fortyearspickn

I've had 3 p/u trucks. All had rubber floor mats, manual windows and trannys. Wish I still had any one of them. Sport cab, bench seat, short bed. I better stop now. I'm getting Gas. (can't abbreviate PickUpTruck Acquisition Syndrome - might get banned.

Exactly. It was like this in South Florida in the 70s. Developers, Bankers and Politicians got rich with 'dredge and fill' housing tracts that had no infrastructure behind them. Here and now - when a third of the population doesn't know how it was 20 years ago - there are no expectations of how it should be, or what shouldn't be changed. They accept horrible traffic, brownouts, etc. The NBA team, San Antonio Spurs, are now threatening to leave the city if they don't get a new arena. Their first was The AlamoDome - built in '93. Had a new one (AT&T Center) built in 2002. Politicians have to save face and keep our one and only top level team (we have no MLB or NFL teams) so they need the money to pay for it. It's circle joke.

Earlier this week I got a voicemail from our city's water company stating they would be installing new water meters. Electronic, which they can control, read and monitor from their offices. At the same time, in the news, they got approval yesterday to implement a changes to their pricing practices. First and foremost - monitoring and fining those who use too much water or for watering your lawn, outside of approved hours on your day. Last week - our home thermostat (Nest brand) started showing an orange message in the little round screen. Instead of the temperature - for over a week now, it has shown a little 'utilities' icon with the message "If you would like us at the Electric Company to control your home's temperature, reducing it at peak usage times, just click here. " So - our water and power are basically controllable by bureaucrats. San Antonio has a dry climate - 32" average rainfall/year. And of course, very hot. So water and electricity are certainly issues. The problem is exacerbated by the population growth - in the Top Five for the past several years. From 1.3M in 2000 to 2.4M in 2023. City Leaders want to attract people and businesses and the money they bring in. Schools, roads and utilities are always struggling to keep up. Not the same city we moved to 25 years ago. In 1991 the city water people were just waking up. They found the Biggest Number One water user was some guy on the outskirts who had a massive catfish farm! Funded by an investor from NJ, rather than install filters to clean the water in his ponds - he just continuously flushed them with new water. Using 45 million gallons a day from the well he drilled - the worlds largest water well! 1/4 of the entire city's usage. They shut him down after a years long struggle in the courts and legislature. The water was free to him ! Sometimes it's hard to have confidence in the 'experts' - and when they control your water and power - it becomes scary.

If you are willing to wait another 12 months - to have waited a total of 2 years for a custom paint job you're paying custom order prices for - then, as Sgt. Pepper indicated a few days ago - we've done all we can here as far as advice goes.

Cue the comment suggesting OP "purchase and try out a dozen other types of strings - including 'my favorite'.... "

On the Guitar Center website, there are 7 used Good to Great condition from $800 - $1K. So - Yes, a mint 5 y/o G45 for $600 is a good deal. Whether it is 'worth' it, is your call. Do you need a guitar of this type -more than other things you could do with $600 ?

There appear to be two schools of thought here - "A road diverged in a yellow wood..." I guess our response to this question is partly due to our individual experiences with this type of deflective, "Who's On First?" customer service issue. I've never been mugged so I'm not as gung-ho on stringing up muggers as someone who has been might be. I'm proud of us for not having let this black and white question divide us and result in name calling, labelling and insults directed to our personal choices of musical instruments. Guitars we have paid for and can play ... and those for which The Check Has Cleared but - the trees have yet to be harvested to build. In this century - the 'Best Practices Bible' would suggest - Give the customer a committed, realistic delivery date - but so realistic that you know you can probably beat it and exceed his expectations. As opposed to the proverbial 'When we get a Round Tuit."

Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. (and a dozen others - The Shining, A Few Good Men....)

BBP - You're right. I stand corrected. I slipped up when I suggested it was the IRS that did all that. Really a half dozen different taxing authorities. School Districts, Health Districts, state income tax, state sales tax, town dog catcher .... I weary. (I also took liberty with the marriage vows thing to make a point.) Glad to see my MBA is still a burr under your saddle blanket though. Happy Fathers' Day !

Unless you're married and have an account with the IRS. Marriage Vows: "What's yours in mine. What's mine is mine". IRS Tax Laws: "We'll tax you on your pay and tips. We'll tax you on anything you make if you invest it, or just put it in the banks and get 2% interest. We'll tax you again on it if you spend it. We'll tax you for having a house to live in. For your car every year. If you give your money to your kids. And tax you on what's left of your 'estate' when you die. Have a nice day. Sincerely, your friendly 80,000 armed IRS Agents "

Paying 100% down. Hope you got updates - OP hasn't had any in over a year, for what amounts to a paint job !

When I worked in Accounting/Finance, we had a motto: Measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with an axe.

"I know nothing ..." about the M2M process or what their backlog may be. If the only 'custom' thing about your order is the paint job - I'd say MZ has dropped the ball. I'd contact Gibson Customer Service by email, tell them your problem and that you're going to call - give them a date and a time and number your'e going to call. I don't know if you've made a payment, but that's a separate issue you need to work out with the head Zoo Keeper. Unconscionable to have to have waited this long without a locked-in delivery date. It's not a Lamborghini.

My guitars' intonation / set-up seems to favor the strings once they're broken in and stretched. I have more dissonance when they're new. But then, I only play on the first half dozen frets mostly.

If there's a better than even chance you won't keep it for more than a couple of years - the question arises - how would you price it and how would you verify to a potential buyer that it is not a fake? With all the wear and tear on it and K'sD point that no one is going to go to this much trouble to make a fake - I"m assuming the price is right and you're looking for a keeper. In which case, you won't learn anymore in the future than you know now that would cause you to get rid of it. So, it sounds like a good deal.

That guy has serious problems. I hope it's only drugs, and not something permanent.

Absolutely! I prefer the tone/sound of 2 year old strings on my guitars, including my H’Bird.

There’s thump, growl, resonance, volume, projection, sustain, and a dozen other words, but if your mint condition doesn’t come close to what you want to hear, unless the strings are pure crap, I’d return it within the time allotted. The speaker trick, I just put mine close enough that I could feel the sympathetic vibration in the face. It seemed to help open it up. If you need coated strings that badly, I would have already put a set of Elixers on it to get closer to the actual sound you’d be hearing if you kept it. My HBird TV is never going to sound like my J45, no matter what strings I put on it though.

I wouldn't kick any out of bed for eating crackers.

Sort of like when we were in grade school - there was always one kid who caused trouble. Got the whole class punished. In 5th grade we had a teacher who would go lurk around the corner waiting for the noise to gradually build - and then come in with an "I Gotcha!". She'd punish the class - and call out one kid - different ones. Even moi ! once. We'd laugh, because she was always clueless on who the real troublemaker was. Now, we here are (mostly) all grown up. We all know who the trouble maker is - and so do the hall monitors. A couple of decades later, back in the 80s, we created the "Don't Let The Turkeys Get You Down" Tee Shirt Line" . Occasionally, inevitably, we all get our feathers ruffled - but I refuse to be plucked.

I was surprised by the orange oval label, but got over it faster than the iconic 'trademarked' Gibson Shaped headstock replacing the Epiphone version. I'm guessing the quality of guitars is more a function of the actual plant, than the country. Unless the country has laws prohibiting different kinds of woods that are legal in others. But, if Epiphone/GIBSON decided to build a plant - I'd guess they'd consider the availability of raw materials, skilled labor, transportation/infrastructure and the laws that might affect them - regardless of the country. Which country has a location that is a best fit for the type of product (and quality) they're looking for. Clearly - they're hitting home runs with these IBG Banners !

Another thread disrupted by the Gibson Basher! Proof again - It's easier to tear down rather than build up. Easier to criticize others ideas than to put your own suggestions out there. We see that in politics every day. Some of these threads get more heated than political ones have. Every one of us started out on a cheap guitar. My 2nd was a classical. I found it was much easier to learn on than a traditional steel string acoustic, favored fingerpicking over pick, and will recommend classical guitars to people starting out. If someone told me they were primarily an electric player and wanted to become a finger picker - I'd likely suggest the same thing.

Back to topic - Classical guitarists over the centuries have spent a lot of time figuring out how to hold a guitar, how wide the fingerboard should be as well as the wood and bracing. They fingerpick mostly. So - conventional wisdom is - a little wider is a little easier. If you believe that - you don't have to buy a cheap classical to convince yourself of it, and you'll fingerpick on what you've got. I think Dr. Pepper's point is "Love The One You're With". As opposed to "Test Drive A Hooker" before the Prom.

Sad that the Sad Emoji Dude is back ... sort of a chicken shyte way to anonymously disagree with someone instead of, like the parents of a 5 year old would say "Use your words." ! But I think the real obsessive one had left the building a while ago.