I made a couple of discoveries.
I told the seller that I was keeping the body, but that I was not 100% happy. It was badly packed which resulted in some dents. It was also not "maple"...which I told them was fine with me, but they might have happier campers if they told people t he body was paulownia, which is getting more popular and for which the body was competitively priced. This would be better, I thought than to continue claiming that it is maple. I didn't ask them for anything, and I also told them I was not going to leave bad Their response was to give me an additional $3 off the price. That brings it to under $30 with shipping. Discovery one is that you should always tell an ebay seller if you are not 100% happy. I have made this discovery before, but for all the times I have been disappointed by the sellers response, I think there have been at least half again as many where I was pleasantly surprised.
Another discovery is that the old wet-rag-and-iron trick really does remove dents. There were a couple of pretty good sized dents in this thing, and I did not really think this would work. It did work, and amazingly well. Even on one that I thought might be a gouge. The only place it did not work may actually be nick from round-over routing that I am pretty sure I can sand out.
The third discovery, that will surprise no one, buying a finished paulownia body from Guitar Fetish for $54 US would have been cheaper if I had factored in the cost of the finish. I have already spent over $40 on dye stain and pore filler...and that's only enough if the top coat I have on hand will be sufficient, and my stock of sandpaper holds out. I am not sorry about that, but their can't be a completely rational reason why I am not sorry... which is probably the fourth discovery.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by fender3x
