adriangrizzly
Member
Hello everyone,
first time poster here. My name is Adrian and 1,5 months ago i pulled the trigger and bought a EBMM Valentine in buttermilk after wanting it for over 3 years.
Backstory:
I played a Valentine Ivory White BFR in 2016 (?) and I couldn't get it out of my head. It was awesome. It wasn't my kind of finish but I knew: thats my guitar. I fell in love with the buttermilk finish and found a dealer near me which had a gold one. I was talking about what I wanted: buttermilk, trem and a roasted maple neck that looks like a tiger. He told me there are only 2 buttermilks coming to germany in the next months and he could order both of them and I could pick one of them If there is one I like. I visited him, played the gold one he had in stock just to make sure everything was as good as it was in 2016 (taste changes sometimes) and I went for it. The guitars arrived, played both of them but look wise it was pretty sure which I would take home with me. I checked potential flaws but I couldn't find one. The shop was pretty "dark" and had not much daylight. At home I found a few little dents in the edge of the fretboard. You won't notice it while playing but its visible if you play it under normal light conditions.
Here is a link: Imgur: Valentine EBMM Neck - i tried my best to do them justice but it's pretty hard to photograph them. Just click on the photos to zoom in. Because of the size limit of attachements here I decided to upload them on IMGUR.
Here are the 2 dents that are visible the most. One on the first fret and another one on fret fourth. It's just a cosmetic flaw but I am a little bit sad my valentine isn't in perfect condition since I paid 3000 Euros. I am also a perfectionist and every other guitar I own looks like new. I see guitars as art and thats how I treat them. (And yes, I play them as well, a lot.) I bet some of you already scratching their heads but I treat all my stuff like this.
I guess it's something that could have been easily fixed while building the guitar or should have been seen by the QC but nobody noticed. I can't give the guitar back since I passed the 14 days here in germany and also I don't want to since I am very much in love with it. It's an incredible instrument and plays better than anything I've owned before. I just have to look at the dents because I know they are there and it drives me a little bit crazy. My question is: Is it fixable?
Please keep in mind that english isn't my first language and I had trouble to explain the technical side of things. I tried to translate what he said into english and hope I got it right.
I had a chat with my dealer which also operates as a workshop doing fretwork, paint jobs etc. He said:
*I thought the roasted maple necks had no varnish on it but I don't know nothing about building guitars or even woodwork in the slightes form.
Long story short: He said I should just simply "live with it" since there isn't much to do. I highly appreciate his explanation and I do believe him, my hope was somebody at MM had some insights on their production (=more knowledge) and maybe a solution to fix it. Every help is appreciated! Thank you!
Cheers,
Adrian
first time poster here. My name is Adrian and 1,5 months ago i pulled the trigger and bought a EBMM Valentine in buttermilk after wanting it for over 3 years.
Backstory:
I played a Valentine Ivory White BFR in 2016 (?) and I couldn't get it out of my head. It was awesome. It wasn't my kind of finish but I knew: thats my guitar. I fell in love with the buttermilk finish and found a dealer near me which had a gold one. I was talking about what I wanted: buttermilk, trem and a roasted maple neck that looks like a tiger. He told me there are only 2 buttermilks coming to germany in the next months and he could order both of them and I could pick one of them If there is one I like. I visited him, played the gold one he had in stock just to make sure everything was as good as it was in 2016 (taste changes sometimes) and I went for it. The guitars arrived, played both of them but look wise it was pretty sure which I would take home with me. I checked potential flaws but I couldn't find one. The shop was pretty "dark" and had not much daylight. At home I found a few little dents in the edge of the fretboard. You won't notice it while playing but its visible if you play it under normal light conditions.
Here is a link: Imgur: Valentine EBMM Neck - i tried my best to do them justice but it's pretty hard to photograph them. Just click on the photos to zoom in. Because of the size limit of attachements here I decided to upload them on IMGUR.
Here are the 2 dents that are visible the most. One on the first fret and another one on fret fourth. It's just a cosmetic flaw but I am a little bit sad my valentine isn't in perfect condition since I paid 3000 Euros. I am also a perfectionist and every other guitar I own looks like new. I see guitars as art and thats how I treat them. (And yes, I play them as well, a lot.) I bet some of you already scratching their heads but I treat all my stuff like this.
I guess it's something that could have been easily fixed while building the guitar or should have been seen by the QC but nobody noticed. I can't give the guitar back since I passed the 14 days here in germany and also I don't want to since I am very much in love with it. It's an incredible instrument and plays better than anything I've owned before. I just have to look at the dents because I know they are there and it drives me a little bit crazy. My question is: Is it fixable?
Please keep in mind that english isn't my first language and I had trouble to explain the technical side of things. I tried to translate what he said into english and hope I got it right.
I had a chat with my dealer which also operates as a workshop doing fretwork, paint jobs etc. He said:
- Because of the special varnish (his words: polyurethane varnish) MM uses you can't really get rid of the old varnish and add new one because they won't "connect/unite" with each other and in the end you have two layer of varnish.
- The dents are at the edges of the fretboard. If you try to sand it down the chances to damage the varnish is pretty high.
- Since it's a matte varnish the parts where you would try to sand it down would be glossy afterwards and be more visible.
*I thought the roasted maple necks had no varnish on it but I don't know nothing about building guitars or even woodwork in the slightes form.
Long story short: He said I should just simply "live with it" since there isn't much to do. I highly appreciate his explanation and I do believe him, my hope was somebody at MM had some insights on their production (=more knowledge) and maybe a solution to fix it. Every help is appreciated! Thank you!
Cheers,
Adrian
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