Went to buy a guitar, came home with Nike air max's

skunkwerx

Haha..
Would you have been so picky?

Last night I was in two minds, should I, shouldnt I. 

Anyway this morning I decided to drive down to Surrey to see a man about a guitar. Shop had one left in white on the website, which is what I wanted.

An Ltd snakebyte.
Was up for £1299, but pmt has one left for £1028, but its in Cardiff, and I don't fancy the drive in the old rust bucket. But I knew I'd get a price match. 

Boxed up my explorer all ready to trade in and went early doors. I left this decision too late to call last night, and left this morning before the store opened.. so it was a risk anyway. 

Got there and had a mooch. Saw a black one which wasnt on the website on the wall, and the bloke went hunting for the white one.. 

I waited all the while thinking they've mixed the two up and he'll come back and tell me they havent got one. 

To my surprise he brought it back. I presumed being the last one left it would be an ex display job, but it was brand new in the case all boxed up. 

I took it away and had a jam, and was like holy shit I'm going home with this!
But I was looking over the neck and there were a couple of hairline cracks in the paint/lacquer which went onto the edge of the fretboard which was also lacquered. Bit annoying but I presumed it was just a crack in the finish.

Then I noticed what must have been a high fret that buzzed annoyingly on the low E. Fret either side of it and it sounded fine. 

But I looked at the fret ends along the length of the neck, and while they didnt feel sharp I thought they looked a little off. Like you could get a nail in between the fret and the board on the edge of the fretboard. The explorer I brought in, also ltd, has a smooth transition from fret to fretboard edge, no gap at all, and it was half the price of this one. 

Just those two things instantly turned me off and I left it. 

Damnit. 

I have no expertise in the fret 'gap' aspect, but I didnt fancy dropping a grand on it in the hopes it was 'normal'. Besides I'd have had to instantly take it to a tech and get what I guess was a high fret sorted. 

Unfortunately I didnt get any pictures of the actual guitar, but heres some examples of what I'm describing.


Except not as bad. 

And: 

Except more spidery and continous lines, not broken like the image, and on the underside of the neck near where it goes on to meet the body. 

I dunno. Was driving home thinking about it.. I do want stuff to be perfect, especially at that price, but wondered, is it just me being too picky?

Anyway I stopped in sports direct on the way back and bought some trainers instead.. I was determined to bring 'something' home in a box.. lol. 

Adam_MD

I'd have walked away too.  If you're not completely happy in the shop you'll definitely have buyers remorse at home. 

fandango

You sound like my long late father. Went out for something, and came back 3-4 hours later with something totally different.

skunkwerx

fandango said:

You sound like my long late father. Went out for something, and came back 3-4 hours later with something totally different.

The funny thing is my original plan was to drive down to wolverhampton to look at a car! 

vonLayzonfon

thegummy

Adam_MD said:

I'd have walked away too.  If you're not completely happy in the shop you'll definitely have buyers remorse at home. 

Definitely.

I've went to a shop excited about buying a guitar, seen something on it that I was iffy about and foolishly thought I'd forget about it over time.

Maynehead

Lifted frets is definitely not acceptable, and I’m surprised it affects a high end Korean LTD... every LTD 400 series and above that I’ve had have been excellent in the fretwork department.

That, coupled with the stress cracks in the finish leads me to suspect the guitar has been stored for long periods of time in conditions not fit for guitar storage.

If I was in the same situation I would have done the same without hesitation.

lovestrat74

Mike Ashley will be pleased 

roberty

Yeh man sounds like a dog. You did the right thing

skunkwerx

Maynehead said:

Lifted frets is definitely not acceptable, and I’m surprised it affects a high end Korean LTD... every LTD 400 series and above that I’ve had have been excellent in the fretwork department.

That, coupled with the stress cracks in the finish leads me to suspect the guitar has been stored for long periods of time in conditions not fit for guitar storage.

If I was in the same situation I would have done the same without hesitation.

Yeah same, I was surprised too! 

I reckon I'll wait for a new batch.. if they do one. 

Cheers all, sounds like I made the right call then. 

Maynehead

Why not just get a nice white Gibson explorer and be done with it? After all, that’s what Hetfield was playing for the longest time.

fretmeister

Maynehead said:

Why not just get a nice white Gibson explorer and be done with it? After all, that’s what Hetfield was playing for the longest time.

The necks are very different though.
I’m a big fan of explorer shaped guitars and love the Gibson, but I have to say the ESP neck is something special.

Maynehead

The Explorer necks do come in different sizes though, but it would probably be harder to find a used one with the right neck.

As for the ESP neck profiles, I prefer the extra thin U compared to the thin U, so YMMV.

Wonky

Nikes are better for your knees.  Totally see where you're coming from

YellowLedBetterMan

Even better than that...