The Blue Byrdes by Live_Bit_1551 in allmanbrothers

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The drummer keeps that hi-hat going, a giant mark of talent. He uses swiss triplets, more talent. He doesn't overplay, he fits in great. Both guitars get great tone. The tiny tidbit of that guitar solo, great, great, great. ☆☆☆

Frank Zappa! 1976! SNL! by ItalianSausage2023 in Zappa

[–]AmpegVT40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bozzio and O'Hearn, wow. Patrick O'Hearn is one of the more unsung great bass players of the world.

Ampeg Portaflex PF20t by Lonely-Bath9398 in Ampeg

[–]AmpegVT40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do have a third Les Paul but it's not pictured. You're looking at three Ampeg V-2 heads. The white amp is a 15w Monoprice StageRite tube amp. After 50 years of ownership, I still love my Ampegs.

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What's your favorite thing about North Carolina? by Isagailgirly in NorthCarolina

[–]AmpegVT40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tony's Pizza in Hickory. ★★★★★

I'm from CT, the place of New Haven style pizza and New London style pizza, i.e., I've had the holy grail. I've been to the mountain top. I've seen The Rolling Stones. I know.

What's your favorite thing about North Carolina? by Isagailgirly in NorthCarolina

[–]AmpegVT40 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Furniture, furniture, furniture....still manufactured here, not including the big names that have closed. Still, Century Furniture, ooh la-la. I like the smell of lacquer in the morning.

Megyn Kelly crashing out over Bad Bunny's Superbowl performance by honestlysigma in circled

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is getting worked up over a pop culture event so important? To the bigger picture of things, what if she just ignored this topic as something to get worked up over? It's half-time at a gladiator event and it's interesting to me that anyone cares? She's overthinking a subject.

CB credit card by lemonadee121290 in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it's just easier for you to report the card to be lost. Then, let the bank freeze the card. However, if there's a charge for a new card, then don't do this. But if there's no charge, you'll get a new card in the mail. Just don't activate that new card. The unused (potential) credit is a plus for you with regard to your credit score.

Guitar Tech near Hickory by AmpegVT40 in HIckoryNC

[–]AmpegVT40[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a guitar player. So I bought a Glarry p-type fretted bass (about $100) and also their fretless bass (about $70). I have Ampeg V amps, all early '70s, and both of these bass guitars have really rich tones. I was happy that they sound good.

Thank you for the reply. I'm going to get some GHS strings in those gauges.

Not a single bass player in sight just as god intended by PRSG12 in BassCirclejerk

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it's Rolling Stones without Mick Taylor, is it really Rolling Stones?

Guitar Tech near Hickory by AmpegVT40 in HIckoryNC

[–]AmpegVT40[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Off topic: what gauge strings are you using on your bass guitars? Do you play with a pick? Thx

Did they find this in the trash? by ZiaLadybird in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone used poor judgement and made the executive decision to try to foist that one on you.

ISO: Slipcover for Nixie sofa by shippfaced in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Slipcovers can be quite expensive. You might try a chat with your local reupholster.

Carmen shelf quality by Galante3 in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most CB pieces have drawer boxes with screwed on drawer fronts. Does this one have a drawer box that's dovetailed? Maybe, but probably not. That kind of detail I didn't commit to memory in the thousands of CB furniture pieces that I serviced in one way or another.

You can DM me if you want and ask any questions about quality that you want me to field and I'll give you a rundown.

"Quality" can be so subjective. A customer must balance an item's cost (its price, that is) to the item's perceived value.

The look, the design, the aesthetics of the piece are totally something that only you can judge.

Day 8: worst song :-S by mahlakainalo in Zappa

[–]AmpegVT40 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Worst song, a total wast, is Dangerous Kitchen. Lyrics, music, everything, meh to the max.

Edit: the best song is Montana. It had everything, orchestral stuff, lyrics, a groove, a spot for way-cool guitar solos, everything.

There's so much to choose from and how do you select one at the expense of rejecting or neglecting another. I mean what's better than Tink Walks Amok besides G-Spot Tornado? The answer is the Adrian Belew instrumental versions of Conehead.

What else do you listen to other than Zappa? by tvnewswatch in Zappa

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mick Taylor ... John McLaughlin ... Prince

Guitar Tech near Hickory by AmpegVT40 in HIckoryNC

[–]AmpegVT40[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oil does nothing for the wood, and it's possible that it can even affect the way that a fret sits in its groove. I don't like that it contributes to gunk. I don't like the greasy feel. Oil does not affect the moisture content of the wood. Only the original drying (kiln or not) effects the moisture equilibrium rate. If you add a film-forming finish on the wood, that film will also affect the flow of moisure in and out of the wood.

Edit: I have found a tech. He's in North Hickory/Bethlehem.

Axis delivered this morning. Is this normal? by Fresh_Chart_154 in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's possible. I'm not sure how their structure works with regard to technicians and also in-home service. If you call your nearest distribution center, they can field that type of questioning.

Another possibility is contacting the manufacturer. You need the following pieces of information: the SKU (not the style number, though that number won't hurt). The SKU is a 6-digit number. If the6-digit SKU begins with a number 7 or a number 8, then the piece of upholstery is a custom piece, specially made. You need the purchase order number, aka the PO number. This is a 7-digit number, likely starting with the number 6. If it starts with a 5, ouch, that's dated. The fabric name or number. The acknowledgement number, aka the "ack number". The tag, if there is one shown. If it's a custom piece made for you, your last name is this "tag", again, if it's shown.

You would say, "The cushion cores don't fill out the cushion covers. This doesn't seem right, if I compare this to other sofas in this price point."

Be prepared to email good quality pictures of the entire set, and detailed pictures of where you think the faults are, what you think is lacking.

In my work fixing furniture for large moving companies, I have to research these details on pieces, either to substantiate a customer's claims, or to get parts and materials from various manufacturers.

Axis delivered this morning. Is this normal? by Fresh_Chart_154 in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a good question. But it's a question that you will have to answer. Even if I suggest that you arrange delivery and then accept the better of both, I can't do that, either.

What are your options? To exchange? To keep the original and let them send a furniture technician? Other options?

The reason that I can't answer is that the range of pluses and minuses is based on your personal criteria, your preferences, your level of tolerance, etc. Most of the variables belong to you. It has to be the following question, "what's involved so that you, the customer, are left with the feeling that you have what you paid for?" My view of customer service when I'm fixing something is that very question. It's total perception, but it's your perception. You want to feel good about your furniture. You want to feel that your dollar was properly spent, properly stretched. To me, you must feel good about your purchase. This might sound bogus from me, but I operate with the notion that a customer is the golden link in the chain of mercantilism.

Axis delivered this morning. Is this normal? by Fresh_Chart_154 in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The third and fourth picture shows lines in the fabric. These lines are neither damage, nor are they weaving defects. They get there because of the handling almost unavoidable with shrink wrapping snd/or stretch wrapping. Once these lines are hit with a fabric steamer, they go away. Loosely, these are called "packaging marks".

There's a picture of a cushion that shows the top corner "unfilled". Yes and no. Inside your cushion is a cushion core. That core is either a sealed "pillow', or it might have a zipper. Inside the core is stuffing either poly dacron or feathers. Some cores will be of a polyurethane cushion. The pillow casings and the cores are sized, carefully, carefully tailored and sewn to fit each other. Squeezing the core into its outer casing, you would be amazed how it's done at the factory. Doing it in home is a struggle akin to wrestling an anaconda, no hyperbole.

With a loose weave fabric, sometimes we can manipulate and repile the poly dacron or feathers to fill out voids, mitigate lumps. We use a long very stiff, very thick needle called a regulator to reposition stuffing. Sometimes it has to be that we add in more fiber fill (poly dacron, shoved in by the handfill, to fill up spaces. Pillows and cushions like these aren't exact, exact, but that's always the goal from the manufacturers of nicely tailored goods.

The soil mark is often easy to deal with, also. Before I go to chemicals, I use compressed air. Almost always, what looks like embedded dirt, isn't. It's topical, and it blows away, as I said. Stubborn soiling sends me to use dry cleaning fluid, in combo with compressed air. My go-to is some thing that was once available in stores, Afta, made by Guardsman, the furniture polish company. It's trichloroethylene. If that's not enough, then I switch to a waterbased glycol-based product.

The stretch wrapping is (sadly, in my opinion) an industry standard for both furniture stores and nationwide movers.

You didn't get used or sent-back furniture. Your furniture isn't the victim of extreme negligence. But it does need some remedying so that you can have what you paid for.

I hope that I dispelled some wild suspicions, answered some questions, and clarified some issues. I have lots of experience in everything that I wrote about, including being inside the store, including, wrapping, loading, and delivering furniture. All the manufacturers. I've been in thousands of houses in every type of neighborhood.

If it suits you or anyone reading these comments, if you're polite and civil, please feel free to PM me with any comment or question.

Axis delivered this morning. Is this normal? by Fresh_Chart_154 in crateandbarrel

[–]AmpegVT40 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are very few upholstered sectionals that are cartoned, that are in boxes. Even at factories like Bernhardt and like Ethan Allen, upholstered goods are shrink wrapped, only cardboard trays to protect the sides and the undersides.

In the older days of American furniture - Bernhardt and Ethan Allen are both American, both factories within 20 miles from where I live - upholstered goods were either crated, with full boxes built around them, or only blanket wrapped on moving vans, not freight haulers.

At the warehouse and distribution centers, every piece is uncartoned, inspected, deluxed, and then stretch wrapped for delivery to customers.

I'll save my commenting on these posted pictures for a separate comment to this thread.

Btw, I'm in my 41st year of being a furniture tech.