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Baretta Special fiasco.


santeras

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So, I enquired about ordering a Baretta Special back in November to be told there were none in the country (UK)... the store informed me before Xmas that there was stock due at the end of January, so I ordered and paid for one. Come the end of January they hadn't received any and were told by Gibson Europe to expect them in 3-4 weeks... turns out only a handful made it to the UK and with demand being high, not all UK stores would receive any. The store I ordered from was one of those who didn't get anything.

 

The next speculative import date was mid to late February... again nothing.

 

This turned into the last weekend of March... guess what.

 

The next shipping date is going to be anywhere from 2-4 weeks, and there will only be 2 dozen Specials imported so again, not all stores will get stock.

 

Yes, I have emailed Gibson Europe about this, 4 times in fact, finally getting a rather brusque response on the fourth attempt in which they stated they have no record of my previous messages and maybe there was an issue with my PC. Also, they considered this to be an issue for the store to deal with and not them.

 

I like to think i've been very patient during this ongoing fiasco but i'm now questioning the logic of a) Gibson Europe being unable to meet demand for an obviously popular instrument and being unable to provide firm shipping dates for stores that have taken orders, and secondly, why i'm bothering trying to support a brand that the owners of seem incapable of organising the proverbial drinking session in a brewery.

 

 

Probably my fault for selling my '87 Baretta many years ago. Oh well.

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Actually, it seems like a dealer issue.

 

If they ORDERED one for you, they should get one. Sounds like they just took your money with the idea if they received some, they could fill your "order".

 

The question to ask, is does "Gibson" have a record of your order? If they do, then your personal order should be first in line (or whatever order you are in line) when they ship.

 

If the dealer never placed an order to Gibson for you personally, it might be time to get your money back, and pay it to a dealer that will actually use it to place an order.

 

In other words, a dealer placing an order for guitars should be different than placing an order for you.

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The fact still remains (which you avoided, well done) that Gibson aren't making/shipping enough of an item to fulfill an obvious demand.

 

Regardless of whether I place my order directly with them or not.

 

The dealer in question is obviously a Kramer sales outlet. So my point stands.

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The fact still remains (which you avoided, well done) that Gibson aren't making/shipping enough of an item to fulfill an obvious demand.

 

Regardless of whether I place my order directly with them or not.

 

The dealer in question is obviously a Kramer sales outlet. So my point stands.

I wasn't making a statement on you being right or wrong, or even asserting any opinion on this particular point at all.

 

The entire post was an effort to be helpful to you in particular, because you seemed to have an issue that you paid for something that you didn't get.

 

I really never cared if there was a demand for Kramers, or if the demand is or isn't met. I just cared whether you were able to get what YOU want. Nothing more.

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I just cared whether you were able to get what YOU want. Nothing more.

 

Apologies, your 'direct' tone masked the kindness completely ;-)

 

I had the foresight to make sure that my order was placed specifically for me with the distributor... otherwise my original post would have been simply a rant.

 

But thanks anyway.

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Have you tried Dawsons?

 

Yes, i'd had a look there but thanks anyway. I eventually found one with DV247, ordered it on Wednesday morning and was playing it less than 24 hours later.

 

 

It seems a little odd and rather disappointing that some stores can have a certain instrument as general stock whilst people who've placed an order specifically have to wait an indeterminate time to get hold of one. I'll be staying well clear of ordering anything Gibson related unless I know it's physically sat in a store ready to be sold... C- must try harder.

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So which colour have you got?

 

I did'nt have any choice in the colour as I think I probably had the last one in the UK, but it was Black... either one would have been fine.

 

The first thing I did was replace the nut with a Tusq one... the frets also needed a polish and the fingerboard got a dose of lemon oil as it was bone dry. I'm really impressed with it so far, it has a great tone either plugged in or played 'acoustically', the neck is fast and comfortable and the build quality is pretty high. Because of the vintage style trem, it does'nt suffer from the slightly 'brittle' tone that the full Baretta did... although it takes some setting up to get proper 'dive-bombs' out of it without inventing strange new tunings when you lift the bar back up.

 

I'll probably change the trem for a single-locking Floyd Rose in the future and perhaps locking tuners for convenience.

 

Shame it's such a farce trying to order one.

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Maybe the other Barettas sound brittle because of the Maple body.

 

Partly that, and partly the Floyd Rose which usually sucks a bit of bass from the tone. The Mahogany body on the Special is superb and certainly brings a lot of warmth to the tone. Quite impressed with the pick-up on it too, decent amount of output and great for high-gain stuff.

 

If they continue making these I might be tempted to get another and give it a refinish, maybe back to bare wood, and add a single coil at the neck with a tone pot for some extra sounds and a 3-way switch.

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The only thing I'm disappointed with is the finish on the neck. It's fine at first but I played it a lot and it became 'sticky'.

 

0000 wire wool restored the playability but it started to go sticky again and I now have to use Pledge to alleviate the friction. Eventually, I will strip the finish and give it a few coats of Tru-Oil. I have two Charvels with oil finish on bare wood and it really rocks for speed.

 

I think I would be daunted by the prospect of stripping the body though. The finish seems indestructible lol.

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I have'nt had the sticky neck problem myself yet, but I do prefer an oiled finish... much easier to play. I use Finishing Oil on mine as you can wax it to get a very nice natural shine, much like Tru-oil I guess.

 

Stripping guitar bodies can be a real task, usually just getting through the laquer is a nightmare, it just takes a lot of effort. Although you do run the risk of finding out the body is made up of multiple sections of timber and the grain pattern is all over the place, then you find the darkest stain you can and hope it hides everything.

 

What Charvels do you have? I've tried a few and they were damn good guitars.

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My Charvels are not too precious, just a couple of recent Chinese Desolation models. A double cut with EMG 85/81 and a single cut with SD Blackouts and a Floyd-Rose trem. Both nice players.

 

I've also been tinkering with low end model guitars by LTD and Jackson. It's become a retirement hobby turning guitar shaped objects into musical instruments. They're a lot easier than grappling with motorbikes, and they do provide a similar end result in terms of adrenalin.

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  • 2 years later...

I did'nt have any choice in the colour as I think I probably had the last one in the UK, but it was Black... either one would have been fine.

 

The first thing I did was replace the nut with a Tusq one... the frets also needed a polish and the fingerboard got a dose of lemon oil as it was bone dry. I'm really impressed with it so far, it has a great tone either plugged in or played 'acoustically', the neck is fast and comfortable and the build quality is pretty high. Because of the vintage style trem, it does'nt suffer from the slightly 'brittle' tone that the full Baretta did... although it takes some setting up to get proper 'dive-bombs' out of it without inventing strange new tunings when you lift the bar back up.

 

I'll probably change the trem for a single-locking Floyd Rose in the future and perhaps locking tuners for convenience.

 

Shame it's such a farce trying to order one.

 

 

hello men

 

please, one question

 

what part do you used to replace nut?

 

im looking for a graphtech but i dont know which will be the correct one!

 

thanks

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