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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I have found a 2778LX in great shape for around $500. Is this a USA made Elite (Standard Elite) or overseas?
Is this a fair price and a decent guitar. I have searched the forum and find some comments about the 2778 AX being a Korean instrument of decent quality, but nothing on the lx. It appears from the O site to be OpPro, and Contour Bowl, so should be a decent guitar. |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Yes, the LX models are made in the USA as opposed to the AX and or TX made overseas.
That is a very good price for a very good guitar! |
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October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Killer price on a killer guitar. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Based on your info, I pulled the trigger. In talking with the store, it is a confirmed LX, excellent condition other than minimal fret wear, OHC, Op Pro. The guy (says he is their main guitar guy) said the neck was real straight, but action felt a bit high, so hopefully a shim or too would deal with that. We shall see. Not sure what these are going for, but haven't seen many of the US Elites in decent shape for much less than $750. If I don't like it, I have a friend who has been wanting a decent A/E guitar and this would be fantastic. Oh...$499 plus $25 insured shipping.
Thanks guys. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Well, they called back and gave me a number that I decided to cancel the transaction. The culprit....Ohio sales tax of $40 or so. While it is still a good deal, I decided to kill it. It is in the Dayton GC if anyone else wants it. |
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October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | I was going to congratulate you on a great buy. Even with the tax the price seems outstanding, if it is affordable. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | I am being stubborn. It is the first time any GC in the country has tried to charge me tax as long as they were shipping to Oregon. I think the guy was confused as he kept asking if there was a GC in Oregon to which I said yes.
I have always bought from Musicians Friend and GC without a problem. Now when I lived in Washington and MF put a store there, then I started having to pay sales tax.
Still good guitar, good price if someone wants it. Look at the used section on the GC web site. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Some of the on-line stores are starting to cover their buns due to the pressure being applied by some elected officials to not only tax purchases, but also put a surcharge on web access.
If I find what I want on-line and they charge taxes, I'll wander elsewhere and find someone who doesn't. I've even emailed to some a 'meet or beat' price challenge. Ya might be surprised...
BTW, I would have bought this one if I was looking... |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Interesting how things turn out sometime. The GC that had this guitar was supposed to stop the transaction and credit my card back over the sales tax thing. So I was a bit stunned when a "Martin" box shows up on my step.
My first thought was a bad practical joke, then I thought....wow...would someone send me a free guitar?
The UPS guy is like...what do you want to do??? I then checked the label and it said GC so I said...well I will accept it, play with it, then make them issue a call tag, figuring they shipped it by mistake.
Bad idea, I open the box, then the case to a mint new 2778LX. It was perfect except for an unusually high action. So....I thought, let's check this out, pulled the strings and found 4 shims under the bridge (looked very high compared to my other O's and A's) so I pulled two (one was not an O shim and was very thick). Put on some new strings and it is transformed into an incredible guitar for $500.
I looked at the invoice and they discounted the price even further to make up for the sales tax difference (again...without asking). End game $515 shipped.
The inlaid epulets are suddenly my new favorite, I like them. The neck is better than my 2008 Collector (which has always felt a bit uneven) and the action is equal. The tone is a bit more dull than the Adamas, but with the new strings, it isn't bad either. Bass is weaker than the A, but mid's and trebles are quite nice.
Oh...I LOVE the OpPro. It is my first. Push a button to tune, auto shutoff on the tuner and great tone. I may have to order one of these to drop into my 2008C as the VIP is a total waste when it comes to the tuner.
So....now I have my backup and road guitar based on a brazen sales attempt by a GC store. Hmmmm, good move on their part. Not bad on mine. |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Congratulations! It looks like you were meant to own this guitar. It's funny though, that their "main guitar guy" never even checked for shims. Even if he wasn't aware that most O's have shims, you'd think he'd have tried a lower saddle. Typical GC employeee I guess.
Doesn't matter now though. You've got yourself a fine guitar at a great price. Enjoy! |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | That sounds like a great deal to me.
And yeah, it seems to me that all my store-bought O's needed some shims removed.
Call 'em up and tell them to take another $15 off cuz you didn't get an Ovation box! :rolleyes: |
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July 2004
Posts: 766
Location: New Hampsha | So what's the problem with a Martian box?!?
What do you have against Martians? They're nice .....
wha?
Oh, never mind.... |
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February 2008
Posts: 247
Location: Delaware | Sales tax, what the hell is sales tax? Ahhh, Delaware the home of tax free shopping! Sorry to hear it squashed the deal for you. |
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February 2008
Posts: 247
Location: Delaware | OH, I see the deal went through. ( guess I should read all the replies before I open my big mouth!). Congrats, I'm sure you'll like it, I really like my 6758 lx. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | Congrats Jeff!
I too just picked up one of these for a friend. It's on it's way now. I'll be sure to give a review once it shows.
$456 shipped!! Couldn't believe the price. |
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February 2009
Posts: 262
Location: VENISE-EN-QUEBEC CANADA | well I ad a great experience with G/C bought a Elite Special S868 for 400.00S and the guitar needed some work they re-funded me 165.00 dollar so my luthier made an awsome guitar that i now love to play so thank's G/C
Daniel |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Originally posted by JeffreyD:
Oh...I LOVE the OpPro. It is my first. Push a button to tune, auto shutoff on the tuner and great tone. I may have to order one of these to drop into my 2008C as the VIP is a total waste when it comes to the tuner. If you replace the VIP, go for the Op Pro Studio. |
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June 2009
Posts: 3
Location: Worcester, MA | So you said no to the deal, and they charged you / shipped it anyways? I'm glad it worked out to your liking, but that's scummy. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Got a new question on the 2778LX for all you Xperts.
When I got the guitar, I pulled 2 THICK shims(two remain) , put a little more bow in the neck and it played like a dream.
Fast forward a month and we have moved from dry, hot and dustry Hermiston, OR, to dry, hot and dusty Wenatchee, WA. The neck looks like it didn't change at all, but now I have string buzz above the 12th fret. So...I add warp then bow and finally put a shim back. A couple of things happened with this. While the action is slightly higher, the volume went WAY UP and the sustain is much better. I suspect as someone mentioned before this is due to the angle at the bridge, but not sure on the physics. So, it still plays nicely and sounds much better, but oddly the D string now buzzes at the 1st fret if I use any force to my strumming. I again tried very small tweaks of warp/bow on the truss rod, and it is better but still there.
I am guessing the humidity is different here since we are near the mountains now, so maybe the top is what is changing, not the neck. How do I deal with this new issue.
Thanks. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Buzz on the first couple of frets is likely a nut slot that is too deep. I'd take it to a luthier if that is the case.
To check, fret between the 2nd and 3rd frets and see how much space is above the 1st fret. There should be the tiniest little space there. If the D string has no space or is a lot closer than the other strings, that is your problem.
You could try humidifying the room that you keep the guitar in so that it doesn't have drastic changes with the seasons. |
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2778LX
