AJL - a testimonial

klaatu

It is with much regret that I announce that I sent my AJL Gypsy Fire back today. I bought it sight unseen after finding out that it was here in Canada on loan and was scheduled to go back to Ari-Jukka at Samois. Got in touch with AJ, negotiated a really good price, plus saving a ton on customs and taxes. I could not have afforded an AJL otherwise. AJ let me have it with some misgivings, since he was also unable to inspect it first.

Unfortunately, when it arrived, it turned out to have suffered some pretty severe damage to the finish somewhere along the way, all around the sides (and to a lesser degree the back), with many, many cracks along the grain lines of the very beautiful Brazilian rosewood and some seepage into one spot that got into the wood itself. None of this was AJ's fault and may have resulted from freezing while lost in a UPS warehouse during a previous shipment - hard to say at this point.

I called AJ immediately and he offered a full refund, but by now I had restrung and played it and was seriously blown away by the sound. Easily the best sounding Favino clone I've ever had my hands on. So we began discussions about possible solutions. One offer he put forward was a complete refinish job at his expense, if I paid at least some of the shipping cost.

In the end, after investigating all the shipping and customs issues, we agreed that the best thing to do was return it for a refund. It's on its way back now. I wish it could have turned out otherwise. Some people might not be bothered by the finish, given the sound and playability of the guitar, but I just couldn't deal with it.

The reason I am writing all this is that I want to state that AJ went above and beyond the call in trying to find a solution that would be satisfactory to both of us. He was very patient in working through all the options with me. He certainly did not have to provide a full refund after all this time, but that's what he did.

I also want to say that he builds wonderful guitars, if this one is any example. All three luthiers who checked it over commented on the extremely high quality of the workmanship. Even with the damage, they said they could see that his original finish job was superb. And the sound! Nothing short of awesome.

So I am offering this testimonial to AJL guitars and to Ari-Jukka himself, a stand-up guy, a real gentleman, and a man of his word. I would recommend AJL to anyone looking for a high quality instrument, without any reservation whatsoever.

marciero

That's too bad Ben. Did you think of offering for sale here? The cracks that penetrated the wood-were any on the top?

Mike

klaatu

PM sent.

gitpicker

Ari is the man. Great guitars and he is a pleasure to deal with through the entire process. Great work and excellent communication. What more can you ask for?

klaatu

Doug,

Couldn't agree more. You sound like a satisfied AJL owner. Which model do you have?

Denis Chang's new AJL, which he had at Django Camp this year, is a marvel. It's one of the "X-O" distressed models. It not only sounded great in Denis' hands, it sounded great when other people played it. Looks wonderful, too. Wish I could afford one.

gitpicker

Klaatu, I have one of the XO models too. It's a 503-XO. If you've seen Jeff Radaich who plays rhythm for Gonzalo Bergara recently, it's just like his guitar. I brought it out to DFNW this year. Great guitar!

Tele295

gitpicker wrote:

Klaatu, I have one of the XO models too. It's a 503-XO. If you've seen Jeff Radaich who plays rhythm for Gonzalo Bergara recently, it's just like his guitar. I brought it out to DFNW this year. Great guitar!

Ah, it arrived! So you're junking the Favino, right?