Jonathan20022
Engineer
For sure, I think they'll probably do a good job. There were some issues with the early JPXI's, yeah. I only remember it being about the paint/clear coat chipping at the very edge of the fretboard where the paint stops and the ebony begins. Luckily, mine is perfect in that sense. That's part of the reason I'm skeptical of fret sprouting, because I would think if all of the frets sprouted that far out then at least one of the frets would have chipped some of the clear coat on it's way.
It's a miracle that EBMM can even get such perfect finishes up to the edge of the fretboard like that anyway. I don't think I heard anything about bad fret jobs, but while the guy says that each instrument is triple inspected before leaving, and it's impossible it left the shop without fret dressing, then what happened with the other QC issues that leave the shop? Especially those JPXI's with the chipped paint along the fretboard. If that can happen, then the unfinished fret dressing can happen. I won't go into details, but looking closely, I can see evidence that, to me, looks like my frets weren't completely dressed. But they seem to be positive it's "fret sprouting" (even without seeing the instrument for themselves) and don't seem willing to work with me since I let the warranty run out, sadly.
But anyway, sorry for ranting in you NGD thread and thanks for the response. Beautiful guitar. Do you have any plans for pickup swaps? I like the way it sounds, but I'm starting to get bored with the pickups. Thinking maybe Black Hawks or Juggernauts, or maybe just Dimarzio Ionizers to make it a really simple swap.
I honestly think you're overanalyzing, call this the ramblings of a fanboy if you'd like but if you're referring to what I think you are in those pictures, then it's just the angle of the camera.
I've had about 14-15 of these guitars and I've never had a single issue with fretwork. Man handling by guitar center on my first BFR causing me to return and get another one but the fretwork was never in question or felt sharp at all. I'm sure there were quality issues when they changed fret material entirely but considering it's been 2 years since then and of the 15, only 3 have been older than 2012 models. I've personally never felt a sharp edge from them, even from my build that was messed up in transit to me from the Rosewood Neck run. I've never seen the chips you're mentioning as well nor people complaining about them.
HNGD dude! I'll 2nd the Ionizer suggestion, those pickups are fantastic and would compliment the guitar really well!