Trying Again

GAD

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Yeah, that would be sent right back by me as well, and I agree with you about the NS QC, TX. In fact, I had a long post all keyed up about it with references to the recent glut of QC issues seen on this forum including my own Bluesbird bridge having no string slots. When they're good, they're very good, but the chance of getting a flawed guitar seems to be rather high in the NS series.
 

Neal

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Someone help me understand how, in this age of automation, that a head-stock logo could be cut that incorrectly, and how it could get past QC, which I presume involves a automated "scan" of the instrument to insure that everything visually is within spec?
 

Guildadelphia

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That's unfortunate. A cosmetic imperfection like that should have relegated that guitar to "B Stock" status and a nice discount. Maybe the folks at Cordoba need to be keeping a more critical eye on what gets shipped out to shops and what gets sent back to the factory in Korea as unacceptable.
 

Sitedrifter

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As I have said before, QC is only as good as the company wants it to be. This should have been caught at the Factory or even where I bough it. I can tell you if this was a Gibson, most people on the Gibson boards will say, if you like how it sounds, keep it and get over it. That is because they are used to poor QC from Gibson. Glad I did not get any of that here. :D
 

merlin6666

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Someone help me understand how, in this age of automation, that a head-stock logo could be cut that incorrectly, and how it could get past QC, which I presume involves a automated "scan" of the instrument to insure that everything visually is within spec?

I think the automation of guitar production is very unevenly distributed through the world. This may be a given for Taylor or the Hew Hartford plant where they have been using CNC processes for many years, but in Asian cheap labour factories automation may be less common. I have seen some videos of the "Eastman" factory in China and it looked like a facility that they may have had in Europe some 200 years ago with "craftsmen" merrily laboring away building guitars in free-hand without so much of a template or any digital measuring device in sight. So if some of the decorative items are out of alignment I would think of it in terms of artistry :tickled_pink: particularly if they got it right in terms of playability and sound.
 

geoguy

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Where are you located, Sitedrifter?

There is a guitar repair-person located in Connecticut who used work for Guild at New Hartford, & was responsible for repairs to many new Guilds before they were shipped. He also previously worked at Gibson's custom shop, & I wouldn't be surprised if he could easily replace that smurfed-up headstock overlay.

Assuming that the selling dealer gave you back at least as much money as it would cost for the repair, of course.
 

Sitedrifter

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I am in NJ but I do have one of the best Luthiers near me who even specializes in Marquetry. I would not want to estimate the cost of the new overlay so I do not know what to ask off for the guitar as they already discounted it pretty good. I guess at least $150 as that would be shipping both ways the dealer would eat if I send it back. Then maybe another $200 for a total of $350 off what I paid?
 

GAD

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IMO there is no good reason to fix that guitar. Send it back.
 

davismanLV

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IMO there is no good reason to fix that guitar. Send it back.
Wow!! I agree!! That alignment is shockingly bad!! I don't blame you, Mark. I'd be sending that one right back. I wonder how many they made like that? It's one thing to MAKE them like that and then another to SEND IT OUT like that. Sorry about your whole experience.

Funny comment about the Gibson QC. I know they've had a lot of trouble with quality but I had no idea people are so used to it, they just ignore it. YIKES!!
 

txbumper57

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I am in NJ but I do have one of the best Luthiers near me who even specializes in Marquetry. I would not want to estimate the cost of the new overlay so I do not know what to ask off for the guitar as they already discounted it pretty good. I guess at least $150 as that would be shipping both ways the dealer would eat if I send it back. Then maybe another $200 for a total of $350 off what I paid?

Honestly you figure that on the used market The Guild Korean Newark Street Series guitars are going for 40-50% off of what the New Selling price was in excellent still like new condition. I am basing that off of the enormous amount of NS X175's that sell for between $550 and $700 used in great shape. This Starfire VI was listed MSRP for somewhere around $1999.99. I have seen shops regularly listing them for $1500 with absolutely none of them selling at that price. I have seen more than one sell new in First Run Condition with warranty for between $1000-$1200. Since this is a somewhat limited model so far lets say the used value would be 30-35% of the new sale price just to be on the optimistic side. That would put a used selling value on the low side around $700 and on the high side around $840 before the fact that the logo is crooked as hell which would devalue it even more and that is being Optimistic.

If this is something you plan on keeping for life I could understand asking for a discount but personally if you do keep it and decide later on it is not for you I think you are going to lose really Big when you try to sell it. Personally I would send it back and require the shop you bought it from to refund all shipping charges both original and return and I would run as fast as I could in the opposite direction from that guitar. At the end of the day it is still a Korean made Guild that most likely will not grow in value in the next 20 years. Get out of it and give something else a try or if you are dead set on a Korean Guild Starfire VI then there are others out there in better condition I hope. Just an opinion from the outside looking in so take it for what it is worth and make your own decisions. Best of luck as always,

TX
 

kakerlak

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I'm honestly surprised they don't have a die cutter stamping out pre-routed headstock overlays so that they inlay process is reduced to gluing pre-cut pearloid blanks into precut, uniformly aligned holes for them. Maybe it's an issue of filling the holes in the "D" and crown of the Chesterfield, though I'd assume those pieces could just as easily be die-cut and sitting in bins to be glued in. Anyway, just surprised to find that the process is freehand enough to allow a misalignment like that.
 

Quantum Strummer

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I too am surprised the inlay process with these guitars isn't automated to the point of non-screwupability. I'm also surprised QC didn't spot the misalignment. Now I personally don't care much about cosmetics if the sound and playability are right, but getting something like this wrong can't help but make you wonder about the kind of attention being paid to structural/functional stuff.

-Dave-
 

adorshki

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I'm honestly surprised they don't have a die cutter stamping out pre-routed headstock overlays so that they inlay process is reduced to gluing pre-cut pearloid blanks into precut, uniformly aligned holes for them.
You just made me realize the problem might be that they actually put a bunch of inlays into a large sheet and then diecut the overlay shapes out of them.
It's how envelopes are made, when they have special printing jobs done on them:
Big sheets printed first, then the shapes are die-cut out of the printed sheets.
Doesn't "forgive" the error, but I suspect it's a lot more likely source of the glitch, as it's less probably less labor intensive (cheaper) than handling a bunch of already-cut overlays to insert the inlays.
 

geoguy

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In my defense (re: suggesting a repair), Sitedrifter said that he liked everything about the guitar except that headstock overlay. :peaceful:

I inquired re: the cost to replace that overlay with a new one. Was told that the price might vary depending upon finishing requirements, but that a ballpark repair cost estimate was $285. Obviously plus two-way shipping, unless you hand-delivered the instrument to him.

Sitedrifter, let me know if this is of interest to you. If so, I can forward you the contact info for the repair person. I also have a photo of the overlay, but Photobucket is giving me difficulty logging in this afternoon so I can't post it here. I can forward that photo via email, if you wish to see it.
 

kakerlak

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You just made me realize the problem might be that they actually put a bunch of inlays into a large sheet and then diecut the overlay shapes out of them.
It's how envelopes are made, when they have special printing jobs done on them:
Big sheets printed first, then the shapes are die-cut out of the printed sheets.
Doesn't "forgive" the error, but I suspect it's a lot more likely source of the glitch, as it's less probably less labor intensive (cheaper) than handling a bunch of already-cut overlays to insert the inlays.

Whatever the process, the Chesterfield's alignment seems independent of the "Guild" inlay, and I'd figure they'd have a die that cuts it all at once, if they were punching these out. Of course, maybe some of the overseas aspect of construction is lower relative cost of hand labor?
 

kakerlak

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They could also be doing something wild like gluing on binding and inlays that all sit proud of the headstock surface, then squeegeeing some sort of black filler epoxy across the whole thing.
 

davismanLV

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Hey geoguy, if the guitar was bought new, and your suggested repair was done (either by a Guild Authorized service center or not) would that void the warranty? Just wondering out loud.....
 

geoguy

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Actually, I believe that the guy I have in mind IS a Guild-authorized repair provider.

Maybe using the warranty is another way to get this guitar straightened out, particularly if Guild is willing to pay for the two-way shipping.
 

Diggey

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Is this from the same dealer as the CE-100 you had issues with?
 
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