Larsongs Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 I don’t work for Sweetwater but I’ve bought from them.. I saw this video & thought I’d share it.. I’m not getting paid anything just providing a FYI… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 I just watched it all. I knew he had this planned. It was impressive. I wish we had a dealer like that in the uk. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 I have bought at least six guitars from Sweetwater over the last seven years, and the inspection process worked great in each case. Never saw a blemish or had any playability issues with any of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Bought lots of stuff from S W. They are a great big box store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 It was interesting to note that guitars under $300 do not go through this full inspection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) I just bought a Les Paul Standard from them. The 55 point inspection is good, but it's not the same as it used to be. Don't get me wrong - they're still the only big online place I'll buy a guitar from. They used to send a guy down to the warehouse and personally inspect anything about any guitar you had questions about. They've done that before for me when I had a particular question abour a particular guitar. But those days are over. This last time, I was looking at the photos of lots of Les Pauls and it was obvious that they were not being properly intonated at the factory. The saddle pattern was all over the place, and the D string saddle was hard up against the front stop of the bridge on the one I wanted. I asked the sales guy to have somebody check out the intonation to make sure I'd be able to set it up properly. And here's the thing - he said "I'm sure the 55 point inspection will make sure that's o.k., but if you want a complete setup, it'll be an extra $100." So they were not willing to have somebody check it out. Of course, I WAS able to set it up properly, because I recognized the problem with the saddle pattern and I knew it was going to be o.k. once I tweaked the setup. But you have to know more than they do to be sure everything's going to be o.k. Repeat - You have to know more than they do to be sure everything's going to be o.k. So it's not what it used to be. The 55 point inspection is not a setup. It used to be. But now it's not. Having said that, the guitar I bought is awesome, and I'll still buy from them. But if I didn't know how to do a setup, I'd be playing a poorly intonated guitar, which is not good for somebody who's learning or used to having a shop set up their guitars. Edited July 23, 2022 by badbluesplayer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 20 hours ago, mihcmac said: It was interesting to note that guitars under $300 do not go through this full inspection. I suppose they have to have a cut out point somewhere. $300 sounds reasonable to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 9 minutes ago, merciful-evans said: I suppose they have to have a cut out point somewhere. $300 sounds reasonable to me. A $301 guitar gets the 55 pointer, but a $299 guitar does not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: A $301 guitar gets the 55 pointer, but a $299 guitar does not. I bet they'd reduce the $301 guitar to $299 instantly. Edited July 23, 2022 by merciful-evans spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 1 hour ago, badbluesplayer said: I just bought a Les Paul Standard from them. The 55 point inspection is good, but it's not the same as it used to be. Don't get me wrong - they're still the only big online place I'll buy a guitar from. They used to send a guy down to the warehouse and personally inspect anything about any guitar you had questions about. They've done that before for me when I had a particular question abour a particular guitar. But those days are over. This last time, I was looking at the photos of lots of Les Pauls and it was obvious that they were not being properly intonated at the factory. The saddle pattern was all over the place, and the D string saddle was hard up against the front stop of the bridge on the one I wanted. I asked the sales guy to have somebody check out the intonation to make sure I'd be able to set it up properly. And here's the thing - he said "I'm sure the 55 point inspection will make sure that's o.k., but if you want a complete setup, it'll be an extra $100." So they were not willing to have somebody check it out. Of course, I WAS able to set it up properly, because I recognized the problem with the saddle pattern and I knew it was going to be o.k. once I tweaked the setup. But you have to know more than they do to be sure everything's going to be o.k. Repeat - You have to know more than they do to be sure everything's going to be o.k. So it's not what it used to be. The 55 point inspection is not a setup. It used to be. But now it's not. Having said that, the guitar I bought is awesome, and I'll still buy from them. But if I didn't know how to do a setup, I'd be playing a poorly intonated guitar, which is not good for somebody who's learning or used to having a shop set up their guitars. I know your an amp guy and I am not sure if you built, fix ect ect amps on the side, or if its your regular job. If it is your job, and you are working on someone's amp, do you do a bunch of work they didn't ask for just cause your a nice guy and not charge them? Probably not. Just like S W. Its called a 55 Point Inspection not a 55 Point Inspection + a set up. Just like Martins days are gone of resetting necks with the warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) 5 minutes ago, merciful-evans said: I bet they'd reduce the £301 guitar to $299 instantly. Would they have to do a currency conversion from £ to $ ? How much would that be in Yen ¥ ? Edited July 23, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 5 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Would they have to do a currency conversion from £ to $ ? How much would that be in Yen ¥ ? whoops! Corrected now . Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) 11 minutes ago, merciful-evans said: whoops! Corrected now . Thanks. For some reason I have a 5 Euro note in my wallet and a Canadian 10-er. I though you meant to use the $ and £ on purpose. Edited July 23, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 I don’t know but if you’re selling 1000 Guitars a day you must be doing something right… I’ve bought & sold a lot of Guitars in the past 30 years.. I’ve bought from all the big Internet Stores & many Brick & Mortar Stores all over.. Today I don’t know any big Store that does anything close to what Sweetwater does at no cost for new Inventory Guitars.. Except Wildwood. Even at NAMM many of the new Guitars on display that are Promos need Set ups & other work.. Mostly Frets.. Most low end Guitars are so bad almost every one I’ve tried in the past few years needs to be rebuilt.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said: I know your an amp guy and I am not sure if you built, fix ect ect amps on the side, or if its your regular job. If it is your job, and you are working on someone's amp, do you do a bunch of work they didn't ask for just cause your a nice guy and not charge them? Probably not. Just like S W. Its called a 55 Point Inspection not a 55 Point Inspection + a set up. Just like Martins days are gone of resetting necks with the warranty. I did it for a living for about 10 yrs. And I was a consulting engineer for about thirty before that. So I never let anything ever fall through the cracks. That's because I'm a regular individual with a desire to give the best service I can. No chiseling away at my own service standards over time. No such thing as "dumb guy" levels of service. When I worked on amps, I always figured out what's wrong with the amp, period. Then I fixed it 100% correctly if the guy wanted to pay. Always keeping the guy up to date on where the bill was. I'm just saying that it used to be a seamless, no cost sales experience, and they've changed the way it works a little. No more setup questions. No more running around inspecting the guitar for you if you have questions. In fact, the intonation was still wrong on the guitar when I got it. They didn't change it a bit during the inspection, and I had to set the intonation on every string. So they didn't inspect that at all. No big deal, but you still have to know more than them to be sure you're getting a good guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) 44 minutes ago, badbluesplayer said: When I worked on amps, I always figured out what's wrong with the amp, period. Then I fixed it 100% correctly if the guy wanted to pay. Always keeping the guy up to date on where the bill was. Exactly. $100 for a SW set up. It better show up perfect for that price. Edited July 23, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 I think that what I learned from the video is that Sweetwater is probably doing as good a job as any big place dealing with the fact that all guitars need a setup to play their best. But they're still sending most guitars out the door not properly setup. This is an issue that's unique to stringed instruments. Your new trumpet doesn't need a setup. Your new guitar does. It used to be part of the dealer's work. Musician's Friend changed that. On the upside, I'm sure I could easily get a job as a Tech 3, the guys above the inspectors that actualy know how to work on them. So send me a poorly setup guitar. No prob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, badbluesplayer said: I think that what I learned from the video is that Sweetwater is probably doing as good a job as any big place dealing with the fact that all guitars need a setup to play their best. But they're still sending most guitars out the door not properly setup. This is an issue that's unique to stringed instruments. Your new trumpet doesn't need a setup. Your new guitar does. It used to be part of the dealer's work. Musician's Friend changed that. On the upside, I'm sure I could easily get a job as a Tech 3, the guys above the inspectors that actualy know how to work on them. So send me a poorly setup guitar. No prob. I want the job where I just position guitars all day for a photographer. Edited July 24, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 As bad as some of you think Sweetwater is, based on my experience, of buying aprox 40 Guitars in the past 20 years from all the major Online Stores, Brick & Mortar GC’s & Sam Ash & other Mom & Pop Stores they are far worse… Except maybe Wildwood… Literally no major Chain Stores Set up Guitars anymore.. Most Stores do nothing.. Put them out on display & if they sell or don’t sell nobody cares… Have you guys been to a recent NAMM? As I mentioned earlier, most Manufacturers displays of new Guitars are pretty awful to play! Sharp Frets, high Action, Intonation way off etc.. Although, I remember looking at new Guitars in the 60’s too… LOL! Unbelievable how many were unplayable in Stores back then too… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 On 7/24/2022 at 1:46 PM, Sgt. Pepper said: I want the job where I just position guitars all day for a photographer. Tech 1. You're in. Fourteen bucks an hour. Fifteen if you have good attendance. 🤩 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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