NGD- An Immediate Return

[nightsprinter]

I love my Charvel Pro Mod DK24 w/ 2pt Gotoh trem. I picked it up used a couple years ago and the neck is just perfect for my hands and it's super light. I've had to do some fairly in depth maintenance to keep it going, but the comfort factor made it all worth it. So despite my general distaste for FMIC, I really wanted a backup in a different colorway.

I got it from a large retailer- the name of which I won't give. Given the price point of $1200 and my experience with them already, I expected it wouldn't be perfect. But the one I got just sucks hard. Judging by the amount of tape on the box and how it was packed (busted rubber band, not as much packing material as typically seen, user manual/warranty literature rolled up tight as an enchilada with the tape reused and barely clinging on in a ball, and more), I'd put money down this was a customer return which was repacked and sold as new. ANYWHO, I know the MIM stuff can have some iffy fret ends especially in winter but holy cow- these things were razor blades the likes of which I've never seen. And I open a lot of guitars. The nut was mounted off-center glued in and hanging off the treble side, the output jack was sunk into the cavity and the washer(s) were nowhere to be found that I could find. String action was set to Erik Rutan's personal tastes and even then with a reasonable amount of relief, the bass side buzzed like an old Dismember album. There are some weird dots on the headstock, and the whole thing is bad vibes. There's nothing here to indicate it can't be a good guitar after doing the work, but this guitar should have been B stock price and that's my gripe.

Many folks probably don't see these issues as dealbreakers and like spending an hour or two with it on the bench. I don't mind doing work beyond full setups on new guitars if it's relatively well crafted, has the correct neck/bridge geometry, and feels right- but this one ain't it. No beam and files today. Off it goes- the 2nd guitar I've sent back this week. They sent me a return label within 5 minutes, no questions asked.

Looks pretty, though. Onto the next! Someone sell me a rock solid 6 string!!

(Edit- LOL I just realized the high e was completely off the board in this photo. It was trapped beneath a protruding fret tang!!! Brutal!)

 

[Moongrum]

I got it from a large retailer

In my experience, that's pretty common with large retailers. The upside is, just as in this instance, returns are easy.
Fender Mexico (I've had all good experiences with their USA line) is hit and miss for me. They generally make great guitars, but some are utter turds that I wonder how it left the factory then left the retailer.

 

[SalsaWood]

I've had fret sprout at least that bad, it's a two minute issue to fix it.

The rest sucks, and there's a lot of it. Shame, it's really a looker otherwise.

 

[nightsprinter]

Absolutely. And I have dealt with enough of the Mexico output that I figured there would be some fret end filing to do as wood shrinkage seems to be their calling card ime. It's not so much these small problems that inspired me to immediately send it back, but that it has the Friday Guitar feel. The more I dig into it, the more I will inevitably find.

I have a small workshop and the capability to do all the remediation, as I do partscasters and refrets a couple times a year, it's just the whole "if it quacks like a duck" deal with this one.

 

[nightsprinter]

The one I currently have- I've had to file off the "sprout", full level and crown, new nut and roller tree, and I had to glue in the mounting inserts for the trem because the wood weakened around them and the whole trem kept lifting out with string tension. I was thinking maybe one a few model years newer would be a little better, but alas, still needs work on the same level it seems.

 

[Blahblahblahblah]

I’ve played a bunch of these and most of them had fret sprout. I absolutely loved them otherwise. The input jack is odd when I sit in classical position but damn these feel great to me.

 

[nightsprinter]

I’ve played a bunch of these and most of them had fret sprout. I absolutely loved them otherwise. The input jack is odd when I sit in classical position but damn these feel great to me.

Aside from the wood shrinkage issue, these necks have the most comfortable profile I've played. I noticed that Musikraft offers a couple different Pro Mod profiles since they make Charvel replacement necks, so I think I'm going to try one of theirs on a partscaster I have awaiting a new neck.

 

[Marked Man]

My only Charvel MIM is a recent ~19ish San Dimas and it is absolutely amazing, especially the perfect neck and frets. Guess I was lucky?

 

[Sermo Lupi]

I'd switch retailers.

I tried a mahogany DK24 in a local shop about 6 months ago that was great. I probably wouldn't have guessed it was MIM if not for the price.

 

[JD27]

That sucks, the necks do feel amazing on my two pro mods, but they each had some real bad fret sprout. The San Dimas Style 2 had other issues, but fortunately I was able to take care of those myself.

 

[USMarine75]

Not sure who you bought from but it’s as simple as setting up an exchange. I guess I just don’t understand judging a product because you got one bad one. I had to get 3 Kramer Snake Sabo sigs to get the one I have now. One was damaged in transit and the other had damage that somehow made it out of the factory (I remember it had a chip in the fretboard but I think there was something else too). Oh well. The third one is aces and it cost me nothing to wait on the right one.

Bottom line there’s all kinds of reasons why a clunker gets through. And it happens with nearly every brand and model. The only reason why some companies have less lemons is that they have a final check process like Reverend and G&L. So after they’ve been exposed to overseas shipping and weather they get checked again in the US prior to final distribution. Or you buy from places like Sweetwater or IbanezRules where they get extra inspection prior to going from manufacturer to buyer.

But I’m not going to blame Charvel if a squeaker gets through and then MF or GC doesn’t bother to check and it ends up being sent to me. They have free exchanges (and rock bottom deals) precisely for this reason. Oh well, you do you lol.

 

[nightsprinter]

Not sure who you bought from but it’s as simple as setting up an exchange. I guess I just don’t understand judging a product because you got one bad one. I had to get 3 Kramer Snake Sabo sigs to get the one I have now. One was damaged in transit and the other had damage that somehow made it out of the factory (I remember it had a chip in the fretboard but I think there was something else too). Oh well. The third one is aces and it cost me nothing to wait on the right one.

Bottom line there’s all kinds of reasons why a clunker gets through. And it happens with nearly every brand and model. The only reason why some companies have less lemons is that they have a final check process like Reverend and G&L. So after they’ve been exposed to overseas shipping and weather they get checked again in the US prior to final distribution. Or you buy from places like Sweetwater or IbanezRules where they get extra inspection prior to going from manufacturer to buyer.

But I’m not going to blame Charvel if a squeaker gets through and then MF or GC doesn’t bother to check and it ends up being sent to me. They have free exchanges (and rock bottom deals) precisely for this reason. Oh well, you do you lol.

I hear you. I'm not judging the product as a line in this particular case- I have the exact same guitar in a different colorway which I like a ton. This one was a dud to me, yes, but instead of continuing to roll the dice, I'm going to wait until one comes up locally for sale. I just went through an entire ordeal where I went the exchange route with a different instrument and I'm tired of it for now.

Looking back, this situation really wasn't worth me making a thread for - I was just bumming a bit because I've had really terrible luck with online guitar buying this past year or so and it's worn a bit thin.

 

[ToneLab]

Damn! I got this exact guitar a month ago and it was in great shape and I absolutely love it. The neck is amazing as others have said. I have had great luck with MIM. I then wanted as similar a guitar as possible with a Floyd on it - so I got a used 2018 Dinky Pro MIM. It had some rough fret edges that my tech took care of but otherwise it is in great shape.

 

[USMarine75]

I reread this and yeah you def got a customer return dumped on you. That’s a shitty job by the reseller. Lemons happen but it’s on them not to just resell it.

I’ve had a few of these and it’s the only time I’ve gotten angry. Sam Ash sold me like 5 Gibson HP SG (2018?) that all had problems. I asked them to please have someone actually check the guitar prior to shipping to me to ensure I finally got a good one and i knew something was up when the fifth arrived in a non-Gibson box. It looked like it was a demo hung on the wall that had been abused for 6 months. Dirty, rusted strings, and the washer had come off one of the tuners and the peg was at an angle. I was like FU and cancelled the order.

 

[Loydthebartender]

In my experience, that's pretty common with large retailers. The upside is, just as in this instance, returns are easy.
Fender Mexico (I've had all good experiences with their USA line) is hit and miss for me. They generally make great guitars, but some are utter turds that I wonder how it left the factory then left the retailer.

Ironically with charvels i only noticed the fret sprout on the roasted maple models. I went through 3 and ended up getting a regular so cal with an old school maple neck, no fret sprout. Later I got a fixed bridge dk24 with a regular maple neck. No fret sprout. Those MIM charvels are amazing and inspiring guitars but they always need a little love. Charvel USA doesn’t offer anything specced out the way I’d like. It’s either 80s specs with terrible upper fret access or your paying $4000 or more

 

[gh0styboi]

Bummer, man - that's a pretty top. Fret sprout is annoying but an easy fix. The rest of that, though? That's a problem. I'm not above doing the work - I got an RGD a couple years ago as a floor model that, on arrival, had gnarly fret sprout, a nut that was not only filed poorly but had fallen completely off, and a handful of frets that needed leveled. I put in the couple of hours, and I love the guitar. But it was second-hand. That stuff would not have flown for me on a new guitar. I'd be exchanging it, no doubt about it.

Hope whatever you get next sings for you.

 

[NCASO96]

In all honesty.. i love Charvel.. i had over a half dozen MIM charvels over the years.. nearly every one had quality control issues. I will never buy another one.

I have to tell you that the FU TONE SS i just bought.. is the REAL DEAL!

https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/ngd-–-the-incredible-fu-tone-super-strat.366187/#post-5625135