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Post by dustybroom on Sept 8, 2021 13:37:37 GMT
Hi purpleorange, I do see your point but I don’t think anyone expects to get a blemished neck and poorly functioning tuners when they buy a brand new boutique level instrument. Isn’t superior fit and finish a key part of the price tag?
I was originally going to live with the neck as is even though the blemish is right in the players sight line. It started to become more of an issue when I realized I couldn’t find a single picture of another National with a blemished neck. Add in that it needed a reset after only a couple months, the tuners were terrible and the oil & petroleum jelly weren’t helping, and it really seemed like I bought a $4400 (£3200) lemon.
If you were buying one of these and there was a choice of the one I have or one with a neck like you see in all the pictures, would the blemish affect your buying decision?
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Post by Stevie on Sept 8, 2021 13:43:21 GMT
I agree totally PO, a knot is indeed implicit in a natural resource like timber, especially a wide open grained timber like "swamp" ash, but half a brain would have rotated the routing template to put the knot under the scratch plate. No it's just mediocre carp, much as we are looking at here. MM summed it up when he stated his zero tolerance for flaws at 1/4 the NRP price.
Not wishing to swerve the OP but I bought a Yamaha all solid timbers classical with my 25 years long service pay out at work. We went up to Chappell's in Bond Street (or wherever it was they moved to) for it. A 20mm long glaring flaw in the sound table not visible under high showroom lighting greeted me when I got home, so I'm not singling NRP out here and am not really surprised with a Chinese built guitar either.
There is a problem with armchair critics like me who haven't even seen your guitar, the internet is full of them, what makes it partially justifiable in my view is that stonewall couldn't care less attitude to quality control nor the ensuing negative online publicity. I know first hand about QA having carried out that role in an aerospace company for the last 12 years of my working life. The manufacturers had me running around like a blue a**#3d fly. Then I witness this kind of thing and I think "Hmmm, well the best you can say is that they've gone Dutch on the logistics." (but only on request ...)
Antway, this won't fix anything, and as I stated previously, I hope the OP finds a satisfactory resolution.
e&oe ...
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Post by snakehips on Sept 8, 2021 14:54:37 GMT
Hi again !
I originally looked at this thread on my iphone SE(mk2).
Now that I look at the pictures on my PC, the knot in the wood doesn't look so bad to me, in fact strangely pleasing ! (I wasn't expecting that).
I actually find the strap button on the side of the heel more ugly - like a massive pluke on the side of someone's nose !!! Yes, I know they are supposedly better placed on the side of the heel, than on the end, but they just look fugly to me, on the side.
I could buy a guitar with a cosmetic knot in the wood BUT I couldn't buy a guitar with a strap button on the side of the heel.
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Post by pete1951 on Sept 9, 2021 8:00:09 GMT
Though I don’t think the blemish will lead to any problems it is not a good thing on an expensive instrument. ( I have seen several guitars where a section of wild grain has warped the neck after a few years) If I were NRP I would not have fitted this to an instrument with a clear finished neck. The wood looks perfectly quarter sawn and should be very stable but the eye will always be drawn to the mark. If they did not send a pic of the neck before it was delivered then I would think they should do something about it. I don’t think any of their catalog pictures show such marks, so why would you expect to receive a new guitar with one? Good luck. Pete
NRP usually have a good reputation, and I hope your experience is a ‘one off’ , there are lots of NRP owners on the forum and from what I remember their comments are usually positive . The few NRP guitars I have played have been well made and sound good.
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Post by dustybroom on Sept 9, 2021 11:08:12 GMT
Hi Pete, I agree. The only pictures of the T-14 I can find show a beautiful high end neck. It’s disappointing that they’d use a piece of B stock without notifying the buyer first. To your point that neck should have been used on a painted instrument.
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Post by dustybroom on Sept 9, 2021 11:34:23 GMT
Also, I have an update.
I reached out to the retailer I purchased from to get his opinion. Aside from selling these he’s a musician and a long time NRP player (and a great guy). If he said that NRPs come with B stock necks that need a reset after a couple months and very low quality tuners then it was time to accept it as is. Unsurprisingly he agreed with me and said he’s literally never had this issue (after selling over 1500 NRPs). He reached out to NRP and they told him the same thing, “it’s perfect and there’s no problem”. He went back and forth with them for a while and they finally agreed that this was not the quality/customer experience they wanted to be known for. To make it right they’re going replace the neck with one that looks like their marketing photos, replace the tuners with Waverlys, and cover shipping both ways.
Thank you all for your input and warm welcome to this forum.
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Post by vastopol on Sept 9, 2021 11:34:55 GMT
On this price range, I understand your disapointement...NRP's keep something industrial in their work, (it's also something we all like in the old "National" spirit) but their prices tend to be higher than a top notch luthier work nowadays... I remember some very positive feedback and testymonies, with absolute replacement in any issues by Don Young in "NRP" times, but I had to notice that the company we are talking about had changed his name for "National Guitars"... National doesn't exist anymore, and even "National-Reso-Phonics"... With all the respect due to this wonderful forum, we're not batching anyone, but its sad to feel something itching in those facts...
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Post by Pickers Ditch on Sept 9, 2021 13:07:22 GMT
That's good news Dusty.
...and well done to your retailer, too.
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Post by michaelsegui on Sept 9, 2021 21:18:47 GMT
It does sometimes feel like the current “National Guitars” isn’t like the old Don Young era “National Reso-Phonic Guitars” anymore.
I know the prices sure aren’t like they used to be!
It’s good that your situation has been straightened out.
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