View Single Post
  #1  
Old 12-31-2020, 03:39 PM
Captain Jim Captain Jim is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Arizona (from island boy to desert dweller)
Posts: 6,970
Default Epiphone SG Prophecy

Earlier this month, I asked if anyone had any experience with the Fishman Fluence pickups... a hundred or so people looked at the post, but no response. I ordered an Epiphone SG Prophecy with those pickups; it arrived yesterday, after a real fiasco dealing with the music shop. I won't say the name of the shop (they have a great looking website, btw), but their initials are Cream City Music. Long story short: they showed they had two in-stock on Reverb. 9 days after placing my order, I find that did NOT have the color I wanted in stock... didn't have it when they listed it... didn't have it when I ordered it... and then tried to blame the "miscommunication" on Gibson/Epiphone, Covid, and the holidays.

Of course I canceled the order and asked for an immediate refund. They did that, and one of the owners called me. He was decent on the phone and said the problem was "100% their fault"... unlike the salesperson who tried to blame everything and everybody else.

After that conversation, he made me a "make things right" offer on a different color that they did have in stock. He called back while I was in the shower, and my wife made the deal with him. (yes, she is a guitar enabler)

They claim to do a set-up on every guitar that gets shipped out. I say "claim," because the action was good, the guitar seems decent, but the fret ends on the lower side of the neck are absolute meat hooks. After the fiasco of the first order, I really thought they'd make sure all was right before shipping it. In fact, the owner I spoke with said he personally checked it over before it got shipped. I was flabbergasted by that statement. If this guitar had been on the wall of a guitar shop and I took it down, one feel of the fret ends would have had me put it back on the wall without even playing it... and I would have let a salesperson know that guitar's frets need to be addressed before they try to sell it to anyone. For full disclosure: I have never had to do that.

I've been playing guitar for 56 years. This was the worst case of raggedy fret ends on any guitar I've played.

I like the guitar. Not the color I wanted, but I'm less concerned about that than the playability and pickups. The action is good, the pickups are very nice. The owner offered to send a pickup tag for the guitar (he seemed genuinely surprised when he called to see how I like the guitar and I was steamed about those fret ends). I told him I'll keep the guitar and fix the fret ends myself.

My wife ordered some tools from StewMac. I haven't had to do any fret work on any of my guitars in over 5 decades of playing, but I figure I can't make it any worse than it is currently.

Once I get those fret ends so they don't chew up the lower part of the index finger on my left hand, I think I will enjoy this guitar (if I can forget about the buying experience). The Fishman Fluence pickups are nice - a lot of great tones at your finger tips. I haven't owned a solid body electric since the 90s (last one was a Strat, but most of my playing is acoustic); I like the style of the SG. I read a lot of positive reviews about the Epiphone SG, and I tend to agree with that. The situation with the fret ends should not have gotten out of the factory like that... and certainly not gotten out of a guitar shop that claims to do a "35 point inspection of every guitar we sell." (including a custom set-up)

To wrap up - the guitar: good; the buying experience: two big thumbs down.

Looking down the neck...



__________________
Some CF, some wood.
Reply With Quote