On 08/24/2023, I wrote a review about the Oliver Jr Live I purchased. The review is titled "Hopeful... but on the fence", and the main point was I liked the guitar, but there were a few disappointments which I outlined. Orangewood customer service responded to me quickly, and what I learned is, "If it ain't right, Orangewood is a company that will do everything reasonable to make it right."
From what I understand, there's no way to "change" a review, so I wanted to submit this follow-up review. I'll start by saying Omar, in customer service, not only reached out to me, but specifically addressed every issue I pointed out in my review AND his responses were meaningful and useful. He said customer satisfaction was the goal and presented three options: 1) Return my unit for an exchange. 2) Return my unit for a refund. 3) Return my unit and let them work on it.
I know returns are a hassle for everyone and an expense for the company, so I told Omar I would be willing to work on the unit myself to see if I could fix it, if they would allow that and send me the necessary parts. Omar agreed, and assure me that if I wasn't able to fix it with the parts provided, all the return options would still be on the table. I had the parts in just a few days, and was able to correct the main problems listed in my review. I felt this was a win for me and I hope it saved Orangewood a little hassle and expense as well.
The Oliver Jr Live is the first guitar I purchased online... sight unseen. I had some concerns with that approach, but decided based on Orangewood's pricing and the majority of reviews I read about their guitars, that I wanted to give it a shot. I'm glad I did.
NOTE: After doing some research and reading reviews on the preamp that comes with the Oliver Jr (and many other guitars and guitar brands), I determined that the tone differences available via the tone wheel on the preamp are fairly subtle and limited. Upon testing the preamp again in a quiet environment, I could hear the subtle difference in tone that could be achieved via the full range of the tone wheel, but primarily when chording vs picking individual strings. If significant tone control via the preamp is important to you, I would recommend getting the Oliver Jr rather than the Oliver Jr Live, and adding a different preamp. I don't expect to play with an amp very often, so if I need more tone control than what's available via the preamp, I'll use the tone control on the amp itself for that.
