Thoughts on Guitar Neck/Fretboard Issue(s)....

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by RP

FWIW I couldn't get it to buzz even attempting to play on the upper end of the fretboard above the body of the guitar. I repeat, who would buy a guitar without a cutaway if that was their playing field???

Since you've repeated your question, I'll answer. I would, as would some other players. A cutaway facilitates playing the upper frets but isn't necessary.

That you don't venture into the higher frets is fine, but others can and do: those frets aren't there for show any more than are the keys of the upper octaves of a piano.

You might well be right that the buyer of your guitar decided against her purchase and simply wanted to legitimize her return of the guitar. However, had the upper frets not played appropriately, and she wanted to play them, she'd have been justified in her complaint, similar to buying a piano and finding the upper keys didn't work.

[RP]

Thanks for your input, Charles. I've only bought/sold several guitars on Reverb, and I'm accustomed to the first notice from a buyer telling me that they received it in good shape, great packaging, and positive comments for their new acquisition. Ergo, I was surprised and taken aback when the first notice from the "buyer" was within 24 hours of receipt and in the form of an official Reverb notice of intent to return. Unless you've got a guitar tech on retainer, I don't know how one gets it to him, has the guitar analyzed (or PLEKed as the case may be) and gets a written report back so quickly.

Having said all of that I authorized the return, and reimbursed the "buyer" for everything including return shipping. Still, I wonder....

[RP]

I received the following from an AGF member who inquired about this guitar. I'll keep it anonymous since it was written in an email and not authorized for publication...

I purchased a new Martin D-35 and an OM-21 both of which were plek'd at the factory, as are all Martins. I've also owned 6 Taylors, none of which were plek'd. To be honest, I don't see that it makes any difference whether or not the guitar has been plek'd.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by RP

I don't see that it makes any difference whether or not the guitar has been plek'd.[/I]

The first skill a luthier learns how to do is fret levels and setups, basic hand skills.

When a person buys a 150,000 dollar machine to achieve replicate these hand skills I question their ability as a luthier.

From basic hand skills we develop our other luthery skills, like finishing, pickups, electronics crack repairs and so forth.

Now every time the owner of a plek machine runs it, they have to pay the manufacturer of the machine money, the machine connects via the internet, if they don’t machine the minimum amount of guitars a month then they pay just a monthly fee, sounds like a franchise hey?

I see a lot of scams happening where customers are being conned that they need refrets, then they pay ridiculous scan and Setup fees because it’s being done by a computer, to me it’s an excellent con job

Now I think these machines in a music store would be good, even assembly lines would be good, as the guys in Music stores have limited tools and they don’t want to learn to repair, so perfect for a store, assembly lines it’s one less wage being paid on final setups, but at the purchase cost and ongoing costs I have to wonder.

Steve

[Truckjohn]

Seems to me that a Machine fret job at the factory is a way to ensure the basic guitar they send out is "adequate"... That's what factories aim for because "Awesome" is an emotional thing - not frequently a measurable specification...

Say for example ensuring no fret is more than 0.0005" out of plane from the rest.... Perhaps make another rule that no fret is allowed to be more than 0.0005" off of the 2 adjacent frets... Maybe it's 0.001" - I don't know... Is there going to be someone who will decide they don't like it - sure.... Of course some people won't think it's good enough.... But the "average" player will generally be pretty satisfied that the setup is good enough... 90% of people will be happy enough with it as-is, 9% will take it in for a setup because that's what they always do... And 1% will complain endlessly. .

But I think what this really does is cut out the gross failures that really gave otherwise "good" guitars a black eye.... They should significantly reduce the incidence of horrible fretjobs on unplayable guitars which show up with several frets 0.015"+ out of plane. The "Oopsie" where they forgot to level the fretboard before fretting it or changed batches of fretwire mid-neck.. Or the purchasing guy bought up cheap "tail ends" of fretwire and made the factory guys use it up... And it's Month End and we are behind on our numbers and so off it goes...

[RP]

I took my Taylor to be checked out by the Silver Level Taylor Service Center at Guitar Center in Richmond. He asked me a number of questions and spent over an hour with the guitar before calling a Service Tech at Taylor. There was nothing amiss with the guitar....