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Has anyone ever heard of or done business with...

Surfthrees

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Joined
Dec 26, 2008
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161
Lakeshore Guitars in Michigan.

I have a guitar on hold with them, but I've never heard of them. The only point is that he does not accept Paypal, CC's, only bank wire transfers.. and he's concerned about people returning guitars at 30 days with Paypal. I personally have never heard of Paypal's policy like that, but thats what they say... He's a small dealer. I dont think he has an actual storefront... Owners name is Rich Baranowski.
Can anyone here give him a reference? Thanks much!!:foghorn
 

TomGuitar

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Apr 28, 2005
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3,700
Surfthrees, I have not done business with Rich but know several guys who have. My understanding is that his stuff is always as represented. He attends the big shows in Dallas and often has a booth. I have met him several times and he seems like a nice guy. No storefront, just a one man operation, but he has been around quite a while. His real love seems to be archtops. He is definitely not a ripoff artist, so if you can agree on terms and payment, I believe that he will honor any agreement you make. Sorry I can't help you more.
 

Dire Wolf

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Dec 20, 2006
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2,745
I've pulled up his site; nice stuff and he's been around for a while. Never bought anything from him, however.
 

Surfthrees

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Dec 26, 2008
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Thanks guys for the info... I think I'll go ahead with the sale and trust his operation. I'll also report back how the Guitar turned out, and the sale... Thanks again.
 

Surfthrees

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Dec 26, 2008
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I thought I'd report back on my experience with Lakeshore Guitars.... Very good person to deal with. The guitar was exacty as stated.... In fact, if anything, I think he downplayed the condition of this baby! One question though... Has anyone with a historic had a "stepped" area between the neck wood and the bass side binding? If you ran your nail across it, it's a pretty significant difference. Much more than any other es model I've owned. Other than that, the guitar plays incredible and has got major tone! She's a 2005.
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Here's pic of the neck binding and the neck not very flush. Hard to tell from the pics...
vipqo3.jpg

The super flat frets will have to go though...
 

TomGuitar

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Apr 28, 2005
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That's a very pretty one you got there.

If what you mean is that the neck itself seems slightly pinched in after it joins the body so that the fingerboard, or at least the binding, slightly overhangs it, then yes, I have ocassionaly seen that. Don't know why and I have only seen a couple, one early 60's many years ago and a couple 200X reissues.

If you mean it runs the length of the neck, then no, I have not seen that.
 

Surfthrees

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Dec 26, 2008
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Thanks! The step actually runs pretty much the whole length of the neck, and the neck portion is what is thicker(or higher) than the binding...
 

MapleFlame

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Jul 3, 2005
Messages
14,044
Binding looks rolled and has really nice nibs. I hate the newer Gobbo thick binding on some guitars.
 
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