The BRJ Black Friday Thread (Only for updates for/by customers.)[Ad Free]

[Ill-Gotten James]

hey james, was your guitar from the black friday run ?

If yes, I can´t see why this would go for 3000 ?

It was not a Black Friday Run. I am like 99% certain that the guitar posted is the same one that was shipped to me. All I can say now is it's not my problem any more and I am happy to be free of that guitar. I must say though, the guitar did play and sound really sweet. But it was not worth the wait, or what I paid for it.

 

[Speculum Speculorum]

It just keeps getting "better" with this guy...

And they're selling it for $3,900 too... I'm sure they didn't really know when they posted it though. Bernie had to fall long and hard to get to where he is by now. Shameless doesn't even really begin to describe it.

 

[Speculum Speculorum]

Well, it looks like CMC is saying they didn't know it was a used guitar when they got it. There's an explanation up on the FB page. What a mess:

https://www.facebook.com/ricojrguitars?fref=ts

 

[Hollowway]

Soooo...anyone got a good way to contact Terry? I want to get my guitar identified before it ends up going to someone else. Sounds like from the CMC post Terry and the other luthier aren't sure which guitars are which.

 

[Ill-Gotten James]

Well, it looks like CMC is saying they didn't know it was a used guitar when they got it. There's an explanation up on the FB page. What a mess:

https://www.facebook.com/ricojrguitars?fref=ts

Yeah that does suck. I will back what CMC guitars is stating though. The guitar is solid. It plays well and is structurally sound. I had the guitar checked by two different independent repair shops who said the only problem with the guitar was cosmetic. The guitar also has Dimarzio D-Activators in it, not the crunch lab and liqui-fire as ad states.

I only sent the guitar back because - A - I was not satisfied with what I got, after how long I waited. And - B - I won my credit card dispute. So a few days after I received the guitar, all of my money was refunded to me. So I had all of my money and the guitar. The right thing to do was ship the guitar back to BRJ.

Whoever does decide to purchase that guitar though will most likely be very happy. Why? Because they did not have to wait a ridiculously long time to receive a BRJ guitar. And the guitar is barely used. I played it for about 2 hours total and kept it in its case for the rest of the time. It's still basically a new guitar, but not quite.

 

[Erockomania]

Well, it looks like CMC is saying they didn't know it was a used guitar when they got it. There's an explanation up on the FB page. What a mess:

https://www.facebook.com/ricojrguitars?fref=ts

yikes

 

[Khoi]

Well, it looks like CMC is saying they didn't know it was a used guitar when they got it. There's an explanation up on the FB page. What a mess:

https://www.facebook.com/ricojrguitars?fref=ts

Before it gets buried through the spam on Bernie's page:

Here is the deal with this one. It turns out it is the same guitar. I had no idea this was actually sent back. I just found out today. Here is the back story. There is a Builder, who is a friend of Bernie’s helping Terry Rico sort through everything right now. The Builder helping out was a builder for BC Rich and worked side by side with Bernie for many years and knows the process inside and out. But he is not affiliated with Bernie Rico Jr Guitars nor does he work for them. He is a friend that is trying to help out. CMC Guitars was owed guitars just like everyone else. I had met with Bernie back in August to plan with him a small roll out of guitars that he had that were close to being finished. Bernie had told me that he had planned to make good on all the guitars that he owed people. Unfortunately Bernie had another relapse and went back into the hospital again. I was owed guitars but without Bernie around nothing could move forward, for me or anyone. In an effort to make good on things Terry and offered to get me an unclaimed guitar immediately to sell. Terry and the Builder found this guitar in the warehouse and offered it to us. They had no idea it was sent back either. They are trying to figure this big mess out. Apparently Bernie kept everything all to himself which was part of the problem. So none of us knew this guitar was sent back. But it is common that guitars sent back are resold. It happens all the time. I just wish that I knew about it. And unfortunately no one caught the issues. Now on to the guitar.

There is a shim in the neck under the fretboard. That is very common and standard in guitars. Many people probably own guitars with shims in them and don't know it. If the neck were painted you would never see or know there is a shim. This one is visible because the neck is natural. The shim is not separating from the neck. What you see in the pic on 7 String.org is the seem. I will be posting hi-rez pics. Admittedly this is aesthetically kinda sloppy on a guitar with this price tag. The neck should have been painted black. We unfortunately didn't catch this or know this when we listed the guitar. There is also a scratch on one of the bridge saddles that is not very noticeable. And the string ferrules aren't quite lined up on the neck center blank on the back of the guitar which Structurally the guitar is 100%. And the guitar plays and sounds amazing. And it looks incredible as well.

With all that being said, we are going to be offering this guitar at discount. The entire situation with Bernie sucks for everyone. CMC Guitars and the Builder is trying to help Terry out by taking some of the guitars that are done but that just need to be buffed and dressed. CMC Guitars will be selling those guitars that the builder can finish up. For the people that are owed guitars, if your guitar has been built but just needs to be finished I believe Terry is going to try to have the guitar finished off by the builder and try to make good on the orders. But anyone owed guitars needs to speak with Terry. CMC Guitars has nothing to do with any past orders or guitars that are owed to people. We were owed guitars prior to Bernie having his breakdown just like everyone else. We were asked if we could help sell off some of the additional inventory that was left that did not belong to anyone. So that is the extent of our involvement. And that is the entire back story on this guitar. We will be adjusting the price and disclosing all of this in the listing of the guitar. So overall this guitar is amazing and who ever buys it will be getting a killer guitar. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Pikka Bird]

"Admittedly this is aesthetically kinda sloppy on a guitar with this price tag. The neck should have been painted black."

Covering up sloppiness with opague paint doesn't make it any less sloppy and doesn't make it any more reasonable "on a guitar with this price tag". And it should NOT have been painted black when it was ordered with an unpainted neck.

"Yeah, I know you wanted this-and-that finish, but I kinda fucked up and dropped a hammer right on the top so I had to paint the whole thing black. No discount!"

And shims may be "common" from some manufacturers, but when you're paying prime bucks then you deserve to get a properly cut neck that doesn't require shimming.

I'm not dumping on the structural integrity of this guitar, but it just seems like you're losing your professional pride when you let these things become commonplace. In fact, I'm more saddened than angry.

 

[Speculum Speculorum]

And for the record - I don't buy CMC's story for a single damn second. You mean to tell me that you had a guitar, took a bunch of professional photos of said guitar for your website, and didn't notice the flaws? Every single picture gracefully limits the perspective on the neck/fb joint, for example. I call shenanigans. Big. F'ing. Time.

And no matter what, $3,900 for a misnamed mahog/maple BRJ? The guy is off his ....ing rocker if he thinks he can legitimately charge that price at this point in the game. If that's the case, I'll sell you my quilt top BRJ Jekyll 727 that doesn't have a bunch of ....ed up cosmetic issues for $5,000 and buy a Daemoness or a custom Mayones and never speak about BRJ Guitars again. ....!

 

[CMCgtrs]

Pikka, I agree with you. I wasn't suggesting that Bernie should have covered it up and sell you something you didn't want or pass it off. If anything he should have disclosed it to you and offered you a discount like you suggested or offered to paint it. And shimming is just a reality of building guitars even the high end ones. I know it isn't pretty. It isn't always the case but it is a reality. 90% of the BC Rich Custom Shop Guitars are shimmed. I've seen it in Fender Custom Shop Guitars and a lot of other manufactures. I do agree that given a choice it would be better if the neck angle was cut right from the beginning. But having a shim in the guitar doesn't make for a bad guitar. But paying the kind of money that you did that guitar should have never gone out the door to you.

Speculum, I can't help that you don't believe our story but it is the truth. Not that you care but you can go to any other neck-thru guitar on our site and you will see the same picture angles used on every neck-thru guitar. So the pictures that were taken did not intentionally "limit the perspective on the neck/fb joint". It was a standard photo shoot for that type of guitar. Again, check out website if you don't believe me. We get lots of guitars in all the time. Our photographer just put the guitar up and snapped the shots. Sometimes things are initially missed. And sometimes, as the case with this guitar it was listed before having a full inspection by our guitar tech. Our guitar tech is only in 2 days a week so sometimes there is some overlap. Fortunately, with some help, this issue was caught. Thanks to those who posted and made us aware of this. We are not in the business of ripping people off or trying to hide flaws. It doesn't make any sense that we would do that over one guitar. And we have a return policy anyway that would allow anyone who bought the guitar to return it without question if they weren't happy. We've never let someone walk away unhappy or stuck with a guitar they didn't like or want. So there was no shenanigans. We will be taking better hi-rez pics of the neck joint and posting them and offering this guitar at a discount. It is still a killer guitar that plays and sounds great. Anyone who gets it will love it and will have full disclosure of the cosmetic issues. Thanks again to all those who brought it to our attention. Peace to all.

 

[Hollowway]

Not to come to Bernie's defense (given that I'm in the same boat as everyone else), but the neck shim is his building technique. Not the neatest or cleanest one, but it is an intentional thing on all BRJ neck thrus. The higher the bridge sits the thicker the shim, and the more noticeable it is. I talked with him about it when I got my (non BFR) Jekyll 828 with a Kahler and noticed a thick shim in there. He said he was thinking of changing the way he constructs neck thrus to be more like Carvin, et. al., and not have that. I talked with a couple of other luthiers who said that it is a legitimate building technique that some people use. But again, maybe not the cleanest. It's possible that it's an older technique, because Bernie also told me they do tops old-school, by putting the top on, then tying rope all around the guitar and jamming wood pieces between the rope and body to tighten it up. (I asked because I had a couple of gaps between the body and top.)

Edit: by CMCgtrs.

 

[Speculum Speculorum]

Yeah I should probably apologize about that shot. It was rude of me. I just tend to get a little agitated about all this BRJ stuff after having dealt with him and seeing what people have gone through.

 

[CMCgtrs]

Speculum, no worries man. It is ok. There are a lot of unhappy customers and dealers waiting for guitars. Emotions run hot. And Bernie messed up bad. I was asked by to step in and help Bernie and Terry out because they are strapped and they have some finished inventory but no means of selling it. And I did so against my better judgement. And now with Bernie back in the hospital Terry is completely flying blind. It is a catch 22. Bernie has no cash to build new guitars and he can't sell their any of their existing inventory because every bridge was burned. I think CMC Guitars might sell through what we have, which is 4 guitars, and bow out of this mess. Unless this Builder can piece together a coherent plan with Terry to salvage the inventory he has left I think it will all go to waste. There are about 40 guitars that I saw with my own eyes that just need to be assembled. I'm sure some of them are owed to other people. So if anyone is owed a guitar get in touch with Terry via Facebook. She is going to try to make good on things. But honestly, if someone has a guitar that hasn't even been started I don't see it getting finished because there is no building going on and no money for materials. The 4 guitars I got, with the exception of this Hesperian, were all assembled with parts on hand. They best hope for those people would be to settle for another guitar that is already built. Even if it isn't exactly what you want at least you have something that could be sold, because I don't think anyone has a chance of getting money back. Trust me, I tried. You can't get blood from a stone. All the best.

 

[SpaceDock]

Getting a hold of Terry via FB is useless. I have messaged many times and tried to be as nice as possible but I havent heard anything back at all.

My guitars were just needing hardware two years ago when they got fully paid off. I have been waiting three years for them to be finished, I never changed specs or caused any problems for them. Myself and many others are pure victims.

I have offered: refunds, trading for in stock, and finishing them myself.

They need to fix this sooner than later and not worry about selling new guitars or messing around with future plans.... finish the guitars you already sold or give me my money back.

 

[canuck brian]

If anyone in Canada is able to get a hold of their blank/non-assembled guitar, I'll do the assembly and setup for you no charge. If it's just parts that are required, we'll figure something out if someone takes me up on this.

I just want to see guys get their guitars.

 

[Forkface]

If anyone in Canada is able to get a hold of their blank/non-assembled guitar, I'll do the assembly and setup for you no charge. If it's just parts that are required, we'll figure something out if someone takes me up on this.

I just want to see guys get their guitars.

I know it says "only updates by customers" but I just wanna say kudos to you man It's people like you who make the world a better place, seriously.

 

[SpaceDock]

If anyone in Canada is able to get a hold of their blank/non-assembled guitar, I'll do the assembly and setup for you no charge. If it's just parts that are required, we'll figure something out if someone takes me up on this.

I just want to see guys get their guitars.

When I talked to Bernie on the phone a few months ago, he stated that one of the big issues is that every guitar is a bit different, no templates or cnc; so the assembly takes a lot longer than piecing together most guitars. Every guitar has to be shaped to the hardware and specially fitted to get it right, but that is his story if we want to believe it. I have rebuilt many guitars and I offered to do this, but he turned me down via email years ago and on the phone a few months ago. He said "no guitar of mine iwll ever be finished outside of my shop." Maybe Terry will change this. In my case, one of my guitars had a floyd, so if I didnt get all of the hardware it would really suck to eat the cost.

 

[mniel8195]

I think bernie needs to get a cnc machine and call it a day. That way he can focus on fret work and assembly etc...

 

[Diggi]

How do we get in touch with her? Do you have an email? I can email her the most recent photos of my guitar and my specs if that helps her sort out things.

Sorry I've been away on business. Email seems to be the best contact method so far, but messaging through FB is recommended as well.

 

[Hollowway]

And we're messaging Terry on her personal FB page or just through the BRJ official page?