The Journey - Chapter 3 - Riding the Amber Trail
Jun 16, 2021 7:41:05 GMT -5
Derick, ancient1, and 1 more like this
Post by RobertW on Jun 16, 2021 7:41:05 GMT -5
The Journey - Chapter 3 - Riding the Amber Trail
Originally Posted by [me] on September 21, 2013 at 10:27am in "Seagull" Spoken Here ...
Hope this isn't too long.....I hope you find it interesting...
[The names of stores and people redacted to protect both the innocent and guilty.]
While I love the touch and tone of my 15 yrs old S6 Cedar Dreadnaught, I had other desires. I would go to guitar stores and try out folk and jumbo models because the shape was more pleasing and they sat on the knee more comfortably. I tried many brands there were a few interesting ones, but the tone did not please me. They was a Taylor I spent about 2 hours playing in a store I had gone to via train. But there was no way I was going to carry one home on a commuter train and bus. I ever tried out some extraordinary guitars and the Montreal Luthiers Show during the Jazz Festival..all with sound hole either in upper bout on on side of upper bout. The most extraordinary was a Matsuda custom, $10K..
But enough about the past. One day in May I saw 2 new guitars on the wall at my local music store; a Natural Elements Folk Cedar and Natural Elements Amber Trail Mini-Jumbo CW. I tried both, and they were good...I bought the Amber Trail the next day. It positively glowed it was so grain-free. However there was no case in store to FIT it. The gave me a cheap burlap-looking Voyager gigbag, promising me a Seagull SoftShell on back-order. The was no TRIC available at the time.
(glowing pic)
But alas, tragedy struck! Was it the see-saw humidity of our spring/summer, or was it just a defective guitar neck, whichever, the neck bowed within 2 months. All during this time, I was emailing Godin's on-line rep, trying to find out why my dealer wasn't getting that SoftShell Seagull gigbag they promised. I was never told why, but events at the store made me worried...neither new products not back-orders coming in...and an ongoing inventory where stuff ended up in boxes instead of back on the shelves...
I finally brought the guitar back to the store. It sat there for a week. Finally they told me they were sending it to Godin because their luthier said correcting it would require a neck reset. The next week, the store had closed. Lease Ended, Out of business. Poof! The owner did leave a number to call, but the mailbox was ALWAYS full. The one time someone picked up, they hung up immediately. You Can imagine how I felt by this time. a week later I find a message form the owner on my voice-mail...she "hasn't forgotten me, the guitar is OK, it is "somewhere else"".. Small comfort there...
...another week passes.. I decide to get more proactive.. Because I am local to the Godin head office, I know the phone number (NOPE, not giving it out! I'll just say, it's not listed under Godin or Lasido or any of the other known names
. I give the serial number and I am told they never received it and also that the store has had it's account frozen since last November! Now I'm seriously worried... the guitar is gone..
While trying to joke around with friend about my loss, I told him, "I bet if I go to xxxxx's store I'll find my guitar on the wall" He wanted to know why I said that store. I replied, "the owner of my guitar store is daughter of the founder of xxxxx store" He said "Call them!"
Doh... It never occured to me to call them..
So I called, asked for Repairs, said I was [me] and am trying to track down a guitar that was supposed to be repaired or replaced. The girl says Oh Robert!! Your guitar is sitting right in front of me... with a big Orange sign that says Bob's Guitar. She was never given a phone number to call me. They delivered, no charge, next day. If I hadn't called, it might well be still sitting in the store.
But this wasn't my guitar, it was replacement, picked at the factory, by someone who did not even see what was being replaced. They sent me this.
I was not happy, The guitar back, top side and heel were ugly, the grain on front was disturbing compared to my original. One luthier I visited, asked if it was a "demo unit"
It addition, the tension was tight and action felt high. I complained direct to Godin. I told them that if this had been the guitar on the wall, I would not even had taken it down to try it, let alone buy it! He told me stop worrying about it and PLAY THE GUITAR.
They denied responsibility, saying the situation was unique. Normally, the customer would choose the replacement guitar where they bought it. Godin has no stock at the head office, and it wasn't likely that I could go to one of the factories to pick one out!
The store that shipped the replacement however, stepped up big time. Come in, chose whatever guitar you want, whatever brand or if you cant find one you like, we will give you a refund. (I assume if I took a 1500$ Taylor I would have to pay difference of course
But I had been playing the guitar and the humidity situation had settled. The area where the guitars are stays 45%-55%, even when 90% outside. One difference in my playing, was instead on trying to continue to compose a certain tune I had started on the original Amber Trail, I switched to playing some of my older compositions in double-dropped d. The guitar started to feel better and sound better.
I decided then to change my attitude. Instead of thinking of the guitar as a replacement callously forced upon me... which gave me stress... I now chose to think of it as a gift.
And as a gift, it gives me peace.
Stayed tuned for Chapter 4 - The Day I bought two guitars from two store on the same day
Originally Posted by [me] on September 21, 2013 at 10:27am in "Seagull" Spoken Here ...
Hope this isn't too long.....I hope you find it interesting...
[The names of stores and people redacted to protect both the innocent and guilty.]
While I love the touch and tone of my 15 yrs old S6 Cedar Dreadnaught, I had other desires. I would go to guitar stores and try out folk and jumbo models because the shape was more pleasing and they sat on the knee more comfortably. I tried many brands there were a few interesting ones, but the tone did not please me. They was a Taylor I spent about 2 hours playing in a store I had gone to via train. But there was no way I was going to carry one home on a commuter train and bus. I ever tried out some extraordinary guitars and the Montreal Luthiers Show during the Jazz Festival..all with sound hole either in upper bout on on side of upper bout. The most extraordinary was a Matsuda custom, $10K..
But enough about the past. One day in May I saw 2 new guitars on the wall at my local music store; a Natural Elements Folk Cedar and Natural Elements Amber Trail Mini-Jumbo CW. I tried both, and they were good...I bought the Amber Trail the next day. It positively glowed it was so grain-free. However there was no case in store to FIT it. The gave me a cheap burlap-looking Voyager gigbag, promising me a Seagull SoftShell on back-order. The was no TRIC available at the time.
(glowing pic)
But alas, tragedy struck! Was it the see-saw humidity of our spring/summer, or was it just a defective guitar neck, whichever, the neck bowed within 2 months. All during this time, I was emailing Godin's on-line rep, trying to find out why my dealer wasn't getting that SoftShell Seagull gigbag they promised. I was never told why, but events at the store made me worried...neither new products not back-orders coming in...and an ongoing inventory where stuff ended up in boxes instead of back on the shelves...
I finally brought the guitar back to the store. It sat there for a week. Finally they told me they were sending it to Godin because their luthier said correcting it would require a neck reset. The next week, the store had closed. Lease Ended, Out of business. Poof! The owner did leave a number to call, but the mailbox was ALWAYS full. The one time someone picked up, they hung up immediately. You Can imagine how I felt by this time. a week later I find a message form the owner on my voice-mail...she "hasn't forgotten me, the guitar is OK, it is "somewhere else"".. Small comfort there...
...another week passes.. I decide to get more proactive.. Because I am local to the Godin head office, I know the phone number (NOPE, not giving it out! I'll just say, it's not listed under Godin or Lasido or any of the other known names
. I give the serial number and I am told they never received it and also that the store has had it's account frozen since last November! Now I'm seriously worried... the guitar is gone..While trying to joke around with friend about my loss, I told him, "I bet if I go to xxxxx's store I'll find my guitar on the wall" He wanted to know why I said that store. I replied, "the owner of my guitar store is daughter of the founder of xxxxx store" He said "Call them!"
Doh... It never occured to me to call them..
So I called, asked for Repairs, said I was [me] and am trying to track down a guitar that was supposed to be repaired or replaced. The girl says Oh Robert!! Your guitar is sitting right in front of me... with a big Orange sign that says Bob's Guitar. She was never given a phone number to call me. They delivered, no charge, next day. If I hadn't called, it might well be still sitting in the store.
But this wasn't my guitar, it was replacement, picked at the factory, by someone who did not even see what was being replaced. They sent me this.
I was not happy, The guitar back, top side and heel were ugly, the grain on front was disturbing compared to my original. One luthier I visited, asked if it was a "demo unit"
It addition, the tension was tight and action felt high. I complained direct to Godin. I told them that if this had been the guitar on the wall, I would not even had taken it down to try it, let alone buy it! He told me stop worrying about it and PLAY THE GUITAR.They denied responsibility, saying the situation was unique. Normally, the customer would choose the replacement guitar where they bought it. Godin has no stock at the head office, and it wasn't likely that I could go to one of the factories to pick one out!
The store that shipped the replacement however, stepped up big time. Come in, chose whatever guitar you want, whatever brand or if you cant find one you like, we will give you a refund. (I assume if I took a 1500$ Taylor I would have to pay difference of course
But I had been playing the guitar and the humidity situation had settled. The area where the guitars are stays 45%-55%, even when 90% outside. One difference in my playing, was instead on trying to continue to compose a certain tune I had started on the original Amber Trail, I switched to playing some of my older compositions in double-dropped d. The guitar started to feel better and sound better.
I decided then to change my attitude. Instead of thinking of the guitar as a replacement callously forced upon me... which gave me stress... I now chose to think of it as a gift.
And as a gift, it gives me peace.
Stayed tuned for Chapter 4 - The Day I bought two guitars from two store on the same day
