My eBay '92 D-55 arrived yesterday...

[dreadnut]

yeah, but if you heard that baby through a nice acoustic amp...

Of course, when you go to a bluegrass show, nobody is plugged in, everyone plays and sings into the mic$

I use the LR Baggs under the saddle system with a small Fishman preamp / EQ that hangs on my belt.

Problem is now, my guitars plug in, my mandolins don't, and my banjos, well, you wouldn't want to plug them in. If I'm doing any kind of variety, I might as well just mike everything.

Anyway, it's nice to have the option to plug in the guitar and mike your voice, it really saves wear and tear on the voice and the instrument. I had such good luck with the LR Baggs in my D-25, it's the first thing I did to my DV-52 after I got it.

Plus, I'm great at spending other people's money. Hmmm let's see, you'll need a pickup installed, an amp, a couple cables, you probably don't want to be tethered to a cord so you'll need a decent wireless getup...

 

[drowlins]

My D-35 SB is nicely checked on the lower bout, but it doesn't affect the tone in any way. It looks like an old road warrior when I take it out of the case.

 

[Mr. P ~]

Any ideas on an oversize end pin? ... I wondered if I could make a bone plug, and the re-drill for a standard end in, or mount a screw-type (gold) strap button.

I'll have to get a measure on the hole... I did find one in ebony that is about a mm bigger than standard...
Dave

[IMG:156:601]http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r126/Graham_61/Misc/Ebony.jpg[/img]

Try that Gard. I'll leave the measuring and drilling up to you. :wink:

I mentioned putting a Mahogany plug in on the Tech thread, but of course rosewood would be better. The bone would be harder to work with if you were going to taper the hole for a standard end pin.

 

[West R Lee]

Gard,

If you recall, I reserved comment. Well, it's time. I agree with every word Cap said.

If you let this guy off scott free, he'll do it again. The only way to maintain some type of integrity on Ebay is to complain. Negative feedback hurts. And in many cases, Ebay resolves issues just like this.

To give the seller the benefit of the doubt, it's within the realm of possibility that this checking could have happened in shipping, but I seriously doubt it.

I'd send pictures to the seller and Ebay,state my case to the seller, then give the seller time to make it right. If it weren't settled to my satisfaction, I'd hammer him as hard as I could with Ebay. BTW, if you payed by credit card, you can still cancel payment!

Good luck my friend,
West

 

[Victor Denance]

To give the seller the benefit of the doubt, it's within the realm of possibility that this checking could have happened in shipping, but I seriously doubt it.

Well, depends what kind of trip did the guitar. Brutal temperature changes might be deadly for a guitar finish. If the guitar's been stored in a freezing truck a couple or more nights, then in a overheated house, this kind of cracks may have happened.

In the case the guitar has been under wide temperature changes, ALWAYS let the box warm up slowly (overnight) before opening it!!!

 

[fungusyoung]

Dave, that's not nearly the checking I have on my JF-30. & I agree with dred that it's a character thing. But looking closely at the pics in the listing, I hafta say I'm not convinced there was any deception on the sellers part. As severe as your photo shows it, I think there would be at least a hint of it showing up in the sellers pics.

Send him a photo & see how he responds. I bet it's with a gasp. :shock:

I have to agree. Those photos show absolutely no evidence of the checking on this guitar. The seller would've had to go to a lot of trouble to take pictures long ago, and then save them for an eventual Ebay add. I'm guessing it happened during shipping. As for the end-pin jack... that's an entirely separate issue.

When I got my DV52 it had some checking I didn't see in the photos. I went back to give the photos a very good look, and I know for certain the checking happened during shipping. The seller had an impeccable reputation, and he sent me a bunch of freshly taken photos (some I specifically requested) before shipping the guitar. In my case, the checking is very minimal and I love it because it adds character. The checking on yours is pretty severe, but I'm not sure what you can do about it unless insurance would cover this kind of thing (how you equate the damage to insurance value.... I dunno that either).

 

[FNG]

http://www.guitarsaddles.com/products.asp

Bob sells endpins. Great guy, whose only downfall is his undying and irrational love for the Red Soc. :lol:

 

[HoboKen]

Emma Endpin....Looks like she has a "leg up" on the rest of us.

HoboKen

 

[West R Lee]

Hey Ken,

Buzz on over to "Miscellaneous" and check out "Hatted Frau". His symptoms sort of sound like yours did a few months ago.

West

 

[dklsplace]

Dave, did you ever get a reply from the seller?

My JF-55 arrived today & there is considerably more finish checking after shipping in this cold climate than when the guitar was packaged. I know this for a fact after reviewing pics from the seller, & having a forum member in the vicinity give it a good hands on once over before I sent the check.

 

[West R Lee]

I'm sorry to hear that Don, is it bad? How does it sound? Man I love those guitars.

West

 

[GardMan]

Hey Don,
Yes, I traded a few e-mails and played phone tag with the seller for a couple days, and then we finally hooked up on the phone. He maintains that the extensive checking wasn't there when he shipped it. I couldn't really prove otherwise... given the weather conditions it shipped in.

The seller offered to take it back... but I would have ended up eating the round trip shipping... about $160, more than the ~10% my luthier suggested that checking might have on the value (totally subjective, of course)... so we split the difference. I can't say it was entirely satisfactory... but I felt it was the most I could really expect. That brought the purchase price to about $1100 for a '92 D-55 in great playing condition... I haven't looked that up in the bluebook... but I think it was a pretty good deal.

I haven't yet got my end pin dilemma solved. It would be easier if the end-pin had been drilled out for a jack... but it wasn't, the hole was just enlarged at the surface, through the ivoroid tail piece trim. The hole in the tailblock still fits a standard end-pin. Several sources suggested drilling out for a 1/2" Taylor end-pin, or I found a 1/2" pin made of fossilized walrus ivory, But I'd rather not drill out the tail block, so am looking now for a pin (bone ivory, or fossil) with an oversize skirt to hide the hole, or a way to make a small ivoroid or bone "washer" to fill the slight gap caused by the enlarged hole in the trim. Once I get that figured out, I want to put a matching strap button on the heel (it already has a "cheap" looking strap lock on the heel, so no dilemma about drilling the heel like I have with the G-37)... and perhaps matching bridge pins.

I have been playing the D-55 quite a bit (>2 hrs today), comparing it to my G-37. The G-37 is smooth and rich compared to my mahogany Dreds... the D-55's voice is silky smooth and majestic compared to the G-37... and sustains forever. Makes the G-37 sound bright and brassy in contrast. I have always heard maple was bright, but my only previous comparison was to mahogany, which is brighter still. I told someone that, if the D-55 is a grand piano, the G-37 is a baby grand, and the D-35s and D-25 are (very nice) spinnets. The D-55 plays like butter... a little buzz when I am strumming hard (have to take it in for a set-up one of these days), but a dream to finger pick. Today, I brought my D-25 down to play a few tunes in DADGAD... I could easily hear the D-55 behind me "humming" along.

Anyway, I am still evaluating and considering... Unlike when I bought the D-25 and G-37, which felt like "my guitars" almost immediately upon their arrival... the D-55 hasn't quite settled in to that feeling yet. Maybe it's the hassle of dealing with the checking, or trying to find an end-pin solution (like the guitar isn't yet whole).

Anyway... that's where "we're" at, for now.

 

[6L6]

Man, it sounds to me like you have a WINNER D-55!

FORGET the lacquer checking! It's a cool look!

6

 

[fungusyoung]

Man, it sounds to me like you have a WINNER D-55!

FORGET the lacquer checking! It's a cool look!

6

Gotta agree with 6L6. Your descriptions of the tone and playability would weigh very heavily if I had to make a choice on what to do. Re-read what you wrote if you need to!

I mean, it sucks that the checking occurred, but if she's gonna be a player ya might wanna hang on for dear life and concern yourself less with re-sale value and cosmetics.... at least if you can. I'd keep playing the D-55 regularly until you have no option. Doesn't sound like repeated playings could weaken your appreciation of the tone.

 

[GardMan]

Thanks guys...

 

[J45dale]

Gardman,
Checking may be a bummer to some, but to me, they are a lot like charactor wrinkles. It adds to the Mojo. I restrung and played my dads 1948 Gibson LG-2 yesterday. It has enough checking to shame a gator, but man shes sweet with the blues.
To me a D55 is a pros picking guitar, they play like butter, congrats on a great one, happy picking.
Dale.

 

[sunpowder]

My first question would be: Where are you and the seller located? This checking COULD have occured during the shipment of the guitar to you. If you or the seller had very cold weather, and if the box sat out in the truck very long...it could be recent. I won a guitar off ebay during the winter, and had the seller hold for 2 weeks until the temps were above 30 degrees for just this reason.


If they were existing finish checks at the time of the auction, I would be peeved. You photographed the checking with no problem, why couldn't the seller. This is total misrepresentation in my eyes, if the seller did not disclose major checking on the top. I would ask for a refund if it were me and I was unhappy.

On a final note, I see all kinds of folks around here buying from ebay with its many scam artists, and risks. But then I see lots of guitars selling on this very board lingering for long times in the buy and sell section. What gives. For example, George K. was selling his D55 recently for less than you paid, and got little interest on this board. If it were me, I would buy from a fellow forum member long before ebay. Why trust some unknown seller when there are lots of great stand-up sellers right here. There are both a DV72 and DV62 for sale at this time.

If it were me [again MHO] and I was looking for something in particular, I would post a Wanted post in the forum buy and sell. Cmon' people, let's utilize the community we have built here. Just my two cents.

Michael

 

[West R Lee]

Here's what I've learned from others in regards to finish checking during shipping. Supposedly, the extremely cold temperatures don't actually cause the checking. A very SUDDEN and drastic change in temperatures does.

Apparently what actually occours is that the finish and the wood both contract in very cold weather. When warmed suddenly, the wood and finish expand at different rates and that's what causes checking. The same can happen when storing a guitar in a car trunk on a cold night, then taking it out to play in a warm room. Some claim that you can actually watch finish checking occur before your eyes.

The key is allow the guitar time to acclimate to room temperature. I recently shipped a D55 from Minnasota to Texas during some of the season's coldest temperatures at the time. It was around 0 degrees up there. I allowed the guitar 8 hours to acclimate to room temperature. No checking problem.

I would think it might be possible for a guitar to get so cold that mishandling, or being banged around during shipping could shatter the finish. Could be wrong on that one though.

Hans has also told me that there are factors in the application of a nitro finish that can play a role in a guitars tendency to check. I think that very thick finishes are more prone to checking than thinner applications.

West

 

[Bing k]

or trying to find an end-pin solution (like the guitar isn't yet whole).

Anyway... that's where "we're" at, for now.

Find a heavy guitar pic that's large enough, drill a hole in it and bridge the oversized hole with that. Glue the pin in to the block but don't glue the pic.

 

[Bing k]

The finish checking due to temperature can be a nightmare! I speak from experience. Believe me it has cost thousands$$$$$$$$$$.