I bought a guitar kit from RM Olson online. The kit was in the Gibson, ES-335 body style. I had communicated with other customers and knew what to expect in terms of apparent quality in the kit. The business transaction went smoothly and the kit was delivered in a timely manner and was adequately packed. I was surprised that it came with the neck installed because the other customers I had corresponded with had received them with the neck not installed.
I worked hard to prep the guitar body and neck for staining and clear coating. I had gotten flame maple and was looking forward to having it stained purple on the top of the body and the head, with a dark wood finish elsewhere. Once I began to staind and dye it I was horrified; there were several places on the body where glue had apparently extruded during manufacture and been wiped down with a rag. The body would not take stain in those places. Also, there was a large area on the top of the body, you know, the part that you want to be perfect, where it would not take stain, especially in the pores of the wood. It looked as though someone had dropped a rag on it that contained some oil based material that was wiped off the body, but where some of it smeared and again kept the wood from taking stain. I wrote to RM Olson, who never even had the courtesy or decency to reply to my email. Later, I wrote my story on his Facebook page and again instead of replying to me, he simply deleted it.
I am left with a piece of **** that I don't want and no recourse unless I paint it with a solid color and gamble that there's nothing else wrong with it.