I ordered 8 guitar pickups from Guitar Fetish to install into guitars, each costing around $30, and then I had to pay for shipping on top of it, making the order $271.60 total. Installing these pickups took a lot of time, as I've never done it before, and was part of ongoing projects. One of these guitars I had bought for this project didn't work so I had to return it (to a different seller), and no longer needed the pickups. I submitted a return request for them to Guitar Fetish. I was told that the return period was only 7 days (which was nowhere even near long enough for this kind of thing, as even if I had taken it in to my local guitar repair shop they would have taken 7 days to do the repair on just one guitar, so even then it would not be long enough of a return window...and who knows if they'd need more time to do this many pickups, I sure did). This was news to me as I hadn't seen this return policy anywhere on his site, but I didn't want to argue with him about it as he offered me store credit and I figured I might need more pickups for my ongoing guitar projects, so I took that offer. I then had to pay $13 to ship these two pickups back, so I ate that cost...

Then when installing other pickups I found that one didn't even work. I confirmed that it didn't work and wasn't just be installing it improperly as I took it in to my local guitar repair shop and they tested it and found that it was defective, which they wrote on a receipt for me. I then submitted a return request for this, and at first he wasn't going to accept the returrn unless I could prove to him that it was defective, and he said the receipt from the repair man wasn't enough. Then he said that he would let me return it at my own shipping expense, and would offer me store credit again, and if he tested it and found it defective then he would reimburse me for the shipping. At this point I've installed the rest of the other pickups and found that they do not even sound better, but are actually worse than the budget pickups that came on these super cheap guitars (that cost between $95 and $160). Two of these pickups have an annoying hum, so while they work and aren't defective enough for me to uninstall and try to send back, it's annoying that I've paid for a product that doesn't sound good (in addition to so many other products). Also, I'm already out over $100 due to this bad business man, and now he wants me to return this product at my own expense so that he can test it, and I'm not sure if he will actually make good on reimbursing me for shipping or not, and regardless, I've lost too much money and at this point am worried about over-drafting my account so I can't afford to spend more to send this back. I also take issue with this "return policy" of his, which seems predatory because not only is it not enough time for even a professional to do the work, but he claims it is listed at the bottom of each sales page I bought from, and I returned to them to find that he had lied, and I took screen shots to prove it. I tried filing a charge-back dispute with paypal, and he lied to them about his return policy being posted at the bottom of every page on his site, and then paypal denied it because their new policy states they only deal with charge-backs the same month the purchase was made, which again, is not enough time for a big project like this, sometimes it takes time to learn that you've been sold a defective product.

Anyways, I cannot afford to lose this $100 but I have to cut my losses at this point instead of spending more to try to return this just for store credit to get more bad products that will cost me more time and energy (as well as money for the guitar repairman), and then potentially more money to ship them back. I'm a disabled person and have to live off of $1,000 a month, so I had to save up all year for this project, only to be ripped off! And I've also read reviews that say that their pots, and any wooden guitar parts are even worse. So obviously I recommend avoiding them and not buying anything from them. They definitely are selling cheap crap parts, cheaper and crappier than the ones that come with the cheapest guitars possible (like Glarry), at a high markup and they charge too much for shipping and don't pay you for return shipping and have a predatory return policy. Don't subject yourself to being ripped off like I was.

Been buying things off GF for some time, a decade at least and never been burned in way whatsoever, cases, parts, tools, whatever. I hit them up on the holidays for th discounts usually ends up free shipping for me.

Been reading a LOT of rubbish by members clearly not being honest, GF discloses pretty much everything you need to know, they let you know you are taking a risk on items that may be risky, anything else is defective they take it back, I could read too far, but the dood with the fret sprout after spending $$$ on fret work? Huh?

Then its "unplayable" cuz the neck is twisted? Who wouldn't send it back if its supposed to be straight?

They are honest about all their products, and frankly you might be surprised with some of their product, pickups especially, sub $100 sets of real good pups is rare anymore.

I was skeptical but now I know you get more than what you pay for their pickups.

I've gotten very good hardware as well, they disclose it all, their quick connect is a hoot for sub $100 sets, find quick connect for that price?

Clearly someo these commenters are shills, and not very good ones at that, people getting bent up guitars supposed to be straight but don't return them?

You can remove the neck secure it and return it in a smaller box, budget should be any more than $30 from anywhere in the states. Lotta hog warsh $100 to ship where are you japan? Shoulda bought something closer to home, even though I highly doubt they are sending out any guitars with twisted or bent necks, and anyone thinks they can buy budget guitars that don't need setups think again, not from the USA.

I've only heard GOOD things about their slick guitars from MANY good players, always seems the novice is butthurt cuz he doesn't want to learn how to set up a guitar then pays a shady luthier to do a half $#*! job. Sheesh man, somany youtube vids walk you through this stuff, even how to straighten twisted necks fcs.

IMHO if you want to but form GFS you will be taken care, of, be aware of shipping, their wood products that are seconds so forth you take a gamble, any guitars like Slick whatever that aren't right talk top them, work it out, they can send you a shipping label if its that bad, I really don't think they are sending out bent up guitars, why? So they can pay to have it shipped back?

These guys aren't fly by night, not even close, stop with the nonsense already. Good lord, they have good prices for good budget mods, pickups are worthy I've bought and played many sets. I like em specially the blues and vintage winds..

I was hoping to keep the previous review, see below. On a whim I decided to troubleshoot my gear and send them a reading with no expectations, just as information purposes. I have to say, COMPLETE turnaround on customer service. Apparently they changed some things, or the guy I had to deal with has moved on. Regardless, i was fortunate enough to receive immediate response from Forrest. Not only has he been professional, available, apologetic, knowledgeable, but without expecting anything, he gave me instructions on proper testing and i provided him readings and he acknowledged an equipment flaw and owned up to it and is making right on this. I just wanted to provide an update on this as I feel obligated, after the slam. I understand the equipment is not the best, but we do know what we are paying for and I hope this helps if anyone has faced the same issues, maybe you can give them another shot.

Well, I should just paste my correspondence with their return department, as it has been weeks of emails back and forth, however I'll keep it short. I received KP harness and pickups for a build for Christmas, After install on my pickguard it just wasn't the sound I expecting. I figured I would be able to exchange for store credit in accordance with their own policy. States within 60 days, returns if included with original packaging can be returned for store credit. Their were no scuffs scrapes or any thing as I explained, this was a KP system. They kept insisting that these were not in "new" condition and that I was not going to get a refund, they even said these were "thrown in a box, with wood screws", which was not as I had proof with pictures before I returned. These were all packaged in the KP boxes, and exactly how received, including the hardware. I asked several times to show me the policy that states this, and they ignored this and still have yet to explain. I even thought maybe they had the wrong package, as I was in disbelief. They would not respond to this, instead started responding about the return policy and even addressing restocking fee, that I did not even bring up. I finally decided to just have them send my items back and they wanted to charge me again to return these. I sent an email, that my next one would be to the BBB so They finally sent them back on their dime, but proceeded to scold me on this being a one time courtesy, and to follow the return policy. Regardless, I just received my package back and yeap, it's the same as I packed it to them. It's kind of a shame, as I've never had any issues and have been a long time customer. I know the quality, as I know how much I pay, so my only expectation has always been as long as it works. I never thought returning items, based on their own policy would be this difficult. I question the practice of such business and if i will continue to be an advocate to my friends and social media for this company. It's a shame because this would be a great company in my opinion, how they engineer pickups at that price point is a good deal. I will take my business elsewhere and tell as many people I know to stay away.

I wish that I could review separate aspects of a business. It would help give the public and Guitarfetish.com a clearer idea of where improvements could be made.

I have been purchasing products from guitarfetish.com for over a decade now. I know that what I buy there is made in Asia and that it may not be the highest quality. So my expectations for the product aren't unrealistic. To be fair, I have been pleasantly surprised most of the time by the quality of the parts I have bought from them in the past. I certainly would not expect to buy a guitar for less than 300 or 400 dollars US and think that there would be no need for a setup or tweaking for improved performance. You can buy a guitar for 1000 US and have those same problems.

HOWEVER, here are some problems you, as well as guitarfetish.com, should be open to hearing about:

-- Communications with the company are only via email or through Facebook. In either case the responses from guitarfetish.com are not substantive. They do seem to be "upbeat" or polite. Which is a change from what has been well documented in internet guitar forums as historically having had very poor and combative interactions with customers. While the tone is better, the service problems noted in those forums seem to have resurfaced with the company's move to Sarasota, Florida.

-- They seem to be overwhelmed when response to email discount announcements and campaigns is high. I can be days, weeks or even months before you get a response or receive a shipment. This might indicate inventory issues. It certainly indicates bad planning.

-- The site is a poor example of "ease of use," or "compelling to use." They should take the time to create a better navigation scheme for the variety of products. That left rail menu is hard to read, poorly organized and, in a few cases doesn't let you use the "pop-out" submenus" without a struggle.

-- The site is so "over-designed" that the graphics detract from the product offerings. It looks cheap and send the message to their customers that they are not a top notch organization.

-- The prices are the attraction. The claims for the qualities are very overblown. The phrase "polished to a deafening gloss" comes to mind. Guitarfeish.com should take the time to write descriptions that better represent value/cost benefits and knock off claims to be as good as other well established high end products. It just makes them look suspect.

Once a GFS Fan Boy... But No Longer

I recently had a bad experience with Guitar Fetish that has completely turned me off. I bought a clearance/blemished/discounted guitar... they shipped me the wrong guitar. I asked for them to ship the right one, which they could not do due to it being already sold (bait and switch maybe?). They could have cross-shipped me a replacement new unblemished one to save a customer, which would have cost them a minimal amount of money. I gave them some other options; 1) to either further discount the wrong guitar they shipped me and I would keep it OR 2) send me a neck and a pick guard that resembled the guitar I originally ordered (they sell necks and pickguards as separate items, surely they could have done this). Their only solution was for me to ship the wrong guitar back and they would refund my full costs. They pretty much came across as 'too bad', 'so sad', 'oh well', tough $h! T. It is as if they didn't really care about making me happy as a customer or appreciating MY inconvenience. Sure, I could have (and would have) kept the wrong guitar they shipped me, but I didnt like it enough for the price I paid compared to the one I ordered and expected to receive. Could I have been shipped the wrong guitar intentionally with hopes Id keep it? There were so many things wrong with this experience that they could have done something to make it seem like they would go the extra mile to make my bad experience a good one beyond the scripted hollow apologies that came from their customer service reps (perhaps a 25% off coupon on any future purchase, credited me for additional merchandise, a call from the president of the company apologizing, sent me a lousy T-Shirt or button down Guitar Fetish shirtsomething/anything), but for some reason they chose not to. This could have been an easy fix for their mistake (their mistakeNOT MINE), but I had to pay the price and spend my valuable time E-Mailing them back-and-forth on a solution, and re-packaging the guitar for return shipment and getting the guitar picked up by FedEx. Their guitars have value to them, but apparently my time, past purchases and aggravation this caused means nothing to them. Simply, all they had to do from the start was ship me the correct guitar in the first placehow difficult is that? Mistakes do happen, but this is where their customer service department should have picked it up and really shined, but didnt. And, to add fuel to the fire, it took 3 business days after they received my return for my money to be refunded. This should have been almost instant after they received the wrong guitar they shipped me back in their possession. This was not a standard return. So, money in the wrong guitar has been tied up for over two weeks (I should have went with Hard Luck Kings for a similar price). I really question their customer service and their desire to do a right thing. Not sure why they chose the position they did. I own five Xaviere guitars and one Slick and purchase frequently. My next guitar(s) will not be from Guitar Fetish. I can find comparable guitars and parts elsewhere (HLK, Agile, Samick/Greg Bennett, Jay Turser, Dragonfire, Stewmac, Allparts, Warmoth, etc., etc., etc.). Once a GFS Fan Boy... But No Longer.