Selling: Neosound Jr

My Rally Neosound Jr. is for sale. It's time I settle down with the instruments which complement my playing quirks. The instrument's larger body + narrower neck width affects the way I play. I rate this guitar highly for its tone & QC. The common query here is: Does it sound like an ES-335. Well if it does, then I would not have bought it, he he... It's a variation of the ES-335 tone, definitely, but with added brightness namely due to the pickups in use & its satin finished nature.

• Model: Rally Neosound Jr (semi-hollow)
• Condition: 9/10
• Bag included
• Self-collect: CCK Mrt stn
• Queries/ confirmation: dark1349@hotmail.com
• No trades
• Asking: $299 (final)

**Will re-string this guitar to its original .010 gauge upon confirmation unless you like the .0095s which are currently in there :-)

Lesser priorities to queries bearing the following details: Why are you selling this guitar? Does it sound like the Gibson ES-335? Is there anything wrong with it?

Re-string: Rally/ Ibanez

This was the first guitar which received a new set of strings last night, my TM-70. There were some traces of mould on the fretboard as well but that was taken care of with a quick reconditioning treatment. I really love my TM-70 because of it's semi-hollow nature. This guitar was largely ignored by those looking for a semi because of it's 'wrong' body depth; it's thinner than its peers so we can't expect the same warm tones, it also manifests a brighter acoustics. Therefore, it sounds splendid with lots of distortion- my kinda guitar.

The Neosound JR, on the other hand, had a set of .010s by default; not my preferred string gauge & with all the rust, it deserves a re-string. I have D'Addarios in both these guitars.

Hidden compromise

I do not intend for the following 4 pictures to be an exposure of a deception; no guitar stores here are selling compromised goods to buyers. If they do, the instruments you brought home wouldn't be working. This is my effort to bring you, my friends, to an understanding of quality control. Manufacturers out there are sometimes fighting themselves silly to conceive instruments which require a certain standard of construction which they know they cannot fully conform to, with a limited production cost. However, they are mindful enough to tuck these away so that what (flaws) you don't see, won't make your heart ache. Keep in mind that I bought this guitar after seeing these flaws & accepting the instrument as it is. The guitar in question is my Rally Neosound Jr. & it's all about the binding in the inner F-holes.

This first pic shows a cut-like gap.

Pic 2 shows an atrocious rip. 

What do we have here? Coarse binding surface? Looks like it.

More uneven finishing here.

I hear some people out there saying I'm being ultra petty with small compromises but this is the Achilles heel of an F-hole finishing. When it comes to making the F-hole edges presentable, the budget instruments won't pull through as well as their upper tier counterparts. In view of the instrument's list price, the binding work you see here might prove to be pseudo-binding after all; ordinary wood surface given the cosmetic fix so that it looks like real binding. Whatever the case may be, the manufacturer has a duty to see this done properly.

More grip, please

When you get more acquainted with your instruments, you'd know the parts to replace. Some of us do this for a cosmetic intention, the rest of us do it on accounts of functionality. The knobs you see above are from my Rally Neosound Jr. Because I constantly reach out for these knobs (especially the volume knob) to mute play after certain passages- & I do need quick muting- the shape & form of these knobs just don't help.

Here are the replacement knobs which are not more expensive but they complement my needs. Note the grooved upper half of the knobs & less skirting in the design. These are the details that promote grip.