It may be natural, but I wouldn't expect to see that in a £300 neck.
Yep, agreed
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Kit builds: JBA-4M | STA-1M | AIB-1Q | TL-1 (in progress)
Side projects: Artist TC59 | Sheoak Dreaming | Spalted Marri Metal | Randy Vs | Sassafrassin' | St. Vincent
After a bit of toing and froing with the vendor, we've reached a conclusion. They maintain there was nothing wrong with the neck as it's entirely cosmetic. But they are willing to swap it. They have two necks in the pipeline with the same spec so I will get a choice between those two when they are complete. It's another long wait but I'm happy with the outcome.
It may be just cosmetic but for £300 you don't expect cosmetic flaws like that. If they offered a £100 discount for keeping it then you'd have the choice of living with it or not. But it's not a small subtle flaw, it's in a very obvious place. Somewhere on the back of the neck you could accept, but not somewhere you'll see every time you pick up the guitar. And you don't want to be forced to paint the headstock.
Yeah - agreed, if it was anywhere else it would have been easier to accept.
I think the most efficient way to deal with it would have been to let me know as soon as it was visible and then I have a choice to make. If they believe they have a saleable item there's no risk for them. The only thing lost is time. But if I was building this for someone else and my customer didn't accept it (quite likely IMO) then I'd be stuffed.
But even if they let it go too far, they have done a good job in trying to put it right. They could have sent me back the original neck once they got it into relief and not told me about the broken truss rod. They could have pushed me harder to accept the new neck. So I'm happy they are trying the best they can to make sure I'll end with something I'll be happy with.
I think the lesson learnt is that be ultra careful with a custom order. In this case the terms are that custom orders are non returnable unless there's a manufacturing defect. But the problem here is that the "defect" is subjective.
Anyway, all's well... for now
This build has been going for the best part of year now. With all the neck issues now resolved I managed to get a few coats of TruOil on the neck, applied the decal and polished up the headstock face.
Last night I installed the tuners and bolted the neck on. So bar the final setup and perhaps a string tree or too this one is done.
It’s a lovely a guitar. The new neck looks awesome and feels great to play. It has all the chunkiness that I like and feels well worth the money.
Of all three guitars I’ve so far this one has the best of the finishes. Not so many flaws that I want to refinish it and I really like how the stain has turned out.
The pick ups sound great. Seymour Duncan vintage stack at the neck and Lil’59 in the bridge.
Thanks everyone for all your help and advice!
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Nice one Groovyman!
Apart from the neck dramas, this one did seem to go pretty smoothly for you. Imagine how you'll go with the 10th one!
I didn't know that SD did the Lil '59 in a tele configuration. Look forward to your demo!
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