Northeast Music Center Inc — Attraction in Dickson City

Among others, I have a "2019 Martin 000-28MD (Modern Deluxe)" that I bought from Jack at Northeast Music Center that same year that it was made. Until recently, I've had nothing but bad luck with my 000-28MD. Now, I'm a hűge Martin Folkie, and a long-time friend of Northeast Music, owning 5 Martin's in total, having bought 4 out of my 5 from Jack, (with the sole exception of my vintage 53‐yr‐old 1971 D‐28). The other 4 Martins that I bought from Jack are: •2015 OM-28E-Retro •2019 000-28MD •D‐18E‐2020 (Limit Edit) •2023 0‐12‐28MD Parlor This Review pertains to my 000‐28MD which Martin must've built on a Monday Morning or Friday Afternoon, because it's been a real Lemon, part of its existence? Just 1‐1/2 years after buying it, (although I've kept it in decent humidification, always with 3 D'Addario Humdi‐Paks in the guitar/case), it seemed to happen overnight, as I played it one day and a few days later the Sitka Spruce Top had bulged upwards, just behind the Bridge, making it totally unplayable. I immediately brought it up to Jack's and after his inspection, my 000-28MD had to go back home to Nazareth. Seems not only had the Top Bulged, the Titanium Truss Rod had also broken, needing major domo reconstruction repairs back at the Factory, including a Neck Reset, removing the Ebony Fingerboard and replacing the Truss Rod (not with another Titanium Rod, because Martin was having issues with the new lighter Titanium Truss Rods), so instead, they re‐installed the similar lighter 4‐mm Truss Rods they use in the SC‐12 and SC‐13 models. Because Covid happened at the same time as the Repair, my MD Axe was in Nazareth for more than 1‐year, albeit, everything was covered under Martin's Lifetime Warranty. However, when I finally got it back, it was NEVER THE SAME guitar? It felt like Martin "missed something" with their Repair; missing something like Tone, Volume and Sustain, all the requirements of an acoustic guitar? Anyway, before the Repair, 6‐months after buying my 000-28MD, I had Jack install an LR Baggs Anthem Pickup System. It sounded FABULOUS, until after the Year‐Long Repair? It was never the same. It sounded as good as an Anthem sounds plugged in, but acoustically and unplugged, it was a real DUD! After living with it like that until early Spring of this year, I decided to see how it would sound if I experimented by temporarily removing the Anthem's Element UST and reinstalling my Original taller Bone Saddle. It seemed to slightly improve the unplugged sound, but it wasn't the deal maker. On a lark, I decided to have Jack remove the entrire LR Baggs Anthem system and instead replace it with a K&K Pure Mini passive SBT pickup. In the process of Jack removing the Anthem's True‐Mic that's attached with two‐sided tape to the Carbon Fiber Bridgeplate, the entire Bridgeplate came off the Spruce Top with the True‐Mic still attached? NO WONDER no Tone, Volume and Sustain unplugged? Jack sent photos of the Carbon Fiber Bridgeplate (with the Anthem's True‐Mic still attached) down to Martin. After Martin heard from Jack what I had been dealing with all these 5‐1/2‐years, the Bridgeplate Repair was covered by Martin's Lifetime Warranty, (with the installation utilizing Hyde Glue, to boot)!!!! Yeah, for that Golden Era! Jack swapped out the Anthem system for the new K&K Pure Mini SBT; and I FINALLY GOT BACK my Original sounding 2019 000-28MD (Modern Deluxe), with the "Whole Body Vibrating In Sustain", the way the VTS Tops are supposed to vibrate!!!! According to Martin, I am the FIRST Modern Deluxe owner that they know of who's experienced the Carbon Fiber Bridgeplate falling off from where it's glued behind the X‐Brace? Thanks to Jack Gretz and Tyler at Northeast Music Center, we got my years of "dead tone, volume and sustain" finally figured out and finally fixed!...

Faced multiple issues with this store. When I first purchased a guitar from these guys, they totally up charged me on a secondhand guitar, which I later found out that the new one cost only $40 more than what i was charged. Should’ve done my research, but looking at the reviews, I thought I’m dealing with honest people here. They don’t have much inventory and no guitars from fenders or Squire too. At the time of purchase, they reassured me that they always buy back their equipment. Fast forwarding, while moving out of town, I decided to sell my guitar back. At this point they totally refused to honor their commitment. And manipulating Words, saying, they would only consider upgrading equipment based on their inventory, completely opposite of what they were saying at the time of selling me the guitar.

I’m someone who always try to support local music store. But Such kind of bluffing commitments pushes customer more towards, franchisee shops. Up priced equipment, limited inventory, not true to their words, Never coming back here again.

Reply to the comment below:

Your attempt to shift blame onto me is not only unprofessional but also disrespectful. Let's clarify the facts: the guitar, an Ibanez AS53 with noticeable wear and tear, was not simply 'bought and returned' but clearly used. I purchased it for $275, while its new price was $320 at that time. It's worth noting that guitar prices tend to increase over time. Your insistence on denying our agreement to buy it back, both at the time of purchase and later, is absurd. It was explicitly discussed during our phone call, where you mentioned assessing based on type and condition. While we did discuss the possibility of upgrading, as soon as you realized I wasn't interested in purchasing from your limited inventory (which notably lacks Fender or Squier guitars), your tone shifted. Your audacity to preach about truthfulness while failing to uphold it yourself is the height of hypocrisy. Your dismissive attitude and refusal to acknowledge our previous agreement are unacceptable. Furthermore, your rude response to my inquiry, as well as your reply to this comment, only serve to highlight your incompetence in customer service. It's clear that your store prioritizes manipulation...

A few weeks ago I traveled 2+ hours to Northeast Music Center to play some PRS's and maybe go home with one. I was really interested in the Custom 22. Although they were sold out of the Custom 22, I spent a couple of hours playing the other PRS's that they had in stock. Everyone at the shop was very nice and knowledgeable. I ended up buying a Custom 24. After playing it that night, and giving it a lot of thought, I decided that I really wanted the Custom 22 and that I should have been more patient. The CU24 was beautiful and played wonderfully but my only other electric is a 24 fret (98 LP DC). So the next day I called to ask if I could return the CU24 for a CU22. They said that it wouldn't be a problem other than they didn't have a CU22. Jack the owner told me that he would contact PRS and get a CU22 from the factory as soon as they built one that didn't have a name on it. I asked if he wanted me to return the guitar that I had and he said that I could hold on to it and return it when I picked up the new guitar. A week later I got a call from Jack and he sent an email of 3 new CU22's that I could choose from. I did the drive again that day and made the switch. As he had done with the first guitar Jack put it on the bench and went over it to make sure that everything was setup to spec. I couldn't have had a better experience and am glad that I chose to buy my PRS from Northeast...