If you said, "Ohio Players, 1975," break out your disco ball. If you said, "The Jonas Brothers, 2019," get off my lawn, ya whippersnapper. Either one, and you get 25 bonus points.
Tracking, as in: following along on a package's progress to get to you, can be a rollercoaster ride. There has been some guitar shopping in our house last week. Not all me. I am still thinking a nice 12-string will round out the guitar selection. Joan searched the internet.
If you remember, I almost bought one last summer while we were in Rapid City. "Almost," because I picked the one I wanted. When the salesman went to get the case for it, Joan noticed a flaw in the finish... it turned out to be a crack in the top of the guitar. The store owner said that one would have to go back to the factory, so that nixed the sale. It was the best sounding of the nice selection in that guitar store, so I put the 12-string search on the back burner.
There was a real nice X7 12-string on Emerald's site, but I waited too long. I looked at that guitar for a couple days... and then it was gone. Joan asked, "What would your ideal 12-string be like?" As I described what I'd like in terms of size and features, carbon fiber wasn't one of the "wants." I guess I thought that was a given. Taylor makes a Builder's Edition 12-string that is the right size, right scale, right neck width, reverse strung (fundamental string on top), a gorgeous arm bevel, champfered edges (rounded, not sharp), and a beautiful Wild Honey Burst top. Emerald could make something similar, but it would be a custom order and would take months to get. Emerald does make some guitars for stock, but there's no telling when another X7 12-string model might show up on their site. We started looking around at the Taylor 652ce Wild Honey Burst Builder's Edition. It is a beautiful guitar, and is an upscale version of what I almost bought last summer.
"Um... I'll think about it." While I thought about a used one in excellent condition on Reverb, someone else bought it. This model Taylor is in demand and not readily available. Musician's Friend sent me an e-mail with a nice discount on "anything" (as a "welcome back" since I haven't ordered anything from them in a while)... and that meaning anything that isn't specifically excluded... Taylor guitars are included in that exclusion (oxymoron?)... but, if you call and talk to one of their sales staff, they may override that exclusion. They didn't have one in stock, and the sales guy I talked to said, "It might be next year before we can get another one." I called Guitar Center - they are owned by the same company, and they showed "1 in stock." It was in Manhattan, NY. They would honor the Musician's Friend discount offer.
Starting to get a feel for the "rollercoaster" here?
I pulled the trigger on that NY guitar. I was told it would ship Monday (May 2nd), and I should receive it on Thursday (May 5th). It didn't get in UPS's possession until late Monday and there was an alert from them that there would be "a delay due to conditions." What conditions? There is no big snow storm in New York. The expected delivery changed to Friday, May 6th. The guitar left NY on Tuesday and went to Chicago... which is kind of out of the way to get to Texas... but: shipping hubs, yadda, yadda. It sat in Chi-town until Thursday; obviously, it isn't going to get here on Friday... they changed the expected delivery date to Monday (May 9th).
Rollercoaster.
And nothing I can do about it. On Friday, tracking showed it in San Antonio, TX - it is moving the right direction. Still set for a Monday delivery. This morning, when I checked the tracking before I went for my bicycle ride at 7:00, it is in Brownsville, TX, "preparing for delivery" today. Not the same thing as "Out for Delivery" (those 3 little words I love to read). When I got back from my bike ride, Joan said, "Don't count on it - I will be surprised if it actually gets on a truck for delivery today."
Rollercoaster. And, as of 10:00 am, it is still "preparing for delivery," but not necessarily on a truck heading out.
This has been a long ride.
A file photo, not the actual guitar (but it should look very similar)...
As of 10:08, Joan got an e-mail with those 3 magic words. Delivery expected between 1:00 and 5:00, today. We'll see. Joan is still waiting on a closet rod for the cargo trailer that was in Houston on May 4th, and then "disappeared." I think she tells me stuff like that just to make sure my blood pressure doesn't get too low. ;-)
1 comment:
Fingers crossed for that last leg home. That is one really pretty Taylor twelve string. My journey beyond six strings started with a used Takamine about 35 years ago. I eventually upgraded to a Seagull S12 with cedar top, exactly matching my S6. I thought that the cedar top moderated the inherently jangly nature of a twelve string nicely. The S12 was eventually displaced by a 354-LTD (their first attempt using a GA body for twelve strings) whose major attraction was that it played like a good six-string.
Ultimately that really nice Taylor was replaced by a custom short-scale Emerald X20-12, which you got to play briefly in Phoenix in 2018 at Kramster's house. That pretty much ends the twelve string saga for me, as I see no need to ever upgrade further. A twelver gets maybe 10% of my play time, but when you need to scratch that itch.....
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