NGD: JP6 Mystic - not happy

[Tonyp145]

Hi folks I'm new to this forum and new to EBMM guitars but I've been playing almost 40 years (God help me) and I participate on other forums like TDPRI. Anyway I bought a gorgeous JP6 yesterday at Guitar Center, Mystic Dream. It cost me a bundle, I've never spent so much money on a guitar. I love the sound and the way it plays but I'm disappointed because both strap buttons seem to be stripped. I played it for a couple of hours yesterday and when I went to take it off the whole button pulled out of the bottom of the guitar. I don't know how many guitars I've owned in my lifetime, probably around a hundred and I've never had that happen before. I obviously expected more from a brand new $2,000+ guitar.

Now obviously I realize this can be fixed relatively easily I'm just trying to get over my disappointment that I have to put a brand new guitar in for repair the day after I bought it. So is this strap button thing a common problem with these? I'm thinking about returning it to GC and asking them to order me a new one that hasn't been sitting on the shop floor getting beaten on by every wannabe guitar hero. Sorry if I'm expressing sour grapes in my first post here, it's a remarkable instrument really, I just never spent so much money and it's disappointing that it already needs to be fixed. Makes me wonder what else will go wrong with it. Appreciate any sugestions. Thanks.

 

[luv]

Call customer service.

 

[dkannen]

Tonyp145-

Welcome to the forum!

As many will attest to around here, the quality and craftsmanship of EBMM guitars are impeccable and of the highest quality. In addition to that, they have one of the best customer service departments around.

Definitely go back to Guitar Center. They should be able to get a brand new, unscathed JP6 for you.

You should have no worries about quality problems in the future- it is odd that something like this happens in the first place.

If GC is unhelpful, definitely call/email customer service. They will take good care of you.

Once you get your replacement, upload some pictures! The unwritten rule around here is it doesn't exist without pics!

 

[vinniemallet]

Hey man, welcome to the forum.. You should contact customer support and explain the problem, in this case I also think you should return the guitar to guitar center and get another one if there's problems or you're not satisfied.
Cheers!

 

[DrewH]

Stripped screws are not uncommon from any guitar maker. I've had custom shop guitars come with stripped neck mounting screws, truss cover screws stripped, etc. It happens....even on 4000$ guitars.

 

[Tonyp145]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses. I talked to a fellow at customer service who was very helpful. I could certainly send it to EBMM for warranty repair, but that would obviously be silly. I'm sure GC will fix it for free. I'm going to call them in a little while to talk about it. I know stripped screws aren't a big deal I'm just whining.

I don't think I'm going to return it and request they order me another because this one doesn't have a scratch on it and I really want to spend quality time with the guitar while it's still in the 30-day return policy. This guitar is very different for me, I don't play heavy rock, more of a blues/classic rock guy who also plays a little jazz. It blows me away how versatile this guitar is (though I am thinking about installing the push-pull coil tap mod to get single coil sounds from the neck and bridge pickups as well, too bad EBMM doesn't make that a standard item!) But I'm still trying not to get all glassy-eyed over it, at this price I really can't afford to make a mistake.

One change I want to make immediately is to upgrade the strings to my favorite set: Thomastik-Infeld Power Brights 10-50 and tune down a half step to Eb. I talked to CS about that and he says they will need to file the nut slots to make them a little wider to accommodate the thicker strings. That makes me want to send it to EBMM because I want that whammy bar to stay in tune as well as it does now. But I think I'll probably let GC do that too. They've got the Parsons shop here in Seattle and he's a well-known luthier.

So, I'm trying to contain my enthusiasm but I played it for an hour last night and told my wife "this is the first guitar I've ever owned where it doesn't feel like I'm fighting the guitar to play every lick". There were several licks I played last night better than I've ever played. The neck is an adjustment, I've always said there's no such thing as a neck that's too thin for my tastes. Well, this one is getting pretty close, but I feel like it's just going to take a couple of weeks of playing to really adjust to it. And then I don't know if I'll ever be able to play a "normal" guitar again. :-D

Anyway, thanks again, looking forward to participating here.

 

[Warg Master]

One change I want to make immediately is to upgrade the strings to my favorite set: Thomastik-Infeld Power Brights 10-50 and tune down a half step to Eb. I talked to CS about that and he says they will need to file the nut slots to make them a little wider to accommodate the thicker strings. That makes me want to send it to EBMM because I want that whammy bar to stay in tune as well as it does now. But I think I'll probably let GC do that too. They've got the Parsons shop here in Seattle and he's a well-known luthier.

I have a JP6 MD as well that I purchased from Guitar Center Last year. It was finished 1/2012... I currently have it tuned to C using a "Beefy Slinky" set. That set is 11-54. My particular guitar did not require any nut widening to occur... That 54 settled in nicely, no problems. I'm sure my experience is unique, but I didn't need to mess with it. Who knows what guitar Center did to it before I got it, though. Sometimes, instruments that go through that particular retailer go through some rough treatment..... I have saved a few.....


In any case. it's great to hear that you're bonding with it. The JP6 guitars are a fantastic instrument. Sound, aesthetics are all top notch in my book.

 

[Blue1412]

I would never have GC repair anything for me. Have it done professionally at a repair shop, it shouldn't cost that much, it will be worth it. My JP BFR cherry sugar had the same thing. It's like a bad tire valve cover on a brand new Ferrari.

 

[dannymusic]

sitting on the shop floor getting beaten on by every wannabe guitar hero.

GC has their...pros/cons. I would call this something you have to put up with buying from guitarget.

TRUST ME when I say...little chance it came from the factory that way... make that NO CHANCE. Eithe way, CS will make it right. If it speaks to you keep it. Its on my bucket list of guitars to own!

 

[uOpt]

You do *not* need to mess with typical music man nuts to use 10-50 strings. That is incorrect. I have been running 10-52 on most of my guitars, including my music mans, and they all do fine. The only thing you might have to do is lube the slots a bit so that they don't grab on to the strings when using the trem. But you should do that anyway no matter the strings.

And under no circumstances have GC exchange it. Guitars are individuals. If you like how this one sounds you should not risk resetting that and getting a random one.

 

[Tonyp145]

I would never have GC repair anything for me. Have it done professionally at a repair shop, it shouldn't cost that much, it will be worth it. My JP BFR cherry sugar had the same thing. It's like a bad tire valve cover on a brand new Ferrari.

Yeah, Emerald City Guitars is just a few blocks from my office, their luthier builds custom Teles. I could bring the JP to work with me and take it over to him at lunch. Of course my wife won't be happy with that idea. And I had to pull money from savings to get this baby so she is the finance manager right now. BTW, how great is my wife? She's tired of me buying and selling sub-$1000 guitars every few months (mostly losing on every deal). She told me yesterday I'm an accomplished musician I ought to have a pro-quality guitar. She cooks too! :-D

Seems I'm always trying to find a "bargain" guitar. Well if this one cures my GAS it WILL be a bargain, despite the price tag.

 

[Tonyp145]

You do *not* need to mess with typical music man nuts to use 10-50 strings. That is incorrect. I have been running 10-52 on most of my guitars, including my music mans, and they all do fine. The only thing you might have to do is lube the slots a bit so that they don't grab on to the strings when using the trem. But you should do that anyway no matter the strings.

Thanks that's good to know, though obviously I'll still need to have the springs adjusted to compensate for the increased tension. My setup skills are pretty rudimentary, I'll still want an experienced pro to do that.

And under no circumstances have GC exchange it. Guitars are individuals. If you like how this one sounds you should not risk resetting that and getting a random one.

Interesting perspective. You know they had 10 EBMMs at that store yesterday and I played them all - a Luke, several ALs (the salesman really thought I should get one of those because I'm a more traditional player, but I wanted that piezo pu). I even played some others. I was there for hours and this was the guitar that "won" my personal shootout. Yeah, I'm going to get it set up the way I like it.

Since they're going to have to glue those strap buttons in permanently I may want to put a set of strap locks on it -- any advice along those lines? I had a set that I transferred from guitar to guitar for so many years I've forgotten what they were. I had them installed on a Strat that had this problem so I ended up throwing them in on the deal when I sold the Fender (edit: since they were glued in and couldn't be swapped out). I think they might have been Dunlops. I actually was noticing that the strap buttons on the JP are nice and big, makes me wonder if it even needs locks.

 

[Blue1412]

Of course my wife won't be happy with that idea

Yes, my GAS tests the boundaries of my marriage.

 

[Tollywood]

Yes, my GAS tests the boundaries of my marriage.

haha - that's a perfect description of my life, too. Keep your pimp hand strong. (just kidding ladies)

 

[Tonyp145]

Yes, my GAS tests the boundaries of my marriage.

My wife puts up with a lot, of course it helps that her ex was a real dirt bag. It's like taking a new job and finding out your predecessor embezzled from the company. That's the kind of low bar situation I really like. ;-) Fortunately I'm working on a contract IT job making good $$ now so that tends to ease the purse strings a bit.

 

[Tonyp145]

NGD: 1st Baby Picture

I snapped this one before I left for work this morning. It was dark and the flash didn't go off for some reason so I'll probably post some more later. BTW I love these wall-hanging pegs, I've got a couple of them up in my office/studio and it's very convenient.

 

[Tonyp145]

So I thought I would post what I'm planning to do with my new JP6 and see if you guys have any thoughts or suggestions. You'll probably think this is a sacrilege but I'm planning to take it out solo as a one-man band with backing tracks. It's been a couple of years since I tried it but I've always really liked it. It's so much easier than trying to organize a group, plus as soon as you have live drums you need a serious PA. And the band is only as good as its weakest member, yada yada. I know many of you know what I'm talking about.

So I bought a Bose L1 Compact and the new TC-Helicon VoiceLive3. The TC provides vocal processing plus it's an excellent guitar processor with amp modeling, multi-fx, etc. I'm buying drum and bass backing tracks from http://www.drumandbasstracks.com and running them off my iPad.

I'm sure this is about as far as possible from what Petrucci imagined his guitar would be used for! But I think it's going to work great for me. As I mentioned earlier I play mostly blues, classic rock and jazz standards. The piezo means I don't have to take an acoustic guitar to gigs. In fact I think if I get a coil tap installed for more single-coil options I won't even need to bring another guitar at all, the JP can cover the whole gig.

My goal is to be kinda like this guy (he starts about :30 seconds in, notice his guitar):

LIVE MUSIC - DARRELL DATA AT HARBOR SWING! - YouTube

Anybody else here doing this kind of gig?

 

[Stratty316]

haha - that's a perfect description of my life, too. Keep your pimp hand strong. (just kidding ladies)

bRyan... If you only knew! Gonna test those boundaries next month...

 

[A.J.]

You do *not* need to mess with typical music man nuts to use 10-50 strings. That is incorrect. I have been running 10-52 on most of my guitars, including my music mans, and they all do fine. The only thing you might have to do is lube the slots a bit so that they don't grab on to the strings when using the trem. But you should do that anyway no matter the strings.

And under no circumstances have GC exchange it. Guitars are individuals. If you like how this one sounds you should not risk resetting that and getting a random one.

As the nuts are slotted by hand the slots can vary slightly. JP's are set up for 9-42 right now. It would be a good idea to have a good tech at least take a look at the slot to determine if its wide enough to avoid tuning problems or a broken nut. We've seen it happen, trust us

 

[T- Bone]

You've been playing guitar for 40 yrs and can't fix a simple strap button issue?? First thing I do with any guitar I buy is buy strap locks. They always have a little larger screw (Schaller strap locks). Sorry if I sound like a jerk, not my intentions