This "company" is nothing short of a ripoff artist selling garbage. The guitar I ordered was not worth $500, nevermind the $1,810 I wasted. It had a chambered mahogany body, flamed maple top semi transparent black stain. There were cracks in the top, pockmarks, scratches and dings in the finish, right out of the case. And speaking of the case, the guitar had zero protection and easily slid around and bounced around in it!
It also had cheap flimsy plastic knobs and tuner buttons. (The black buttons from the locking tuners never came with it as promised.) The neck contour is great, IF you like wide gaudy necks. I do not and I expressed this fact. The nut was crooked, and the cut for it in the fretboard was horrid. There was also a wilkinson tremolo system that rested tight on the body, and when you try to use it at all you can hear it slapping back down on the body cavity. Real nice, being almost $2,000!
It had a maple neck with 24 frets, and terrible fretwork. There was glue on the rosewood fretboard and a few frets were even dinged up. Definitely a POS. It did have Lindy Fralin pickups though, the guitar's only saving grace. A P-92 in the bridge and a humbucker in the neck. The neck was FAR hotter than the bridge, in fact to get a decent balance you had to back the volume in the neck down to about 3/4 or so.
Another "fabulous" feature was that I wanted my daughter's name on the headstock, since this was intended as a memorial piece. Her name was put on with what appeared to be a generic sticker! When I mentioned this to the builder and company owner (Davis Millard) he said he had a sharpie on hand, so it was an easy fix where the letters had lifted! - Woah, now that IS a quality handbuild!
The inlays were supposed to be the phases of the moon, though they looked as though they were cut while drunk! The neck joint was cracked on the side, and all along the back it looked like it was dropped, or something was dropped on it. Either way, it looked horrible. The back of the body is down right scary. I was told of one spot under the trem cavity and oh, it was there, along with no less than a dozen other flaws.
The pearl body binding had a ding in the lower bout and black paint around various spots where it wasn't taped off well, or at all. The evenness of the paint around the binding was a joke. Simply put. It's junk.
Customer support was Laughable, at best. The builder was laid up in the hospital and his "partner" either has no idea how to contact or respond to customers or simply chose not to and is basically just a letter in the company's name. Or so it appears (most of his online followers were only quick to point out the "silent partner" thing only after I threatend legal action.) I sent numerous unanswered emails and messages and only when I was about to have my lawyer step in did I get an email from someone that isn't even a part of the company trying to difuse a situation that could have been avoided with a touch of effort from JD Bluesville.
I had started to talk about repairs with Davis, but then he went to the hospital and the more I looked, the more I saw. Waiting another 4 and a half to 5 months to repeat this nonsense was out of the question. As for a resolve, it took ME mentioning a refund that was never even mentioned by JDB at the start.
A good way to make customers feel like they are not getting screwed, is to offer a refund if you're not pleased. Davis had mentioned that another customer had this option simply because the buyer was cautious. Good call on the buyer's end. After I mentioned refund it took no less than 3 weeks and many phone calls to actually get anywhere with it.
I've been playing guitar for about 12 years, and NEVER have I seen or played anything so horrid. I had a cheap Epi dot that was superior in every way! If shoddy built guitars are your bag, order one up. I had heard a few people at the JD Bluesville forum praise these so much I thought I couldn't fail. I was wrong.
If you want to waste $1,810 or more since Davis claimed he should raise his prices, by all means get one (although most any lower to mid level guitar would be a far better instrument, and cost a fraction of a JD Bluesville.) Sadly, I listened to all the hype from players that had great things to say about this company.
In the process I waited from January 30 the date the certified 1st payment arrived until around the 20th of May when it arrived. After a few days of playing and inspecting I contacted Davis Millard, the D of JD Bluesville and he did offer to fix it. After looking over it more (and taking over 2 dozen pics), it was obvious a rebuild was needed. Why go through that twice?
There are a very few folks that own a JDB and praise it like it was gold. They must have gotten a really good and very lucky build. Or maybe a premade neck and body with the JDB logo thrown on. I don't know, nor do I care. If they like theirs, great. But I was taken for a ride by a very inexperienced builder and businessman.
After dealing with this company, and FINALLY getting a refunded check I have to say, CAVEAT EMPTOR Folks! Buyer beware, or you too could be in for a ride
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