I got an email reminding me that I had something "in my cart" and wanting to know if I wanted to finish my checkout.
Suspect that's automated
But I have not heard back on my email asking them what the issue was making it a cat 3.
It's possible emails aren't processed in the same location the guitar is at, might take some time for them to get an answer?
BTW, the top of the A150 is solid wood. But I'm guessing it is pressed into shape, not carved. Is that right? Is there s big drop off in sound by not being carved? Just curious.
That caught me by surprise, that it's solid.
I expected a laminated top in an MIK instrument, also, I'm used to thinking of Guild's arches as being laminated, which is the case with 99-44/100 all of the acoustic arch
backs).
But that might also be part of the reason they're cracking so easily. Laminations are much more crack resistant.
(And by the way because of where that finish check is headed under the 'guard, I suspect it's suffering from the problem M described and it really
IS a crack.
It also definitely looks like a stress fracture in the finish before it begins to look like a scratch)
Anyway, I'm sure it's pressed not carved due to the major time and labor cost of carving tops. It's part of the reason the AA and Stuart are so expensive, and why they'll probably only get built here.
Carving tops allows a builder to tap tune 'em as well, so it's more of an incremental improvement in a carved top, I think, than a major drop-off just because it's pressed.
And for all we know they may sand 'em to fine-tune 'em too.
If it was laminated then one would expect a more serious impact on overall acoustic (unamplified) output, a muting of the high and low frequencies, but in the trade-off is they're less prone to feedback under amplification.
You did get my curiosity up, though, and a quick google yielded this discussion which seemed to confirm my perceptions of the issue:
http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-42/1330992-
I see Samick favorably mentioned in that thread and if memory serves, they actually made the NS line or at least some models, at some point. I seem to recall it could be deciphered in the s/n.
Ralf knows the history, I've forgotten the details.
Post number 4 in this thread expresses a clear opinion as well, he does seem to think craved is noticably better than pressed:
http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guitar-amps-gizmos/28354-pressed-solid-spruce-what-does-mean.html