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walrus

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You are wise not to open it too quickly! Keep us posted!

walrus
 

txbumper57

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They are Poly finish Davisman, at least to my knowledge they are. I have never seen one in Nitro.


TX
 

GAD

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Don't forget it's hovering right around freezing here in NJ (34F right now) so I'd probably let everything short of a solid gold bar acclimate before I opened it. Hmm.. someone should send me a solid gold bar for testing. No wait, I'll need two - one for control.
 

GAD

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So... it's so good you can't stop playing it?
 

adorshki

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Way less subject to finish checking then. But still, why risk it? Thanks, TX.
He mentioned not wanting to risk any potential weird warpage problems in an earlier post (might have been his other thread).
I don't think poly will check at all but it sounded like a good idea for the other thing, certainly couldn't hurt.
 

chazmo

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I agree completely with the "why risk it?" frame of mind, for sure, but honestly I think it's a it's a really good question about poly(ester/urethane) finished axes... Is there any real risk to exposing a cold guitar to warm air or vice versa?

I think the answer is that it's practically no risk to the guitar. Am I right?
 

Sitedrifter

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Man the Guild warriors do not want me to have a guitar.
Guitar looked ok when I took it out of the case but...
Finish is cracked at the nut but I cannot tell if it is structural or not.I do not think so but I do not want to chance it.
Some of the hardware is silver not gold. (that is not enough for me to send it back)
A couple of black chips in the finish that was cleared over on the back of the headstock.


I am speaking with Guild about this because it is pretty messed up that 3 of them have issues and I got them all. I am not being overly picky either but for $1400 bucks compared to a $700 Ibanez, the Ibanez wins with better QC then the three Guild that I bought.

I will let you know what Guild wants to do but just in case I have an RMA from the vendor coming.

Mark
 

txbumper57

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I agree completely with the "why risk it?" frame of mind, for sure, but honestly I think it's a it's a really good question about poly(ester/urethane) finished axes... Is there any real risk to exposing a cold guitar to warm air or vice versa?

I think the answer is that it's practically no risk to the guitar. Am I right?

I have done some reading on other forums where people are actually trying to finish check their guitars to give them that Aged look. The general consensus is that Poly doesn't check like nitro does. One persistent individual kept trying and trying on a poly guitar to get some kind of checking and my understanding is that after several trips to the freezer and oven to rapidly heat and cool it at extreme temps, the finish didn't check, it cracked really deep. Not an overall effect but just in one spot one deep crack in the poly. I guess that has to do with Poly being fully cured as opposed to Nitro which never really fully cures. After exposure to the extreme temps in both directions it just couldn't take the stress anymore. So is there a chance it could happen in real world conditions? Maybe, only if you went from the Arctic circle straight to Death Valley via Transporter beam and even then you would have to do it several times. Is it going to happen over the range of 30-40 degrees? Most likely not but if you want to be safe about it go right ahead, you won't hear any argument from me as it is not my guitar.

TX
 

Christopher Cozad

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...I think the answer is that it's practically no risk to the guitar. Am I right?
Yep. At least, not where the finish is concerned.

Lacquer shatters, where polyester exhibits no (visible) effect. I have shattered the finish on my share of NCL finished guitars, first one being my ole fave, my 1976 Guild F-50R. I had it flown from Portland, OR to Anchorage, AK back in '79. Needless to say, I was one sad Guild owner when I opened that case. Had LTG been in place back then, my whines would clearly have echoed to the present day. By contrast, I (recently, and deliberately) tested a poly-finished Taylor under nearly identical circumstances and it changed not!

In Sitedrifter's case, it may be that patience is indeed virtuous but not necessarily rewarded.
 
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txbumper57

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Man the Guild warriors do not want me to have a guitar.
Guitar looked ok when I took it out of the case but...
Finish is cracked at the nut but I cannot tell if it is structural or not.I do not think so but I do not want to chance it.
Some of the hardware is silver not gold. (that is not enough for me to send it back)
A couple of black chips in the finish that was cleared over on the back of the headstock.


I am speaking with Guild about this because it is pretty messed up that 3 of them have issues and I got them all. I am not being overly picky either but for $1400 bucks compared to a $700 Ibanez, the Ibanez wins with better QC then the three Guild that I bought.

I will let you know what Guild wants to do but just in case I have an RMA from the vendor coming.

Mark

Mark I am so sorry to hear this. You have been through a lot over the past few weeks. I don't know what your plan of action is but after reading your posts I don't think I will ever purchase a Newark Street guitar now. I hope you get things worked out and best of luck to you man.

TX
 

Sitedrifter

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Today's nitro finishes are super durable for shocking temp changes. I know people who left their Gibsons in a 20 degree garage all night and brought it into a 75 degree house and... nothing.

I was not worried about the finish but rather the wood especially on a laminated guitar.
 

GAD

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Man the Guild warriors do not want me to have a guitar.
Guitar looked ok when I took it out of the case but...
Finish is cracked at the nut but I cannot tell if it is structural or not.I do not think so but I do not want to chance it.
Some of the hardware is silver not gold. (that is not enough for me to send it back)
A couple of black chips in the finish that was cleared over on the back of the headstock.


I am speaking with Guild about this because it is pretty messed up that 3 of them have issues and I got them all. I am not being overly picky either but for $1400 bucks compared to a $700 Ibanez, the Ibanez wins with better QC then the three Guild that I bought.

I will let you know what Guild wants to do but just in case I have an RMA from the vendor coming.

Mark


I think the sad truth is that the Newark Street guitars just aren't getting the QC that they deserve which sucks because they really are nice guitars.

I'd love to see pics of the issues if for no other reason as to further document the trend.
 

Sitedrifter

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This time I was, a little pissed so I just boxed it back up.

Guild has sent me a return label to send them the guitar and they will hand pick one and have their techs go over it and ship it to me.
Not sure if I am going to do it or just send it back to the vendor for a refund.
I would most likely not get the replacement for at least 10 days because they may not ship until they get this one back.

Oh what to do.....???
 

adorshki

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This time I was, a little pissed so I just boxed it back up.

Guild has sent me a return label to send them the guitar and they will hand pick one and have their techs go over it and ship it to me.
Not sure if I am going to do it or just send it back to the vendor for a refund.
I would most likely not get the replacement for at least 10 days because they may not ship until they get this one back.

Oh what to do.....???

I'd let 'em ship me the factory-inspected piece.
You've liked the ones that came through except for the flaws, why not give 'em one last chance?
One other thing that occurred to me was that maybe you're getting the "leftovers" from the sellers, that the best samples of their batches got shipped out or bought in-store first, and they're hoping you'll be ok with the minor flaws that would normally make 'em "B stock" (if they even noticed 'em themselves)
Who knows, maybe they actually are B stock but still warranted?
I've never seen any posts here about whether the NS line is marked as "B" stock when it applies, or if they just offer 'em to the sellers at good prices.
And not everybody does a thorough inspection of incoming inventory, sometimes it's in a completely different physical location to boot.
Might explain why the sellers have been so accommodating and why the prices have been so good in first place.
 
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txbumper57

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Ultimately it is what you feel is right Drifter. It is a good thing that Guild is trying to make it right but still this is the 3rd go round and the second go round on a Starfire VI. $1400 is a lot money to have things be wrong 3 times in a row and that would buy you a really nice American Made Guild like the ones we discussed in earlier threads. I also understand that being the first and possibly only owner of a guitar means a lot, at least to me it does. If you think you can wait a little longer and your heart is set on a Starfire VI then I would go the route with Guild Hoping they get their stuff together. If you are just fed up with the whole situation then I would send it back for a refund and wash my hands of it.

When Guild started making the Newark Street series in Korea there were a lot of folks including myself that were worried about the level of Quality that would come out of Korea and the negative effect it would have on the Guild name if it was bad. Fortunately the first ones out of Korea and for awhile after that were all of good quality and received praise from a lot of folks. They were described on several occasions as being somewhere in between the quality of a Korean Gretsch and the Japanese made professional series Gretsch which is a great place to be for an import guitar. Lately though things have been popping up and it just seems like the QC is not on par with what it was or where it needs to be. It seems like the import stuff is starting to fall below what is expected from the Guild brand. The choice is yours to make and no matter what your choice is, make sure the decision you make is what you want, Not what someone else would do.

As always best of luck to you and keep us posted.

TX
 

Sitedrifter

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the chip on the headstock you can catch your nail on it as well as the crack in the clear at the nut. Of course the silver spring and even the chip on the headstock were not enough for me to send it back but the crack in the finish at that area is a little unnerving for me and it has to go back for that alone.

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GAD

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If someone sold that to me as "used mint" I'd return it. There's no way I'd accept it in a new instrument. I think you're well within your rights to return it.

I'm with TX on this one. Spend the money on an excellent+ condition Westerly Starfire. $1400 will get you a lot of Guitar in a Westerly Guild.
 
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