Suhr Fret Issues

[snooze]

Well, I have not read this whole thread, but for what it's worth, I'll post my experience with a fret issue that some how I caused (**** happens), but Suhr went above and beyond to remedy the problem. This is the resolution message I sent to John here at TGP from last July.

"Hi John, just got my repair back today. Your team did a great job. Don Bonomini did the setup for me and buffed out the ding on the 4th fret I had. He also replaced the nut as he saw it was not done very well. I explained I had a local guitar guy try to lower the action for me as Suhr stock setups are a little high on the action for my taste. That guy tried to lower the nut and kind of messed it up I guess. I know better and never touch that stuff. Anyway, even though somebody else screwed it up, he replaced the nut and did the work for free (due to the length of time it took, even though I said its not a rush) and shipped it overnight for free. The action is really good and it plays great. It was very kind of Don to go the extra mile. Thanks for the great gear and great service you guys provide."

I'm pointing this out as a fanboy (proud of it) and to reinforce how much Suhr cares about it's products and customers. Give the company a chance to fix a problem for you. I have only had positive helpful experiences like this with Suhr.

+1!!!

I’m a fanboy too, an extremely picky guy, and Suhr are the closest to perfection. They are not perfect, because wood is not... but they make sure each guitar feels great and they do all feel great (on a side note: I’ve notices few differences between guitars that I would have expected to be consistant though, so if you guys need something very picky, don’t forget these are not made by a machine!!! They are hand made in USA!! I kind of forgot it myself at some point!).

My repair experience was also awesome, although it changed the neck feel a bit and I’m trying to work this out with Suhr right now, and they are trying their best to make things right. Which I would not expect from another builder. Some may say they are expensive, but to me this level of customer service has a very high value!!

I also understand John @Husky is getting more and more involved into the building/repair. I’ve been following that company for few years now because I truly believe in these folks and the rigorous approach they are taking on top of being nice human being.

My 2 cents!!

 

[RayRay]

So you create your account today and revive an old thread started 2 years ago? Something isnt right here but if you are for real, contact CS and we will take care of you.

Agreed. Paging @big mike

 

[big mike]

Agreed. Paging @big mike

Unfortunately it’s just opinion it’s not a false account that I can see. Single post and I think enough of you have refuted it.

If there’s a continual pattern we can address it.

Best bet is don’t feed the trolls

 

[RayRay]

Unfortunately it’s just opinion it’s not a false account that I can see. Single post and I think enough of you have refuted it.

If there’s a continual pattern we can address it.

Best bet is don’t feed the trolls

A heck of a player, a heck of a nice guy, and a heck of a voice of logical reason. Trifecta!

 

[John Hurtt]

So you create your account today and revive an old thread started 2 years ago? Something isnt right here but if you are for real, contact CS and we will take care of you.

Sadly, it is just probably a drive by with someone with their own agenda. However, this thread has shown what terrific customer service you have for your shop. Kudos John!

 

[MisterBoh]

Personally, I think they may be rushing things to get the super long wait list down.

My modern satin, while otherwise pretty great, took nearly half a year longer than expected to get to me and the Floyd nut shelf was super high. Went to my local luthier as shipping it out and waiting another month seemed less appealing than shelling out a bit more.

Their CS is great and I'm sure theyd have fixed it no problem but I just didn't want to add to a very long wait time.

I know it's not a super fancy custom but they are billed as being "just as good."

Suhr obviously prides themselves on their rep for quality but I don't think it's unreasonable to call them on it if they botch things on a 2-3k instrument.

 

[RCM78]

Personally, I think they may be rushing things to get the super long wait list down.

My modern satin, while otherwise pretty great, took nearly half a year longer than expected to get to me and the Floyd nut shelf was super high. Went to my local luthier as shipping it out and waiting another month seemed less appealing than shelling out a bit more.

Their CS is great and I'm sure theyd have fixed it no problem but I just didn't want to add to a very long wait time.

I know it's not a super fancy custom but they are billed as being "just as good."

Suhr obviously prides themselves on their rep for quality but I don't think it's unreasonable to call them on it if they botch things on a 2-3k instrument.

Curious why you had to order a Modern Satin? There are more than a few on Reverb...

 

[MisterBoh]

Curious why you had to order a Modern Satin? There are more than a few on Reverb...

There weren't any in the color and config I wanted at the time at anything approaching a reasonable price for used gear. It all worked out in the end though.

 

[FiestaRed]

Personally, I think they may be rushing things to get the super long wait list down.

My modern satin, while otherwise pretty great, took nearly half a year longer than expected to get to me and the Floyd nut shelf was super high. Went to my local luthier as shipping it out and waiting another month seemed less appealing than shelling out a bit more.

Their CS is great and I'm sure theyd have fixed it no problem but I just didn't want to add to a very long wait time.

I know it's not a super fancy custom but they are billed as being "just as good."

Suhr obviously prides themselves on their rep for quality but I don't think it's unreasonable to call them on it if they botch things on a 2-3k instrument.

What leads you to believe they are rushing things?

 

[MisterBoh]

What leads you to believe they are rushing things?

Just seems like an odd oversight for them given the rep for quality control. I thought I saw a post about making an effort to get the wait times down. I get it, sometimes things slip by but that's how it felt, like it was late by six months so it got rushed through.

 

[FiestaRed]

Just seems like an odd oversight for them given the rep for quality control. I thought I saw a post about making an effort to get the wait times down. I get it, sometimes things slip by but that's how it felt, like it was late by six months so it got rushed through.

This thread is two years old.

And there are two or three examples in this thread of a quality issue, including yours. Two or three items in two years means they're rushing things?

 

[snooze]

At the defense of @MisterBoh, I think when someone pays a lot of money for what is known as one of the best guitar on the market, the expectations are high. But like any high quality brand, there are some rare issues.

And John himself said they tried to improve few things without being specific, I don’t want to talk for himself. But I also had the impression that they had some period where things were not at the quality that John would have liked. Be he is taking care of it and I would not worry a second that they will make things right.

The bottom line for me is Suhr are awesome but sometimes **** happen but don’t worry, they will make things right! A guitar forum is not a customer service support group. Contact Suhr if you have an issue!!

 

[kevin hart]

I've had what I believe is this same issue with a vintage Fender Strat, so I don't think it's just an issue with Suhr guitars. In my case it was solved with replacing the saddle.

 

[MisterBoh]

This thread is two years old.

And there are two or three examples in this thread of a quality issue, including yours. Two or three items in two years means they're rushing things?

That's just how it seemed to me; like they didn't spend enough time checking it over. The other examples don't have too much to do with it other than my saying it is not unreasonable to call out a company for botching an expensive build. Maybe it will help re focus their attention on the quality control.

 

[frennis]

I recently got a Ron Kirn T used. The action was literally on the frets---fine for chicken pickin with a compressor, but that was about it. Action raised improved the tone about 400% (math done in my head, not exact science).

Funny, I don't have any Suhr guitars, but I do have a used Kirn T for years and I was thinking the OP would probably like it the whole time reading this thread. The action was so low when I got it, I needed to raise it because the strings kept slipping out from me when I would bend. Lowest action I've ever seen on a guitar without buzzing or having a super flat radius.
Kirn really gets the action super low with little buzzing for those that like that kind of thing or don't bend much.

 

[big mike]

This just in...
Shipping, and climate at different locations effects setup, fret sprout, etc etc.

 

[snooze]

Based on my experience. I believe things are being rushed there. I’ve had two suhrs (sold both) one was a classic s antique and recently a modern plus. I want to start off by saying these were awesome guitars and I think if suhr slowed down a bit and focused on building less guitars and that time on quality I would still have those two suhrs. First with the classic; I had it repainted because I was not happy with the relic since there was finish crack under the bridge and suhr was happy to accommodate that (i did have a huge problem with this initially, and the process for this repair took forever but suhr made it right eventually but their CS is a bit slow. I also inquired that the frets need to be checked as they clearly appeared that they were not recrowned properly as in the tops looked very flat and intonation on chords was off) Got the classic s back and my plays great, feels great. However, the I’ve noticed that the frets were still not crowned or touched and I could slightly hear the intonation was a bit off. I eventually sold it as I was put off by it. I forgot to mention I got a classic s right after and it was pretty much perfect but I didn’t like the neck shape so returned it. Lastly I got a modern plus and the fretwork was awful. Not only were the frets flat but the edges were badly smoothed out. As a result my fingers would feel the sharp edges of the non smoothed out fret ends when gliding across the neck. It was very annoying and was done with suhr at this point. I’m saying this because I transitioned to a Tom anderson and that guitar shows how much time the people at TA spent on those frets. Super smooth without E string sliding off the board. My advice is that if you’re looking into buying a suhr, make sure you can try it out and that the dealer has a good return policy.

Similar experience here. I’m a huge Suhr fan and John built and incredible company.

But there is a consistency that is not there anymore. I went from buying a Suhr online without ever playing it to making sure I’m playing it before I buy it. And since I’m doing that, I didn’t buy any new Suhr (I had 3 and sold one lately).

To other Suhr fan, please don’t read this as trolling. I want Suhr guitars to go back to have flawless quality and buy more!!! But it’s just not possible lately.

I drove to a store 2-3h from where I’m living with the hope to buy another one. The customs all felt and look awesome. The not customs (I think they call it Core Line?) all had something they bugged me that I would not have normally expect from Suhr. Most of them had inconsistent fret end finish: some were not buffed and roughly finished, one was clean but weirdly enough, the bevel was kind on inconsistent (first time I saw that on a Suhr!), and some had the string very close to the fretboard edge which made the high E string fall off easily.

So I was very disappointed because I was there to spend a lot of money!!! The thing is that while these where not perfect, they are still much better than lots of Fender Custom shops I’ve tried. So it’s just that Suhr created very high expectations by making such perfect instrument at some point. So while I personally feel it went down a little bit, it’s not like they are bad. It’s just that the next Suhr I want, I want it to be as good as my other ones.

A small note on their customer service. Since I didn’t find a new Suhr I liked, I wanted to have one of mine modified (add humbucker and SSCII). I had other questions at the same time. I wrote to them early January. Someone wrote me pretty quickly at first but then everything interaction took them one week to come back. Which let me to still have my guitar ready to ship two months later without a plan. Then the person told me that they had 10 weeks delay. The person could have told me this early January so we could have at least reserve a spot while we were figuring out the details. So I’m assuming the person is new. Or that they are overwhelmed.

I realize my post is almost just ranting. Yes I’m a bit bitter. But in the end I think Suhr is just victim of its popularity. And John being a nice guy is surely trying to make things work and may not have realized that it’s a bit out of control. We all know John works on weekends to help solve issue and make sure it’s company is up to his standard. But there is probably a limit to that and maybe it has been reached.

I have faith that this is just temporary and that John will fix the issue. And please don’t see this as trolling, I really hope this will just help John correct some of the issues. If we don’t say these things, how will he know? His employees may not tell the big boss when there is issues. John being on TGP will likely see these post and it will make him aware of the issues so he can realign the ship.

Cheers everyone and stay tune for my NGD Suhr on few months!!!

 

[Husky]

This is a 3 year old thread and as far as I know everyone is happy. If there is a to do on this for you let me know. I'm on the floor daily and work with customers service. If there is a dealer that has some older guitars that need a going over we would be happy to work with them but we are certainly not rushing anything. Every day we are getting better and better.
Thanks

Similar experience here. I’m a huge Suhr fan and John built and incredible company.

But there is a consistency that is not there anymore. I went from buying a Suhr online without ever playing it to making sure I’m playing it before I buy it. And since I’m doing that, I didn’t buy any new Suhr (I had 3 and sold one lately).

To other Suhr fan, please don’t read this as trolling. I want Suhr guitars to go back to have flawless quality and buy more!!! But it’s just not possible lately.

I drove to a store 2-3h from where I’m living with the hope to buy another one. The customs all felt and look awesome. The not customs (I think they call it Core Line?) all had something they bugged me that I would not have normally expect from Suhr. Most of them had inconsistent fret end finish: some were not buffed and roughly finished, one was clean but weirdly enough, the bevel was kind on inconsistent (first time I saw that on a Suhr!), and some had the string very close to the fretboard edge which made the high E string fall off easily.

So I was very disappointed because I was there to spend a lot of money!!! The thing is that while these where not perfect, they are still much better than lots of Fender Custom shops I’ve tried. So it’s just that Suhr created very high expectations by making such perfect instrument at some point. So while I personally feel it went down a little bit, it’s not like they are bad. It’s just that the next Suhr I want, I want it to be as good as my other ones.

A small note on their customer service. Since I didn’t find a new Suhr I liked, I wanted to have one of mine modified (add humbucker and SSCII). I had other questions at the same time. I wrote to them early January. Someone wrote me pretty quickly at first but then everything interaction took them one week to come back. Which let me to still have my guitar ready to ship two months later without a plan. Then the person told me that they had 10 weeks delay. The person could have told me this early January so we could have at least reserve a spot while we were figuring out the details. So I’m assuming the person is new. Or that they are overwhelmed.

I realize my post is almost just ranting. Yes I’m a bit bitter. But in the end I think Suhr is just victim of its popularity. And John being a nice guy is surely trying to make things work and may not have realized that it’s a bit out of control. We all know John works on weekends to help solve issue and make sure it’s company is up to his standard. But there is probably a limit to that and maybe it has been reached.

I have faith that this is just temporary and that John will fix the issue. And please don’t see this as trolling, I really hope this will just help John correct some of the issues. If we don’t say these things, how will he know? His employees may not tell the big boss when there is issues. John being on TGP will likely see these post and it will make him aware of the issues so he can realign the ship.

Cheers everyone and stay tune for my NGD Suhr on few months!!!

 

[snooze]

This is a 3 year old thread and as far as I know everyone is happy. If there is a to do on this for you let me know. I'm on the floor daily and work with customers service. If there is a dealer that has some older guitars that need a going over we would be happy to work with them but we are certainly not rushing anything. Every day we are getting better and better.
Thanks

It’s a 3 years old thread that @MISCONFESS replied to today (I got a noticed cause I was following this thread) and I was just replying to him since I don’t think it grands a thread. I see this as a conversation between two customer.

@Husky I think I’ve mentioned how I appreciate what you guys are doing. I just felt it was a good thing to bring this to your attention.

I think @MISCONFESS deleted his post. I can do the same if you want to. I would understand avoiding bad press. But I thought you would like knowing these situation.

 

[Husky]

You don't have to delete anything, I was looking for the other persons post you replied to and couldn't find it. What you are describing for that store is very unusual and I'd like to have my guys get to the bottom of it.
If you are having an issue though you could just PM me and I'll see what I can do to make things right. I'm confused though is there a to do here? We did add two new people in to customer service so if there is a ticket that was lost in the transition we can fix that quick. Do you have a ticket?
Thanks

It’s a 3 years old thread that @MISCONFESS replied to today (I got a noticed cause I was following this thread) and I was just replying to him since I don’t think it grands a thread. I see this as a conversation between two customer.

@Husky I think I’ve mentioned how I appreciate what you guys are doing. I just felt it was a good thing to bring this to your attention.

I think @MISCONFESS deleted his post. I can do the same if you want to. I would understand avoiding bad press. But I thought you would like knowing these situation.