Anyone have bad experiences with Southpawguitars.com

[Paramedic006]

Has anyone ever had a bad deal or experience with Southpawguitars. I just got a 1995 Gibson SG Heritage Cherry from them. When I talked to them on the phone it always seems like they are in a hurry and have better things or bigger deals to do. When I asked the salesman for a description of the guitar he said it was in excellent shape and no issues. When I got it the first thing I noticed was that the bridge pu was changed to a burstbucker #2. There is belt rash on the back, the nitro has worn off to the wood on the top side of it. The electronics were changed and poorly and there are various small nicks on it. There are no breaks, cracks in it. I changed the electronics, caps, and working on pickups, and it does sound good. Everytime I call them they brush me off like whatever. So I wanted to trade for a LP Classic they have now and I emailed them because on their website it states if you want to trade they will give you your trade in cost towards a new one. All I got in return was "no thanks, not interested", and thats it. So what good is it to say that when they don't honor it. I do know I will never do business with them again. They may know lefty guitars but they still suck and there prices are outrageous for new stuff and you would think that Jim would at least be nice to people who wanna give them business. This is the 2nd time I have bought from them to give them a second chance but I think I will stay around buying on the forums. Players are a lot more polite here.

[Jesse]

I don't know anything about them other than their ridiculous prices. They were supposed to get me a Japanese King V (along with like 10-20 others) and never delivered. I had only brief e-mail correspondence with them, it wasn't bad...but it wasn't good.

[exalted]

Wait...

You bought the SG guitar from them, and then tried it to trade it back to them, and they said 'no thanks'?!

[lostinthemasses]

yeah, and after telling him it was in great shape

that's totally not cool

[Paramedic006]

That is exactly what they told. The email they sent me only said"no thanks, not interested in trades". There was signature on it no nothing just that. I mean don't get me wrong, I don't expect a perfect guitar from 1995 but they plain out lied to me. The pu was changed, electronics were junk. My first bad experience was when I bought a Dinky Axe. I wanted different pickups in and on a push-pull and they charged me an extra 440.00 for parts and labor-WTF. I am almost tempted to email them back. I don't cuz I feel they don't care. Not to mention they wouldn't take the SG i bought from them on trade just 2 weeks prior. The case they gave me with the Jackson would fall apart if you sneezed on it. What do you guys think I should do.

[AllroyPA]

re: south going south

I think you've done alot to put your story here, this is where us leftys go. The only thing you can do is try to hold them to their return policy maybe talk to an owner.

[Paramedic006]

The thing is Jim is the owner. I should copy/paste this entire post in an email to him.

[SouthpawGuy]

Hi Bill,
I bought a new guitar from them, an American Deluxe Strat, in 2006. I had read different opinions about their service so I was taking a big leap of faith as I am in Ireland.
Shipping a guitar back to them would have been very expensive if it was not as advertised.As it turned out the guitar was top notch, it was the cherry burst finish that Fender stopped producing in lefty a few months later. My only contact was via email and they actually weren't very co-operative, I asked for more pics but never got them. I'm not sure I would deal with them a second time.

[Pancho]

I would avoid Jimmy and Southpaw like the plague. Unbelievably rude to almost everyone I've spoken with who dealt with them. They used to have a stranglehold on any lefties in the US but no longer. I've witnessed a very unethical deal when I was their a few years back and wouldn't do biz with Jimmy again if he gave me a real 59 burst. I bought 2 in the 90's sight unseen and was happy with the guitar but not the premium price. He knows he's got real competition out there now and apparently could care less about his high prices or his pushy attitude. I'd say much more than this if I were face to face with him. He won't give even close to a fair price on a trade and with his sky high markups your far better off dealing with positive, helpful folks. And as Murphy would have it they probably still have a killer selection of lefty Gibson's we'd all drool over. He's better get in line with the new lefty dealers online these days.

[Paramedic006]

You can be sure I will never do business there again. On the lighter side I prettied up the control cavity with gold shieding and gave it some new Gibson pots, repro bumblebees so far. Debating on what pu's to use next. I really like SD Alnico 2 pro's but the burstbucker pro's and the burstbucker #1, #2 are nice to and either one is close to what I play.

[AllroyPA]

re heri

Can you post pics of it ?

[Paramedic006]

I will be posting pics from start to finish. I only did the wiring and the pickups for now but its a start plus a new pickguard. Give an excellent example of the kind of "awesome guitars" they sell. The electronics were all hacked. they could of at least told me what was on the inside. So far 250.00 into the axe plus I intend on getting a different paint job on it, pro done of course. Pics will be up probably this weekend.

[Buc McMaster]

I know Jimmy personally and to say the least he is a distracted character. I've bought, sold and traded guitars with him since he opened the store in the early-mid 80s. He can be scatterbrained and apparently oblivious to his customers and what's going on around him in the store. He and his employees are not detail oriented and suffer from a lack of factual info on the guitars they sell.......sad but true. All that said, I have never gotten a bum deal or a bad instrument from them in the 25+ years I've been going in and out of his store. Perhaps that's because I deal with them face-to-face and I know of what I speak when I talk guitars, so I tend to ignore their lack of knowledge and depend on my own to make buying decisions. There was a period of time early on in the store's history when there were some bogus pieces being assembled and sold, but that was pretty much the doings of Jimmy's original partner and he is long gone.

My advice is never buy a guitar before you hold it in your hands. Yes, I know that is diffucult for some people, especially when it comes to lefthanded instruments, but nothing as personal and subjective as a guitar should be purchased without a first hand evaluation before you lay your money down. Granted, Jimmy would do well by his store and his customers if he would be more responsive to a buyer that is, for whatever reason, unhappy with a purchase. But as I said, Jimmy is a strange bird and it's very difficult to get his attention even in person. Sorry you had a less than satisfying experience with Southpaw, but I'm not sure there's much of anything you could say or do that would make things better.......

Never, never, never buy a guitar sight unseen!

[Paramedic006]

I do agree with you in that never buy a guitar unless you play it but as you said its hard cuz we are lefties and there are no stores in driving distance to try. So should I email Jim and tell him how I feel or is it better off left alone. I am definitely up for ideas. I consider myself a nice person and I don't wanna feel this way or talk bad about somebody but I can't help how I feel.

[lostinthemasses]

i've purchased 5 guitars off ebay without ever playing them or even so much as seeing them other than in pictures

4 of them are my best guitars

and theyre the 5 best steals i've been lucky enough to score