MartyGrass Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 My friend bought this H555 from Eddie's in St. Louis as "used" but new. Eddie's said a customer ordered it with some custom features. When the guitar arrived the customer refused it because the antique natural was darker than it should be for, well, antique natural. The customer took it home a couple of days but didn't play it. He brought it back with the plastic still on the pickups and looking unplayed. The salesman at Eddie's said they had to sell it used. I don't know what my friend paid. I looked at the guitar and could clearly spot the issue. The stinger is canted, and it should have been marked as a second. A few years ago a dealer I know received a Golden Eagle with the stinger skewed. When he complained Heritage gave him 20-25% off. That also is a great guitar otherwise. I don't believe the story from Eddie's about the finish. More likely, the customer saw the stinger and refused the guitar. Heritage provided Eddie's with a discount. Probably the salesman lied to my friend to make a sale. He's keeping the guitar despite the deceit. I know several folks who have been screwed over by Eddie's with Internet sales. Two of the other purchases that were defective Eddie's would only provide store credit, not a refund. Also, it's hard to imagine that the canted stinger would pass through Heritage's inspection. Here's the Golden Eagle stinger from a few years ago. Here's the new H555.
Blunote Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 I agree with you. The antique natural finish color looks fine. Still, I wonder if that stinger would still look canted if it were a one piece neck. It's hard to tell from here. Coud it be that the stinger is correct but the way the neck was carved and contoured causes the stinger to look off?
bolero Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 it does look like the 2 parallel seams are on a slight angle as you follow the neck...at the headstock there's about 1/4" less wood on the treble side but in any case, they should center the stinger between those OBVIOUS parallel lines on the neck hard to believe that got thru, you'd figure they'd do a quick refin on the headstock, even before they put the hardware on it??
MartyGrass Posted April 21, 2013 Author Posted April 21, 2013 The neck is fine. The angle of the pic distorts the appearance. The stinger isn't centered, that's all.
schundog Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 Brent had a bad experience with Eddies about a year ago, too, I believe. I haven't heard anything good about them.
Millennium Maestro Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 That's a damn nice guitar! I love Heritage guitars, imperfections and all.... I have also returned a brand new guitar for a undisclosed cosmetic flaw that also went through QC and I purchased from a reputable dealer that made it all good. I still to this day look for the guitar used because I really wanted the guitar but didn't want to deal with the timeline it would take to make it right(It was at the time heritage had the fire!)
TalismanRich Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 Sounds to me like a good reason to avoid the stingers.
brentrocks Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 i WOULDNT BUY A SET OF STRINGS FROM EDDIES....I BLAME EDDIES FOR TRYING TO SELL THAT GUITAR "AS NEW" OR NEW. AT LEAST THE NECK WASNT TWISTED LIKE THE ONE THEY SOLD ME. I DONT THINK THE STINGER IS THAT TERRIBLE. KNOWING THE BLOWOUT PRICES EDDIES USUALLY SELLS FOR, I THINK I COULD HAVE LOOKED PASSED IT....SOUNDS LIKE BUYERS REMORSE TO ME?
bolero Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 well at least you didn't end up with any HONEY Boo Boo on the gtr...that would have been a mess to clean up
SemiHalo Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 that is too bad. i have have good service and products from them for what it's worth.
MartyGrass Posted April 21, 2013 Author Posted April 21, 2013 My friend loves the guitar. He's had a ton of Heritages and is a loyal fan. The stinger doesn't bother him really. In fact he didn't notice it until I pointed it out. There is no doubt that the guitar was custom ordered. Look at the tuners and the ebony pegs, for example. The PG is ebony. The neck is 5 pieces. For some reason the guy who ordered it rejected it. I'll bet someone that finicky on the custom specs wouldn't accept a skewed stinger. Personally I don't care one way or another about stingers. But if I were to pay extra for one, which I wouldn't, I'd want it centered. I did buy the GE shown above with the goofy stinger. It didn't bother me because I bought it used and knew about the flaw in advance. BTW, the purchaser of this H555 is the NY distributor for Little Debbie.
MartyGrass Posted April 21, 2013 Author Posted April 21, 2013 i WOULDNT BUY A SET OF STRINGS FROM EDDIES....I BLAME EDDIES FOR TRYING TO SELL THAT GUITAR "AS NEW" OR NEW. AT LEAST THE NECK WASNT TWISTED LIKE THE ONE THEY SOLD ME. I DONT THINK THE STINGER IS THAT TERRIBLE. KNOWING THE BLOWOUT PRICES EDDIES USUALLY SELLS FOR, I THINK I COULD HAVE LOOKED PASSED IT....SOUNDS LIKE BUYERS REMORSE TO ME? No remorse. He hasn't even complained.
hinesarchtop Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 That striger makes it look as if the guitar is smirking. You almost have to try to get one that crooked. I'd take it if it was a killer guitar though. I had a Sweet 16 once that had several weird boo boos that was an absolutely great guitar. The outer neck laminations were off in thickness by about 1/8" from each other. The stringer was crooked. The rims were all over the map in height by a bunch. On the corner of the bass side lower bout the top dipped down into the crooked rim about 3/8". They just clamped the top down until it met the crooked sides and glued it. The guitar itself was tap tuned top and back with a floater and it sounded superb.
skydog52 Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 Not a deal breaker for me. Heritage seems to have trouble with stingers from time to time. My H-357 has a skewed stinger. Doesn't affect the tone one bit.
DC Ron Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 That 555 is a very fine looking guitar. Too bad about the stinger...
yoslate Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 Interesting. And I'm not making excuses for anyone; it's Heritage's job to get the little things right. But I've masked some guitars for refinishing of headstock breaks, which a stinger would help cover, given the difficulty in matching many finish colors, and it's a little more tricky than you might think. Sometimes we mask for a stinger, and just shoot the black. Masking the stinger so that it's symmetrical on a one piece neck is tricky enough. Often looks very different, once the masking tape is removed. I've had a pretty good success rate, but I go to great pains.
skydog Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I don't like stingers at all so that's just another reason to omit them to me!
bolero Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I dig the stingers, myself...I think I have 3 gtrs with them, they all look good
Guest HRB853370 Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 Sounds to me like a good reason to avoid the stingers. How does a canted stinger affect tone or playabilty?
MrB Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I used to live in The Lou, have been in Eddie's several times. The staff, particularly the blond guy who's often at the front counter, treat customers like unwashed masses who don't deserve to set foot in their sacred premises, let alone gaze at their instruments. Shop elsewhere, give your business to someone who deserves it. Mr B
2bornot2bop Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I used to live in The Lou, have been in Eddie's several times. The staff, particularly the blond guy who's often at the front counter, treat customers like unwashed masses who don't deserve to set foot in their sacred premises, let alone gaze at their instruments. Shop elsewhere, give your business to someone who deserves it. Mr B That guy sounds like the employee who did his best not to assist when I called them about an amp. He had the sales presence of a knat.
heritagefan7 Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 Marty, sounds like your friend is a good cat---He lives in reality and deals with it well, appreciates great works of art, and is into high quality pasteries! Those of some of the finer things in lif! congrats to him on the NGD and the savings on a beautiful guitar.
SouthpawGuy Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 He had the sales presence of a knat. Must remember that one for future use. Thanks.
H Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 Must remember that one for future use. Thanks. It reminded me if an old Glaswegian friend of mine who once remarked on someone he knew as having 'all the charm and presence of a week-old jobbie'
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