Sent the D'angelico back....

JohnW63

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If I ever end up headed to Las Vegas, and don't have the whole family in tow, or are in a hurry to get to the airport, I'll bring my NS X-175, and look you up. If nothing else it's mighty pretty, but it does have a good acoustic sound. No problem with playing in tune either.
 

davismanLV

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If I ever end up headed to Las Vegas, and don't have the whole family in tow, or are in a hurry to get to the airport, I'll bring my NS X-175, and look you up. If nothing else it's mighty pretty, but it does have a good acoustic sound. No problem with playing in tune either.
Sounds like a plan, John. David (Dadaist) has his pet seminars (SuperZoo) here every year and when he's in town we schedule some time. I've got some fun guitars for you to play and enjoy. We could even grab an adult beverage at one of my fave watering holes....... :encouragement:
 

marcellis

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If it's from China or Korea --- you did the right thing.
Welcome to the club.

It's difficult when you've never dealt with one of these guitars before, you know? So we played and played and then Chris gave us the clue to intonating the floating bridge. 3 videos later and with expert direction from you amazing forum guys, we came to the same conclusion. This guitar just sucks. We changed the action height, reintonated the bridge. I tried it in open tunings and standard and honestly it was so difficult to play. Here's the deal, it was out of tune on almost every fret, always. Then we went through the whole process again and then you had to be so careful not to fret too hard or it would sharp, but if you didn't fret hard enough you got buzz and then we went through the whole thing again. Start to finish. Either this guitar SUCKED or we're just not cut out for a non-flat top steel string guitar. Never had a problem with a guitar like this before. So after a week of neither of us enjoying it..... it went back.

Maybe this was just a bit beyond our range, but .... I'm not sure as I've never played an archtop before. So it was time to part with a PHYSICALLY beautiful guitar but... just not what we'd imagined and ..... it's gone.

Musician's Friend is ALWAYS amazing to deal with. It's good to know they'd have taken my blue Breedlove back in a minute..... like THAT would ever happen!! That guitar is going nowhere, but it's good to know they're super cool.

Now..... there's got to be another guitar out there....... LOL!!

Just kidding friends, don't tempt me.

Much love, TIV!! :encouragement::encouragement:
 

bobouz

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If it's from China or Korea --- you did the right thing.
Welcome to the club.

To my knowledge, the current D'Angelico line is made in Korea. The Korean factories are capable of producing some fine instruments. Over the years, I've owned a few nicely made Korean guitars, including a Peerless made Epiphone Casino, and my current Guild Savoy A-150b.

The highest quality Pacific Rim instruments, imho, still come from Japan. The Terada factory in particular produces instruments on a par with the best of anything out there.
 

marcellis

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I have heard they make fine instruments in Korea. But no thanks. Tried it once. It didn't work out.
I will never go near a Korean guitar again.
 
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Yeah, thanks, guys.... it was hard making that decision, but ..... some things are just not meant to be. Thanks to Chris for a heads up!! He was a champ tipping us off on this great deal!! Honest, you couldn't find a better deal and it's some shipping and now..... there's money for something else. Like maybe a Fishman Loudbox Mini??? LOL!!

Loud box ARTIST, maybe. I tried all the loud boxes, and the one I liked the best for live performance was the Artist. The mini just didn't cut it for live work with a band. The artist had another channel and better effects too!
 

bobouz

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I have heard they make fine instruments in Korea. But no thanks. Tried it once. It didn't work out.
I will never go near a Korean guitar again.
Well Marcellis, I understand where you're coming from. A bad experience can certainly lead to experience-based generalizations.

Of the 29 guitars I currently own, 24 were made in the USA, four were made in Japan, and one was made in Korea. The Korean Guild Savoy is unique in it's layout compared to the others, so it stays. But there's no doubt that it's creation is dictated by it's intended price point, and this I believe, is the rub with Korean guitars.

Since the early '80s when Korean outsourcing took hold in the industry, Korean production has always been at the lower and middle level price points. This has become their niche, which they may lose as Chinese producers continue to take a greater slice of the pie. If asked to produce a top tier instrument, there are probably a number of Korean manufacturers who could do so.

But who would buy it? Korean instrument do not exist at the upper end of the market, and most likely never will.
 

davismanLV

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Loud box ARTIST, maybe. I tried all the loud boxes, and the one I liked the best for live performance was the Artist. The mini just didn't cut it for live work with a band. The artist had another channel and better effects too!
RR, for YOU I can definitely see that for sure. It's just that there's no band here and it's just the two of us playing a few guitars sometimes. Smaller, lighter. I think it might do the job just fine. However, I'll look at the Artist and see what's up there. Thanks for the tip off!! :encouragement:
 

marcellis

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Well Marcellis, I understand where you're coming from. A bad experience can certainly lead to experience-based generalizations.

Of the 29 guitars I currently own, 24 were made in the USA, four were made in Japan, and one was made in Korea. The Korean Guild Savoy is unique in it's layout compared to the others, so it stays. But there's no doubt that it's creation is dictated by it's intended price point, and this I believe, is the rub with Korean guitars.

Since the early '80s when Korean outsourcing took hold in the industry, Korean production has always been at the lower and middle level price points. This has become their niche, which they may lose as Chinese producers continue to take a greater slice of the pie. If asked to produce a top tier instrument, there are probably a number of Korean manufacturers who could do so.

But who would buy it? Korean instrument do not exist at the upper end of the market, and most likely never will.

I pirchased what must have been an early NS SF III. It was the worst guitar I have ever owned, at least since I've been an adult. It was inspected by inspector #11 at the factory. The top was sinking. Braces were popping. Massive, Richter-scale fret-buzzing. It was a perfect storm. It slipped through Sweetwater's fingers too before it got to me. I didn't know much about electric guitars. My only electric was a big arch-top.

At any rate, Sweetwater replaced it because I'd been emailing them about fret buzz since the beginning. My local repair guy told me the top was going to cave in no matter what I did. He made a video of the guitar too. It was one for the YouTube archives.

I had owned a US-made Ovation a couple of decades ago. I recalled what crap Korean-made Ovations were by comparison back then. As a result, there will be no more Korean guitars in my future. And I owe it all to inspector #11 at the Korean factory.
 
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davismanLV

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I'm sure we've all had bad experiences with different guitars made in different places. I personally haven't bought or played enough imported Asian guitars to actually judge. It was ONE guitar. And I'm not even sure it was the guitar. It could have been me. So I will reserve judgement until I have more experience. I have a Chinese built Washburn from 1995 that's been a champ. Sounds lackluster acoustically but it was meant to be played amplified. The electronics work well for old stuff. Fishman. Anyway, it's been a champ for years. So I'll just try to keep an open mind and see what the future has to offer. We all have different experiences. The only other import in the house is the Avalon that Don bought a couple years ago a GC. It's an early one right after Lowden closed his factory in Ireland and moved it somewhere else, so those people kept making the same great guitars, only the the name "Avalon" instead of "Lowden" on the headstock. Talk about a bargain! Such an amazing guitar. Anyway...... keep an open mind. Or don't.... either way. This was just one guitar that didn't suit us on this end. Could have been just us, you know? Opinons.... they're everywhere. LOL!!
 

adorshki

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As a result, there will be no more Korean guitars in my future. And I owe it all to inspector #11 at the Korean factory.
That must have been just after he quit QC'ing ignition switches at GM.
Or was it Galaxy phones at LG?
His inspection tags are going for big bucks on eBAy right now, due to the notoriety factor.
 

marcellis

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You know --- I almost bought a Note 7 Adorshiki.

Come to think of it, I have used Samsung smartphones for years.

Woizzmi. If Inspector #11 has moved to Samsung - I have a problem.
I'm hoping Inspector #11 is working on North Korean missile launches now.
 

chazmo

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Tom, I'm sorry you had such a disappointment. Hope everything works out for you. Sadly, sometimes beauty is only skin deep.
 

BOBBYC

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Light gauge strings will pull Sharp when you fret them. The heavier gauge will resist the bending. I bet the guitar was less at fault and the light strings are the culprit. 11 or 12 is the right gauge or even 13.
 

tjmangum

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Sorry it didn't work out. If you have a hankering for an archtop, try an Eastman. Nice quality for an affordable price.
 
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