1Casey1 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hi All, Within one week I shipped two Masterbilts back for a refund. The nano pickup did not work on the EF-500RCCE. The other Masterbilt was a DR-500MCE. I had them shipped directly to my house. Both instruments had multiple wood chips inside the guitar body. When you flipped the guitar over you could hear the chips hit the back and sides of the instrument. IMHO, during the QC check, the inspector could not have missed this. It took 10 minutes to get all the chips out of the body of the MCE. If you looked into the sound hole of the MCE you cold see large splatters of white glue that dried on the Mahogany, which should have been wiped off during the manufacturing process. The excess glue on the cross bracing front and and back of the guitar (I used an inspection mirror). Gobs of glue dried on the under side of the sound board right by the sound hole. Very easy to see with an inspection mirror. The clear gloss finish at the sound hole was missing exposing raw wood. Lastly, the white glue on the bridge wasn't removed just painted over with clear. The RCCE also had wood chips and small pieces of dried white glue rattling around in the body and it took a while to work them all out. The exterior finish on the RCCE was excellent and the acoustic sound was good but the electronics did not work. BTW, when I returned to them I noticed they are only insured for $100.00. Makes you wonder how much these instruments are marked up. I'm not saying they are all like this, but the two I ordered were both defective and past QC? Casey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diverden Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Hi All, Within one week I shipped two Masterbilts back for a refund. The nano pickup did not work on the EF-500RCCE. The other Masterbilt was a DR-500MCE. I had them shipped directly to my house. Both instruments had multiple wood chips inside the guitar body. When you flipped the guitar over you could hear the chips hit the back and sides of the instrument. IMHO, during the QC check, the inspector could not have missed this. It took 10 minutes to get all the chips out of the body of the MCE. If you looked into the sound hole of the MCE you cold see large splatters of white glue that dried on the Mahogany, which should have been wiped off during the manufacturing process. The excess glue on the cross bracing front and and back of the guitar (I used an inspection mirror). Gobs of glue dried on the under side of the sound board right by the sound hole. Very easy to see with an inspection mirror. The clear gloss finish at the sound hole was missing exposing raw wood. Lastly, the white glue on the bridge wasn't removed just painted over with clear. The RCCE also had wood chips and small pieces of dried white glue rattling around in the body and it took a while to work them all out. The exterior finish on the RCCE was excellent and the acoustic sound was good but the electronics did not work. BTW, when I returned to them I noticed they are only insured for $100.00. Makes you wonder how much these instruments are marked up. I'm not saying they are all like this, but the two I ordered were both defective and past QC? Casey You don't mention where you purchased the guitars. I have ordered several Epiphone Masterbuilt guitars from Sweetwater and have found them not only to be flawless in fir fit and finish, but also perfectly setup. Sweetwater inspects and sets up every instrument they sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Casey1 Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Good point about which vendor to buy from. I didn't mention the name of the vendor and my rational is the instrument should have never made it past Epiphone QC. Sweetwater raised the bar for everyone one else, which is a great thing. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxStrat Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Sorry to hear about the troubles with the Masterbuilt guitars... I dont have a ton of experience with the Masterbuilts, but the lead singer for the band I play in has an AJ500M. It was because of his guitar that I even considered looking at the Masterbuilts. Not that I thought they were an inferior but I just didn't need another AG. Well I started looking and that always leads to buying. When I saw the DR500MCE in sunburst, I had to have one. I got mine from a small shop in Denton, TX called Sky Guitars. He set it up including replacing the saddle with an offset saddle (all included in the price of the guitar I might add) and this guitar plays better and sounds better than my AGs that cost 2X and 3X as much. I couldn't be happier and this is now my goto AG. I use the LR Baggs Venue DI with it and it really sounds great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanstreak Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 ya sweetwater even features a Masterbilt in this vid - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOG3LzID53A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atmidd Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I love my Masterbilt aj500re just as much as I hate it. I hear buzzing around where the headstock meets the neck when I strum at a regular strength (not a fret or nut/setup problem) and a fret or two where the fingerboard meets the body that is not level. I really hope it's not a truss rod problem. But anyway, at first, they seem like great guitars and a great value. Maybe I just got a dud? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EpiAlan Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Hi All, Within one week I shipped two Masterbilts back for a refund. The nano pickup did not work on the EF-500RCCE. The other Masterbilt was a DR-500MCE. I had them shipped directly to my house. Both instruments had multiple wood chips inside the guitar body. When you flipped the guitar over you could hear the chips hit the back and sides of the instrument. IMHO, during the QC check, the inspector could not have missed this. It took 10 minutes to get all the chips out of the body of the MCE. If you looked into the sound hole of the MCE you cold see large splatters of white glue that dried on the Mahogany, which should have been wiped off during the manufacturing process. The excess glue on the cross bracing front and and back of the guitar (I used an inspection mirror). Gobs of glue dried on the under side of the sound board right by the sound hole. Very easy to see with an inspection mirror. The clear gloss finish at the sound hole was missing exposing raw wood. Lastly, the white glue on the bridge wasn't removed just painted over with clear. The RCCE also had wood chips and small pieces of dried white glue rattling around in the body and it took a while to work them all out. The exterior finish on the RCCE was excellent and the acoustic sound was good but the electronics did not work. BTW, when I returned to them I noticed they are only insured for $100.00. Makes you wonder how much these instruments are marked up. I'm not saying they are all like this, but the two I ordered were both defective and past QC? Casey My Gibsons looked sloppy just like this. but my Masterbuilts are much better...however I have the AJ500 models, and those are said to be the better Masterbuilts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik0913 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Sorry to hear the problems with the Masterbilts. I have a 2006 AJ 500R that I had set up by my luthier and he checked it out top to bottom and gave it a clean bill and said it was a very well made guitar. The only thing he did was remake the bone saddle because the stock one was giving him intonation issues. I really enjoy playing it.I hope you can get your issue resolved. Epiphone is a good company to deal with. The company has come along way with QC and it shows. I had just purchased a Epiphone 1961 50th LTD edition Anniv SG TV yellow with p-90s and have to say it was flawless out of the box. Give them a chance to do right and hold on throwing them under the bus. If you want QC issues deal with Gibson...lol. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik0913 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I love my Masterbilt aj500re just as much as I hate it. I hear buzzing around where the headstock meets the neck when I strum at a regular strength (not a fret or nut/setup problem) and a fret or two where the fingerboard meets the body that is not level. I really hope it's not a truss rod problem. But anyway, at first, they seem like great guitars and a great value. Maybe I just got a dud? Bring it to a Gibson/Epiphone certified luthier. If there is an issue he can deal with warranty and parts if required. My Gibson custom shop ES-335 had $390 worth of warranty work that had to be done before I even played it. It had a nut that was cut wrong, a bunch of high frets, f holes had not been blacked out at the edges, body cavity was filled with sawdust that required the pots be cleaned. It was taken care of on Gibson's dime.Who knows they may even replace it for you. I would give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 That is really a bummer. I recently ordered the DR-500ME. In doing my homework, I saw some posts with similar issues like yours, where players got an unpleasant surprise once their guitar arrived. So, I purchased mine from Sweetwater because they do the guitar inspection prior to sending. It played great out of the box. I would be interested in hearing about your customer service experience with Epiphone, should you decide to have these fixed through warranty. It would be a sad commentary on Gibson/Epiphone, if they don't stand behind a Masterbuilt. The Masterbuilt line is supposed to provide value to players (not to be confused with selling a "cheap" guitar). Good luck! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agradeleous Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Sorry to hear that news . That's one glitch while ordering on line . I bought mine DR500cme from guitar center they were good to me and I have one anal eye for detail just a tad to picky I guess because I returned 2 as well. #1 had a bad neck at the nut where when shaped the neck was cut to narrow and the High E kept falling of the fret board it was not a nut issue . #2 was better but the back and or bracing on the backs inside was out of square if you never looked in the hole not a big deal but I did and it bugged me to no end so back it went the one I have now A-ok. Just one issue the nut was not cut good string spacing is off but I'll have it set up again soon and fix that no biggie. The guitar was also just made still had fresh glue odors which lasted for weeks LOL I also believe the first 2 were from china though not positive but I know it was the same as this unit I have now which is from Indonesia. +1 to Sweetwater for this kind of stuff because they check it all out first. But I have not bought from them yet just talked with them on the phone a few times :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarLight Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I had to order my DR-500mce and send it back TWICE.. The first two were not acceptable. The third one passed my inspection and I kept it...tho it has a rather poor rough finish, it was better than the chipped bridges and busted inside wires, and scratched tops and backs that the other two had. I love the guitar now. Epiphone must lose a lot of money on returns for such things. Its a shame. When you listen to the quality of a good Epiphone you realize that they could out sell every other maker, except for the poor quality that every one seems to experience. Many will not even consider Epiphone for this reason alone. Almost everyone I know who owns an Epiphone has sent back two or three guitars before they found a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 I got my AJ500me from MF; needed only major truss rod adjustment because the strings were on the fretboard. I sent back an AJ220cme to Sweetwater for roughly the same problem; the one they resent was not quite as bad, so I kept it and plan to mess with the setup a bit more. The problem with all guitars, although I've seen a bit more on Epi acoustic and AEs, even at the brick and mortar store that's 90 minutes away, is that when they get off the truck many seem to need major setup work. I tend to blame that on climate, though. Ditto the stuff I've gotten from Sweetwater, more than just that AJ. Also, more support from Sweetwater for setup questions. It's my opinion that regardless how Sweetwater sets up an instrument, it's probably going to need a bit of work "here" because the climate conditions are a lot different. I've also seen and heard of situations where regardless of theoretical QC, frets are dangling off to the side of the fingerboard and may or may not continue to do so after a month or two in a given climate. I live in a normally quite ry climate (except the past month or so) where the fret thing is not atypical. Again, I don't blame either the mail order seller or the brick store for that, or the need for neck adjust. My own string choices also usually tend to require a bit of additional setup too since I'm a very gentle fingerpicker who prefers 9-42 on most of my guitars, electric or AE. The exceptions are a cupla big boxes including the Masterbilt AJ that wears 10s for light flatpicking. OTOH, I've never seen or heard of major glue slopover or electronics problems on Epis other than on here. For what it's worth, too, I've referred guys regularly on the Gibson side of the forums to the Epi DIY sections as being some of the best info available anywhere on such concerns. The late Animalfarm is responsible for much of that work. The folks on the Epi side seem to be among the most helpful on the Web and include folks among the most knowledgeable on various issues on "our" types of guitar. Red included. L5larry is IMHO a treasure when it comes to knowing archtops, too. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brannon67 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 In my opinion, the Nano is CRAP, but thats just my opinion, and we all know what opinions are like dont we. But there has been alot of complaints about the Nano PU. Be better off getting a Masterbilt with no PU and adding one of your choice, like a Fishman, Baggs, or whatever. The Masterbilts are great guitars minus the Nano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brannon67 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Masterbilt should have stuck with the Baggs PU. The Nano has been nothing but trouble for alot of people, including myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanstreak Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I've never had one with the Nano but can say my 3 Masterbilts with L.R. Baggs pickups sound fantastic when plugged in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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