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Ok, this is going to be loooooong, so bare with me. It's going to be good to get it off my chest.
So I ordered a guitar in 2002, a total custom. I looked at maybe getting a WR1, but went for a Dinky style guitar as I really like them. Initially I talked to Lee about getting a 24 fret S****head version of the DeMartini Crossed Swords guitar. The graphic wouldn't look the same due to the extra frets so I figured I'd get the awesome flame graphic I've always wanted and go total custom.
I first specced out a 24fret S****head with a Charvel SD1 body and the Advanced Red Ghost Flames (ARGF) graphic. Just dots on the fretboard, R2 nut, no binding, oiled neck, one hum and non-recessed Floyd.
During talks I asked about having the truss rod adjust at the headstock end, like a guitar I had just had made locally the year before. This was not an option on that headstock, so I changed to a reverse pointy headstock. I did want to keep the 1 5/8" neck width but this wasn't an option, so I settled on an R3 nut on a 1 11/16" neck. To go with the new style headstock I optioned ebony sharkfins and black neck and headstock binding, to go with the Jackson look.
I paid for the initial guitar design in full, (around $1550) and also specced a G&G form fitted case to go with the guitar. At roughly the same time I ordered a G&G Star case too, as I wanted a nice case for a Star guitar I'm going to have built some time in the future.
Anyway, fast forward almost two years and I get the guitar. Opening the case for the first time was pretty cool, the guitar was wrapped awesomely and the graphic was just killer. The neck looked nice too, but something niggled in the back of my mind about it. Anyway, I picked her up, did a quick tune and had a play. Hmmmm...lots and lots of buzzing around the 12-15 fret area. This was interesting, the Bullseye played awesome out of the box, as did the Model 88 I got from Xeno.
So I took some pics and showed you guys and took it to my local guy for an assessment. He had a quick look at the neck and fixed the 12-15 area, but this caused the 4-7 area to go all buzzy. He took out his rule and found quite a few raised frets all over the board. It needed a fret level. This was disheartening, but I decided to soldier on and get it fixed myself.
By now I'd worked out what exactly about the neck didn't make it as bitchin' as I thought it should be, though it did look "ok".....the Sharkfins were a bit too small....just enough for them to not look quite right to me. I compared them to a Jackson and they were not as straight and sharp, and they weren't even quite uniform in how their size changed down the neck. I have a comparison chart somewhere I did of the measurements against each of them. This annoyed me, but I didn't think I could do much about it at the time.
So I decided to take the Custom to some guitar specialists on the Central Coast, a few hours away. I made an appointment to see them in a couple of weeks. During this time I was tung oiling the neck, and it came up very nicely but with the strings off this is when I noticed that there was glue showing from underneath the frets. Hmmmm....
So I went to the Central Coast and dropped off the guitar, which they started doing right away. Not too long after, I got a call, it needed more than a fret level, it had some problems. He'd noticed the glue under the frets and realised they were seated badly to begin with and wanted to let me know it was going to cost more than I was originally quoted for a fret level and setup. I said fine, I wanted the guitar to be right.
I picked it up a few days later. He explained that the Custom's fret slots were cut too wide for the tang, and it seems that they'd been glued in badly to fix it up. I said that was not right, these guys have a rep for awesome fretwork if nothing else, it's why I ordered the guitar, to experience what I'd heard about for so long. He said it looked like an apprentice had done the work, and he'd reseated and re-glued all the frets, with no glue showing and hoped for the best. The guitar had now cost me an extra $300 for the work + more for the trip down there.
This is when I also found out about the non-recessed Floyd that I'd ordered. He explained that the neck pocket simply had a piece of plastic at the back to angle the neck. He'd replaced it with a wooden one, and with more time he'd make something better, but I had to go home, and I was getting PO'd enough as it was. So instead of cutting the neck pocket for the non-recessed floating trem angle, I got a plastic shim and a whole lot of neck pocket gap. [img]/images/graemlins/nono.gif[/img]
I also had an issue with the case I got. Some may remember me asking to see what the inside of a G&G Star case looks like. Well, i was wondering if a disassembled strat would fit in one for shipping as Lee told me right as it was being shipped that the guitar with it's reverse headstock didn't fit the "custom form fitted" cases they had and it would take upwards of 8 weeks to get one to fit and that the guitar was being sent in a normal G&G case. This bummed me no end and I rushed around trying to work out if I could get the guitar and Star case shipped and the proper Custom case later. No go, once again I was informed it would ship in the normal case, end of story. Oh well, I was excited about getting the guitar but it did take a bit of the edge off the experience. Gary noticed this when we talked about the guitar being on its way. I just love the form fitted case and guitar combo, hence why I paid a LOT to get a Star case for a guitar I won't have for years, just so it's nice and ready for it when it's done. Anyway, I've noticed that due to the neck angle of this guitar the case actually pushes down on the neck of the guitar. For two years I dreamed of the guitar and it’s nice case, sad but true.
There is also some binding above the fretboard around the 12-15 treble side area that’s not quite right, and when I asked for the Jackson heel scallop, I got the Charvel SD1 slight angle scallop.
Now, I waited till it was absolutely necessary to get in touch with Lee about it, but it had to be done as the frets were moving again, they were all over the shop and they were never going to be right. I decided that I would have to bite the bullet, tell him about it all and get the guitar back to him. I'd already paid $300 and I was back in the same position as before.
I told Lee about the issues and he didn't want to know about the frets and glue or the nut problem. He did say he would fix the neck pitch problem by recessing the Floyd and fixing the graphic to match and would get me the correct case. I also want a new neck, badly. At the least it needs a new fretboard and better installed frets, but I want a new neck to get rid of that terrible nut install, you can't make that right.
I also mentioned I didn't like the sharkfins, but that wasn't a concern that was going to be looked at either. I said they weren't like a Jackson is meant to have, they didn't have the same cool and tough look, if you know what I mean by that. Too bad I was told, I should have ordered a Jackson. Yeah, I know that NOW.....but we discussed this before I ordered as Lee was a Jackson dealer back then. I specced out a guitar but Lee could do it quicker and cheaper, and I was also thinking it would have that awesome quality I had yet to try, so I went for it. Now, after losing the dealership and no more S****heads etc, he's not in the business of caring how Jackson like my sharkfins look. Knowing the sharkfins would not have been right at the start would have been a dealbreaker then and there and I would have easily gone to Jackson, same as if he'd told me he wouldn't make any neck with a headstock truss adjustment, but I guess I trusted him on the sharkfins thing. I didn't think he'd do them like a Cort or something.
So, lucky for me, the guys from the Central Coast guitar shop mentioned they were going to Namm so when I rang to tell them the frets were moving again they offered to take it back for me and deliver it to Lee. I was stoked as I had to send it back if I wanted things fixed, so I took them up on the offer. They rand Lee while still in Australia and made an appointment to see him. Well, they drove out there and he wasn’t at the shop. When they rang he said they should have rang, and he didn’t remember their previous international phone call to him. They saw him the next day and he didn’t want to know about much, just to take the guitar and get away again.
Now I’ve asked his opinion on the nut install and that’s when I was told it was fixed in 15seconds. When I asked how, the answer was the, “longer mounting screws, trust me, the nut is fine”
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I wrote the above earlier this afternoon and figured I'd give it one more try to get a new neck. It seems I won't be getting a new neck, nor even any fretwork done, and this guitar has the worst fretwork in the world currently, the whold board needs to be replaced, let alone the rest of the neck with the bad truss/nut install. His words leave me cold and feeling despair. If you would like I can email it to you, but Lee will not do any more work on the neck, as it meets their standards apparantly. Basically I'm a whiner with unrealistic expectations considering what I paid for the guitar. The guitar was US$1775, and cost me over AU$4000 to get here. On a US$1775 custom specced guitar, I expected a lot better than this.
So I ordered a guitar in 2002, a total custom. I looked at maybe getting a WR1, but went for a Dinky style guitar as I really like them. Initially I talked to Lee about getting a 24 fret S****head version of the DeMartini Crossed Swords guitar. The graphic wouldn't look the same due to the extra frets so I figured I'd get the awesome flame graphic I've always wanted and go total custom.
I first specced out a 24fret S****head with a Charvel SD1 body and the Advanced Red Ghost Flames (ARGF) graphic. Just dots on the fretboard, R2 nut, no binding, oiled neck, one hum and non-recessed Floyd.
During talks I asked about having the truss rod adjust at the headstock end, like a guitar I had just had made locally the year before. This was not an option on that headstock, so I changed to a reverse pointy headstock. I did want to keep the 1 5/8" neck width but this wasn't an option, so I settled on an R3 nut on a 1 11/16" neck. To go with the new style headstock I optioned ebony sharkfins and black neck and headstock binding, to go with the Jackson look.
I paid for the initial guitar design in full, (around $1550) and also specced a G&G form fitted case to go with the guitar. At roughly the same time I ordered a G&G Star case too, as I wanted a nice case for a Star guitar I'm going to have built some time in the future.
Anyway, fast forward almost two years and I get the guitar. Opening the case for the first time was pretty cool, the guitar was wrapped awesomely and the graphic was just killer. The neck looked nice too, but something niggled in the back of my mind about it. Anyway, I picked her up, did a quick tune and had a play. Hmmmm...lots and lots of buzzing around the 12-15 fret area. This was interesting, the Bullseye played awesome out of the box, as did the Model 88 I got from Xeno.
So I took some pics and showed you guys and took it to my local guy for an assessment. He had a quick look at the neck and fixed the 12-15 area, but this caused the 4-7 area to go all buzzy. He took out his rule and found quite a few raised frets all over the board. It needed a fret level. This was disheartening, but I decided to soldier on and get it fixed myself.
By now I'd worked out what exactly about the neck didn't make it as bitchin' as I thought it should be, though it did look "ok".....the Sharkfins were a bit too small....just enough for them to not look quite right to me. I compared them to a Jackson and they were not as straight and sharp, and they weren't even quite uniform in how their size changed down the neck. I have a comparison chart somewhere I did of the measurements against each of them. This annoyed me, but I didn't think I could do much about it at the time.
So I decided to take the Custom to some guitar specialists on the Central Coast, a few hours away. I made an appointment to see them in a couple of weeks. During this time I was tung oiling the neck, and it came up very nicely but with the strings off this is when I noticed that there was glue showing from underneath the frets. Hmmmm....
So I went to the Central Coast and dropped off the guitar, which they started doing right away. Not too long after, I got a call, it needed more than a fret level, it had some problems. He'd noticed the glue under the frets and realised they were seated badly to begin with and wanted to let me know it was going to cost more than I was originally quoted for a fret level and setup. I said fine, I wanted the guitar to be right.
I picked it up a few days later. He explained that the Custom's fret slots were cut too wide for the tang, and it seems that they'd been glued in badly to fix it up. I said that was not right, these guys have a rep for awesome fretwork if nothing else, it's why I ordered the guitar, to experience what I'd heard about for so long. He said it looked like an apprentice had done the work, and he'd reseated and re-glued all the frets, with no glue showing and hoped for the best. The guitar had now cost me an extra $300 for the work + more for the trip down there.
This is when I also found out about the non-recessed Floyd that I'd ordered. He explained that the neck pocket simply had a piece of plastic at the back to angle the neck. He'd replaced it with a wooden one, and with more time he'd make something better, but I had to go home, and I was getting PO'd enough as it was. So instead of cutting the neck pocket for the non-recessed floating trem angle, I got a plastic shim and a whole lot of neck pocket gap. [img]/images/graemlins/nono.gif[/img]
I also had an issue with the case I got. Some may remember me asking to see what the inside of a G&G Star case looks like. Well, i was wondering if a disassembled strat would fit in one for shipping as Lee told me right as it was being shipped that the guitar with it's reverse headstock didn't fit the "custom form fitted" cases they had and it would take upwards of 8 weeks to get one to fit and that the guitar was being sent in a normal G&G case. This bummed me no end and I rushed around trying to work out if I could get the guitar and Star case shipped and the proper Custom case later. No go, once again I was informed it would ship in the normal case, end of story. Oh well, I was excited about getting the guitar but it did take a bit of the edge off the experience. Gary noticed this when we talked about the guitar being on its way. I just love the form fitted case and guitar combo, hence why I paid a LOT to get a Star case for a guitar I won't have for years, just so it's nice and ready for it when it's done. Anyway, I've noticed that due to the neck angle of this guitar the case actually pushes down on the neck of the guitar. For two years I dreamed of the guitar and it’s nice case, sad but true.
There is also some binding above the fretboard around the 12-15 treble side area that’s not quite right, and when I asked for the Jackson heel scallop, I got the Charvel SD1 slight angle scallop.
Now, I waited till it was absolutely necessary to get in touch with Lee about it, but it had to be done as the frets were moving again, they were all over the shop and they were never going to be right. I decided that I would have to bite the bullet, tell him about it all and get the guitar back to him. I'd already paid $300 and I was back in the same position as before.
I told Lee about the issues and he didn't want to know about the frets and glue or the nut problem. He did say he would fix the neck pitch problem by recessing the Floyd and fixing the graphic to match and would get me the correct case. I also want a new neck, badly. At the least it needs a new fretboard and better installed frets, but I want a new neck to get rid of that terrible nut install, you can't make that right.
I also mentioned I didn't like the sharkfins, but that wasn't a concern that was going to be looked at either. I said they weren't like a Jackson is meant to have, they didn't have the same cool and tough look, if you know what I mean by that. Too bad I was told, I should have ordered a Jackson. Yeah, I know that NOW.....but we discussed this before I ordered as Lee was a Jackson dealer back then. I specced out a guitar but Lee could do it quicker and cheaper, and I was also thinking it would have that awesome quality I had yet to try, so I went for it. Now, after losing the dealership and no more S****heads etc, he's not in the business of caring how Jackson like my sharkfins look. Knowing the sharkfins would not have been right at the start would have been a dealbreaker then and there and I would have easily gone to Jackson, same as if he'd told me he wouldn't make any neck with a headstock truss adjustment, but I guess I trusted him on the sharkfins thing. I didn't think he'd do them like a Cort or something.
So, lucky for me, the guys from the Central Coast guitar shop mentioned they were going to Namm so when I rang to tell them the frets were moving again they offered to take it back for me and deliver it to Lee. I was stoked as I had to send it back if I wanted things fixed, so I took them up on the offer. They rand Lee while still in Australia and made an appointment to see him. Well, they drove out there and he wasn’t at the shop. When they rang he said they should have rang, and he didn’t remember their previous international phone call to him. They saw him the next day and he didn’t want to know about much, just to take the guitar and get away again.
Now I’ve asked his opinion on the nut install and that’s when I was told it was fixed in 15seconds. When I asked how, the answer was the, “longer mounting screws, trust me, the nut is fine”
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I wrote the above earlier this afternoon and figured I'd give it one more try to get a new neck. It seems I won't be getting a new neck, nor even any fretwork done, and this guitar has the worst fretwork in the world currently, the whold board needs to be replaced, let alone the rest of the neck with the bad truss/nut install. His words leave me cold and feeling despair. If you would like I can email it to you, but Lee will not do any more work on the neck, as it meets their standards apparantly. Basically I'm a whiner with unrealistic expectations considering what I paid for the guitar. The guitar was US$1775, and cost me over AU$4000 to get here. On a US$1775 custom specced guitar, I expected a lot better than this.
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