Petrucci Family Reserve played awful

[chrismilne]

I played one of these at guitar center and it felt awful, the action was high and uneven (much worse on the higher frets), i didn't love that the neck was finished on the back, and the fretboard did not feel very good. Is this just a very poorly setup version? I was actually going to look at a JP15 but they didn't have one....i'd love to order the Blueberry Burst but not if it played like that. (for reference i have an Axis w/maple fretboard, and a silhouette special with a rosewood fretboard).

 

[dwells]

100% sure its setup up very badly mate.
those guitars play like silk.

 

[grayn]

High quality guitars need a high quality set-up. Though it shouldn't take a tech long to sort that guitar out.
High volume guitar shops, sometimes don't bother to check these things.
JPs are superb and I'm sure, won't disappoint.

 

[Stratty316]

Yeah, unfortunately that can happen at GC from time to time. They should have a tech on hand that could quickly set it up for you if you wanted to test it again. As for the JP15... I played one at NAMM and as an Axis/Al/Silo Spec owner I was blown away by the JP15. If it weren't for the BFR L3 being the perfect guitar for me the JP15 would be my #1 choice for the my next purchase.

 

[MajtasticVoyage]

music stores take crap care of their stock. Perhaps EBMM has a rep that can call up your guitar center and be like, "Hey... you keepin' our guitars nice and playable per our contract?" or something...

 

[Spudmurphy]

The guitar would have arrived in GC set up ready to go.
The shops climatic conditions would sometimes necesitate a truss rod tweak to get it back again surely?

 

[DrKev]

Yes. and some shop techs don't know what they are doing, or customers did their own set up but decided not to buy and the guitar was left that way. In some stores even a weekly wiping off the dust is too much to ask, alas.

 

[BrickGlass]

I've played many guitars that were set up terribly at the stores. I will say that Banjo Center seems to be the worst. The guitars are going to adjust to new climates and need a tweak here and there. Those JP guitars will play as good as any guitar on the planet, just might need a quick set up.

 

[steevo]

When i bought my sterling 5 HH it was in need of a good set up, i do all my own setups anyway so within 20 minutes it was percect. Guitar stores are just lazy, i see so many high end instruments covered in dust and with ridiculous action. One store had a guy drilling the wall for some lights and the dust was going all over the instruments below (all new fenders). I think its just laziness and lack of knowledge.

 

[Monster212]

if i walked into a guitar store and a guitar i was looking at had those issues i would tell them i was thinking about buying this guitar but the setup is bad can you give it a correct setup so i can see if like the guitar when it is setup right. and if they choose not too, then they don't get the sale and go some place else to buy the same guitar, also EBMM guitars are one of the nicest playing guitars out there..

 

[Big Poppa]

In all fairness I cant throw guitar center under the bus...but as previously mentioned the climate in individual stores coupled with 500 guitars on the wall sometimes things get neglected. I can assure you that the guitar arrived there in good order.

 

[steevo]

In all fairness I cant throw guitar center under the bus...but as previously mentioned the climate in individual stores coupled with 500 guitars on the wall sometimes things get neglected. I can assure you that the guitar arrived there in good order.

As you say, with so many instruments in some stores it's impossible to take care of all of them but common sense says that anything over a £1000/$1000 should be inspected and set up properly. It must put a lot of people off buying certain guitars, and all for the sake of 15 minutes adjustment.

 

[DrKev]

Yes but 15 mins x 500 guitars = 125 hours of work. And the reality is that cheaper brands may need more time to setup than brands like Music Man or Gibson that are usually great right off the back of the truck.

 

[sanderhermans]

Setting up guitars and keeping them clean is an enourmous job in anny musicstore. And this is one of the first things that music stores cut down on. Hiring personel is pricey and a person to set up and clean will propably not make the sales go up enough to pay his sallary.
Keeping my collection clean, set up, restrung,.... is a pretty time consuming thing, and that are only 10 guitars. Multiply that by 100 and you got a fulltime job.