Strictly 7 - What would you guys do...

[Yoims]

I'm currently waiting on an custom from S7 as well, I placed the order 7-8 months ago, and my guitar was in the last update they did, showing the body cut, and saying the neck was done.

I'll agree, that this company hasn't done a phenomenal job with updating it's customers, but at the same time, there's a lot of things to consider. They have lost at least 4 employees in the past 6 months, already being a small enough team, so when new people came into the company, I'm sure there was a couple of lemon's here and there. However, out of all the guitars I've seen them build, I've seen less than 10 with any issues at all.

I've seen Carvin mess up an entire order for some guys guitar, we all know what happened with BRJ, T-Smith has posted his own lemons from time to time, RAN Guitars have had a few mess ups too. It happens, I've owned production guitars with chips in the paint, in the neck, in the headstock, terrible fretwork, broken hardware, etc. Truth is, it happens.

With S7 a lot of people seem to think that commenting on their FB is gonna get them all the answers. If you literally just pick up the phone and call, you'll get everything you need. They build guitars all day, every day, and it's like what, a team of 4-5 people who do the all the building? I think they're putting out impressive numbers for what they are doing.

I have a few friends who own an S7 and love it, I asked Josh Travis of Danza/Glass Cloud when I met him, and he said I wasn't going to be disappointed. I'll be receiving mine pretty soon, and that's when I'll know for sure if they're worth going to or not.

If you're not sure, watch their videos, and look up more of their builds. If you don't like it, don't get it. Just know that the deposit won't be refunded for a long while.

 

[TRENCHLORD]

I like the looks of it and wouldn't let a couple small cosmetic issues deter from getting it.
Are you wanting to play it or masturbate to it's image? O.K., both.

No seriously, since the deposit is long gone you should just look at it from the perspective of the balance. In other words could you get something more to your liking for the same price or less? ($2000ish)
Well maybe so, but it probably wouldn't be specced out exactly how you wanted.

If they were having many playability issues my opinion would be the opposite, but those cosmetic flaws are only really noticeable up very close in the right lighting and all, so if your not the type who loses sleep over the little stuff then I'd go ahead with it.
If you don't you'll be kicking yourself for throwing away the grand AND quite possibly missing out on an outstanding guitar built to your own liking.

 

[Yoims]

Why are people saying you lose the deposit? As far as I know, you lose 20% of the deposit you put down originally upon ordering, and that's all.

 

[engage757]

I really like the look of that neck heel... And I don't know why...

 

[TemjinStrife]

$3k? That's a lot of money. Granted, being out $1k also sucks. Not a great place to be in, I'm sorry dude :-/

 

[jacksonplayer]

My personal opinion (and that's all it is) is that the cosmetic flaws on that guitar are no big deal, but the poorly spaced string ferrules are a worrying sign. That indicates some work on this guitar was performed in a hurry or by someone who wasn't being careful. The spacing of the ferrules makes no difference to the functioning of the guitar, but sloppy fret work, truss rod installation or bridge positioning would be a problem.

Still, it seems like your only feasible option at this point is to get the guitar, since your deposit is gone.

 

[Tisca]

Could someone fill me in, what "shitstorm"? I know people haven't been too happy with quality but was there a bigger incident? A short one sentence explanation is enough.

 

[leonardo7]

Could someone fill me in, what "shitstorm"? I know people haven't been too happy with quality but was there a bigger incident? A short one sentence explanation is enough.

I played their guitars at NAMM and was not impressed. They felt cheap! But I placed a deposit with them way back in September, before NAMM. They have been putting out lemons and selling people B stocks for a while now. Most people don't go public with it. The company is in debt $100,000 and he has recently had his vehicle repossessed and started up his day job as a physical therapist to help pay his personal bills as well as have an excuse to take longer to finish people guitars they have paid deposits on, and some paid in full. I for one was sent a guitar with an ugly knot/worm holes/rotting wood as well as wrong specs, popping out frets and was sent a guitar w a known hardware issue but they decided to ship it to me anyways. They refuse to rebuild me a guitar and refuse to refund me my money. They lied to me to collect final payment by saying my guitar was ready within a week. It took over 30 days to send me the guitar. During those 30 days I received no email whatsoever and no response to my email. Then when I emailed about the worm hole/rotting wood/knot issue after receiving the guitar, I received no response. When I called I was told that the issues are normal and this is what is to be expected from them. Then they put out several videos on you tube last week calling their customers trolls, idiots etc. Just about every single endorsee has dropped the company and now the company is talking shit about its former endorsees, business partners, and ex employees. Did I miss something? I probably still missed alot

 

[icos211]

Oh hell no. These flaws wouldn't fly for me in a $500 production model, let alone a custom ordered guitar worth six times that much.

 

[jephjacques]

The S7 I owned for a while had no flaws that I could find. But that one looks kind of sloppy, and I'd be concerned about the fretwork given the basic woodworking issues visible. I'd also be hesitant to give these guys any more money based on their recent behavior.

 

[RagtimeDandy]

If you've already paid the deposit and you can't get it back, stick it out - that simple

 

[jahosy]

The details looked sloppy for a 3K guitar. That's just me being fussy.

 

[will_shred]

I'm no expert, but to me that whole finish looks sketchy. I get that it's supposed to look like an M8M, but it just doesn't look right. Almost as if they didn't let the oil set for long enough before sanding it. (I know what that looks like from personal guitar finishing failures )

 

[noise in my mind]

If you end up buying the guitar for 3k and hate it you will be loosing more than a grand. Judging from the pics at this point i'd be scared, just my two cents.

 

[Walterson]

cosmetic flaws on that guitar are no big deal

Right, but we are talking about a 3k Guitar here... and don't forget to ad shipment costs, 19% VAT and ~3-6% Customs. Thats almost 4k.

That indicates some work on this guitar was performed in a hurry or by someone who wasn't being careful. The spacing of the ferrules makes no difference to the functioning of the guitar, but sloppy fret work, truss rod installation or bridge positioning would be a problem.

That's the point....

 

[DevinShidaker]

I would seriously try to get your deposit refunded. The other 8 strings they sent us a while back are GARBAGE. Everything about them felt cheap, and one of them is virtually unplayable because the neck is twisted. Strictly 7 is not building instruments like they were a few years ago. Unless they do some serious work to get back on track, stay far away.

 

[JaeSwift]

I would seriously try to get your deposit refunded. The other 8 strings they sent us a while back are GARBAGE. Everything about them felt cheap, and one of them is virtually unplayable because the neck is twisted. Strictly 7 is not building instruments like they were a few years ago. Unless they do some serious work to get back on track, stay far away.

''a few years ago'' they did not exist, or did you try one of their instruments when they were a completely new company?

 

[TemjinStrife]

''a few years ago'' they did not exist, or did you try one of their instruments when they were a completely new company?

They did exist a few years ago, actually, just on a much smaller scale.

And Devin plays for The Acacia Strain and was with Oceano for years.

 

[DevinShidaker]

''a few years ago'' they did not exist, or did you try one of their instruments when they were a completely new company?

They have been around since maybe 2007 or 2008? Jim brought a number of guitars to my place to try out in 2009 (I'm only a few hours away from where they are based). The guitar he brought then were fantastic. We have some guitars from them that are great, but the newer stuff we got was basically worthless. I think the main problem is that the people he has hired to build guitars are people who don't have any experience with guitar building. I know one of the guys personally, and he is a guy who plays drums and had never even done a guitar repair before getting hired on as a "builder".

 

[TIBrent]

I think after this whole mess they have been going through recently, their QA will be better than ever, they can't afford to not be on top of each & every guitar sent out now, even the slightest of issue & their name/brand could go beyond repair.