Ash_ Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 I have a brand new aj-220sce straight from the factory and the action is way too high. the neck has a front bow at the top of the neck and the saddle needs sanding down. My issue is the truss rod is unmovable. It wont turn either way and i dont want to force it. Is there a knack to these truss rods do i need to add some penetrating oil. For a brand new guitar i would have thought epiphone would at least set it up as per their recommendations in the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesjoc Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 I have a brand new aj-220sce straight from the factory and the action is way too high. the neck has a front bow at the top of the neck and the saddle needs sanding down. My issue is the truss rod is unmovable. It wont turn either way and i dont want to force it. Is there a knack to these truss rods do i need to add some penetrating oil. For a brand new guitar i would have thought epiphone would at least set it up as per their recommendations in the manual. Make sure the threads aren't damaged also . Not sure if this helps but here is a video from Dan. Ash i follow a guy named Dave from Canada on youtube. He has some very informative stuff on there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarLight Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 I have one of these AJ-220sce models but bought it at guitar center where it had been set up and played perfect. But these guitars are very hit or miss, and some are catastrophes, If you have these problems you should return it. One need only look at the Musicians Friend site where they are sold to find that at present..27 of these have been returned from unsatisfied customers..many with neck issues, warping, buzzing twisted necks, scratches all over etc. ...see the below MF site and then click ..27 used...under the price posted. Shocking. These guitars are good when they are good...and they are sheer Epiphone junk when they are junk. I've never seen so many guitars returned from one model in my life. Just hope mine holds out. Epiphone does it again with their usual fare of hit or miss acoustic guitars. It's too bad Gibson don't just spin them off to someone who actually cares about making good consistent guitars. Perhaps Taylor should buy them out the way Gibson bought out Epiphone, then decimated it. Taylor would not likely do such a thing, and it would have a guitar line with base and substance and mids balance for those who want it without producing 5 bad guitars for every good one they put out. Here is that MF site..as of this date... 27 returned defective AJ220sce models. http://www.musicians...c-guitar/423940 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 First, how do you define "straight from the factory" since it's in Asia? My understanding is that Epis are sold new only through dealers - although that does include online dealers. Second, if there's a problem with the truss rod, take it to the dealer or return it. I have the same guitar, btw. It's my observation that yes, when one gets a guitar around where I live in the US, much of the apparent quality, especially of a flattop, has to do with conditions in transportation. I was at the closest guitar store some hour and a half away from where I live and saw that they had difficulties with many different brands of flattops when they opened the box - but a bit of adjustment to local conditions and they work fine. Taylors, btw, have bolt-on necks if that's what trips your trigger. It's not my schtick for a flattop, archtop, semi or even solidbody. I have several F brand basses that do have bolt-ons, but that's it. If there's a reason to buy from a "local dealer," it's that one can have the instrument set up with your own choice of stings and action. Some might have a higher quality nut and bridge saddle installed and perhaps even on a straight-acoustic flattop, some sort of pickup of choice. I would add that I do think this particular model may be more sensitive to climate than many others, including my Masterbilt AJ500e, likely due to the cutaway design. I wouldn't say they're "hit or miss" as much as that they're sufficiently sensitive to climate that the odds of getting one with problems since it left the factory are greater, but most can be properly set up by an experienced player or shop tech. For what it's worth, my archtops all are much more sensitive, which is why I have some backup semis for that type of gig. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash_ Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Cheers for advice. By straight from factory i mean it wasn't opened or set up at the shop i bought it from. It was delivered straight to them and i picked it up. I sent them an email about it so will see what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old mark Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Ash_ drip or spray a little penetrating oil onto the truss rod nut at the threaded rod...let it work for a while, and try it lightly again...I have had the sad experience of breaking off the top of a truss rod on a 1960's archtop guitar, and I must stress either do it very easily or take it to a pro...It sucks to have a tight truss rod nut, but it sucks far worse to break one off... mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickthemiller Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Send it back and demand a playable one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.