Gil Yaron 59 Replica Headstock Repair

[petethorn]

^The issue isn't if he's stealing from Gibson or making the best '59 LP clone; the issue is customer service. My guess is if I spent $10k on a Gibson guitar and it showed up on my doorstep looking like Steve's Yaron, I could call the dealer I bought it from, get an RMA and have another one in a couple of days. This motherfucker is selling $10k guitars, packing them like shit and then tells the customer to pound sand when it shows up busted?? He has got to be clearing at least $100k profit per year selling these things but he doesn't have the sense to pay for a repair or send him a new guitar?? I think anyone considering buying a guitar from this guy after knowing how Steve has been treated should have their head, dare I say soul examined I am a huge supporter of Israel but fuck this motherfucker

I was going to type something but I couldn't have said it better myself.

Screw Gil Yaron, what a douchebag!

As far as I am concearned, he should be sending a brand new guitar and taking care of the issue! Or at least fixing it!

Its insane that Steve has to send this guitar elsewhere for repair!!!

Jesus! Have you read the thread! The builder has offered to repair and compensate, refund in full or exchange for a new guitar!

Year that is what you think. That was posted by Gil after Steve was unable to get anything from him and had to send his guitar elsewhere.
How convinient that Gil arrives and makes all this promises.
Time will tell if is good for making a complete refund...

And when Gil says Steve demanded a new guitar so he could have 2 guitars?? Is he serious!?

You have a reputable builder, and Cliff at DAG who is a respected dealer and is universally well liked in the guitar world, stating publicly that they offered a full refund or a new guitar, if the broken one was returned.... and you are going to dismiss that, with a "we'll see" and skepticism? Think about it for a second- they have a lot to lose- you think they'd just say "tough shit" to Steve, and a week later turn around and lie about it on the net, and state they had offered a solution, when they really hadn't? Gimme a break. Use your heads.

 

[BYTOR]

3 sides to every story.....If this Gil dude was a scumbag everybody would have heard about it already.

It's obvious that Gil could have packaged the guitar better(double box,better case etc...) but this is how he has been doing it for years & he had it fully insured to the USA, & that is where his liability ends. The guitar should have been opened & inspected when it reached Steve's mothers house in the states.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I'm trying to wrap my head around spending $10,000 on a guitar. If someone can, then good for them. I guess even if I could, with two small children, I don't think I could spend that much on one guitar.

 

[rcm78]

^The issue isn't if he's stealing from Gibson or making the best '59 LP clone; the issue is customer service. My guess is if I spent $10k on a Gibson guitar and it showed up on my doorstep looking like Steve's Yaron, I could call the dealer I bought it from, get an RMA and have another one in a couple of days. This motherfucker is selling $10k guitars, packing them like shit and then tells the customer to pound sand when it shows up busted?? He has got to be clearing at least $100k profit per year selling these things but he doesn't have the sense to pay for a repair or send him a new guitar?? I think anyone considering buying a guitar from this guy after knowing how Steve has been treated should have their head, dare I say soul examined I am a huge supporter of Israel but fuck this motherfucker

I was going to type something but I couldn't have said it better myself.

Screw Gil Yaron, what a douchebag!

As far as I am concearned, he should be sending a brand new guitar and taking care of the issue! Or at least fixing it!

Its insane that Steve has to send this guitar elsewhere for repair!!!

Jesus! Have you read the thread! The builder has offered to repair and compensate, refund in full or exchange for a new guitar!

Year that is what you think. That was posted by Gil after Steve was unable to get anything from him and had to send his guitar elsewhere.
How convinient that Gil arrives and makes all this promises.
Time will tell if is good for making a complete refund...

And when Gil says Steve demanded a new guitar so he could have 2 guitars?? Is he serious!?

Yes, I believe Gil is serious. Steve said he was trying to get two guitars out of this deal himself. Steve also said Gil wanted him to make a fraudulent claim with the shipping company but Gil posted 7 seconds of a phone conversation where Steve clearly says he wants to put the guitar back in a box and ship it so he can make a claim and Gil warns him against this...

Facts
Gil shipped the guitar fully insured to the Address Steve asked him to ship it too.
Steve then had it shipped to Saudi Arabia and it was NOT fully insured...

If the guitar arrived where Gil shipped it to unharmed then Gil is not liable for anything. But he still says he will do whatever needs to be done.

For some reason Steve decided to go on public forums bashing Gil, Send the guitar to BCR music (Who will probably fix it just fine), and try to work a deal where he ended up with two guitars...

 

[Charvel_King]

^The issue isn't if he's stealing from Gibson or making the best '59 LP clone; the issue is customer service. My guess is if I spent $10k on a Gibson guitar and it showed up on my doorstep looking like Steve's Yaron, I could call the dealer I bought it from, get an RMA and have another one in a couple of days. This motherfucker is selling $10k guitars, packing them like shit and then tells the customer to pound sand when it shows up busted?? He has got to be clearing at least $100k profit per year selling these things but he doesn't have the sense to pay for a repair or send him a new guitar?? I think anyone considering buying a guitar from this guy after knowing how Steve has been treated should have their head, dare I say soul examined I am a huge supporter of Israel but fuck this motherfucker

I was going to type something but I couldn't have said it better myself.

Screw Gil Yaron, what a douchebag!

As far as I am concearned, he should be sending a brand new guitar and taking care of the issue! Or at least fixing it!

Its insane that Steve has to send this guitar elsewhere for repair!!!

Jesus! Have you read the thread! The builder has offered to repair and compensate, refund in full or exchange for a new guitar!

Year that is what you think. That was posted by Gil after Steve was unable to get anything from him and had to send his guitar elsewhere.
How convinient that Gil arrives and makes all this promises.
Time will tell if is good for making a complete refund...

And when Gil says Steve demanded a new guitar so he could have 2 guitars?? Is he serious!?

You have a reputable builder, and Cliff at DAG who is a respected dealer and is universally well liked in the guitar world, stating publicly that they offered a full refund or a new guitar, if the broken one was returned.... and you are going to dismiss that, with a "we'll see" and skepticism? Think about it for a second- they have a lot to lose- you think they'd just say "tough shit" to Steve, and a week later turn around and lie about it on the net, and state they had offered a solution, when they really hadn't? Gimme a break. Use your heads.

Thank you!

As far as i can tell the builder has offered every possible solution to the problem. If Steve K doesnt accept any of those offers then he has only himselve to be angry at, definitely doesnt justify this and tarnishing someones name and reputation on whim.

Gil is not in the wrong here, nobody is really to blame. Shit happens.

 

[Tone Disciple]

I am new to this forum, but an old timer (since 2005) at TGP, so forgive me for weighing in on this topic in my first post here.

Everyone here has talked a lot about Gil and Steve, but almost no one has taken the shipping company to task.

Gil insured the guitar when he shipped it to the first destination on this trip and that is where it should have been inspected on arrival and the appropriate insurance claims filed for any damage. The fact that Gil insured this guitar for his replacement cost and not what Steve paid for it reflects his interest in making sure the instrument was protected with insurance that would have adequately covered replacement or any damage when it arrived at it's original destination. Good job Gil.

Have any of the people with all the various shipping recommendations here seen how all the major manufacturers ship guitars to their retailers? Even on Historics, PRS etc., there is no double boxing or packing like everyone here was saying should have been done. Guitars are shipped in a one ply cardboard box all the time and we expect the shipper (the freight company) to deliver the goods intact and in good condition. That is on the shipping company - not the builder.

FedEx does not sell insurance for their shipments. You can declare a value, but that is not the same thing. That is why I have started using USPS to ship all guitars so I can insure them.

I am amazed that a lot of the opinions here seem to expect Gil to totally replace a guitar becasue the shipping company screwed up. He provided for that eventuality whern he insured the original shipment for his full repllacement cost.

I fail to see how Gil did anything wrong.

I really feel for Steve too and have corresponded with him via PM's at TGP. I hope this can all be worked out, but I think Gil is going above the call of duty here to make it right for Steve.

One other thing. A lot of people are also devaluing Gil's work as if he is cheating when he makes '59 LP replicas. Heck even Gibson has been making '59 replicas (reissues) for many years now. The problem is that they just don't pay as much attention to detail as Gil and some of the other great builders do when they make one. His headstock says GilYaron, not Gibson, and he makes no bones about his love of these great guitars when he builds his replicas. All of these builders are not trying to sell fake Gibsons. They are just trying to make it possible for players to have a correct, high quality replica of the 1959 LP. The guitar world is full of great replica builders making everything from Strats and Teles, to LP's and Explorers. Nobody in this league is trying to pull a fast one and put something over on anyone. The only real '59 LP's were made in 1959, and they are virtually unobtainable. Everything else is a replica no matter who made it.

I for one am grateful that we have dedicated builders who will take the time to do this for those of us who want a quality guitar that is truly built like one of the original classics and plays and sounds that good.

Now back to what you were doing...

 

[AndyK]

It really should be between Gil and Steve-K, not everyone on the forum.

I take back any anti-Gil shipping comments if the guitar went from Gil to the USA, and it was OK then - before it went to Steve in SA.

 

[joepete77]

So if Steve now sends the guitar either back to Israel or to cliff, would he still receive a full refund or a new guitar? Steve said before that cliff offered him his commission off the deal but not a full refund, so that needs to be straightened out and problem will be fixed.

 

[severinsteel]

Man, I would hate to be a small builder these days. Your reputation can be ruined in a few posts by people who don't even know the actual story.

 

[Killcrop]

I like to look at the facts.

Fact 1- A builder that is charging $10,000 is concerned about his customers paying too much for a case? Really, $100 is where you want to save money? That is 1% of the total cost of the sale.
I won't even ship a guitar overseas, but if I did, it would be in a serious case that could handle some drops. Or in a good case that was tight fitting and surrounded by foam on the ends.

The violation that occurred in fact 1 is so damning, in my opinion, I don't need to even look any further.

 

[shade]

Amazing that Gil recorded that conversation... Is that legal?

 

[joepete77]

I know Gil has a lot of fans, but there's no way you can convince me that Gil's packing/shipping methods are exceptable. Would any dealer here ship a real 59 in that case with just a few pieces of crumpled newspaper in a single, non rectangular shaped box? These things are over $10k and are sent from Israel, a little extra care in packing/shipping and a decent case would go a long way to prevent a disaster. I know no method is fool proof but that box isn't fit for any decent guitar going international. Now if Steve refused to send the guitar back for a full refund then that's another issue.

 

[syncrodude007]

Sorry but that guitar was not packed like a 11k guitar. We all see the cheap chainsaw case and the shitty squier triangle box.

It should have been double boxed no matter what.

x2

 

[joepete77]

Sorry but that guitar was not packed like a 11k guitar. We all see the cheap chainsaw case and the shitty squier triangle box.

It should have been double boxed no matter what.

Yeah but bubble wrap and a new cardboard box would probably have cost another $15 to $20. And with such slim profit margins , its easy to see why he couldn't afford the luxury of packing peanuts or air bags or a non recycled cardboard double box.

 

[Inca Roads]

To answer a bunch of questions:

- With the Gibson lawsuit, I was advised to be a little concerned of shipping the guitar out/in as there may be a Customs flag and could be confiscated.

- Gil is not covering the work. He considers his job to be done.

- I am covering the repair work and shipping.

- Gil is still making 59 Replica's. I was led to believe otherwise.

- Replacing the set neck requires a lot of work and refinishing. Same amount of time and effort to build a new one. That said, I am on my own.

- Refund not possible. He blames the shipping company. It was suggested by Gil that I make a fraudulent claim against them. What?

- I still have a couple of cards to play.

- Gil was pretty good to work with, right up until the point of final payment.

- Right now, I wouldn't let him change the strings on my fucking guitar.

- My asshole still hurts from the reaming and no lube.

After reading this ^^^
This is how I feel!!!

 

[Devin]

After reading this ^^^
This is how I feel!!!

Keep reading; doesn't seem like this Steve_K guy is as golden as he makes himself out to be


That clip of the phone call is quite telling; I'd love to hear more of that hahhah.


This is a very, very fishy situation

 

[charveldan]

Everybody take a deep breath and relax ...

 

[Mudder]

Total train wreck, this thread. I'm glad to get both sides but man, what a situation.

 

[steve_k]

Holy shit balls Dexter! I leave a while and this turns into a major cluster. It was supposed to be a "repair thread" on a head stock....nothing more, but it took a wrong turn. Here's what I wrote on another forum:

For the record, I have no desire to trash Gil's name. This thread was about a shipping wreck being repaired. However, for the journey this guitar had to make, it was poorly packaged - not worthy of a 10K guitar and that was a error in judgement on his part. As a master luthier, and hearing the tone of this guitar, it is no doubt he is on top of his game and the guitar itself is a beauty. I made the unfortunate mistake of going through Cliff as opposed to direct. This added a middle man in this complete mess. The original plan of that guitar shipping to him first was not possible due to unforeseen legal business. At this stopover, it could have been checked out, repackaged if needed, claim filed, etc. I had a phone call from both parties. But, instead of being accountable and taking the guitar back with a refund or partial refund for devalue and repair, the concern was trying to figure out crafty ways to file a claim. Granted, both Gil and myself are stuck in a region where things aren't that easy, but this is one reason to go through the middle man, with whom I have done business before. As far as I am concerned, neither stepped up to the plate and my guitar is broke and I am still out 10K. As for those that have gotten their guitars - great and press on. As a customer though, my needs were not met, and still aren't. But, Greg was good enough to take this on, and that is what this thread is about - watching the repair process.

Steve

 

[joepete77]

Holy shit balls Dexter! I leave a while and this turns into a major cluster. It was supposed to be a "repair thread" on a head stock....nothing more, but it took a wrong turn. Here's what I wrote on another forum:

For the record, I have no desire to trash Gil's name. This thread was about a shipping wreck being repaired. However, for the journey this guitar had to make, it was poorly packaged - not worthy of a 10K guitar and that was a error in judgement on his part. As a master luthier, and hearing the tone of this guitar, it is no doubt he is on top of his game and the guitar itself is a beauty. I made the unfortunate mistake of going through Cliff as opposed to direct. This added a middle man in this complete mess. The original plan of that guitar shipping to him first was not possible due to unforeseen legal business. At this stopover, it could have been checked out, repackaged if needed, claim filed, etc. I had a phone call from both parties. But, instead of being accountable and taking the guitar back with a refund or partial refund for devalue and repair, the concern was trying to figure out crafty ways to file a claim. Granted, both Gil and myself are stuck in a region where things aren't that easy, but this is one reason to go through the middle man, with whom I have done business before. As far as I am concerned, neither stepped up to the plate and my guitar is broke and I am still out 10K. As for those that have gotten their guitars - great and press on. As a customer though, my needs were not met, and still aren't. But, Greg was good enough to take this on, and that is what this thread is about - watching the repair process.

Steve

So neither gil or cliff offered you either a full refund or another guitar? That's where the confusion comes in since they are saying that they gave those options to you.