Just read this and you have made my weekend. Maybe you are aware how much I appreciate feedback like this - feedback that shows what we say on the tin - is whats in the tin!!!! Its a joy to read your words and I can only thank you for believing in us - and investing in us (you've helped me feed the guys and my family - thats how real it is!). To take the time as you have done.... what can I say? I am just so grateful people like you appreciate what we do and even take the time to help raise awareness to others . Did I say thank you? :)

@@RichardsGuitarshop 😄 My pleasure, when things are exceptional I like to say something 👍

@@IanLuckettmen of culture…we meet again😊

Guitar Center always tell me that Luther is out to lunch when I stop by...?

Agreed. My problem is that 6 out 7 luthiers aren’t that good. I am in Austin Texas. I went through many bad experiences trying to find a good one. The problem is that the shop owners are myopic on hourly rate. They really think they should charge $50-$100 or more per hour, but pay the luthier $20 to $30. What I am seeing is few luthiers are actually 10 plus year veterans. I’ll pay a premium for an actual expert. I won’t go back to the shops that are advertising over truth. Those shops seem to get a steady stream of the gullible so they won’t ever change. Move to Austin please. Many musicians here. You would be very busy.

Trevor Westerdahl I visited Austin a coupe of years ago on business. What a great place for music. My favourite place in the US.

Aha!!!! Really?! Thank GOD you didn't ask for your money back!!!! ha ha!!! Thank you so much for your feedback. Yes it really blew me away to see such negative comments about the work done but hopefully tribute to peoples love of the brand and belief in the quality - which can only be a good thing I guess. Thanks again for replying!

Why would it need an oil change after just being built at the factory?

Justin B. More expensive oil maybe

Then why do most car sales shops boast of the additional inspections their cars go thru prior to sale both NEW and used.clearly u want to post something negative without thinking

What BMW did you get for 30K :-)

Richard made no mention of wood shrinkage in fact he stated how poorly frets were on certain brands, clearly a quality issue.

It reminds me of the "old days" when we sold starter packs. I would tell people that the packages you buy from shops are a nightmare because its impossible to unwrap the guitar from its packaging without destroying all the pretty outer wrapping. The customers would say "Why on Earth would you want to take it out the box? No other store have told us its a problem!?" I would spend my days banging my head against the desk.

My local PMT in Bristol has always employed shit , lazy techs , then they offer you a free set up within the first 2 months , on for example a Les Paul standard ,then can't do that properly. My '52 reissue Tele ..the tech didn't understand when I asked him to convert the wiring to modern pickup selection ,and gave the guitar back twice with the control plate the wrong way around . Duh! I have bought guitars since from PMT , but trust their tech ? No thanks !

@@shaunw9270 PMT in Brizzle, next to the cop shop? Got me a stunning P90 loaded LP. One of those "Special" ones, a real Kick Butt beast at a crazy year change price. Played like garbage and I agree with everything you said. service and support at PMT Brizzle sucks. I'd rather pay a premium to somebody like this guy and have the peace of mind that I'm going to get the service and support I want.

Lots of love to you Pete!

It’s strange because I presented all those videos and don’t actually ever remember saying such a thing and wouldn’t be so naive to say something that is frankly disingenuous - because despite being a top 3 dealer in Europe I can tell you now our quality control rejects a broad spectrum of their guitars over any one year. Our quality control is second to none and I get really upset with uk dealers who suggest they set up their guitars when in reality they don’t - their next day delivery is a simple guide to confirm this.

Agreed!

I had a lady buy a guitar for her husband. I spend 20 minutes going through the pros and cons of the guitar only to have her surprised when I tell her this is the one that will go into the workshop. I then spend another 20 minutes explaining the virtues of being able to buy the one we KNOW is perfect rather than the russian roullette of one that is in a box! I could see she just thought I was some dodgey salesan trying to fob her off with "display seconds" Hey ho... Its all part of the run.

LMAO.... CONSPIRACY THEORY!!!!!!!!! I brought it up because it was relevent? I brought it up! Do I need someone else to say it to suggest it myself? I walked into the room making a coffee.... saw Chris working on the guitar .... thought "oh thats a nice pic.... improving on perfection" I was thinking for my Facebook. It was an impromptue photo taken in the moment. HENCE "it wasn't a photo shoot" . For your reference I was standing up on 2 feet with a samsung phone attached to my hands (available for Weddings and special occasions at www.photomywedding.com)

Hi Chris. It is EXACTLY this kind of comment that I find so incredibly distracting. I tend to listen to this kind of comment and presume it is the norm - I then become insecure and question my own service - hence I do a video on it and see what others think. Thankfully it does genuinely seem your views are hopefully in the minority. It doesn't make them any less valid to yourself and I understand its "your truth". Can you see the way you are writing your reply is highly flammible? I don't know if its deliberate? It does at least show others the kind of communication I receive on forums and the like - hence why I don't use them any more. So let me take you through what I see in your reply. "My view"... I do accept that its your view - not fact but your view which I hope I can change as its based on mis-information. "If a guitar of that price needs fretwork"..... Did I say at any point it "needs" fretwork. What does it mean to be "needing" fretwork? Maybe you could explain? The entire point of the video was to explain it didn't "NEED" fretwork but ANY work carried out on frets has the potential to improve something. If the time is being given to the guitar ANYWAY we may as well look over the frets and make improvements where necessary. This does not mean that it "NEEDED" the work or guitar was inferior in any way. I understand someone misunderstanding from the Facebook post but I have just posted an entire video even running my hands down the fretboards demonstrating the frets are not "poor" but ALL guitars can be improved on if we are going to be spending the time on the guitar ANWAY. Does that not make sense? I do hope so as I would feel a lot better knowing you know the reality and you haven't misunderstood the videos message. "then it is poor work by the factory and I would not even consider buying it". Hopefully I have already explained that this is not the case. However if you still hold the view despite the facts presented - Well I suppose if 99 people have their mind put at rest that we bother to do what we do to EVERY guitar REGARDLESS of price and ONE is totally put off by it - maybe thats the price I pay for my specialism. "Taking a file to it is madness" Well thankfully Chris this too is just your opinion and I will take my 24 years in the industry, witnessing tens of thousands of production guitars, setting them up, improving them and the thousands of testimonials that suggest my customers have LOVED what we supply them as MY OPINION and one I will follow on this occasion. I am sorry if you find it off putting.

Well Richard, I seem to have rattled your cage but it was not my intention to provoke. You have been selling instruments for 24 years, I have been buying them for 50 years. My collection of guitars covers all price ranges, from under 110 pounds to over 4,000 pounds and from 1979 to this year. My experience is that price means little when it comes to quality. When I buy a low cost instrument I expect that there will be imperfections, when I pay big money I expect perfection and 2,227 pounds I call big money. I am not saying your service is bad, I am not saying that your work is poor. I am saying if the fret ends or any other part of an expensive guitar are not to the highest standard from the factory, then that factory is poor. We are talking here about an instrument made in China. This guitar costs more than the Gibson model it is basically copied from. Gibson are routinely slammed for their poor QC. I own two high end Gibson's and yes, there are tiny flaws and I think for the price, there should not be any. I worked in manufacturing all of my working life. I have seen that when small items of quality are allowed to slip, big ones soon follow. If I put myself in your position, selling what I claim are top quality guitars, no matter where they came from and I feel something as basic as fret finishing has not been completed to my satisfaction I would be on the phone in an instant. When you buy a solid body guitar you are basically buying some wood, wires, and electrics plus a case if you are lucky and what separates the wheat from the chaff is the standard of craftsmanship in the production and the quality of the materials. If either of those is not of the highest standard you might as well buy an Epiphone or other "lower quality" brand. I understand you feel you have your reputation to protect but I think you should see I was not attacking you, I was attacking companies that release products that are not at the price they are asking, up to scratch. Calm down man!

@@chrisjeneson5091 Chris. You have been buying guitars for 50 years but don't know how much a Gbson J200 costs? You will be paying +£4000 for a guitar that doesn't have the fraction of the detail of the Eastman. So for example it wont be adirondack spruce. It won't have flame maple bindings - it certainly won't have the multi layered inlays - you will get one inlay cut out of one piece of shell - nothing like the same level of exquisite detail. It will also be lower quality maple and build like a plank by people who most likely hate their employer. To even compare this guitar to en Epiphone... well... we are on different conversations maybe. So maybe considering the facts a £2000 guitar made to such IMMENSE quality, specification and detail to a way higher standard than a Gibson at HALF the price of the Gibson may ..... just MAY be allowed a tiny knot in the finish in a rather hard to see area? Baring in mind that EASTMAN THEMSELVES have immediately offered to swap the guitar. That is INCREDIBLE ..... MIND BLOWING service. Gibson? Would they do that for you on your £4k guitar when you tell them the strings are falling off the neck? I will tell you now - they don't.

What is all this about Gibson J200? I was under the impression we were discussing a solid body guitar modelled after a Les Paul costing more or less the same price as the equivalent Gibson. I have no idea about acoustic guitars, nor am I interested, I play a Harley Benton Jumbo on the rare occasion I cannot get power to run an amplifier. I think in your outrage you are completely missing my central point. I will state it again. A guitar costing over 2,000 pounds should have perfect frets, If the shop selling it feels the need to file the frets then it is poor work from the factory. I think from what you say about a tiny knot you are mixed up with that blond guitar from a different video. I agree, it was madness to refuse that instrument because of a knot, it is wood for goodness sake, wood has knots. Personally I would have liked it even more for it´s "mole". So, please check your facts, are we talking about the same guitar or not?

@@chrisjeneson5091 I'd imagine a guitar being shipped from China will undergo a fair amount of expansion and contraction on the journey that could lead to the frets not being optimal by the time it reaches the UK. Just a guess but that makes sense to me. Also, the set up is free so I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't want it?