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Custom “wide neck” PCGC conversion (you know who it is...)


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He's done a great job of the nut.

I once tried to repair an amp, a wire had come off and I tried to solder it. I eventually gave up and took it along to a local technician who advised me after looking at the mess I'd made to when I get home, pick up my newly purchased soldering iron and throw it away.

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4 hours ago, spectoremg said:

Clearly having the tuners at a useable angle wasn't good enough 😲

Guitar care in the community. 

I'm pretty sure that in a previous thread it was mentioned that, as the gentleman in question is a Basschat member, any comments on his listings could go via PM.

Not sure the final line in the above post is appropriate either way

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I discovered this one after he’s tried to scam a friend of mine who’s selling a guitar on eBay. Tried to tell him it’s a different cheaper model to the one he’s selling and that just because it has a hard case shown in the photos (title and description both say “case not included”), he should apparently include the case as it’s eBay law that what’s pictured is for sale.

as for if he’s a BC member or not, that doesn’t matter to me. Warnings need to be in place to protect people from scammers/badgers like Mr Phillips. I have heard stories of youngsters/beginners unfortunately being messed over by him selling them unplayable guitars even though “the set up is the very best”. This one is a very prime example. He’s messed up a perfectly fine 7 string (that’s about £200 new) and made it totally unplayable then expects to get over double the RRP on it? I’m sorry but if you’re happy to have people like this in your “community” then that’s one I don’t want to be a part of.

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19 minutes ago, ForbiddenWytch said:

I discovered this one after he’s tried to scam a friend of mine who’s selling a guitar on eBay. Tried to tell him it’s a different cheaper model to the one he’s selling and that just because it has a hard case shown in the photos (title and description both say “case not included”), he should apparently include the case as it’s eBay law that what’s pictured is for sale.

as for if he’s a BC member or not, that doesn’t matter to me. Warnings need to be in place to protect people from scammers/badgers like Mr Phillips. I have heard stories of youngsters/beginners unfortunately being messed over by him selling them unplayable guitars even though “the set up is the very best”. This one is a very prime example. He’s messed up a perfectly fine 7 string (that’s about £200 new) and made it totally unplayable then expects to get over double the RRP on it? I’m sorry but if you’re happy to have people like this in your “community” then that’s one I don’t want to be a part of.

Your original post didn't suggest any of the above, it simply came across as the usual fosters take, which is why I objected. If you've got something to say, then simply say it, which also gives the person in question the opportunity to respond.

And anyway, my main issue was with the 'care in the community' comment, which wasn't yours

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10 hours ago, Beedster said:

I'm pretty sure that in a previous thread it was mentioned that, as the gentleman in question is a Basschat member, any comments on his listings could go via PM.

Not sure the final line in the above post is appropriate either way

I also couldn't give a flying f@rt whether he reads this or what he cares about. The guy's producing expensive and botched solutions to problems that didn't exist in the first place. Outside of snowflake land that makes you a target for derision.

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He sets himself up for ridicule, eg Cleartone Guitar Conversions......Don't they just look like they deliver? Hahahaha

As for his 100% feedback! It wouldn't surprise me if he had family members and friends bidding on his MONSTROSITIES to attain that score.

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The big issue I have is in my opinion he is actually conning people who may not know better. And possibly some that should.

I don't mind the tinkering, bodging, etc. And if he sells them even thats ok. But its the passing them off as great works and fantastically playing instruments that is wrong. And to pass himself off as some sort of instrument improver, actually insults anyone who actually works on instruments. 

Then he sells these abominations for extortionate prices. Promising these are great instruments. If he was charging say £10 - £50 quid which is actually what his creations are worth then ok.

I mean he is very probably putting beginners off playing, when the receive the rubbish. Especially if they think this is a good instrument, because a "master improver" with 100% feedback put it together, but it's playing bad or sounds bad, so the fault must be me. 

He has been at it for ages why hasn't his skills improved, why can't he cut a nut properly still? 

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4 minutes ago, prowla said:

Did everybody miss the video link?

(Darn - I thought he wasn't going to sing, but then about half-way through he did!)

That's actually his best video. And it might be wrong but for brief periods thought some of that was ok or interesting or something. 

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16 minutes ago, Twincam said:

The big issue I have is in my opinion he is actually conning people who may not know better. And possibly some that should.

I don't mind the tinkering, bodging, etc. And if he sells them even thats ok. But its the passing them off as great works and fantastically playing instruments that is wrong. And to pass himself off as some sort of instrument improver, actually insults anyone who actually works on instruments. 

Then he sells these abominations for extortionate prices. Promising these are great instruments. If he was charging say £10 - £50 quid which is actually what his creations are worth then ok.

I mean he is very probably putting beginners off playing, when the receive the rubbish. Especially if they think this is a good instrument, because a "master improver" with 100% feedback put it together, but it's playing bad or sounds bad, so the fault must be me. 

He has been at it for ages why hasn't his skills improved, why can't he cut a nut properly still? 

OK, I get all of this, but how many people who've started/responded to the numerous threads on BC over the years have ever contacted eBay, or even the guy himself, and said the same thing? I agree, his work is not as he represents it - far from it - but I take a more generous view of the underlying reason why than perhaps others do (I may be very wrong). If you feel strongly, perhaps you should do something other than rant here, which does nothing tangible to solve the problem as you see it? 

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5 minutes ago, Beedster said:

OK, I get all of this, but how many people who've started/responded to the numerous threads on BC over the years have ever contacted eBay, or even the guy himself, and said the same thing? I agree, his work is not as he represents it - far from it - but I take a more generous view of the underlying reason why than perhaps others do (I may be very wrong). If you feel strongly, perhaps you should do something other than rant here, which does nothing tangible to solve the problem as you see it? 

I've actually contacted him asking him how he can honestly call his work an "improvement" and justify the price he's charging for such "improvements" and he acts like a petulant child over it. How can he justify a 100+% mark up on some of these items that he ruins over even the new retail list price? Instead of sending a decent reply, he actually decided a personal insult was more appropriate. I contracted eBay as did my friend who he tried to con and their response was basically "he has 100% feedback so we see no problem". 

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1 minute ago, Beedster said:

OK, I get all of this, but how many people who've started/responded to the numerous threads on BC over the years have ever contacted eBay, or even the guy himself, and said the same thing? I agree, his work is not as he represents it - far from it - but I take a more generous view of the underlying reason why than perhaps others do (I may be very wrong). If you feel strongly, perhaps you should do something other than rant here, which does nothing tangible to solve the problem as you see it? 

Well how do you know that's not been tried? Because i assure you it has. I do believe I've even offered him some tips/help for "improving" his work.

I myself don't hate the guy. And at times I've felt the mockery is too much. But it's hard to get passed the facts of bad work, the misrepresentation, the extortionate prices. And making a mockery of people who can actually do honest proper work. 

 

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12 minutes ago, ForbiddenWytch said:

I've actually contacted him asking him how he can honestly call his work an "improvement" and justify the price he's charging for such "improvements" and he acts like a petulant child over it. How can he justify a 100+% mark up on some of these items that he ruins over even the new retail list price? Instead of sending a decent reply, he actually decided a personal insult was more appropriate. I contracted eBay as did my friend who he tried to con and their response was basically "he has 100% feedback so we see no problem". 

 

11 minutes ago, Twincam said:

Well how do you know that's not been tried? Because i assure you it has. I do believe I've even offered him some tips/help for "improving" his work.

I myself don't hate the guy. And at times I've felt the mockery is too much. But it's hard to get passed the facts of bad work, the misrepresentation, the extortionate prices. And making a mockery of people who can actually do honest proper work. 

 

Fair enough, can't argue with the above. I've always assumed a back story that perhaps isn't the case.   

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I find his bodgery harmless enough, it is a shame when he destroys or removes parts from solid beginner instruments but not the end of the world even when his spiel goes a bit far in extolling the virtues of what is essentially an incomplete/damaged bargain basement guitar. Given the prices I assume his listings are targeted at older beginners with more disposable income anyway, maybe people who are less internet savvy, still rely on sales patter to make decisions and are more likely to place trust in a perceived local expert than a faceless chain store.

Where I think he crosses the line is with comments like "even if you buy from a shop and they offer a free set up or you pay for a set up... that is likely to mean the guitar is taken out the back where someone sees how low they can screw the bridge down." which gives the impression that music shops are not to be trusted and the only place to guarantee a good setup is with him. Going by some of the videos he's posted I think the opposite is true, one in particular (an acoustic IIRC) sounded unplayable. Similarly some of the nuts in his pictures are absolutely ruined, big deep trenches cut at angles with rough edges. Cutting a nut isn't particularly difficult, I have no idea how they turn out like that.

As it is I think we should be free to criticise his listings on here like any other bit of misguided bodgery we see on eBay as long as things are in good spirits and don't become personal. A bit like that crazy German seller who lists £3000 planks of wood that may once have been Gibsons, the reputation is deserved and it's quite funny to see what they come up with next.

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On 23/09/2018 at 21:11, Twincam said:

I would actually love it if he started knocking out better thought out modifications. And using decent parts. 

Exactly, it would be easier to do this and the end result would be better especially on his 7 to 6 string conversions. You can get single saddle bridge pieces for guitar (like the bass ones) for a couple of quid on AliExpress, he could buy or make a nut blank and use hot rail pickups so the pole pieces aren't out of whack. He could even look at making pickup surrounds or putting his slanty single coils into appropriate humbucker cases which sit properly in the routs. All of this would and make for a cleaner looking instrument which hasn't had any damaged parts, he could even include the original bridge etc. in case the owner wanted to take it back to stock for resale value.

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