Xaviere guitars from GFS

[charles]

My understanding is that Agile and Xaviere are both MIK / MIC brands for importers in the USA (Rondo Music and GFS, respectively). They have wide ranges of models from real cheapies to pretty mid-to-high level stuff (depending on who you ask ). The Douglas is indeed a real neck-through.

I'm not sure if Douglas is just a brand carried through Rondo like SX (which is a MIC brand from a Spanish company) or one they order directly.

[mikedem]

wow, not impressed...
Ordered the guitar on the 10th. Got notice it was shipped on the 14th. Noticed that by Friday the 18th the tracking number page of the USPS still had the same message that they had received electronic information about the shipment but not yet received it. Emailed Jay , got an out of office message saying to contact web support. Did that and on Saturday received an email from some GFS web guy saying it's only been 4 days and don't worry. I also got one from Dave that said the same thing. Email again yesterday as the tracking number still didn't work. Nothing until tonight and I got an email from Dave saying that they have started an investigation with the USPS and that can take up to 30 days and there is nothing they can do until the investigation is done?? Strange. I wonder what my options are here? I already have the visa bill for the non-existent guitar. Do I wait the 30 days or call VISA and tell them I never received my item and get the charges reversed?

1st order with GFS , wrong parts
2nd order from GFS......nothing

[charles]

USPS has a terrible tracking system, it has none of the trappings of UPS or FedEx. Near instant scan reports and information are not part of the USPS way of doing things. Plus remember to add that the fact that once it passes through customs and into Canada Post's hands there's even less info.

It can take a little while, but USPS has never screwed up a shipment for me on a guitar from the States. It routinely takes 10 to 15 business days for a shipment like this, plus whatever pissing around Canadian customs does with it.

Personally, after a week I'd sit tight - if it hits 2-3 weeks and still nothing, then I'd be sweating and all over GFS about it.

[charles]

Oh yeah, also remember that the volume of packages around xmas is 10 times the norm (not quoting statistics or aything but it's probably about right ). Delays are the name of the game. I almost never purchase gear around the holidays that needs to be shipped to me for that very reason.

I am sure things will turn out okay. Best of luck.

[Barry]

What Charles said.
My experience is about the same, and not with large items either. Even envelope size items take ages to arrive.

And the flip side to the faster shipping by UPS is that %^*#*@ "brokerage fee"!! Just when you think you've budgeted for everything, surprise! 'What can Brown do for you?' indeed!

[charles]

What Charles said.
My experience is about the same, and not with large items either. Even envelope size items take ages to arrive.

And the flip side to the faster shipping by UPS is that %^*#*@ "brokerage fee"!! Just when you think you've budgeted for everything, surprise! 'What can Brown do for you?' indeed!

UPS Standard/Ground's brokerage fee is the scourge of Canadian buyers of gear everywhere!

[mikedem]

I think it's USPS screw up. I received parcels from Relatives in Washington DC in 3 days last week. I guess when you pay $68 US for shipping you would expect a little more. At work we routinely order parts overnight from the states via FEDEX and I guarantee the bosses aren't paying that kind of shipping cost .

At least Dave at GFS is somewhat regular in his email correspondence.

[charles]

I think it's USPS screw up. I received parcels from Relatives in Washington DC in 3 days last week. I guess when you pay $68 US for shipping you would expect a little more. At work we routinely order parts overnight from the states via FEDEX and I guarantee the bosses aren't paying that kind of shipping cost .

At least Dave at GFS is somewhat regular in his email correspondence.

Customs delays can be a real killer at this time of year and I'd bet a commercial shipment marked "musical instrument" gets more attention and delay than a gift marked "xmas gifts". I'm just speculating.

Yeah, if only we Joe Schmo's got the kind of rates corporate clients get with the couriers! It's amazing what some folks I know have said they are able to pay by sending things through work rather than going out to do it themselves.

[mikedem]

yeah , you would think the one marked musical instrument would get through with them knowing they are going to collect tax on it....oh wait I'm talking about the government....you're right duty free xmas gifts will get priority.

[charles]

Never underestimate the ability of Canadian customs to delay a shipment. They are pro's at it, remember.

[mikedem]

Well I figured I should update this post. The guitar arrived on Tuesday. The tracking # finally started to work and it showed the guitar was in customs in Montreal on Dec 31st. From there it only took CP 2 business days to get it to me. It took USPS 10 business days to get to get it from Boston to the border? Anyways....

First impressions.
It was double boxed with lots of protection - trem arm and saddle and truss wrenchs were missing so they are being sent later.
Finish on this guitar is unbelievable. Very glossy and smooth. I few grain imperfections in the wood but looks natural.
Action out of the box was so high you could do the limbo under it. - A quick check showed the truss rod loosened to the point of free wheeling and saddles up as high as they can go. Dave indicated in an email this is done to protect the guitar in shipping. Ok fair enough.
Did a quick truss adjustment and lowered the action and pickups enough to play - neck feels great , vintage staggered pickups sound good , strings couldn't be deader if they tried.

Played it for an hour or so Friday night and decided something was not right here. Lowest I could get the action was 8/64ths(at 12th fret) without some sort of buzzing above the 12th fret.
I also got another weird G string howl going on like my Yamaha and the fact that the bridge pickup like all real strats is not connected to a tone control really annoyed me , think of ear bleeding treble.

Yesterday I decided I was going to mess with this thing to get it right (I hoped)
First thing I did was remove pickguard and did the little mod where you add a jumper to the 5 way switch to use the bottom tone control for both the bridge and middle pickup.
After playing some more with saddles and truss rod I decided to remove the neck and see what was going on. I thought I may need to shim the neck a bit. What I found was the neck pocket was very uneven and the neck was actually sitting on built up urethane along the edge and wasn't even contacting the body flush. Since I wasn't sure what depth dimension was right , the urethane or the wood , I just filed down the urethane so it was flush with the neck pocket wood.

Reassembled and restrung with some 11's ( USA spaced Tremolo but an import spaced backplate - holes don't line up to restring without removing backplate )and spent a couple of hours or so and got the action to about 6/64th on the bass side and about 5/64ths on the treble side. Set the pickup height to Fenders specs.
So far so good - the howl is gone - not sure what caused that , the strings, the pickup height, the crappy neck fit ?? who know.
It is very playable now and has a real SRV twang to it. If I only I could play some SRV
Of course it was -20 C here last night and this morning there is a little buzz happening again so I will let it sit a bit and maybe have to do some minor fine tuning.

All in all not a bad guitar for $231 US shipped to the door ( no customs or tax at the door either ??)but I can see where someone who doesn't do their own work on their guitars would probably have to budget @ $100 to get a mail order guitar setup properly at the local shop. I'm sure this is the same for GFS,Rondo and every other online guitar seller.

Here are a few pics

[Barry]

I can see where someone who doesn't do their own work on their guitars would probably have to budget @ $100 to get a mail order guitar setup properly at the local shop

True that! I have learned in my *ahem* advanced years, that if you`re gonna collect guitars you`d better know how to fix èm or ya go real broke real fast paying someone else to do the work!

Well, it ain't no El Degas but you seem to be enjoying it!
So, rock on!

[mikedem]

I can see where someone who doesn't do their own work on their guitars would probably have to budget @ $100 to get a mail order guitar setup properly at the local shop

Well, it ain't no El Degas but you seem to be enjoying it!
So, rock on!

The rest of you keep snapping them up , leave some for the rest of us!