Post by Quarterquay on Aug 10, 2010 22:16:45 GMT
Okay Iet me be clear. At no point did I have a problem with this Republic Resolian in terms of the sound and playability and I told Frank this in my emails to him and I have said so here,I even complimented him on making great sounding guitars that mere mortals can afford and from my limited experience of them I stand by that. I have also said more than once that I am no expert in guitars in general or resonators in particular.
Because I'm no expert I came here in the hope of some second opinions which I have been given and am grateful for.
I also wrote to Frank,in the first instance about the thumb print in the relic finish in the hope that there might be a simple solution.
There were possible solutions but not necessarily simple and it seemed to me that there were no guarantees as to the results and since Frank also said that sometimes it was best to just leave as is this left me with a difficult decision. Either live with the thumbprint,try and remove the thumbprint or return the guitar,which I have repeatedly said I was loath to do because as I said to Frank in my email I could hardly put it down. I had really hoped there would be a simple guaranteed solution to the thumbprint.I did not want to return this guitar , I made that clear to him.
Then I found the filler in the tuner hole and, I think understandably , I was concerned as to what might be the reason for it as it wasn't well done nor did it match the colour of the wood,so much so ,grey against brown, that at first I assumed it was some remains of part of the making process. To me there also looked like a fracture in the wood of the headstock.
I emailed Frank about this too and he told me it was just cosmetic ,it happens sometimes and that sound an playability are the important thing. Given what I have said above ,to a great extent I agree with him but as I was sitting with the guitar in London in the end I felt that I could not take the risk that the damage to the headstock was just cosmetic.And obviously Frank could only look at photos.
As Michael has pointed out this is a problem whereby the guitar is in London and Frank is in Texas.and equally that this going to be a Friday afternoon rogue guitar.It happens,it certainly does not mean that all Republic Guitars are like this.
What it means is that I wasn't happy with this particular instrument cosmetically as regards the thumbprint and lost confidence when I discovered the tuner hole problem. On this basis I very reluctantly returned the guitar this afternoon.The shop I bought from were very courteous, and returned my money without quibble.
Being that the damage to the tuner hole is hard to see since it is generally in shadow my personal view is that this guitar is simply one that slipped through the net,Frank didn't see it,the shop guys didn't see it and for a couple of days neither did I .
Just to address a couple of points that you made Growler.Sadly I do not have the luxury of trying out many other guitars if it's resonators you are talking about,I wish I did. Contrary to popular belief the streets of London are neither paved with gold or resonators. They are few and far between and I only found a couple of Resolians,the one I bought and one other.If I wanted a modern National (can't afford one) I'd have to order over the net and apart from brief glimpse of an MM Blues a few weeks ago I'd have to order one of those on line too.
As for not expecting a budget reso to match the quality of an NRP sure,I agree,not sure why because I've never seen or played one and can't compare,but on balance of opinions read yes I agree.But for 650 quid I expect what I am sure you usually get from Republic, a good quality budget reso a cut above most.
It's just one of those things. I found only a couple of places in the UK that occasionally sell Republics. There may be others but not that I know of. I'm sure that if I had had a larger selection to choose from I'd be sitting playing one now and not sitting here writing this.
I can only apologize if I have p**sed anyone off stomping around in my newbie boots,not my intention,just after opinions from more clued up people.
I will be removing the photos from photobucket,they were only put there to illustrate the problem.
I will also be writing to Frank to point him at this post and apologize for any misunderstanding.
The last thing I wanted to do was give him bad publicity.He has done nothing but be prompt polite helpful and responsive to my questions in his emails.
I just had to make a judgment call in returning this one rogue guitar,it is by no means a condemnation of Republics as a whole,far from it.
Because I'm no expert I came here in the hope of some second opinions which I have been given and am grateful for.
I also wrote to Frank,in the first instance about the thumb print in the relic finish in the hope that there might be a simple solution.
There were possible solutions but not necessarily simple and it seemed to me that there were no guarantees as to the results and since Frank also said that sometimes it was best to just leave as is this left me with a difficult decision. Either live with the thumbprint,try and remove the thumbprint or return the guitar,which I have repeatedly said I was loath to do because as I said to Frank in my email I could hardly put it down. I had really hoped there would be a simple guaranteed solution to the thumbprint.I did not want to return this guitar , I made that clear to him.
Then I found the filler in the tuner hole and, I think understandably , I was concerned as to what might be the reason for it as it wasn't well done nor did it match the colour of the wood,so much so ,grey against brown, that at first I assumed it was some remains of part of the making process. To me there also looked like a fracture in the wood of the headstock.
I emailed Frank about this too and he told me it was just cosmetic ,it happens sometimes and that sound an playability are the important thing. Given what I have said above ,to a great extent I agree with him but as I was sitting with the guitar in London in the end I felt that I could not take the risk that the damage to the headstock was just cosmetic.And obviously Frank could only look at photos.
As Michael has pointed out this is a problem whereby the guitar is in London and Frank is in Texas.and equally that this going to be a Friday afternoon rogue guitar.It happens,it certainly does not mean that all Republic Guitars are like this.
What it means is that I wasn't happy with this particular instrument cosmetically as regards the thumbprint and lost confidence when I discovered the tuner hole problem. On this basis I very reluctantly returned the guitar this afternoon.The shop I bought from were very courteous, and returned my money without quibble.
Being that the damage to the tuner hole is hard to see since it is generally in shadow my personal view is that this guitar is simply one that slipped through the net,Frank didn't see it,the shop guys didn't see it and for a couple of days neither did I .
Just to address a couple of points that you made Growler.Sadly I do not have the luxury of trying out many other guitars if it's resonators you are talking about,I wish I did. Contrary to popular belief the streets of London are neither paved with gold or resonators. They are few and far between and I only found a couple of Resolians,the one I bought and one other.If I wanted a modern National (can't afford one) I'd have to order over the net and apart from brief glimpse of an MM Blues a few weeks ago I'd have to order one of those on line too.
As for not expecting a budget reso to match the quality of an NRP sure,I agree,not sure why because I've never seen or played one and can't compare,but on balance of opinions read yes I agree.But for 650 quid I expect what I am sure you usually get from Republic, a good quality budget reso a cut above most.
It's just one of those things. I found only a couple of places in the UK that occasionally sell Republics. There may be others but not that I know of. I'm sure that if I had had a larger selection to choose from I'd be sitting playing one now and not sitting here writing this.
I can only apologize if I have p**sed anyone off stomping around in my newbie boots,not my intention,just after opinions from more clued up people.
I will be removing the photos from photobucket,they were only put there to illustrate the problem.
I will also be writing to Frank to point him at this post and apologize for any misunderstanding.
The last thing I wanted to do was give him bad publicity.He has done nothing but be prompt polite helpful and responsive to my questions in his emails.
I just had to make a judgment call in returning this one rogue guitar,it is by no means a condemnation of Republics as a whole,far from it.