# NGD: Suhr Modern 7 -BURL top with Epic Fails-



## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

Finally here and ready for this, are you?

After huge problems and waiting I got this baby home. This is my 5th Suhr Modern and 3rd 7-String with this company so expectations were high. 10 months ago I ordered this baby and its finally home.

This time I selected all what I have always wanted, phenomenal top, Cocobolo neck and this supposed to be the guitar for a lifetime. I got chance to select the Burl top of couple pictures and I selected very nice and unique top. Estimate waiting time was about 3 months and guitar should have been ready in last November-December.
There was some problems with Cocobolo during the autumn and I don't even know why the guitar just got late and late and when Christmas came and I asked about the guitar, it wasn't even started yet.

I personally sent messages to Suhr company and they promised that they will put guitar to some kind of hot-list and it will be ready as soon as possible. They have been busy with their Factory party and something, nice. So at this point guitar was already late month or two. 
Month later I asked about some update and they haven't started it yet, all started to sound like nightmare.

It was end of the March when I got message from Suhr that they had screwed up with my selected top and they had to redo it. I was very angry at this point but they suggested a new top what was just phenomenal. After week I got new message where they told me that the new top was destroyed or something and I had to select another one again. After all this mess I was so tired that I just selected one what was OK but still the worst of these three tops. I didnt even care was guitar coming or not, disappointment was huge.

25th of June guitar finally came. After 10 months waiting and fighting its here. This was absolutely biggest mistake of my life, if I had known about all of this mess and waiting I would not have ordered this one. Suhr gave me discount of this but after all this it was ridiculously small as side of fact that I had to buy a new 7-string during this spring because this was late and wait 7 extra month.
Luckily this is my 4th Suhr Custom shop and I have had big problems with every order so maybe its time for me change brand. 
As same time when my guitar got late and was still in hot-list they did some new orders what they got. And luckily they got their guitars in 2-3 moths and I was still waiting! 
From TGP forum: "I ordered it January 29th and received it this Monday. About 3 months wait! Not bad at all  "

This was not the first but absolutely the last Suhr for me!


But after all of this here she is!















































Sorry for the shit pics, took with my Samsung :/

Specs:

Suhr Modern 7
Basswood body
Burl Maple Top
Trans Blue Denim Slate finish
Black back
Cocobolo neck
Cocobolo fb 16"
Custom neck profile, Petrucci style C-shape
24 SS-Jumbo frets
Black Hardware
Hipshot bridge
Suhr(Hipshot) locking tuners
Suhr Hot-7 pickups
3 way toggle switch

Guitar is phenomenal, first flawless Suhr for me. Sounds and feels great in every way.
But like I said, this was so huge disappointment for me 

Sorry about my bad english!

Cheers
-Kunu


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## LolloBlaskhyrt (Jun 25, 2014)

DAT ... EVERYTHING! congrats dude!


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## Kullerbytta (Jun 25, 2014)

That's too damn bad, man... I feel for you.
If I specced out my dream guitar I wouldn't settle for anything that deviants from the specs I had ordered. 

I hope someone buys it off of you, bro.

Edit:


LolloBlaskhyrt said:


> DAT ... EVERYTHING! _*congrats dude*_!



lol, have you read his post?


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## Pikka Bird (Jun 25, 2014)

I think it's that type of finish that's cursed. The last Suhr NGD thread I read where it had that kinda blue-washed finish on wild maple (although his was a lot lighter) described loads of similar problems with starting the build late, starting over, seeing other people get their guitars within a couple of months after placing the order, even though his was promised to be getting priority. The quality may be there, but the organisation seems to be severely lacking. Sorry to hear that, man.


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## Nag (Jun 25, 2014)

Kunu said:


> Luckily this is my 4th Suhr Custom shop and I have had big problems with every order so maybe its time for me change brand. "




It took you 4 problematic orders to change your mind ? Brand dedication at its finest 

The guitar looks nice though. HNGD but it's too bad about all the issues...


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

Nagash said:


> It took you 4 problematic orders to change your mind ? Brand dedication at its finest



I just like these guitars so much and Suhr customer service made me to believe that all my problems were very rare. But after all these problems and problems what other customers had just makes sure that these are common issues. I hope all the best for Suhr and hope they lear about these mistakes.


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## noob_pwn (Jun 25, 2014)

really sorry to hear about the issues you had, but at that same time that guitar looks ....ing unreal


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

noob_pwn said:


> really sorry to hear about the issues you had, but at that same time that guitar looks ....ing unreal



Guitar is absolutely the best 7-string what I have ever played but my feelings are so bad for this that I hate it.
Best looking guitar what I have seen and the top is unreal but I just dont want to play Suhr guitars longer. I put all my other Suhr guitars for sale at the same time.

Tom Anderson, here I come!


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## Ammusa (Jun 25, 2014)

Don't sell her before I lay my dirty hands on her


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## Jonathan20022 (Jun 25, 2014)

That's a shame about the wait time, that can be the most upsetting part about getting a custom guitar. Quoted times and then you have to wait well past the given time frame.

Do you have any pictures of the previous "better" tops? That honestly looks fantastic to me, but I wonder how much better the previous ones were. And yeah man, if you like the build quality and customer service I'd say start buying models that are in stock already so you don't have to wait for one. Either way HNGD!


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## cardinal (Jun 25, 2014)

Sorry that you had all the delays, but think about it this way: if Suhr didn't offer the exotic options like that burl top in a funky finish (which looks difficult to apply, particularly to a top like that) and a neck like that, the delay probably would not have happened. But Suhr does offer those options, so you just have to roll with the punches if they run into some issues along the way. Much better to have delayed the build than to have delivered a guitar with a poorly finished top or an unstable neck.

I'd just try give it a few days and you may see the situation a bit differently.

EDIT: and I guess it's a bit late now, of course, but I wouldn't have accepted a top that I didn't like, period. I know it would have delayed the build even further, but if the third top wasn't good enough, I would have told Suhr that I wouldn't accept it and that they needed to present some different ones to pick from.


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## lewstherin006 (Jun 25, 2014)

Congrats bro! This thing is amazing! I understand waiting that long can spoil the event of actually getting it. I think it turned out amazing!


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## Zado (Jun 25, 2014)

The guitar looks glorious,but the whole story was nothing but a shame.Also,considering you live in Finland,I can imagine the crazy money you spent for this adventure.


I'd be curious to see some pics of the "phenomenal yet destroyed" top,if possible.


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

Zado said:


> The guitar looks glorious,but the whole story was nothing but a shame.Also,considering you live in Finland,I can imagine the crazy money you spent for this adventure.
> 
> 
> I'd be curious to see some pics of the "phenomenal yet destroyed" top,if possible.



Shhhhh, dont tell anything about the price for my wife 
I have those pics of those tops but I think I am not allowed to showe these here. I heard thoso are like State seacrets


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

cardinal said:


> and I guess it's a bit late now, of course, but I wouldn't have accepted a top that I didn't like, period. I know it would have delayed the build even further, but if the third top wasn't good enough, I would have told Suhr that I wouldn't accept it and that they needed to present some different ones to pick from.



I know, it was my mistake when I just gave up and took what I got. I was so tired and frustrated and like I said, I didnt even care was it coming or not at that point.

But there is not good explanation for this delaying if the guitar really was in some kind of Hot priority-list.


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

cardinal said:


> Sorry that you had all the delays, but think about it this way: if Suhr didn't offer the exotic options like that burl top in a funky finish (which looks difficult to apply, particularly to a top like that) and a neck like that, the delay probably would not have happened. But Suhr does offer those options, so you just have to roll with the punches if they run into some issues along the way. Much better to have delayed the build than to have delivered a guitar with a poorly finished top or an unstable neck.



So does Mayones and other hi end brands. They have burl, cocobolo and even more exotic options. If you cant work with some wood, dont even offer that. This is just my opinnion and Yes, I was a HUGE SUHR FANBOY.


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## ikarus (Jun 25, 2014)

epic!!!


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Jun 25, 2014)

That's so bad to have gone through all that waiting and rebuilds and it not to turn out like you wanted. That really sucks, but FWIW it does look like a great guitar. Very beautiful stain and the top is gorgeous. At least you got it and it is in good shape. There are worse stories, but I don't blame you for never wanting to go through that with them again. At least you didn't order a BRJ......


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## MetalDaze (Jun 25, 2014)

^ Exactly. I understand the disappointment of waiting for rebuilds and watching others get guitars first, but in the grand scheme of things, it appears Suhr took care of you.

It's certainly much better than the horror stories of either waiting years and never receiving a guitar or getting it with a bunch of flaws with little hope of getting a rebuild. 

I'm glad it turned out well and it is really beautiful.


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## technomancer (Jun 25, 2014)

Unfortunate Facts of Life:

1) Cocobolo was added to the CITES list so they probably had to find a certified piece so they could ship the guitar to you
2) Burls are a bitch to work with and can splinter and break much more easily when doing a bent top like Suhr uses which it sounds like is what happened to you

It's unfortunate your guitar was delayed, but it looks like you got an amazing instrument and were well taken care of


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## cardinal (Jun 25, 2014)

Kunu said:


> So does Mayones and other hi end brands. They have burl, cocobolo and even more exotic options. If you cant work with some wood, dont even offer that. This is just my opinnion and Yes, I was a HUGE SUHR FANBOY.



But do you know if Mayones and others ever experience delivery delays because of difficulties with working with those woods or how long their wait times are? I honestly have no idea, but I understand that those woods are just difficult to deal with. 

What I definitely would find frustrating is that if they told you that your guitar had been fast-tracked but they hadn't even started it? That doesn't make any sense, and I'd be pretty upset if they were just telling you something untrue to get you to stop complaining about their blown deadline.


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## decreebass (Jun 25, 2014)

BRo - you sound like me with Carvin lol! I keep having issues but I keep ordering. I haven't been completely satisfied with a single guitar (and I have 5 of theirs) but I keep ordering lol. 

Anyway, from an outsider's perspective, that is a beautiful guitar - I can see how you'd be disappointed though. I think for as much as it cost, I'd expect a little better. Something about it just doesn't seem up to par for Suhr. I dunno. Anyway, good luck next time 

Question: Do you own any Music Mans? I curious as to the quality difference and feel/build quality between Suhr and EBMM. I imagine it can't be that much different, but I have been known to be wrong.


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

technomancer said:


> Unfortunate Facts of Life:
> 
> 1) Cocobolo was added to the CITES list so they probably had to find a certified piece so they could ship the guitar to you
> 2) Burls are a bitch to work with and can splinter and break much more easily when doing a bent top like Suhr uses which it sounds like is what happened to you
> ...



Suhr told me about the cites list month after ordering and we decided to change it to Pau Ferro. Month later I asked about Cocobolo in some forum and I got answer that Suhr is still offering it for new order. I had to find out that on my own amd Suhr didn even told me that they got it back for orders.

About the body! Suhr people told me at the beginning of March that body is ready and waiting for the neck curving to custom neck shape. After 4 weeks and I got message that neck is now ready. Seriously, it took 4 weeks to do custom neck shape??? 
And at the same time they told me that body is not perfect and they have to redo it. So body was 4 weeks waiting in the factory and when neck was ready they found out problems with top? This is just unreal! 
I didnt know should I cry or laugh 

Guitar was ready end of May. They knew that I have been waiting for it long time and they didnt even send it fast to dealer, it took week to send it and week for transport to dealer. 

I got guitar month after when it was ready


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

decreebass said:


> Question: Do you own any Music Mans? I curious as to the quality difference and feel/build quality between Suhr and EBMM. I imagine it can't be that much different, but I have been known to be wrong.



Thanks for your support! 

I had EBMM JP7 several months ago in my opinnion there are no big differents. They both are very high quality guitars, but Suhrs are made little bit better I think. I really liked my Music Man and if someone have Petrucci Koa 7 I would be more than interested to change it for this.


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## yellowv (Jun 25, 2014)

I just don't get this post. Yes there were a lot of issues and delays involved .... Which are quite common for exotic custom builds. Yet the build time wasn't astronomical, they did compensate you and you say the guitar is flawless and the best you have played. Shit happens. They made it right. Would you have rathered get it quicker with flaws? I can see if it arrived and was a letdown, but you are making it a letdown for the sole reason of some delays. It's perfect just enjoy the thing.


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

yellowv said:


> I just don't get this post. Yes there were a lot of issues and delays involved .... Which are quite common for exotic custom builds. Yet the build time wasn't astronomical, they did compensate you and you say the guitar is flawless and the best you have played. Shit happens. They made it right. Would you have rathered get it quicker with flaws? I can see if it arrived and was a letdown, but you are making it a letdown for the sole reason of some delays. It's perfect just enjoy the thing.



Thats your opinion and I respect that. 

The way they just promised me lot and did everything just in the other way makes me pissed of. If waiting time is around 3 month and it turned to 10, someone would have been happy with that but I am not. And at the same time some other customers get their guitar In 2-3 months and my guitar is just waiting there for a miracle. 

And after all there have been mistakes in all my orders so my limit is full now.


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## yellowv (Jun 25, 2014)

IMO expecting a 3 month build time on an exotic wood full custom is ludicrous. Especially an international order. I once shipped a guitar overseas and had it sit in customs for two months, but if they quoted you that then shame on them. But they made it right and refunded you money. If you were that unhappy you should have cancelled the order and asked for a refund. I see no sense crying over spilled milk. You got a killer guitar. 10 months isn't long. Guys wait years for customs. Imagine if you were a BRJ customer.


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## littledoc (Jun 25, 2014)

Kunu said:


> Guitar is absolutely the best 7-string what I have ever played but my feelings are so bad for this that I hate it.
> Best looking guitar what I have seen and the top is unreal but I just dont want to play Suhr guitars longer. I put all my other Suhr guitars for sale at the same time.
> 
> Tom Anderson, here I come!



I'm so confused. "Best looking guitar I've ever seen, best playing guitar I've ever played  I just HATE it!"


Well, sorry you're disappointed dude. To each their own. I think it looks phenomenal and no doubt someone will be eager to snatch it second-hand.


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## Kunu (Jun 25, 2014)

littledoc said:


> I'm so confused. "Best looking guitar I've ever seen, best playing guitar I've ever played &#8212; I just HATE it!"
> 
> 
> Well, sorry you're disappointed dude. To each their own. I think it looks phenomenal and no doubt someone will be eager to snatch it second-hand.



Guitar is good in every way but every time I play with it, it reminds me of this mess and the way they took care of this. Its just my opinion and its the only one what matters for me.
I cant support company after this kind of experiences and I do not want play with their products.

Maybe I have too high expectations after dealing with Ruokangas Guitars and Mayones.


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## littledoc (Jun 25, 2014)

Kunu said:


> Guitar is good in every way but every time I play with it, it reminds me of this mess and the way they took care of this. Its just my opinion and its the only one what matters for me.



So, it's sort of like having a totally awesome plasma TV that your ex-wife bought you, and every time you watch it, even though it has the best damn picture you've ever seen, you just think of your ex-wife and how she ran off with that guy Sergio. 

My advice man, it's just a f'in guitar. It's a thing. A piece of wood with strings on it. It's not a vessel for karma. Don't get rid of it yet. Give it a few months to let your personal feelings about the company subside. If it still eats you up in a few months' time, sell the guitar. Chances are though, you'll just put all that crap behind you and enjoy your totally awesome plasma TV... uh, I mean, guitar.


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## Skrapmetal (Jun 25, 2014)

If the guitar is the best-playing 7 you've ever played, maybe it would be a good idea to stick it in a case and put it away for six months or a year.

Then come back to it when you are less worked up over the drama that it took to get it? Would be a shame to get rid of what you consider the best 7 you've had just because it was a hassle to get it.

Trying to be as polite as possible, but there are a lot of people on this board who would go through everything you did and ten times more to get their hands on that guitar, and they would cherish it forever.

Don't let your bitterness blind you to your blessings.


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## Santuzzo (Jun 25, 2014)

Congrats! This looks fantastic!  absolutely amazing.

Sorry though, to hear about the hassle you had to go through to get this guitar.


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## 1b4n3z (Jun 26, 2014)

yellowv said:


> IMO expecting a 3 month build time on an exotic wood full custom is ludicrous. Especially an international order. I once shipped a guitar overseas and had it sit in customs for two months, but if they quoted you that then shame on them. But they made it right and refunded you money. If you were that unhappy you should have cancelled the order and asked for a refund. I see no sense crying over spilled milk. You got a killer guitar. 10 months isn't long. Guys wait years for customs. Imagine if you were a BRJ customer.



You don't suppose a high end custom guitar manufacturer should rely on "not being BRJ" as a marketing strategy*. A hefty price tag signals many things, but that should not be one of them, surely  There were many examples throughout the story where a _returning_ customer felt like being swept aside for more important matters and that is simply a disastrous policy for an upscale, premium manufacturer in any business. Sure, if that's how they want to play it, fine. Hopefully they don't see the international aspect as a justification for shoddy communication and delivery, as that is something quite a few potential customer would really like to know beforehand. 

* Quoting unrealistic delivery times is not, in and of itself, un-BRJ behaviour


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## DraggAmps (Jun 26, 2014)

Sorry to hear about your issues, man. I definitely think a lot of it was related to the wood and the difficult finish etc. That's the thing, Suhr will not ship you something that's not perfect and exactly what you ordered. They scrap tons of wood and projects and they start over all the time to guarantee you get the most perfect and stable guitar you can get. It was probably a challenging project but while, if you explained things correctly/accurately, it seems like they kinda dropped the ball on the customer service end, I'm sure they were still concerned and they only wanted you to be satisfied. It's kind of a testament to how much they care about giving you the best product they can. You should consider how much money in materials they may have scrapped to give you what you wanted. They could have scrapped an entire guitar because the finish didn't look right. Ultimately you got what you want and honestly, this is what you might have to deal with to get your dream instrument and to get a guitar from one of the best builders in the world.



decreebass said:


> BRo - you sound like me with Carvin lol! I keep having issues but I keep ordering. I haven't been completely satisfied with a single guitar (and I have 5 of theirs) but I keep ordering lol.
> 
> Anyway, from an outsider's perspective, that is a beautiful guitar - I can see how you'd be disappointed though. I think for as much as it cost, I'd expect a little better. Something about it just doesn't seem up to par for Suhr. I dunno. Anyway, good luck next time
> 
> Question: Do you own any Music Mans? I curious as to the quality difference and feel/build quality between Suhr and EBMM. I imagine it can't be that much different, but I have been known to be wrong.




My main 7 is an EBMM JPXI-7 and my main 6 is a Suhr Modern. I've owned a couple of each and played a bunch of each as well. Until my first Suhr, EBMM was probably the best thing I had ever played. They're incredible guitars, as you know. They have different vibes and they're just very different overall. EBMM's are like Ferrari's in their construction in the sense that they hardly feel like a piece of wood. Everything is so molded and contoured with the very deep and perfect pain jobs. It's just different than a Suhr that feels like a living, breathing instrument. I don't know what else I'd call a Suhr other than a Ferrari, too, though, because they're also just so perfect and perform so well.

I don't even know why I'm trying to explain this, i'm just rambling and it's just something you have to try for yourself. They're kind of like both the masters of their styles. I think if you love EBMM for their perfection, tone, and playability, then it's hard to not love Suhr. They're my two favorite brands because I'm so big on perfection and fit and finish. 

But finally, to answer your question (and I know you didn't ask ME this question), I think Suhr is just better, really. They're so different and perfect in their own way that it's hard to compare, but I think Suhr is just the masters of guitar building. Probably the most consistently perfect brand ever. Watch some of the videos that people have made of tours of Suhr's factor and EBMM's factory and you can maybe get a feel for it, but I think more time and prep and patience goes into a Suhr. It's not that EBMM's aren't perfect most of the time, but Suhr's always seem to be flawlessly built and incredibly stable and consistent. They always feel right, they stay in tune better than anything else I've ever played. Their wood choices and craftsmanship is just on another level, in my opinion. I guess one way to put it is that EBMM makes a very nearly perfect instrument every time and it's flawless to the point that every one in a given model will pretty much be the exact same thing and you can hardly tell the differences between two of them, which is a good thing. But Suhr makes a perfect instrument that you can literally find no flaws with but each one seems as if the different pieces of wood were destined only for each other and every guitar is like a different piece of art. They will all feel the same (with the same specs) but have a different vibe.

Maybe this isn't the right way to put it, but Suhr is like the best craftsmen on earth built it, whereas EBMM is like the best engineer on earth designed the best machine on earth to built them. Not that EBMM doesn't feel hand made and unique. Sorry to struggle through explaining it. Ultimately, I think a bit more care, time, patience, skill, etc goes into building a Suhr and they're slightly on a higher level of craftsmanship and often playability.


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## cardinal (Jun 26, 2014)

yellowv said:


> IMO expecting a 3 month build time on an exotic wood full custom is ludicrous. Especially an international order. I once shipped a guitar overseas and had it sit in customs for two months, but if they quoted you that then shame on them. But they made it right and refunded you money. If you were that unhappy you should have cancelled the order and asked for a refund. I see no sense crying over spilled milk. You got a killer guitar. 10 months isn't long. Guys wait years for customs. Imagine if you were a BRJ customer.



Eh, if Suhr told him that the guitar would be built in 3 months, seems pretty reasonable to expect it to take 3 months and not 10.


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## Humbuck (Jun 26, 2014)

I once ordered a Les Paul replica that was supposed to take a few months...it took over 5 years.


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## Kunu (Jun 26, 2014)

cardinal said:


> Eh, if Suhr told him that the guitar would be built in 3 months, seems pretty reasonable to expect it to take 3 months and not 10.



The estimate buildingtime for customs is about 3 months. And I had slot for September production. They moved it to October and finally to December. Suhr customer service sent me an email in November and they were sorry about all this mess. They promised that guitar will be in production in December, they knew that guitar was late then already 2 months. At the same time they said it will be ready VERY SOON, late Fanuary or beginning of February.
But when in was February and I asked about this, guitar was not even started yet.


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## fps (Jun 26, 2014)

Ech nevermind.


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## infernalservice (Jun 26, 2014)

Suhr build times are extremely dependent on what dealer you go through. Many of them pre-purchase build slots, allowing some customers to use those slots to "jump the line" and minimize build times. Exotic specs can sort of override that though. I had a hot list modern 7 built and had it in 3.5 months, but I was pretty standard in specs.


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## Kunu (Jun 26, 2014)

infernalservice said:


> Suhr build times are extremely dependent on what dealer you go through. Many of them pre-purchase build slots, allowing some customers to use those slots to "jump the line" and minimize build times. Exotic specs can sort of override that though. I had a hot list modern 7 built and had it in 3.5 months, but I was pretty standard in specs.



3.5 is ok and Its pretty standard. There is no explanation for delaying this badly thought there was exotic top.


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## HighGain510 (Jun 26, 2014)

technomancer said:


> Unfortunate Facts of Life:
> 
> 1) Cocobolo was added to the CITES list so they probably had to find a certified piece so they could ship the guitar to you
> 2) Burls are a bitch to work with and can splinter and break much more easily when doing a bent top like Suhr uses which it sounds like is what happened to you
> ...



This. I was going to point out both of these items but it seems techno beat me to it!  The reason they're likely still building with Cocobolo and you see it on forums is because it's NOT that they can't use it, it's that they can't send it to you in Finland once it's done without risking customs confiscating your guitar, so they just won't build one for YOU. That's no reason to get mad at them, that's not really in their control.  I'm sure they would love to have given you one with Cocobolo but with the current legal restrictions on that species of wood, that's a no-go just like Brazilian Rosewood was placed on the CITES list much sooner than Cocobolo, pretty soon other stuff like Honduran Mahogany and various species of ebony will be listed as well. Time to accept it, it's already started happening.  

Burl can be a major pain in the ass to work with due to blow outs in the top when doing a bent or carved top. Just a simple fact of working with the wood. Doesn't happen every time, but it seems the tooling they use is more prone to seeing it. Maybe it doesn't happen as often with the smaller guys like Mayones but they're also not using large CNC stuff to keep their guitars more controlled and consistent overall, maybe that's one of the small benefits of doing more of the top shaping by hand if you want to think of it that way. This is at least the third time I've seen an order with a burl top get scrapped and re-started. Just one of those things you need to accept if you HAVE to have a burl top from Suhr, you might be unlucky and have to wait longer if they botch the top unfortunately. 



Kunu said:


> Guitar is absolutely the best 7-string what I have ever played but my feelings are so bad for this that I hate it.
> Best looking guitar what I have seen and the top is unreal but I just dont want to play Suhr guitars longer. I put all my other Suhr guitars for sale at the same time.
> 
> Tom Anderson, here I come!



It's ABSOLUTELY THE BEST 7 string you've ever played, but you're going to throw it away to go with another similar brand and enjoy this whole process again?  I just find it funny because Andersons are great guitars, but if you think they're going to deliver *faster* than Suhr and have *ZERO delays* and always meet the estimated deadline (note: I don't think Suhr EVER states it's a *GUARANTEED* date, it's ALWAYS an *ESTIMATE*... just like Carvin gives an 8-10, or maybe more these days, week estimate for their builds... those can run 12+ weeks and you can't do a thing but wait!), you need to do some more internet forum browsing so you're not disappointed with Anderson and order 4 of those just to end up selling them when you run into the same issue. 

Honestly I don't want to bash guys who get a few bumps in the road on a custom order, but seriously 3-6 months on a build is NOTHING. I had to wait 22+ months for my VERY FIRST TRUE CUSTOM GUITAR. I didn't say a peep. By comparison, the nearly-instant gratification these days for custom builds from guys like Suhr and the like is astounding. I've waited 3-6 months before for guitars that were scheduled for 8-12 week builds, and while the wait time can seem unbearable at the time, it's a drop in the bucket by comparison to other builders, really. 

You should try emailing Tom Anderson and let them know you want them to build a 7 string with the identical specs as this one and let me know if they give you a 3 month *guaranteed* wait time.  I'd be willing to bet they can't and won't give you anything nearly that fast and I wouldn't be surprised if the estimated date slipped as well.  

The fact that you got an amazing guitar from Suhr with a bit of hassle and some added wait is definitely annoying, so I totally get you there, but if the guitar is as good as you say it is you should really focus your energy on playing and loving the guitar itself and less on you having to wait an extra few months on the build and wanting to offload all your Suhrs now, that just seems silly.  I've had custom guitars that slipped the wait time by a substantial amount of time previously so I know exactly how you feel, but in most cases it didn't diminish how much I loved the instrument upon completion when the finished guitars were awesome.


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## Kunu (Jun 26, 2014)

HighGain510 said:


> You should try emailing Tom Anderson and let them know you want them to build a 7 string with the identical specs as this one and let me know if they give you a 3 month *guaranteed* wait time.  I'd be willing to bet they can't and won't give you anything nearly that fast and I wouldn't be surprised if the estimated date slipped as well.
> 
> The fact that you got an amazing guitar from Suhr with a bit of hassle and some added wait is definitely annoying, so I totally get you there, but if the guitar is as good as you say it is you should really focus your energy on playing and loving the guitar itself and less on you having to wait an extra few months on the build and wanting to offload all your Suhrs now, that just seems silly.  I've had custom guitars that slipped the wait time by a substantial amount of time previously so I know exactly how you feel, but in most cases it didn't diminish how much I loved the instrument upon completion when the finished guitars were awesome.



They just didnt treated me like the other customers and promised much more than they did. I am not angry for this 10 months waiting, my last Suhr took 16 months. 
I would have be more than happy with this waitingtime if I know that they did their best for this but let just stick to the facts, 4 weeks for necks reshaping? 

I am thinking if this was in a Hot list, is the some kind of hotter list, hellfire list? ExtraHot list?


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## MikeH (Jun 26, 2014)

As shitty as your situation with the company has been, that thing is phenomenal looking.


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## infernalservice (Jun 26, 2014)

Kunu said:


> I am thinking if this was in a Hot list, is the some kind of hotter list, hellfire list? ExtraHot list?



Yes, it's called an artist endorsement


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## Soilent1 (Jun 26, 2014)

First off, I would do dirty shit alone with that guitar! Beautiful build. Secondly, I think you are acting like a whiny bitch! Any guitar worth a .... takes at least a year... Jackson, Esp, black machine etc. Just play the Damn thing and enjoy it! 

I ordered a custom neck from Chris woods that was quoted 3 months. After messing up my order twice I finally got it 2.5 years later! This is a ....ing neck we are talking about too... Just be pleased that it turned out so nice.


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## yellowv (Jun 26, 2014)

I think your expectations are just totally off. I had to send my N7 back to the Washburn CS for a neck replacement. I was quoted 3 months for a neck to be built. This was just a standard maple neck. 3 months later the guitar hadn't been touched. Finally after about 4 months they finally replaced the whole guitar. It was an F up, but it's still an awesome guitar. Fact is it could have taken 3 months for the guitar to get through customs and get to you. There is no way they guaranteed a 3 month delivery time. They had setbacks. Would you have preferred getting the guitar shipped to you with a flawed top? They made sure they did it right.


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## Metaldestroyerdennis (Jun 26, 2014)

IS THE NECK PERFECT? Rosewoods are hard to carve because of the oils in them. They gum up tools. If the neck is perfect then four months IMO is not that bad, considering the price you paid. I do agree about the top, I would have asked for more options.

HOWEVER, keep in mind that more than one customer buys guitars from Suhr, and if they dropped everything to finish your guitar no one would get any guitars. I know as a customer it's easy to feel like it's your right to have priority, but there are other orders in too and since yours had ridiculous specs, they probably were cranking out the easy guitars in the meantime while they were getting frustrated over yours.


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## cardinal (Jun 26, 2014)

^ (Soilent1) that's a bit much. It boils down to this: I think the OP believes the company straight-faced lied to him when it told him the guitar was fast-tracked yet they didn't even start building it. It's not whiny to have some self respect and feel that no matter how great the product, a company can't lie to people and expect to earn business.

Now, I kind of suspect that there were no intentional misstatements. I've spoken with Suhr a few times and by all accounts he seems like a great guy. I don't know why a guitar that was supposedly fast-tracked took so long to even start, but as others said it may have something to do with sourcing the right woods to comply with CITES. Suhr very well may have "fast tracked" the guitar build once it sourced wood that could actually be exported and that they were looking as hard as they could for the right source of the wood. And working with burl wood looks like a nightmare.

EDIT: when I ordered a guitar from Tom Anderson, I think the build slipped a month or so? I can't really remember, but I think it did. But it was no big deal.


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## Kunu (Jun 26, 2014)

cardinal said:


> ^ (Soilent1) that's a bit much. It boils down to this: I think the OP believes the company straight-faced lied to him when it told him the guitar was fast-tracked yet they didn't even start building it. It's not whiny to have some self respect and feel that no matter how great the product, a company can't lie to people and expect to earn business.



Amen, thanks


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## Thorerges (Jun 26, 2014)

Great guitar, sorry to hear about the delays.


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## DakiEnt (Jun 26, 2014)

I am as big a Suhr fan as anyone (own 4), but I did have a number of surprisingly similar problems with my last Suhr as I detailed in the last NGD I did on here. No question, in the end they build great guitars.

I think we've become so dissillusioned by all the horror stories of custom builds here on SSO that comments like "at least you got your guitar" and "it was only XX months late, thats nothing" have become common. Just because someone else had a _bigger_ turd in their sandwich than me doesn't make my little turd sandwich justifiable. It still isn't right.

I get that "stuff" happens, no problem, but when it becomes a _pattern_ then it becomes a concern. Is that the case with Suhr? I don't know. But I would much rather a company tell me the guitar will take 6 months and get it in 3 than the other way around.


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## yellowv (Jun 26, 2014)

I in no way agree with BS excuses and delays for no reason from any company, but IMO if your not prepared to wait and be ready to have some setbacks with a custom build then you should buy a production guitar. I have no desire to buy custom for just those reasons.


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## ramses (Jun 26, 2014)

Good to know. My plan is for Suhr to be my next custom ... but I had no idea that they were having issues with their lead time.

Is it just with guitars with difficult to source and difficult to stain woods? (I hope so).


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## technomancer (Jun 26, 2014)

ramses said:


> Good to know. My plan is for Suhr to be my next custom ... but I had no idea that they were having issues with their lead time.
> 
> Is it just with guitars with difficult to source and difficult to stain woods? (I hope so).



I love that a couple of guys have problems with delayed orders on forums (and we're talking nine months for this one once you remove the international shipping time) out of the dozens if not hundreds of customs Suhr ships per year and suddenly the company is "having problems with lead times". Stuff cracks me up.


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## xCaptainx (Jun 26, 2014)

9 month build for a custom with exotic wood from a company that's popular and pumps out a shit tone of work? That sounds incredible actually.


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## Promit (Jun 26, 2014)

Kunu said:


> let just stick to the facts, 4 weeks for necks reshaping?


Well, since you've brought this up twice - ALL Suhr necks take a month of production, and ALL Suhr necks are custom matched to their bodies. The reason it takes so long is they do the rough cut, then let it sit there for a few weeks, then go back and finish it. That way they are comfortable that there isn't some defect that will cause the neck to warp. J.S. talks about it in the factory tour videos. If something goes wrong with a neck build, delivery date automatically slides back a month and that's that. Suhr is, for the most part, quite happy to let delivery slide if something goes awry with the build.

Point is, the delay was not related to your neck carve.


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## Forkface (Jun 27, 2014)

How can you even complain when your guitar looks like that?
Sorry to hear about the delays and such, but i mean... 
look at it.

and every time you remember the issues just look at it again.


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## Kunu (Jun 27, 2014)

Promit said:


> Well, since you've brought this up twice - ALL Suhr necks take a month of production, and ALL Suhr necks are custom matched to their bodies. The reason it takes so long is they do the rough cut, then let it sit there for a few weeks, then go back and finish it. That way they are comfortable that there isn't some defect that will cause the neck to warp. J.S. talks about it in the factory tour videos. If something goes wrong with a neck build, delivery date automatically slides back a month and that's that. Suhr is, for the most part, quite happy to let delivery slide if something goes awry with the build.
> 
> Point is, the delay was not related to your neck carve.



In this case neck was cut and "ready" and curved to Suhr Elliptical shape and I asked if they can shave it little bit more to custom shape. So it took 4 weeks to take the neck and shave the curve little bit. If someone think that really takes so long I lift my hands up and give up.
Like I said, its not about the time I waited, its because they didnt do what they could/promised.


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## Promit (Jun 27, 2014)

You can have it done fast or done right. Suhr clearly did it right.


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## DraggAmps (Jun 27, 2014)

Kunu said:


> I would have be more than happy with this waitingtime if I know that they did their best for this but let just stick to the facts, 4 weeks for necks reshaping?



I'm just going on memory so I could be wrong, but I believe when Suhr build a neck, they glue up the blank, then let it set for forever... then they pull it off the shelf, take it to the band-saw and simply make the "relief cut", so it's still just a blank but it has a portion of the back cut out so that the blank is a little closer to the approximate thickness the neck will be after it's carved, but after this relief cut, they put it back up on the shelf for forever again... then they pull it back off the shelf and make sure it hasn't budged (warped, twisted, moved whatsoever). If it has changed at all after all this time, they start over with a new one. If it's still solid, then they finally begin work on the neck. All of this to make sure your incredibly nice neck will stay incredibly nice and stable over the years.

If they had to start fresh with the neck, the 4 weeks is the absolute minimum they could get it done it.

EDIT: Looks like Promit beat me to this explanation. 

But even if the four weeks was just to get the neck carve modified to your custom desires, I can see it. You really need to put yourself in their shoes and consider how a large custom guitar company like this operates. I can see these guys going "so customer service just told me that some guy wants build No. XXXXXX modified with a custom neck carve." "Aww shit, we better send it over Jim-Bob. He's really busy but I don't want to try to custom profile that expensive ass neck myself. Jim-Bob is the only one we can trust to customize a 7 string neck carve". So it gets sent over to some specialty master craftsman or whatever who's working on all of the other super high end exotic Suhr's and it sits for 20 days until he gets a chance to do the work. 

I have no idea if that's accurate, but I'm just saying they have a lot of stuff going on. Different people for guitars of this caliber, different departments that are trying to communicate and deal with all kinds of people who are also waiting on their guitars and they have to keep track of all kinds of stuff going on and try to stay as organized as possible while trying to carefully and slowly craft expensive guitars that are difficult to build and get as much done as possible while meeting every requirement and spec with only so many hours in a day. Maybe they messed up the first two tops and finally sent it over to add to the workload of some specialty dude who works on the hardest guitars and who works very slowly because of how nice they need to be, how difficult they are to build, etc. And probably every guitar said "specialty dude" has to work on is on the "hot list" and needs to be done ASAP, yet needs a lot of careful, slow work. There are just so many facets to the process. its not like John Suhr himself knowingly bold-faced lied to you simply because he's a dick and a bad businessman.


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## Kunu (Jun 27, 2014)

DraggAmps said:


> If they had to start fresh with the neck, the 4 weeks is the absolute minimum they could get it done it.



Like I said, only the recurving took 4 weeks, not the whole neck. Neck as a whole took much longer and I really understand this.


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## Kunu (Jun 27, 2014)

I think its time to turn the page and look forward and see some Suhr porn?
The whole process was disappointment but I just have to live with that.

Here you have, all taken with my Samsung Phone again, sorry for shitty quality. And for the cathair!  








































About the neck. Its very dark red with nice grain and I just don get that color and beuty shine for this pics but look at her.



























Here you have it. If you want more pics of some special angle, just let me know!
Thanks


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## HighGain510 (Jun 27, 2014)

See, THAT is what I'm talking about!!!  I get that the whole deal sucks when you get stuck waiting, but hot damn that thing came out _f_ucking PERFECT! I seriously hope you change your mind about offing your entire Suhr collection, that guitar looks incredible and knowing Suhrs it probably sounds and plays just as amazing. I LOVE my Suhr and outside of one Suhr I had not sounding amazing (thinking it was the choice of woods and pickup combo, I was not the person who spec'd it out haha), they've ALL been awesome guitars. Hopefully with time you'll forget about the hassle and just be able to enjoy that piece of playable art, she really is a stunner man!


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## Kwert (Jun 27, 2014)

I know the whole process was frustrating and upsetting to you but look at it this way:

Would you rather the thing be rushed along to fit within the quoted time and get to you with blemishes/problems so you'd just have to send it back and wait anyway?

Or would you rather they take the extra time and KNOW that they will push back the expected completion date to make sure the instrument is perfect for you? 

I know it's frustrating to be told one thing and then have something completely different happen, but I'd take comfort in knowing a company will do their absolute best in making sure the instrument that is coming to me is of the highest quality and construction possible, instead of just saying fvck it and sending me a guitar with 23 frets when I asked for 24.


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## SUHR_CS (Jun 27, 2014)

On behalf of everyone at Suhr Guitars, we want to issue a public apology to Kunu. It is true that we had a number of setbacks with Kunus build. We regret the effects of this build on our relationship. We understand that Kunu is upset and we are sorry for the mistakes we made on his build. When something goes wrong, we truly want to do the right thing. We are thankful to you, Kunu, for your business and loyalty over the years, as well as your open and honest communication during this difficult time. It helps us all learn and grow. Its our sincere hope that, in the future, we will have the opportunity to work with you again, and to rebuild our relationship. We will do everything in our power to find a way to put this behind us and move forward.


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## PBGas (Jun 27, 2014)

A beautiful instrument that was probably well worth the wait! God forbid if anyone says anything bad about Suhr, though. Nice to see their customer service explaining things. You don't get that often.


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## pylyo (Jun 27, 2014)

Suhr are on the SS! 

*I love mine Modern 7 the most of all in my collection!

*Just sayin'..
Sorry for offtopic but I couldn't resist.


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## wannabguitarist (Jun 27, 2014)

I know it's poisonous but I want to lick that neck


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## Promit (Jun 27, 2014)

Say what you will about the guitars or the companies or the ....ups, I really appreciate when a manufacturer is willing to step in to the community like that. Too many companies are totally deaf. It's one of the reasons I bought a Suhr, instead of the myriad others out there.


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## JasonT (Jun 28, 2014)

I totally get how the process can affect the way you feel about a guitar. It happened to me on a custom shop build, as well. 

All I can say is that is a phenomenal guitar! It looks fantastic, and a it appears that Suhr tried to make it right. I agree with others who suggested putting it away for awhile (if you're not over it) and come back to it. But don't sell it now if, as you said, it's the best 7 you've ever played.


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## s4tch (Jun 28, 2014)

Kunu said:


> I think its time to turn the page and look forward and see some Suhr porn?
> The whole process was disappointment but I just have to live with that.
> 
> *porn*
> ...



Man, you have all the reasons in the world to hate that guitar. Not only it is ugly and has a dreadful quality, no attention to detail, it has shitty hardware and I bet it sounds awful.

JK, it's a stunner. I could easily live with a longer build time if the end result would look like this.


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## fps (Jun 28, 2014)

Kunu said:


> I think its time to turn the page and look forward and see some Suhr porn?
> The whole process was disappointment but I just have to live with that.
> 
> Here you have, all taken with my Samsung Phone again, sorry for shitty quality. And for the cathair!
> ...



Yeah, just try and take your experience of getting your $3,000 guitar one day at a time man, time heals all.


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## Kunu (Jun 29, 2014)

fps said:


> Yeah, just try and take your experience of getting your $3,000 guitar one day at a time man, time heals all.



Yep, I wish it would have been only 3k$ 

But here is mooooore


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## ZeroS1gnol (Jun 29, 2014)

That's really a beatiful guitar! But complaining about the (mere couple of months) waiting with that tone? Its not a charming characteristic bro, you should lighten up a bit  Though I will agree it's dissapointing to see certain expectations not being delivered upon.


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## blckrnblckt (Jun 29, 2014)

Sorry for the disapointments during your wait. HNGD though


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## TraE (Jun 29, 2014)

On the plus side, you've now got a beautiful instrument. Rejoice, friend.


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## misingonestring (Jun 29, 2014)

An established guitar company made a mistake? Unacceptable

#boycottsuhr

Sexy guitar man.


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## saabmugen (Aug 29, 2014)

Just ordered mine through Rocket Music Inc. Just hope Suhr get it right the first time with my build........fingers crossed.


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