Sword Guitars?

I really have no other place to post this since I wish to know of people's experience with purchasing guitars from Ron Sword.

I commissioned a 22 edo guitar on September 20th from Ron. I was supposed to get the guitar within a month. This never happened. I was not informed that there was a delay and had to seek out Ron to find out what was happening. He told me another week. Then he stopped answering emails. I was able to talk to him on the phone once November 3rd and I was supposed to get the guitar before he went to California - at that time I asked for the guitar to be 17 edo and not 22 edo since he told me he had not gone very far with the 22 edo guitar and he said that was ok - I even offered to buy both a 17 and 22 edo guitar is that was better for him since I changed order.

Now the guy won't answer the phone or email.

Prior to my order he was instant messaging me quite a lot trying to get me to listen to his work on scales and to solicit a guitar sale.

So, I'm very confused. I'd like to know if I can spend the money I reserved for the guitar on something else though I'd much rather get a guitar.

Can anyone else tell me their experience purchasing guitars with Ron?

Perplexed in Indy

Chris

On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 11:33 AM, christopherv <chrisvaisvil@...> wrote:
>
> I really have no other place to post this since I wish to know of people's experience with purchasing guitars from Ron Sword.
>
> I commissioned a 22 edo guitar on September 20th from Ron. I was supposed to get the guitar within a month. This never happened. I was not informed that there was a delay and had to seek out Ron to find out what was happening. He told me another week. Then he stopped answering emails. I was able to talk to him on the phone once November 3rd and I was supposed to get the guitar before he went to California - at that time I asked for the guitar to be 17 edo and not 22 edo since he told me he had not gone very far with the 22 edo guitar and he said that was ok - I even offered to buy both a 17 and 22 edo guitar is that was better for him since I changed order.

I have a lot of issues with Ron that have nothing to do with
purchasing his guitars, and I won't get into them here. I will say
that from a strictly business standpoint, a friend of mine sent him a
guitar to get refretted a few months ago. After I got into a fight
with Ron and this friend ended up unfortunately getting dragged into
it, Ron has I guess decided to hold his guitar in limbo, and as far as
we know still has his guitar. This was in like July/August and now
it's November.

-Mike

I've purchased several guitars from Ron, it always takes him longer than he says it will and I think in your case he had a seminar or something in CA that he drove out for, so he was gone for like two weeks. My impression of the dude is that he is busy as hell, and maybe a bit of a spaz, and it's occasionally hard to get ahold of him or get a straight answer. Even when buying something from him that he's already got made, it usually takes a few weeks. Also, he did promise me a scale book for 20-EDO when I ordered my first guitar from him, but that has yet to materialize. I think he just commits himself to more than he can really handle and often ends up overworked, under-slept, and appearing a bit flaky.

That said, I have two 16-EDO conversions, a 20-EDO conversion, and a 19-EDO conversion (which was done by one of his friends/apprentices), and I got my money's worth on every one.

I should also say his turnaround time is much MUCH better than Carruthers guitars in LA, who did a 22-EDO conversion for me many years ago. That neck took something on the order of 6 months, and it was all done by machine. Granted, it was an amazing neck when it was finished, but let me tell you--getting a hold of them and getting a straight answer or a definite time estimate was IMPOSSIBLE. They would give me a date, then the date would come and no guitar would arrive and I'd call them and they'd say "another two weeks" and then another two weeks would elapse and still no guitar and they'd tell me the same thing. This happened for several months.

Point being, in the luthier world, I've met only one who meets his first estimate, but he doesn't do microtonal conversions (or if he did, they would be vastly more expensive). Most luthiers are not dependable as far as time-estimates goes; if they say "two weeks", it means two months. Ron will get you your guitar, eventually, and it will be worth the wait. You just have to be patient. My guess--you'll get it around the winter solstice. If he hasn't gotten it to you by then, I will be very disappointed in him.

-Igs

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "christopherv" <chrisvaisvil@...> wrote:
>
> I really have no other place to post this since I wish to know of people's experience with purchasing guitars from Ron Sword.
>
> I commissioned a 22 edo guitar on September 20th from Ron. I was supposed to get the guitar within a month. This never happened. I was not informed that there was a delay and had to seek out Ron to find out what was happening. He told me another week. Then he stopped answering emails. I was able to talk to him on the phone once November 3rd and I was supposed to get the guitar before he went to California - at that time I asked for the guitar to be 17 edo and not 22 edo since he told me he had not gone very far with the 22 edo guitar and he said that was ok - I even offered to buy both a 17 and 22 edo guitar is that was better for him since I changed order.
>
> Now the guy won't answer the phone or email.
>
> Prior to my order he was instant messaging me quite a lot trying to get me to listen to his work on scales and to solicit a guitar sale.
>
> So, I'm very confused. I'd like to know if I can spend the money I reserved for the guitar on something else though I'd much rather get a guitar.
>
> Can anyone else tell me their experience purchasing guitars with Ron?
>
> Perplexed in Indy
>
> Chris
>

After posting a question as to his intention to his facebook page Ron
finally wrote back to me.

Apparently the guitar that was being built for me will be put up on his
site.

I'm really confused by the whole affair. Probably the best thing I can do is
invest in a fret saw and fret wire.

Chris

On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 11:57 AM, cityoftheasleep
<igliashon@...>wrote:

>
>
> I've purchased several guitars from Ron, it always takes him longer than he
> says it will and I think in your case he had a seminar or something in CA
> that he drove out for, so he was gone for like two weeks. My impression of
> the dude is that he is busy as hell, and maybe a bit of a spaz, and it's
> occasionally hard to get ahold of him or get a straight answer. Even when
> buying something from him that he's already got made, it usually takes a few
> weeks. Also, he did promise me a scale book for 20-EDO when I ordered my
> first guitar from him, but that has yet to materialize. I think he just
> commits himself to more than he can really handle and often ends up
> overworked, under-slept, and appearing a bit flaky.
>
> That said, I have two 16-EDO conversions, a 20-EDO conversion, and a 19-EDO
> conversion (which was done by one of his friends/apprentices), and I got my
> money's worth on every one.
>
> I should also say his turnaround time is much MUCH better than Carruthers
> guitars in LA, who did a 22-EDO conversion for me many years ago. That neck
> took something on the order of 6 months, and it was all done by machine.
> Granted, it was an amazing neck when it was finished, but let me tell
> you--getting a hold of them and getting a straight answer or a definite time
> estimate was IMPOSSIBLE. They would give me a date, then the date would come
> and no guitar would arrive and I'd call them and they'd say "another two
> weeks" and then another two weeks would elapse and still no guitar and
> they'd tell me the same thing. This happened for several months.
>
> Point being, in the luthier world, I've met only one who meets his first
> estimate, but he doesn't do microtonal conversions (or if he did, they would
> be vastly more expensive). Most luthiers are not dependable as far as
> time-estimates goes; if they say "two weeks", it means two months. Ron will
> get you your guitar, eventually, and it will be worth the wait. You just
> have to be patient. My guess--you'll get it around the winter solstice. If
> he hasn't gotten it to you by then, I will be very disappointed in him.
>
> -Igs
>
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com <tuning%40yahoogroups.com>, "christopherv"
> <chrisvaisvil@...> wrote:
> >
> > I really have no other place to post this since I wish to know of
> people's experience with purchasing guitars from Ron Sword.
> >
> > I commissioned a 22 edo guitar on September 20th from Ron. I was supposed
> to get the guitar within a month. This never happened. I was not informed
> that there was a delay and had to seek out Ron to find out what was
> happening. He told me another week. Then he stopped answering emails. I was
> able to talk to him on the phone once November 3rd and I was supposed to get
> the guitar before he went to California - at that time I asked for the
> guitar to be 17 edo and not 22 edo since he told me he had not gone very far
> with the 22 edo guitar and he said that was ok - I even offered to buy both
> a 17 and 22 edo guitar is that was better for him since I changed order.
> >
> > Now the guy won't answer the phone or email.
> >
> > Prior to my order he was instant messaging me quite a lot trying to get
> me to listen to his work on scales and to solicit a guitar sale.
> >
> > So, I'm very confused. I'd like to know if I can spend the money I
> reserved for the guitar on something else though I'd much rather get a
> guitar.
> >
> > Can anyone else tell me their experience purchasing guitars with Ron?
> >
> > Perplexed in Indy
> >
> > Chris
> >
>
>
>

On 11/24/2010 11:33 AM, christopherv wrote:
> I really have no other place to post this since I wish to know of people's experience with purchasing guitars from Ron Sword.

So what happened?

--
* David Beardsley
* http://biink.com

Ron wrote me an email after I posted my question to his facebook wall (which he deleted).

In the email he told me he was putting the guitar I ordered from him up on his website instead of sending it to me.

I really don't want to go into details because I don't want burn bridges. I am bummed out I didn't get it though because I was really looking forward to having it.

I have decided that I will be making my own 17et guitar. Many people have been supportive of that decision and I really appreciate that. Right now my family has had to be my top priority. When that is done (soon I hope) I will be finishing my hammer dulcimer restring and purchasing refretting tools.

Chris
------Original Message------
From: David Beardsley
To: tuning@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Chris Home
ReplyTo: db@biink.com
Subject: Re: [tuning] Sword Guitars?
Sent: Dec 4, 2010 11:04 AM

On 11/24/2010 11:33 AM, christopherv wrote:
> I really have no other place to post this since I wish to know of people's experience with purchasing guitars from Ron Sword.

So what happened?

--
* David Beardsley
* http://biink.com

*

On 12/4/2010 12:17 PM, chrisvaisvil@... wrote:
> Ron wrote me an email after I posted my question to his facebook wall (which he deleted).
>

I saw that and that's why I was asking.

Luthers and amp repairs are such a pain in the ass.

--
* David Beardsley
* http://biink.com