Minor repairs

As I've gotten to know my instrument, it occurred to me that I ought to post some detailed description and photos, as a way to help people better understand what you get when you buy a Krappy touchstyle guitar. The tl;dr is that it is NOT a crappy guitar! Details follow:

1. The only significant problem I've encountered is that at the 19th fret, the 2nd string "frets out" to the 20th. This is probably a consequence of the guitar's journey from North Carolina to Massachusetts: that is, with the change in humidity, the neck's curvature has altered ever-so-slightly. And I do mean slightly: If I apply more pressure and push the string against the 19th fret more forcefully, then the string clears the 20th fret ... but of course, the whole point of touchstyle playing is not to fret with that much force.

Lest any skeptic cast aspersions on Kevin's lutherie skills, I will emphasize that none of the other strings "fret out" anywhere on the neck ... that is, everything is monkey-dory on all ten strings from the 21st fret right up to the 24th. And the delta-humidity hypothesis is supported by the fact that the guitar arrived ... slightly oily. I infer that before shipping the instrument, Kevin took the trouble to re-oil the wood, and surely wiped away the excess (because, seriously: who would be masochistic enough to pack an oily guitar?!?). Now take that wood with no excess oil on its surface, and ship it in a sealed carton during summer: the air warms, relative humidity drops, and the wood dries, weeping some finishing oil that it had previously absorbed.

Cut to the chase, I will take a fret file to that spot on the 20th fret to bring it back into line. I've encountered this sort of thing previously with mass-produced guitars by Epiphone and ESP, so really, this is no big deal.

By the way, Kevin posted a demo video to YouTube, in which he performs King Crimson's "Heartbeat" on the instrument prior to shipping.

2. Otherwise, the only other touch-up I see in the instrument's immediate future is to pick at the felt that mutes the strings at the nut (as piano technicians do when they re-voice the felt on piano hammers). That is, at present it seems to allow more vibration than is optimal, though I have to admit this may actually mean that I'm just not playing at sufficient amplification.