that flight back with non-stop champagne! Like U-HAUL, it will be an adventure in moving. Many thanks to Cripes recommending my bringing it back in person to let the rest of you know what is involved. I'll post updates along the way as things progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 26, 2007 Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 I'll post updates along the way as things progress. Please do, with pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nylon rock Posted January 26, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 Can you do pics from your computer or do you need access to some sort of host site. (I've never done pics and have to abide by a company ethics policy not to reveal the company I work for in any way. Don't own my own computer, just use the laptop all the time.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave W. Posted January 26, 2007 Members Share Posted January 26, 2007 Nylon, Congrats. I remember when you thought about canceling the order. All the way to Ireland, can't you stay a couple days and have a few pints? Where in Jersey, before moving upstate NY 7 years ago, I spent 45 years in Emerson, next to Paramus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffmeister Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Drink a pint of Guiness and then post some pics!!!! . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Way to go! Champagne and a new guitar! Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitapick Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Sounds fantastic.Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cldplytkmn Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 p.s. you can put pics on your computer, then upload them to photobucket.com and link them from there... no fuss, no muss. (what's a muss anyway??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nylon rock Posted January 27, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Reading about US Customs Duty, I will be away just long enough, around 60 hours (a business trip), to qualify for some exemptions on the US Customs tax. You have to be out of the country for 48 hours to qualify. So, I will get $800 exemption, that saves $48. Then the next $1000 is at a flat tax rate of only 3%, so another $30. All of this is good. I'll keep photobucket in mind. Will probably have a pint or two on Tuesday night. Then it is taxi pick up the following morning at 4:30 am for the hour drive to Belfast Harbor Airport to then get there in time to ring up a Customs Agent to stamp my VAT refund and verify the guitar, and still leave enough time to get on the plane for my 7:00 flight to Glasgow. Then work my way through security to the gate for Continental where I'll find out all-about gate-checking a guitar, then catch the 9:00am flight to Newark International. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brahmz118 Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Looking forward to some pics, maybe sound clips too. I must have missed the earlier threads with details about the guitar. Link or refresher? I just tested the Attachment feature (no hosting necessary) -- it claims the maximum size for a JPEG is 100KB, though I just uploaded a 300KB image and it somehow went through, getting converted to 70KB in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nylon rock Posted January 29, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Well, things are not going smoothly at all. George produced the guitar after it had gone through some final setup, handed it to me and I immediately found a major issue. His usual nylon string guitars had an undefined pearl sidedot inlay positioning to denote the frets when I placed the order way back when. (He has since modified this to one dot at all of the usual positions for which a steel string would have.) In my back and forth e-mails I had stated clearly: Side dot position markers: 1 at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 2 at 12th, 1 at 15th & 17th. Unfortunately, to free George up of all this detail working out, he has an international sales manager write up the confirmation quotes. It came out as: position markers: 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, double at 12th, 15th, 17th. Guess what the guitar had in actuality. 1 at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 2 at 12th, 2 at 15th & 2 at 17th. It was a humorous scene to say the least because the international sales manager just happened to be visiting N. Ireland, having just returned from NAMM with George. George got the order form and showed it to me and to her and she insisted, in the most polite conversation possible, that it had been written up correctly. It is slightly ambiguous, and I knew this and was kicking myself for not having it cleared up before the sidedots had been done. Three solutions existed: 1) Live with it. (no way, it looked ridiculous. I even said to George that I had never seen anything like this, and even he agreed to the same opinion, but had thought that with all the detail of the guitar specs, this had been what I wanted. (He doesn't play, hence I could forgive him.)) 2) George could drill out the unwanted double pearls, replace them with rosewood which would always show he assured me, and redo single pearls between the rosewood inserts. (I knew this would bother me and that I would feel that I had caved in, especially without having slept in 24 hours when making the decision.) 3) Remove the entire rosewood fingerboard binding on the one side, re-install new rosewood binding and do the pearl inlay as originally intended. This would also involve a lot of steps and re-lacquering. I settled on this. So the guitar is going into overtime tonight (Monday) with the hope that it will be ready for me, with hand delivery at Belfast Harbor Airport at 6:00am Wednesday morning, one hour before my flight. I'll probably ask for an even earlier delivery to insure that traffic and possible glitches do not ruin the handoff. The guitar is not as beautiful as I thought it would be. The Alpine Spruce top was from one of his own boards for his personal guitars and has already yellowed since it is private stock of his from quite some time back having never been assigned, and so it did not have a very white alpine look to it, but he let me know that it is a higher quality top than his usual Lowden line of guitars workshop Alpine Spruce. The rosette is more green than blue in abalone shell, and so the apearance is really not breathtaking. I think when you order a custom guitar that takes a long time to get made, in your mind it becomes larger than life over time. I probably just have to get it home and let it grow on me. Nonetheless, I did get to play it for a few minutes and it sounds truly beautiful. Really, really nice!!! I didn't want to give it back. The Rodgers Tuners are gorgeous too, so good looking that he told me he will probably start using that design from now on: L112. So, I wait even though I can't get it out of my mind. I still have airlines in front of me and 3 thousand miles to home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raggety Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 I would learn to live with the odd markers as they make it unique, my guitar has no fret marks at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave W. Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 I would learn to live with the odd markers as they make it unique, my guitar has no fret marks at all. Ditto, I would prefer that to having a finished guitar of that quality, ripped apart and rushed through an overnight repair. Hope it all works out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 That probably isn't too big of a deal to remove the fretboard binding and replace it with the dots done correctly. If it is lacquer the finish should repair itself when it is reshot. While I might have chosen (1), I think you are doing the right thing - this is going to be your baby for a long long time and I'm pretty sure the markers would have bugged you no end. I certainly would not worry about the top or the rosette - you make the significant statement when you said "it sounds truly beautiful. Really, really nice!!!" Often the most beautiful piece of wood is not the best sounding - that fact that it was picked from his personal stash should be enough. And real abalone does vary in color - each shell is different. Once again, I would cherish that this guitar is an individual. I'm getting more impatient to see it as I'm sure you are to finally call it yours btw - Photobucket is free and very easy to use. Upload your pics to your pc, establish an account with photobucket, upload the pics, organize them into folders. When you want to show off, just copy and paste the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffmeister Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 wow.......bummer about the dots!!! I hope it all works out in the end.... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 While I might have chosen (1), I think you are doing the right thing +1. Your git, and you've been waiting a long time for this. Worth a couple days more to get it right. I just hope you don't miss your flight... I'm amazed to hear that GL doesn't play. I've wondered now and then how many of the great builders don't. It always seems a little weird to me, although I suppose it shouldn't. You don't have to be a surgeon to make a great scalpel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members learn'r Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 how exciting! having just started down the road to explore a classical guitar - I can only imagine having a custom built. sure hope you can get some pix up for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members learn'r Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 +1. Your git, and you've been waiting a long time for this. Worth a couple days more to get it right. I just hope you don't miss your flight...I'm amazed to hear that GL doesn't play. I've wondered now and then how many of the great builders don't. It always seems a little weird to me, although I suppose it shouldn't. You don't have to be a surgeon to make a great scalpel... hey knock, I like that. You don't have to be a surgeon to make a great scalpel ... nope but guys like Freeman sure get the best of both worlds don't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 Aw, man. That's a tough one. I hope it all comes together. Doesn't he know that WE'RE waiting, too?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nylon rock Posted January 31, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 OK, ever have a long ordeal, and you hit your low, and although you're as down as you feel it can get, you still manage to persevere? Well, I persevered and it has paid off. I am home again, back in New Jersey, and the guitar is with me, and it has been done perfectly. To help with the handoff, I moved from my hotel out in the sticks of N. Ireland to the Hilton in Belfast, so that the handoff could be done by just having a Lowden employee drive it up to me on Tueday night. The handoff occured at 9:30 pm. I think George would have done it himself, but he mentioned something about that before he could deliver it to me, he would have to rush home and set his Tivo. I had no idea what he was talking about. As I waited for someone else to deliver it, I noticed in the "Cables" bar of the Hilton that it was filling up. On the widescreen was Liverpool v. W. Ham. They're nut about futball over there. But that last conversation with George was that the side binding had been taken off just fine the day before, and a good match of rosewood was replaced with the correct pearls on it, and that two coats of lacquer had been put on the binding, that it was dry to the touch but just don't fool around with it. He said he could pick the guitar up by the neck without there being a mark, so just don't grip it too hard until it cures up. But he commented that with guitars there is good and perfect, and that this one, overall, leaned very far to perfect. The handoff complete, along with bubble wrap for me to work with, and I had a whole roll of duct tape in my luggage along with scissors (had thought ahead before the trip), and I took the case up to my room. I opened it up, and a slight hit of thinner could be smelled. I gave the binding a look, up close and personal, and it was perfect. I couldn't belive how good it had come out. I was so happy I had stayed the course, against all odds. But another funny oddity was that in its case with the velvety plush violet the guitar looked very beautiful. The top wasn't really yellow but sort of a creamy white and the rosette pulled some of the colors from the violet velvet and I was beginning to see things entirely differently. As I write it is still in its case, even though I'm home, and so I don't know how the trip home went. But that night in the hotel, I left the case open so that it could breathe a little more. I made a bubble wrap shell for the case which had me up till 12:30am, then got up at 4:00am and recased the guitar and headed off to the airport. I was allowed to take it into the cabin in a secure locker up near the front of the plane over to Glasgow, and once there was allowed to put it in my overhead in BusinessClass. It went through security twice and not once did they want it opened, which would have meant removing the bubble wrap. So it sits in the living room right now still in the bubble wrapped case. I'm too tired to mess with it. Drank mimosas the whole way over and couldn't believe how things had turned for the better. I'll get some pics together, but it will take a few days. When I went through US customs, the guy looked at the guitar and asked, "Is that a Martin?" "No." "Is it a Gibson?" "No...it's a Lowden." He waved me by. I paid nothing in duty even though the card was filled out for $5800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cldplytkmn Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 glad to hear it... can't wait to hear your impressions of how it sounds... hopefully it is completely fulfilling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave W. Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Wow, what a story. Very happy to hear it went that smooth. Honestly I had visions of you having to get on the plane without it. I don't think I would have had the courage to go the way you did. That guitar is going to have a special place in your heart. Congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Whalebot Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 If you do't mind me asking Nylon, what do you do for a living? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Nylon, I love this story and I can't wait to see picture (and maybe a clip?) of it. Event the Customs part is perfect and kudos to George Lowden for the way he handled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 So when you take the bubble wrap off it, are you going to drink more bubbly? How about this mixed drink--since it combines Irish stout and champagne?Black Velvet 5 oz chilled Guinness 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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