An unexpected NGD!

[TommyD]

Now I know a lot of the Guitar Center stories told here are negative,and yes I've complained about almost nonexistent customer service at the few I've been to.

This was NOT one of those nights.

The last guitar I bought was my old Model 5 in 1997,just before my house fire. It was the only one that made it. I love it,but it needs a refret to be brought up to modern standards,along with a new nut,and a JT6 replacement. So I've been looking for something else.

I saw a DXMG for a good price on their Used site and luckily it was at the Thompson Lane store in Nashville,and it worked out that I had a Dr appt at Vanderbilt that day,so I'd have chance to check it out.

It was indeed there,but while looking at other stuff I caught a glimpse of another Jackson headstock in the Used section,so I investigated further.

Be damned if they didn't have a SL2Q MAH in Trans Blue that is in nice enough shape that I can't see anything visibly wrong at arm's length,tagged at 299.00 . Even after looking it over,there is nothing wrong with this thing that can't be fixed with a piece of 400/600 sandpaper,a wipedown with gunstock oil,and a rag.

I hold the thing up to get the attention of an employee.
I asked if there was any wiggle room in the price,and he said no,but no big deal,this is about as good as stealing .

I even accepted the fact that they didn't have a Floyd arm on hand that actually fit,but was playing it cool.

Once I picked out and fitted the case,I got it up to the counter and another guy stepped in and tried a couple Floyd bars,but still no luck.

Then he adjusted the price on the guitar AND the case to the point I walked out with both for less than 400 .

Pics when I get it cleaned up. Tommy D.

[Number Of The Priest]

$299 for a current Pro Series Soloist is pretty good. Congrats! It's rare to see current Pro Series at values that are competitive with used Japanese Pro Series and MG Series of the 2000s, which is why I seldom find and share current Pros as "deal alerts" in the E-fraid forum.

Did you get the DXMG too? What was the price on that?

[Johnnyryche]

Congrats! Every once in a while you find a good deal at GC. Looking forward to the pics.

[TommyD]

The DXMG was priced at 269.00 but said they would take 250.00,but it needed a string change in the store so I started looking at other guitars. This was the end result . Tommy D.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kE7FayLYj5GF1EA36

[toejam]

Nice score you got there!

[Number Of The Priest]

I would have taken the DXMG too, and if it needed a string change, I would normally do that myself at home anyway (I need to personally disassemble, clean, and set up every guitar I acquire before it really feels like "mine"), but potentially use that as an excuse to request a reduction in price below $250.

The SL2QMAH looks nice.

[TommyD]

I agree totally as far as feeling like I need to work on it to make it "mine".

Oddly enough,this time all I've done so far is take the Floyd apart one saddle at a time,and clean it.

So far the only thing I've found wrong with it was whoever had it before me must have some really acidic sweat,or kept his hand on top of it a LOT because you can see some slight discoloration on the saddles and the baseplate. I tried cleaning the baseplate and saddles with denatured alcohol and paint thinner,no visible difference.

Under 10x magnification,you can see a little fret wear,but nothing I couldn't fix with a 3 sided nail buffer.

As far as playability,I could feel some thick,sticky spots on the back of the neck,but a small piece of 400 and a wipe with Tru-Oil and it was as good as it gets.

I was worried for a bit on the way home that because I didn't get the original case and hardware that I'd be in a bad spot if I needed to adjust the truss rod,but it uses an Allen key instead of the "crackpipe" wrench I still have from my Model 5,so all good there.

The only thing I can find that needs to be changed or upgraded is maybe an Allen wrench holder for the headstock,and some of those spring loaded foam pickup risers because they don't have them,and the pickup height could be improved.

Almost zero buzz with the action just over 1mm at the 12th tells me I practically stole this thing .

My old lady came in earlier and said that Pull Me Under sounded like the CD from the front porch LOL. Tommy D.

[Number Of The Priest]

"crackpipe" wrench

I never thought about it that way before!