Jamestown or Elite Please Advise - Page 21

There are definitely humidity factors at play, KayDub. Definitely.

Not only with the wood itself, but I think the humidity flexing does something to loosen the frame screws to allow slippage. I'm probably full of crap about that. I probably just forgot to tighten a couple screws the last time I tightened, and said "Holy crap! Must be the humidity and not my age-addled brain!" the last time I restretched and found that I actually had a bunch of loose screws.



I think I finally worked out my re-stretching issues. (I think. Time will tell.) It seems to be holding this time.

Again, try to stretch it while it's hanging somewhere. You'll get a truer stretch than the floor-hang-floor-hang routine.

that's awesome

Any more feedback from folks that have the Jamestown screen? What's the quality like? How about the frame? Does it look cheap? How long does install take?

It does not look cheap.

Assembly probably took me every bit of 90 minutes. At least half of that was spent arguing with my wife about who was stretching in the wrong direction.

Mine arrived yesterday. (125" 2.35:1 w/Seymour AT material) It also took me about 90 minutes to assemble it and hang it on the wall. I still have some clean up to take care of, but overall, it was a straight forward process.
Earlier in this thread, it was recommended that you should buy the Home Depot french cleat. Mine actually came with 2 french cleats and they worked just fine.

I would recommend that you unpack the contents of the box somewhere other than the assembly area. I found several aluminum shavings from the predrilled holes on the floor during assembly. They didn't do any damage, but I can see how they could.



My overall impressions
For the price, I couldn't have found a comparable AT screen in this size and format.
I was surprised the top and bottom came in 2 pieces, but that's probably due to shipping costs for longer boxes.

I ordered on 11/16/12 and received the screen on 1/2/13. My quote was 10-15 business days.
James was prompt to reply to emails and provided updates when requested. He was always polite, but unless his response includes a UPS tracking number, its probably not accurate.

Yes. Not entirely sure but I think Jamestown adds the second French cleat at 110 inches. As long as you get two cleats, you're good.

But one cleat just isn't enough for a 100 incher. Balance is too precarious.

And you can't mix and match different brands of French cleats, so if you have to buy a second cleat, that means you have to buy two cleat sets.

That makes sense.

I wasn't expecting it to come with them, so it was a nice surprise.

My screen arrived today. Probably get around to hanging it this weekend...

Seven weeks and two days - three holidays.= Just under seven weeks.

Thanks for the ping, Soulcamp.

I didn't notice this until I went to dial in the projector last night, but my screen frame was not square. I had to take it down, square it up and restretch the screen fabric. Probably a rookie mistake not to check this during assembly. Hopefully this post helps the next guy.

Damn! This dude was pissed! Signed into AVS forum and his only post was to bitch about Jamestown. Kinda funny how pissed off people really get. I am no angel either but nothing like that. haha

I was there too. I came about as close as you can get without pulling the plug.

I have been told the same thing as everybody else has and I guess that is why I have not gotten mad. Maybe if there was not a wonderful forum to hear everybody elses experiences it might be a different story. I do really wish it would ship out. I call yesterday to see whats up and James seem ummm......really busy lets just say. It seems like he has received a lot of these calls or something haha. He said that it should ship out this weekend, but I know that is not going to happen. If it does, I will come back on here and eat my own words. I hope it is here for the superbowl or the nfc and afc championship games. Maybe the Texans will be in those but probably not. Damn patriots!

GO Patriots

Mine was absolutely square before stretching the screen, but it was a little off afterwards. Not enough that it probably matters, though.

Overall, it looks nice for the price. The frame definitely is off where the top and bottom pieces join in the center. Not a huge deal, but noticeable. The stretching process is a pain in the ass. My knuckles are still sore.

Also, mine is 120" and only came with one French cleat. It's not adequate, as the cleat is held by three screws in fairly soft wood. I don't trust it will last long. Will probably look at other mounting options in the coming week.

Is it worth $260? Sure. Is it comparable to a $1000 screen. Not even close.

One cleat for a 120"?

Uh oh. Better talk nice about James in this thread or he'll short your cleats.

I have the same feeling. It was worth the price, but you are not getting a professionally designed and constructed screen. You are paying another handyman to build a DIY frame for you. It was worth the time savings for me since I had other projects to complete, but I'll probably build something else or buy a real screen in a year or 2.

Any tips for keeping the screen straight when stretching? Or making it straight after stretching it?

So who's the most recent recipient of a Jamestown screen and when did they order? I'm trying to figure out how late mine will be.

I ordered mine exactly five weeks ago tomorrow and nobody replies to any of my emails asking about a ship date but thanks to this thread, I'm assuming he's working his nuts off in a shed somewhere and not dead and gone . Damn sure NOT how I run my business but to each his own, I guess.

Yes. I got one cleat as well. It's lying somewhere...
As I mentioned before I used simplistic eye-hook method..

Let's say it this way " We supported a small business" (in a true sense and not with any political propaganda)..

I ordered mine on Dec 6th. What about you? i was told it will be shipped out this weekend. i just hope it gets here soon.

December 7th. Ordered the Centerstage material. You?

Like I said, nobody over there can be bothered to reply to my inquiries, so who the hell knows? If it weren't for this thread, I'd be "warming up" right now with a short path to "incensed".

James needs to get out of the "build to order" model if he can't deliver on a deadline. I mean WTF, you're setting YOUR OWN DATE!

Stop selling your product and build up a - wait for it..... - INVENTORY! When you build three or four screen sizes with two screen material types, there's simply no other way to run that business.

Why he insists on pre-selling is beyond me because eventually the reputation you develop for being late overwhelms the reputation for quality. Sell what ya got and when demand goes up, HIRE MORE PEOPLE to restock your inventory. This really is Business 101. Sheesh.

I'd be mortified if there were a thread like this about my company.

I'm considering this method myself. However, it will probably require removing the screen material first in order to mount and level it, right?

How do you get it level anyway? I leveled the cleat on my wall, but I had to take it down three times and adjust the cleat on the screen side to get it even close to level. I'm thinking maybe a nut on the end of the bolts that you use to adjust up or down on each end?

Yup. For leveling first to make sure that the eye-hooks are in straight horizontal laser level line.
For any minor adjustments the nut on the bolts (along with washers if needed) should be used.

I did the mounting adjustments before stretching the material.

Ordered mine around the same time. Just got off the phone and was told that Seymour was out of stock and that I should've received an email explaining that. He also said he should be getting the material "mid-January" and then it's only a 2-3 day turnaround after that. Seems like his story changes each call. If I don't get some sort of tracking # next week, I'll be seriously considering canceling and ordering direct from Seymour.

Edit: Just checked Seymour's website and the Centerstage material is listed as "Out of Stock."

I want to avoid completely redoing the screen, so I have another method I'm going to try first. I am going to replace the top aluminum beam that holds top left & right sides together (and subsequently holds the French cleat) with a 3/4" strip of hardwood like poplar or birch. They I can attach the French cleat to the hardwood and not worry about the screws only being held in by the tips in the soft wood of the frame.

But eventually everything is ending in that soft wood no matter what you do.. (Unless you want to replace the wood frame.. )

One more option you might want to think (that I was initially planning). Use of cables (like those in the garage door)..
I was planning to drill through holes in both top and bottom aluminum frames at both left and right.
Insert two cables from the bottom (or one long like U shape from two bottom holes if you desire).
The two end that come out of top will run through small pulleys on the wall and then go to opposite sides (outside) and attach to a screw/J-hook or whatever is appropriate
You can attach the adjustable bolts (I have no idea what it is called. It as bold at both ends and you can rotate them to adjust the distance/length) to horizontally align the screen to the precision.

I hope I have confused you enough. But just read it few times and you know what I am saying..

I paid for my order on November 26th and James thanked me for the order and informed me production time would be 13 to 14 business days.
On December 17th I emailed asking for an update on the order. I never received a reply.
On December 27th I again emailed asking for an update. James replied the next day stating they were closed through New Years but my screen was looking like the 4th and he would forward me the tracking number.
Now, January 14th, I am still awaiting any tracking number or update on the screen.

I will update this post when I receive more information or an update.

And I will definitely post my impression of this screen when it arrives... although the placebo effect may be massively taking place - as just about anything would look better than the textured tan wall that me, my family, and friends have been watching everything on for the past two months.