Jim Palenscar
Posted: 13 Jul 2007 10:08 am
I just returned from a little visit to Oceanside and wanted to offer two cents on my experience wth Jim at Steel Guitars of North County.
As many of you may recall, last fall I sent my Emmons D10 Legrand III to one of the 'big' time guys around Nashville to get some work done, a little copedant change, a knee lever change and general tuneup as I had purchased this guitar used. As you may also recall, it was a less than satisfactory experience (though he didn't charge me a lot of money) and he had the guitar 11 (yes ELEVEN) weeks...the returned guitar had an incorrect copendant on the C6, pedals did not return to 'in tune', compensators were not touched or adjusted. And the final straw....instead of the nice naughahyde rod and leg bags that was with the guitar, it was returned with a flimsy jean material leg bag.
Ok, enough about the past.
I had called Jim several weeks ago and told him I needed a serious tune up on my guitar and we set an appointment (wow!) for me to come in. I know he had a lot of things to get done, but Jim wanted to budget time for me since I was driving such a distance. I drove down to Oceanside from San Jose (about 450 miles) and met Jim and his lovely wife Karen this past Tuesday morning a little past 10 in the morning.
I have to say walking in to Jims shop is like walking into a bit of Steel Guitar heaven. Over 30 pedal steel guitars, many lap guitars, amps, accessories, a complete machine shop, stage, comfy couch. And of course all the great graphics on the walls. We chatted for a bit before getting down to business.
In a sense, it was like going to a new doctor. Jim asked me a lot of questions about my playing, what I didn't like, what I was looking for, and took a lot of notes along the way. We probably spent the better part of an hour doing this with me behind the guitar pushing pedals and levers, Jim reaching in to make an adjustment here and there and making a recommendation about one thing or another.
The guitar then went on the bench, where Jim showed me all about compensators, spring tension, o rings, showing me how one thing relates to another.
I had figured about two days of work were due to get things in order. Jim had the guitar ready at 6PM. I had planned on staying the night anyway, so I asked if I could pick it up in the morning. No worries.
I came in Wednesday morning to find my completely polished guitar sitting plugged in on the bandstand in the shop ready to play. We chatted for a bit and I went to the guitar to check it out. Well, it was like nothing I have experienced in 35 years of playing....the guitar felt like it was built for me, every pedal, every knee lever in perfect position with perfect throws. And, the intotation was as precise as I think you can make it on these mechanical beasts. All the possible splits were in tune. Half stops felt like half stops for the first time. We removed one of the 8 knee levers cause I just couldn't figure out how or why I would need it. And it just played like buttah!
Then, as Jim chatted with another customer, I took a handful of the steels on the floor and plugged them in for a try; guitars I've never played and in some cases never seen. That took the next hour and a half. I had to leave and now I had time for a bass lesson in LA on my way home.
Well, I've dragged on here, but I am damn envious of Jim Eaton, and John McClung, Mike Perlowin and all the rest of you So Cal steelers who are so close to the shop. I'd be in there every week if it was within 50 miles. I believe that Jim represents the very best in what customer service is about, but it's not like it's a job for him. It is clear that he really loves what he does and takes great pleasure in seeing the smiling face of a fellow steeler as they play away.
I got home yesterday and had my regular Thursday night gig in San Jose. It was as good as any recent playing experience I have had. New licks were flowing and old ones were in tune and in place.
Thank you Jim. You not only fixed the guitar, but brought a little new zip into me as well.
SS
PS....ok, so it's more like 2 bucks than 2 cents. Worth the price of admission. YMMV
As many of you may recall, last fall I sent my Emmons D10 Legrand III to one of the 'big' time guys around Nashville to get some work done, a little copedant change, a knee lever change and general tuneup as I had purchased this guitar used. As you may also recall, it was a less than satisfactory experience (though he didn't charge me a lot of money) and he had the guitar 11 (yes ELEVEN) weeks...the returned guitar had an incorrect copendant on the C6, pedals did not return to 'in tune', compensators were not touched or adjusted. And the final straw....instead of the nice naughahyde rod and leg bags that was with the guitar, it was returned with a flimsy jean material leg bag.
Ok, enough about the past.
I had called Jim several weeks ago and told him I needed a serious tune up on my guitar and we set an appointment (wow!) for me to come in. I know he had a lot of things to get done, but Jim wanted to budget time for me since I was driving such a distance. I drove down to Oceanside from San Jose (about 450 miles) and met Jim and his lovely wife Karen this past Tuesday morning a little past 10 in the morning.
I have to say walking in to Jims shop is like walking into a bit of Steel Guitar heaven. Over 30 pedal steel guitars, many lap guitars, amps, accessories, a complete machine shop, stage, comfy couch. And of course all the great graphics on the walls. We chatted for a bit before getting down to business.
In a sense, it was like going to a new doctor. Jim asked me a lot of questions about my playing, what I didn't like, what I was looking for, and took a lot of notes along the way. We probably spent the better part of an hour doing this with me behind the guitar pushing pedals and levers, Jim reaching in to make an adjustment here and there and making a recommendation about one thing or another.
The guitar then went on the bench, where Jim showed me all about compensators, spring tension, o rings, showing me how one thing relates to another.
I had figured about two days of work were due to get things in order. Jim had the guitar ready at 6PM. I had planned on staying the night anyway, so I asked if I could pick it up in the morning. No worries.
I came in Wednesday morning to find my completely polished guitar sitting plugged in on the bandstand in the shop ready to play. We chatted for a bit and I went to the guitar to check it out. Well, it was like nothing I have experienced in 35 years of playing....the guitar felt like it was built for me, every pedal, every knee lever in perfect position with perfect throws. And, the intotation was as precise as I think you can make it on these mechanical beasts. All the possible splits were in tune. Half stops felt like half stops for the first time. We removed one of the 8 knee levers cause I just couldn't figure out how or why I would need it. And it just played like buttah!
Then, as Jim chatted with another customer, I took a handful of the steels on the floor and plugged them in for a try; guitars I've never played and in some cases never seen. That took the next hour and a half. I had to leave and now I had time for a bass lesson in LA on my way home.
Well, I've dragged on here, but I am damn envious of Jim Eaton, and John McClung, Mike Perlowin and all the rest of you So Cal steelers who are so close to the shop. I'd be in there every week if it was within 50 miles. I believe that Jim represents the very best in what customer service is about, but it's not like it's a job for him. It is clear that he really loves what he does and takes great pleasure in seeing the smiling face of a fellow steeler as they play away.
I got home yesterday and had my regular Thursday night gig in San Jose. It was as good as any recent playing experience I have had. New licks were flowing and old ones were in tune and in place.
Thank you Jim. You not only fixed the guitar, but brought a little new zip into me as well.
SS
PS....ok, so it's more like 2 bucks than 2 cents. Worth the price of admission. YMMV
