Abasi Concepts/Larada Megathread

[Albake21]

To play devil's advocate, you said you really like the guitar. You're also not going to return it. How much do those objectively tiny marks detract from your enjoyment of the instrument? It's starting to feel like at this point we're looking for things to be wrong with these guitars. Obviously some of these things are pretty bad (NUTS), but is any guitar, even high end, truly perfect if we really scrutinize them as intensely as we've been the Laradas?

For $3.5k I just feel like the customer should expect a flawless guitar, and I can't fault them for thinking that way. I couldn't even imagine getting a Mayones, Skervesen, or Aristides and seeing these kinds of flaws on them. Sure they are minor, but it's still wrong on an instrument of this caliber.

 

[r3tr0sp3ct1v3]

Yes.

It's weird how any time a brand is having problems with QC, it's all of a sudden presumed that flawless guitars don't exist.

Yep the customer will base will just be like " Oh only a few issues on my 3-3.5k instrument. That is okay"

 

[r3tr0sp3ct1v3]

For $3.5k I just feel like the customer should expect a flawless guitar, and I can't fault them for thinking that way. I couldn't even imagine getting a Mayones, Skervesen, or Aristides and seeing these kinds of flaws on them. Sure they are minor, but it's still wrong on an instrument of this caliber.

Never had anything but perfect from brands liek Aristides. Frigging Kiesel gets crapped on in some places, but at least they can ship out something perfect. Not an advocate just an observation

 

[HellaSickTight]

Unfortunately when I shared the photo to him, he said he can’t determine the extent of what it is until they receive the guitar, which would mean it would have been a full refund. So I would think that a compensation of a couple of hundred bucks was out of the question. But maybe my mistake was not pressing hard enough. I did get tired of waiting for his replies cause they were busy with the Legion releases. Which took him pretty long to get back to me.

Same here. They’re offering no b-stock level discounts on flawed guitars, only full refunds. Which honestly is worse for them as I probably would have been tempted/dumb enough to keep my guitar with that awful nut if he had given me $250 off or something.

I asked Ivan if there was any way I could ensure a Master series upgrade and he said there was no way they could offer a reservation or pre-order, which is a huge bummer because I’ve heard of him doing this for other unhappy customers. I even offered to professionally film the instruments for free as my main work is as a product and music cinematographer, I even shot an Animals as Leaders music video with Tosin once, yet Ivan didn’t bite. Which is weird because they have no professionally shot videos of any of these guitars.

SO MY FIRST ARISTIDES HERE I COME! Brandon has been 10x faster at responding and is getting into the minutia of chameleon finishes with me. I love their customer service so far!

 

[CW7]

Same here. They’re offering no b-stock level discounts on flawed guitars, only full refunds. Which honestly is worse for them as I probably would have been tempted/dumb enough to keep my guitar with that awful nut if he had given me $250 off or something.

I asked Ivan if there was any way I could ensure a Master series upgrade and he said there was no way they could offer a reservation or pre-order, which is a huge bummer because I’ve heard of him doing this for other unhappy customers. I even offered to professionally film the instruments for free as my main work is as a product and music cinematographer, I even shot an Animals as Leaders music video with Tosin once, yet Ivan didn’t bite. Which is weird because they have no professionally shot videos of any of these guitars.

SO MY FIRST ARISTIDES HERE I COME! Brandon has been 10x faster at responding and is getting into the minutia of chameleon finishes with me. I love their customer service so far!

Aristides customer service is equal to their instruments. Absolutely flawless. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Mathemagician]

To play devil's advocate, you said you really like the guitar. You're also not going to return it. How much do those objectively tiny marks detract from your enjoyment of the instrument? It's starting to feel like at this point we're looking for things to be wrong with these guitars. Obviously some of these things are pretty bad (NUTS), but is any guitar, even high end, truly perfect if we really scrutinize them as intensely as we've been the Laradas?

FFS, not everything needs a “devil’s advocate”. $3.5k for a “custom/hand built” instrument absolutely means “no dings or tool marks”.


At that price point:
Dings and tool marks = B stock at best
Deep scrapes and flaws = full rebuild

No exceptions.

 

[TheInvisibleHand]

FFS, not everything needs a “devil’s advocate”. $3.5k for a “custom/hand built” instrument absolutely means “no dings or tool marks”.


At that price point:
Dings and tool marks = B stock at best
Deep scrapes and flaws = full rebuild

No exceptions.

Calm your tits. My question was more about the impact of one specific person's ability to enjoy an instrument that was already stated to be "awesome" over some marks that will occur during normal play anyhow.

 

[bassisace]

but is any guitar, even high end, truly perfect if we really scrutinize them as intensely as we've been the Laradas?

Of course, Aristides, Suhr, Music Man, etc. all put out perfect builds pretty consistently. Hell, Solar guitars and a ton of other brands also do that even on 800$ guitars.

Scratches on the fretboard of a 3.5k$ guitar absolutely warrant compensation. Scratches lower the resale value. It’s not only about playability and sound.

@Lordcephid It’s not too late to press harder.

 

[kisielk]

Calm your tits. My question was more about the impact of one specific person's ability to enjoy an instrument that was already stated to be "awesome" over some marks that will occur during normal play anyhow.

How would I get gashes and tool marks on a fretboard from normal play? That's literally never happened to me.

 

[Chevygizmo]

Reverb is flooded with these now. Take your pick - Spartan, Spacetele, J7s, Legions. The hype is dead. This is the Russian roulette of guitars. Waiting on the Aristide H8 and it will be balanced (the 8 string master series for this money is not which is not really discussed on the forum). Neck dive is unreal. You can only play in the classical position. Total disappointment

 

[Cyanide_Anima]

$2K guitars should be flawless. I have a $2K Mayones, it is absolutely impeccable. I have a $2K EBMM JPXI-7, also incredible quality. A $2k guitar should have no flaws, incredible fretwork, incredible nut, and no sloppy tool marks whatsoever. It's just not acceptable. The entire path of the string from the ferrules to the nut to the tuners should be perfect.

 

[HellaSickTight]

$2K guitars should be flawless. I have a $2K Mayones, it is absolutely impeccable. I have a $2K EBMM JPXI-7, also incredible quality. A $2k guitar should have no flaws, incredible fretwork, incredible nut, and no sloppy tool marks whatsoever. It's just not acceptable. The entire path of the string from the ferrules to the nut to the tuners should be perfect.

Hell my cosmetic defect Music Man is absolutely FLAWLESS. The gloss finish on the back is a tiny bit wavy in one small area, and that’s it. Their attention to detail is impeccable.

 

[StevenC]

$2K guitars should be flawless. I have a $2K Mayones, it is absolutely impeccable. I have a $2K EBMM JPXI-7, also incredible quality. A $2k guitar should have no flaws, incredible fretwork, incredible nut, and no sloppy tool marks whatsoever. It's just not acceptable. The entire path of the string from the ferrules to the nut to the tuners should be perfect.

Pretty sure JPXI7s were $2600 at launch and are now $3k+

 

[Mathemagician]

How would I get gashes and tool marks on a fretboard from normal play? That's literally never happened to me.

Hold a screwdriver in your fist and just like woodpecker the guitar a few times I guess? You know, normal wear and tear.

 

[kisielk]

Hold a screwdriver in your fist and just like woodpecker the guitar a few times I guess? You know, normal wear and tear.

Ah, the so-called “extended technique”

 

[Vroth88]

Has anyone here been refunded at this point?
Is neither the initial shipping or the shipping needed to return the guitar refunded?

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I mean, plenty of expensive guitars show up with problems, that's nothing new. It happens.

But it's how frequently that happens and the method in which it's handled that separates the pros from the wannabes.

Right now, Abasi doesn't seem to be doing that hot, or at least that's the impression. Playing devil's advocate isn't going to make it better, but so isn't piling on.

 

[Xm0]

To play devil's advocate, you said you really like the guitar. You're also not going to return it. How much do those objectively tiny marks detract from your enjoyment of the instrument? It's starting to feel like at this point we're looking for things to be wrong with these guitars. Obviously some of these things are pretty bad (NUTS), but is any guitar, even high end, truly perfect if we really scrutinize them as intensely as we've been the Laradas?

I have a Suhr I paid $3,400 USD for and there isn't a single thing wrong with it. Not even a damn scratch. Frets are perfect, etc. If there is a mark anywhere on it, i'm convinced it was probably by my doing. There are companies that have impeccable QC: Suhr, Anderson, Aristides, I've heard Caparison, J Custom, etc.

At, $3000+ range, you're competing with some serious players. You'll quickly be disregarded as a brand if you can't keep up. Nobody paying 3k plus for an instrument should have to settle.

 

[Xm0]

Has anyone here been refunded at this point?
Is neither the initial shipping or the shipping needed to return the guitar refunded?

I am getting a full refund, but they have to receive my guitar before refunding for obvious reasons. It's supposed to be delivered Saturday. I will keep you updated.

 

[HungryGuitarStudent]

I agree that bashing isn’t going to help. They’ve shown that they can do perfect builds and I hope that once they fix QC and other possible issues with production they’ll be able the be more consistent.

Until then, the risk is way too high for me and I’ll stick with my J7.

Has anyone here been refunded at this point?
Is neither the initial shipping or the shipping needed to return the guitar refunded?

Refund on my cancelled Legion order was quick (1 day). Refund on my returned Spartan was as also quick (~2 days after they received it). Shipping back to them was refunded. I don’t know for everywhere, but for Canada to get a refund of initial customs fees, I have to fill a customs form, which Ivan was nice enough to send to me. They have great customer support.