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Gordon Smith and Richard's Guitars
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Comments
MERRY CHRISTAMS!!!!!
I found it interesting that you are still offering the tele with the dodgy decal on your website with no mention of the issue
http://www.rguitars.co.uk/products/gordon-smith-classic-t-semi-hollow-custom
Hate to blow your fantastic powers of deduction but...
There is only a bloody great photo of the headstock in question and a discounted price from £1200 to £999 whats wrong with you? The guitar is sold and the customer was 100% aware of the issue and the discounted price and why.
I wish people like you would be a little more suspicious of marketing hype and mass hysteria next time you buy into Fenders latest colour scheme or reinvention of the wheel. As soon as a dealer makes the effort to raise awareness of something worth knowing you shoot him down!!!
Everything I said about the guitar was true - The background, the history behind why I had the guitar made (spot the passion? The care in what I sell and why?) So you can see why I was so devestated by the headstock logo. And yes I personally would have been happy to keep he guitar for myself - like I did with the Star Wars Guitar.
Do you think I am going to write in the text "So frustrated that yet another GS has turned up below expectation - this guitar would be amazing if it were not for the logo".
However, quite understandably someone did come along one day who just loved the guitar for what it was - a bloody great instrument with a slightly "eccentric" logo. Not everyone wants cosmetic perfection and the person who bought it felt the same about the logo - they just didn't care - hence the problem in balancing customer expectations.
Every person is different. I think you need to stop looking for some conspiracy theory and just accept the facts and learn from them.
One for you Monofin.
This is the headstock from a Gemini guitar. This is the exact kind of finish that I order and expect to see. It follows the bookmatching of the body. The guitar should retail at £1499. As you will agree, stunning....
This is the one on the guitar that the customer returned - john asked me to send it and he would deal with it if "there was a problem".
Which of course there was....
Hopefully you won't argue with the fact that the second one looks like it has been chiseled together by some amateur apprentice, the major face of the headstock has been cut out and not only is it not bookmatched but the grain doesn't even follow through. The headstock is clearly a different colour where the different pieces of wood have been used.
But if you want to push the "lets find the hidden agenda" that is totally your prerogative!!!
I wonder if I could ask you a question regarding shipping (there have been a couple of threads about this on the forum), and that is: how do you feel about sending guitars out in cold or even freezing temperatures?
I did have one couriered to myself a month or so ago and ended up with the classic small lacquer crack on the neck joint, which definitely wasnt there prior. I suppose it would be from temperature, rather than impact. I'm not at all bothered by it.... but with a new, more expensive guitar I might be.
You must send loads of guitars out in winter - so how do you deal with it?
Ahh!!! I often tell my customers I could write a book on this subject (how sad is that?). Its one of the areas I have "studied" as its imperative to my reputation that guitars remain in their best possible state for delivery and when they arrive the other end.
In answer to your question about the lacquer. I am afraid my initial view is that it would almost certainly be from movement in transit. The neck joint on a Strat style guitar is notoriously sensitive and something that every tech dreads when removing necks for setups etc.
An impact or pressure can easily create these minor surface cracks at the neck pocket.
I will cover 2 points - damage and temperature!
Avoiding Damage
I always say a well packed box feels lighter than the contents inside. By this I mean a well packed box contains plenty of air between the giutar and the outer carton. This can be created by using rolls of card, card folded into fan like shapes or large bubble wrap. All of these will take out the impact/energy when the box hits the floor. As well as sudden impacts you have to be aware of sharp objects that can pierce the cartons so bubble wrap for example may not be great in this case so I always have folded card on both sides of the guitar which is incredibly strong.
So, plenty of air around the guitar in general, folded card either side and that should keep the guitar safe.
Avoiding Temperature Changes
Basically, if you have packed the guitar the way I do as standard then you have pretty much resolved the temperatue issue too! One of my guitars will have an initial wrap, inner carton, outer protection in the form of bubble wrap and folded card, then the outer carton. This equals ... insulation!
And the other important bit....
I NEVER (well one or two maybe this Christmas as its just so important to get the guitar to the customer!!) send guitars on a Friday for Monday delivery. If I miss a delivery on a Thursday I offer a free Saturday upgrade at my expense in order to ensure the guitar still gets to the customer "next day". I never like guitars being stored in depots as I presume its more time in the cold, more movement of the guitar that is unnecesary and greater potential of damage or just getting lost in the system!
The stats speak for themselves. 3 guitars damaged in 5.5 years delivering guitars using my "new" system.
When I used to employ staff to do the job and I was not around to oversee them I would say damage in transit was a regular issue.
Hope that answers your question!
You've missed the original point I tried to make which was that the amount Of detail in your news item on your website was unnecessary and in my view vengeful. This can only serve to harm GS's business - do we really want to lose another uk manufacturer whatever your opinion of them. As a professional buyer who manages £ multi million contracts I've never publicly rounded on a supplier/manufacturer in the way that you have here, leaving what goes on behind closed doors firmly there. Frankly it's totally unprofessional IMHO
I seem to stand pretty much alone in this view but there it is, piece said. I wish Gordon Smith all the best in the future and hope this bad press hasn't lost them too many sales.
I like the way Richard has handled this. And I'm sure he wouldn't discourage you to buy a gs guitar - in the same way I wouldn't actively discourage someone to buy a Gibson. I'd warn them about the qc issues, particularly in the finishing, and let them go about it.
It doesn't make sense for a shop to go out of pocket for poor guitar finishing though.
Music Radar forum was never like this so its so fantastic to see what appears on the face of it, the more reasonable individuals joining forces and turning something wonderful out of something that I generally saw as a chidrens playground (sorry - there I go again!!! I suppose thats the marmite effect again!!)
Just to confirm what has already been said, I have represented events clearly and transparently, pros and cons of the events.
I will however be 100% honest also in my "agenda" behind my eplanation on my website. OF COURSE my customers need to know why I stopped promoting them. The last thing I wanted them to ever think was that I had just changed my tune on a whim and every customer who has ever bought a GS from me is aware of why they buy the guitar from me. Each one was told that the benefit was that I would protect them from some of the more Friday afternoon models that can crop up.
Gordon-Smith have literally ignored 15 years (lets call it) of pro-activity. 15 years of education to a World wide audience and I would go as far to say my website has shown more, educated more, enthused more passion for GS than their own site ever did.
As I explained to them, for every customer that decides to buy a GS from me I would suggest at least 3 times more use my site as a basis of education and then buy from GS direct. I have always accepted this.
So, my good business friend has slightly miscalculated on the maths somewhat. Before he talks of damage my honest reflection on events has cost the manufacturer (a bizarre statement anyway!!), he should first work out just how much business I have driven to them directly over a decade.
And as being biitter of vengeful is concerned? That is a bizarre thing to say. Since when doesn't anyone who stop promoting a product inform their customers why they have been forced into such a situation? I told all the customers whose orders I have been handling that they should NOT cancel their order and the reason for me stopping MYSELF from being a recommended source of purhase was very different from me not recommending the guitars at all. In fact if anyone wants to read through my comments I talk about the frustration I have as I KNOW HOW GOOD THEY CAN BE. I know how good they should be and how good I want them to be based on my own experiences.
So just to draw a line under this - if that is ever possible in a public forum...
My customers have expectations based on what I educate them to. My education of a product is also seen as a "promise", Whatever I say MUST material in reality.
When it gets to the point, despite after many YEARS of effort that this promise simply cannot be made and the manufacturer would rather me send guitars to customers and wait for the complaints before taking action - as they said in Dragons Den - I am out! That is a scenario that is simply not an option for me.
I really hope that makes sense.
Finally, nobody wishes GS more success that I do. My part is over and it is clear they need to sell direct to make the profits necessary to maintain quality.
I know I am only talking to the minority here but I just always like to reply to criticism etc.
If you owned a business of your own you would understand how important it is to maintain your reputation and also how important it is for your working partners to value and respect you - as a working partner. A working partnership is a 2 way thing. Things don't always run smoothly so you work with your partner to overcome the issues.
It was said to me by a valued member of the trade when I received just one of the guitars I have displayed that the way in which this guitar presented itself was not only poor but "confrontational". I had not considered it this way but this individual highlighted that of course the guitar is poor but its who they sent it to - ME! You have to question why of all the people in the trade to send it to, they sent it to me?!! You could argue it was a way of saying "Its my way - or no way - I am not changing for anyone". It shows a total lack of respect for me, my reputation and as equally important - his own reputation. I have had to work with this mentality for year and during that time I have kept my issues largely to myself - my side of the "relationship".
If indeed you are in business I want you to have a good old think about the actual situation rather than one you have pulled out based on skimming a very small fraction of the facts. If you knew the whole position you would never even consider saying such things.
For the people who I work with in business I am their greatest ally! I represent their products professionally and we are true team.
For every one person like you there are thankfully 10 others who will be thinking "I wish Richard was around to buy my next GS from - I would feel just that little bit safer" - and quite understandably! Lifes balance - you cannot please all the people all the time.
Not sure if you were around when I pulled the plug on Gibson who were selling guitars with broken truss rods and twisted necks into the trade (not as a one off - this was a regular occurrence under Rosetti) When Fender had a European wide quality control problem due to relocation? When Vintage guitars had to replace all their jack sockets on their most popular electro models? When one manufacturer were fitting the wrong saddles on their guitars causing intonation issues?
Well I was! - It is my job to notice. These issues were raised by me and the professional companies did something about it. To inform my customers and to ensure they get the very best example of whatever guitar I am selling them is something I will always do or I may as well run a faceless mail order company.
What I find unprofessional is an arrogance and unwillingness by some suppliers to pay heed legitimate concerns about their products ... whatever the nationality of the product or vendor.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
They did sell it, but not to me - they sold it to someone interested in modding guitars. Which I am now
This is all that I care about received yesterday...
"Perfect" is an understatement...5 stars are not enough!
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My industry is a cottage industry and reputation is crucial to success so everyone should do what is possible to maintain their reputation. What was your purpose to mention your multi million pound contracts? Was it to some how imply that your purchasing power some how makes you an expert in the world of professional conduct? I don't see the connection? Some of the largest corporations in the World with the largest budgets are responsible for much of what is wrong in our World and they certainly have to have very thick skins and very short memory to sleep easy at night. I wouldn't bring in purchasing power and professional ethics into the same conversation if I were you.
I follow a lot of Buddhist concepts and I understand the value of being true to yourself and those around you - I will take that over your buying power my friend.
Anyway if I cared about making money I wouldn't be in the music industry ...
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message