Harley Benton Prototypes vid
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- KVRAF
- 10602 posts since 31 Aug, 2013 from Somewhere near the Morgul Vale.
Where's the cartoon Dogman?
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
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- addled muppet weed
- 105855 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
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- KVRAF
- 15272 posts since 8 Mar, 2005 from Utrecht, Holland
Have to ask, really I dunno: what are those numbers in brackets? It's not length of string or arch of the neck, is it?
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. 
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
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- KVRAF
- 15272 posts since 8 Mar, 2005 from Utrecht, Holland
Ah, thx! That makes sense...
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
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- KVRAF
- 6804 posts since 20 Jan, 2008
I've never had a bad sweetwater deal with regards to guitar quality. Sometimes I kick my self for not paying a few dollars more for a sweetwater guitar.
There are two and only two local brick and mortar stores I trust for pre sale setup. Even then it's not to my specs but to factory specs.
It's very hard for brick and mortar stores to stay in business. If you want to carry a big brand say Gibson or Fender you have to buy in volume and it's a tier system. The cheapest order you can place is 10 of the same model. What's more is you have to sell at a higher price than your competitors simply to break even. Where possible there are jobbers who act like a middle man buying in volume then splitting the orders down to individual stores but then again the only way they and the retailer can afford to offer the product is to raise the price. Most are left with lesser known moderately priced guitars that wouldn't even go to a GC.
It's also hard because the vast amount of money being exchanged is in repair work. The rates are between $60 and $100, Not only does this go to labor but it goes to overhead. Retail rent, utilities don't come cheap and while having an ideal location is really important to drive customers in it also affects rent. I can do many of the basics but I'm not patient which is required and there are somethings I'd rather hand over to a trained professional like fret dressing. If you can't do many of these simple things like filling a nut take it to a professional. Or get yourself a cheap guitar that you are ready to throw away, buy tools, watch a lot of tech videos and follow along. Fortunately for me I used to work as a teacher at a guitar store and between students I would sit around and watch the owner or the other techs ply their trade.
There are two and only two local brick and mortar stores I trust for pre sale setup. Even then it's not to my specs but to factory specs.
It's very hard for brick and mortar stores to stay in business. If you want to carry a big brand say Gibson or Fender you have to buy in volume and it's a tier system. The cheapest order you can place is 10 of the same model. What's more is you have to sell at a higher price than your competitors simply to break even. Where possible there are jobbers who act like a middle man buying in volume then splitting the orders down to individual stores but then again the only way they and the retailer can afford to offer the product is to raise the price. Most are left with lesser known moderately priced guitars that wouldn't even go to a GC.
It's also hard because the vast amount of money being exchanged is in repair work. The rates are between $60 and $100, Not only does this go to labor but it goes to overhead. Retail rent, utilities don't come cheap and while having an ideal location is really important to drive customers in it also affects rent. I can do many of the basics but I'm not patient which is required and there are somethings I'd rather hand over to a trained professional like fret dressing. If you can't do many of these simple things like filling a nut take it to a professional. Or get yourself a cheap guitar that you are ready to throw away, buy tools, watch a lot of tech videos and follow along. Fortunately for me I used to work as a teacher at a guitar store and between students I would sit around and watch the owner or the other techs ply their trade.
Dell Vostro i9 64GB Ram Windows 11 Pro, Cubase, Bitwig, Mixcraft Guitar Pod Go, Linntrument Nektar P1, Novation Launchpad
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- KVRAF
- 10602 posts since 31 Aug, 2013 from Somewhere near the Morgul Vale.
In my obsessive hunt phase, where I read almost every discussion or review of a guitar, I came across a few people who weren't impressed with what they got from Sweetwater. It happens, I guess. Last year during my spruce/hog hunt, I dealt with a shop in the Netherlands, Fellowship of Acoustics. They advertise setup pre-delivery, but whatever 'setup' they did did not include fret dressing or nut filing. I tried 5 guitars from them, 2 2nd hand, and both of the 2nd hand gits hadn't been touched setup wise.
Otoh, as I mentioned above, my experience with my Artcores was good. The cheaper one needed a fret dress, and then the action was seriously low with no buzzing. The guy I sold it to asked me why I was selling it. That's another story, but it had nothing to do with the actual guitar itself. I just had....too many electric gits, was one reason.
I should just go play my Lennon Casino...
Otoh, as I mentioned above, my experience with my Artcores was good. The cheaper one needed a fret dress, and then the action was seriously low with no buzzing. The guy I sold it to asked me why I was selling it. That's another story, but it had nothing to do with the actual guitar itself. I just had....too many electric gits, was one reason.
I should just go play my Lennon Casino...
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 8997 posts since 1 Aug, 2003
I browsed Kiesel's site last night, some of these new HB models look a lot like Kiesel guitars (I'd love to order one of those 100% customizable guitars, they seem to have been the inspiration for my Chapman tele too).
