Hi All,
Just had a Nice Bloke leave my workshop , his lovely wife gifted him a Takamine Cutaway for his Birthday last year while they were Living in London, anyway he has returned home, sent it into the Local Guitar shop for the Neck relief to be adjusted, they tell him it has a truss rod rattle and the Entire fretboard will need to be Removed and a new truss rod fitted , which suprisingly or not is about the same price as one of their Cole Clarkes , which they suggested he would be better of Buying than repairing his Takamine, a mate rings me and ask's if i'll take a Look at it , Because the Guy's wife is really upset , I say Sure.
After hearing the Story I'm already Suss about the Truss rod Theory , and seeing the Guitar makes me even more suss , this Guitar is in a Hard case and is Immaculate , I tap and Knock the Neck with the heal of my hand and sure there is a rattle, and it's resonating through the neck , But not Originating from the Neck , I pull out the Battery from the Pre- Amp , No Rattle , Put it back, rattle is back , I fit some felt to the battery , rattle is gone , Customer smiles , Want's to Hug me , but thankfully restrains himself .
and that my friends is the tale of the Guitar shop blues.
Guitar Shop Blues .
Guitar Shop Blues .
Paul .
Re: Guitar Shop Blues .
It's far too common up in the top end I'm afraid. I'm absolutely astounded at the tales I here from people showing up at my door wanting this or that done. I suppose I'm just too honest for my own good, but at least I can sleep at night with a clear conscience.
Re: Guitar Shop Blues .
I can work the other way as well Paul and it pays to be careful when taking in work. I've had people try on all kinds of "hey, that wasn't there before" crap on me in the past and that includes a broken truss rod. When I first started taking in some repair work I had a guy who was a 'fiend' of a friend drop off a case and shoot through saying over his shoulder as he left that the guitar was fine but needed strings and a good set up.
Later when I took the guitar out of the case I could see immediately that it had neck issues and that it had sat for a good while under string tension. I should have just put the guitar back in the case then and there but curiosity got the better of me. So I popped the TR cover and found that the rod had broken just back from the threads and been left for me to discover.
When the guy came back I asked him why he hadn't mention the broken TR? Of course he responded with indignation stating in no uncertain terms that I must have broken it when trying to adjust it because everything was just fine when he had dropped the guitar off. There was a bit of tooing and froing with variouse threats and defences until eventually I calmed the situation by stating that I would agree to fix the guitar free of charge, but on one condition.
First I explained that when I had opened the case I could see by the oxidation on the play surface of the wound strings and by the obvious bow in the neck, that the rod must have been broken for quite sometime before he had dropped it off. I told him that the wood never completely dries out and that finish does not prevent wood from absorbing moisture from the air. I told him that same moisture would certainly have caused corrosion of the broken metal surfaces of the truss rod if it has been broken for more than just a few days.
I told him that I would remove the FB right then and there in front of him, 'but' before I would start work, he would needed to sign an agreement that would make me the owner of his guitar should during our inspection I could find corrosion on the broken surface of the truss rod to indicate that the damage had been pre-existing.
He told me to get fucked and took his guitar.
What I did not tell him was that before our heated exchange, I had already extracted the broken end of the TR and seen the rust on the broken surface before I pushed it back home and put the cover back on to think out my response when he comes back.
From that incident and a few other 'try on's ' along the way, I learnt guitar repair guy 101: ALWAYS go over every guitar (unless of course its a return customer with who you have established a good relationship) with a fine tooth comb as soon as the customer arrives. Don't fuck around, pick the eyes out of the bloody thing and have them acknowledge everyone of the pre-existing issues. Scratches, dents, popped fret ends, cracked pickup surrounds, chips under tune-o-matic studs, rounded out philipshead screws, spun an glued tuner buttons, sharpie fix touchups etc....and if you see a guitar with a deformed rosette either near the sides of the FB end or collapsed purfling at the body to neck joint, or worse, splits in the top at the sides of the fretboard, then politely hand the guitar back and say "No thanks, you had best take it to a 'real' luthier"
Cheers
Kim
Later when I took the guitar out of the case I could see immediately that it had neck issues and that it had sat for a good while under string tension. I should have just put the guitar back in the case then and there but curiosity got the better of me. So I popped the TR cover and found that the rod had broken just back from the threads and been left for me to discover.
When the guy came back I asked him why he hadn't mention the broken TR? Of course he responded with indignation stating in no uncertain terms that I must have broken it when trying to adjust it because everything was just fine when he had dropped the guitar off. There was a bit of tooing and froing with variouse threats and defences until eventually I calmed the situation by stating that I would agree to fix the guitar free of charge, but on one condition.
First I explained that when I had opened the case I could see by the oxidation on the play surface of the wound strings and by the obvious bow in the neck, that the rod must have been broken for quite sometime before he had dropped it off. I told him that the wood never completely dries out and that finish does not prevent wood from absorbing moisture from the air. I told him that same moisture would certainly have caused corrosion of the broken metal surfaces of the truss rod if it has been broken for more than just a few days.
I told him that I would remove the FB right then and there in front of him, 'but' before I would start work, he would needed to sign an agreement that would make me the owner of his guitar should during our inspection I could find corrosion on the broken surface of the truss rod to indicate that the damage had been pre-existing.
He told me to get fucked and took his guitar.
What I did not tell him was that before our heated exchange, I had already extracted the broken end of the TR and seen the rust on the broken surface before I pushed it back home and put the cover back on to think out my response when he comes back.
From that incident and a few other 'try on's ' along the way, I learnt guitar repair guy 101: ALWAYS go over every guitar (unless of course its a return customer with who you have established a good relationship) with a fine tooth comb as soon as the customer arrives. Don't fuck around, pick the eyes out of the bloody thing and have them acknowledge everyone of the pre-existing issues. Scratches, dents, popped fret ends, cracked pickup surrounds, chips under tune-o-matic studs, rounded out philipshead screws, spun an glued tuner buttons, sharpie fix touchups etc....and if you see a guitar with a deformed rosette either near the sides of the FB end or collapsed purfling at the body to neck joint, or worse, splits in the top at the sides of the fretboard, then politely hand the guitar back and say "No thanks, you had best take it to a 'real' luthier"
Cheers
Kim
Re: Guitar Shop Blues .
While you had the fretboard of ya should have slipped a couple of raw prawns into the truss rod slot. 
Martin
Re: Guitar Shop Blues .
You forgot the customer who tells you that your price is too high and his friend can do it for free. I tell them that after their so- called friend fixes it . That I charge 2 times the repair price to undo the friends luthier work 
-
Ormsby Guitars
Re: Guitar Shop Blues .
Ive only had two or three issues in 8 years of repairs work. I can do up to 25 guitars a week (was a lot more until recently), so thats not too bad really. But, you really wonder why you bother when you do get a fruitcake who just cant see the problems...
One was a resonator guitar, which had an incorrect neck angle, and buzzing at the bridge due to the tail piece being all bent. He wanted the action lower, said the price was too cheap, and do whatever I need to to get it "mint". I didnt inspect the guitar prior thoroughly, and quoted $85 for a new ebony saddle, lower action, buff frets, lower nut. In the end, I reused the original ebony saddle, removed the neck, reset the angle, and panel beat the tail piece back into shape. I called to say that I hadnt been able to contact him via phone, and he didnt return my messages, so i just went ahead. $30 extra for three hours of work...
A couple days later he pops in. He agreed the neck angle needed fixing, was totally happy with the work. I didnt charge enough for the neck angle adjustment (if you've ever done a resonator, its a pain).
Two days later, he comes in and wants it all put back to original, he's decided it doesnt suit finger style and wants it back as a slide guitar. $250 was the quote. He left, and came back with a big huge beefy mate, and demanded I redo all the work for free. I told him to take his $85 back, and go elsewhere. "Thats it, your business is going to suffer for this!"
The biggest issue was a young guy who came in about 3-4 years ago. He didnt have a credit card, but wanted a locking floyd nut from Stewmac... here are the order codes, and can I just get that for him. Sure... but I had genuine Floyd locking nuts in stock, in the colour and size he wanted, cheaper than the Schaller ones he requested. The genuine ones (still made by Schaller under contract) suit both the rear mount, and recessed front mount applications, but I cant be sure if the stewmac Schaller version did both. Nope nope, he wants the stewmac one... I let him know I cant use the rear mount only style, so there is no refund if it is incorrect for his guitar. No problems, he's done his research...
It was a wednesday, and I said I'll order it friday, and he can grab it tuesday arvo. Thursday morning he calls to ask for a second one, in black. No worries. I quoted him $40 each. He proceeded to post on a guitar forum about how cheap I was doing it for...
Friday arvo comes along, and he pops in the grab the nuts. I reminded him they come from the USA, and its been 48 hours so far, and i'll order it that night, pickup tuesday... Sat morning he calls to say the whole thing is taking a bit long... Monday he calls to ask if it's in... tuesday he calls and I tell him to come down after 2pm.
2pm comes, and he picks up the two locking nuts. He heads home and calls. They are the wrong ones. He complained that he'd given me the order codes, so how could I get it wrong? I remind him that I explained this might be a problem, prior to ordering. He pops down to the workshop again, complains about the length of drive it takes (he is two suburbs across), and wants a refund because I ordered the wrong ones. I show him the invoice, and he agrees he stuffed up. I offer to sell him the original genuine parts, which he refused. He asked me to modify the nuts with a countersink on the top, to which I reply "I dont have tools for doing that, it will wear my wood tools, and if he wants to replace them, Im happy to do so..." Nope.
He heads home, and calls again. "not happy mate!".
That night, I got an email from two good clients informing me this guy has gone on to about four guitar forums, and absolutely blasted my name everywhere. "ripped off, cheat, lier, etc". I called the guy up, and gave him the names of some people that have the tools to do the work. One had told me $5 would fix it all up for him. Nope, not good enough.
The next day, I get a call from another local repairer, looking for two genuine floyd locking nuts. "Got a client that says you sold him some dodgy ones, and he needs the genuine stuff mate, your the only one who has them". Im the authorised dealer for those, so looks like Im in the position to control supply now
Stuff it, triple the normal price!
In the 3-4 years since, EVERY time my names comes up on one or two forums, this clown is straight in there with the "careful he will lie and rip you off, he did it to me!". Dont know how many clients it's cost me (definately one $4000 custom electric order), but I tell you if I ever get my hands on this guy again...
One was a resonator guitar, which had an incorrect neck angle, and buzzing at the bridge due to the tail piece being all bent. He wanted the action lower, said the price was too cheap, and do whatever I need to to get it "mint". I didnt inspect the guitar prior thoroughly, and quoted $85 for a new ebony saddle, lower action, buff frets, lower nut. In the end, I reused the original ebony saddle, removed the neck, reset the angle, and panel beat the tail piece back into shape. I called to say that I hadnt been able to contact him via phone, and he didnt return my messages, so i just went ahead. $30 extra for three hours of work...
A couple days later he pops in. He agreed the neck angle needed fixing, was totally happy with the work. I didnt charge enough for the neck angle adjustment (if you've ever done a resonator, its a pain).
Two days later, he comes in and wants it all put back to original, he's decided it doesnt suit finger style and wants it back as a slide guitar. $250 was the quote. He left, and came back with a big huge beefy mate, and demanded I redo all the work for free. I told him to take his $85 back, and go elsewhere. "Thats it, your business is going to suffer for this!"
The biggest issue was a young guy who came in about 3-4 years ago. He didnt have a credit card, but wanted a locking floyd nut from Stewmac... here are the order codes, and can I just get that for him. Sure... but I had genuine Floyd locking nuts in stock, in the colour and size he wanted, cheaper than the Schaller ones he requested. The genuine ones (still made by Schaller under contract) suit both the rear mount, and recessed front mount applications, but I cant be sure if the stewmac Schaller version did both. Nope nope, he wants the stewmac one... I let him know I cant use the rear mount only style, so there is no refund if it is incorrect for his guitar. No problems, he's done his research...
It was a wednesday, and I said I'll order it friday, and he can grab it tuesday arvo. Thursday morning he calls to ask for a second one, in black. No worries. I quoted him $40 each. He proceeded to post on a guitar forum about how cheap I was doing it for...
Friday arvo comes along, and he pops in the grab the nuts. I reminded him they come from the USA, and its been 48 hours so far, and i'll order it that night, pickup tuesday... Sat morning he calls to say the whole thing is taking a bit long... Monday he calls to ask if it's in... tuesday he calls and I tell him to come down after 2pm.
2pm comes, and he picks up the two locking nuts. He heads home and calls. They are the wrong ones. He complained that he'd given me the order codes, so how could I get it wrong? I remind him that I explained this might be a problem, prior to ordering. He pops down to the workshop again, complains about the length of drive it takes (he is two suburbs across), and wants a refund because I ordered the wrong ones. I show him the invoice, and he agrees he stuffed up. I offer to sell him the original genuine parts, which he refused. He asked me to modify the nuts with a countersink on the top, to which I reply "I dont have tools for doing that, it will wear my wood tools, and if he wants to replace them, Im happy to do so..." Nope.
He heads home, and calls again. "not happy mate!".
That night, I got an email from two good clients informing me this guy has gone on to about four guitar forums, and absolutely blasted my name everywhere. "ripped off, cheat, lier, etc". I called the guy up, and gave him the names of some people that have the tools to do the work. One had told me $5 would fix it all up for him. Nope, not good enough.
The next day, I get a call from another local repairer, looking for two genuine floyd locking nuts. "Got a client that says you sold him some dodgy ones, and he needs the genuine stuff mate, your the only one who has them". Im the authorised dealer for those, so looks like Im in the position to control supply now
Stuff it, triple the normal price!In the 3-4 years since, EVERY time my names comes up on one or two forums, this clown is straight in there with the "careful he will lie and rip you off, he did it to me!". Dont know how many clients it's cost me (definately one $4000 custom electric order), but I tell you if I ever get my hands on this guy again...
Last edited by Ormsby Guitars on Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Guitar Shop Blues .
That's why I stopped taking in any repair work Perry.
Its my nature to try and get things right even if it ends up costing me. Some people really appreciate that sort of effort, but some just don't even 'try' to see it and it can be quite disheartening to have your every move viewed with suspicion when your just trying to do the right thing. It got to a stage where I just wasn't enjoying it any more because simply because so many people buy crap to begin with and then expect it to be repaired at a rated indexed from that bowl of rice investment. When you try to explain that you can't work that cheap and point out that the real problem is their choice of guitar, its easier for them to become offended and label you a rip off merchant rather than accept the fact that they got suckered in to the false economy of a poorly made Asian stick with strings, or somebody else's whoa's listed on Ebay. There just didn't seem enough reward in it to compensate for having to deal with that aspect so I don't anymore...but maybe later I'll be re-inspired because repair work certainly does have its good points too.
Cheers
Kim
Its my nature to try and get things right even if it ends up costing me. Some people really appreciate that sort of effort, but some just don't even 'try' to see it and it can be quite disheartening to have your every move viewed with suspicion when your just trying to do the right thing. It got to a stage where I just wasn't enjoying it any more because simply because so many people buy crap to begin with and then expect it to be repaired at a rated indexed from that bowl of rice investment. When you try to explain that you can't work that cheap and point out that the real problem is their choice of guitar, its easier for them to become offended and label you a rip off merchant rather than accept the fact that they got suckered in to the false economy of a poorly made Asian stick with strings, or somebody else's whoa's listed on Ebay. There just didn't seem enough reward in it to compensate for having to deal with that aspect so I don't anymore...but maybe later I'll be re-inspired because repair work certainly does have its good points too.
Cheers
Kim
Re: Guitar Shop Blues .
Thanks for the Heads up Guy's ,
I spent 11 years in the Electronics Repair game so I've ssen it all before and developed a Bit of a radar , I learnt early in the peice , when a Guy came in with a VCR and wanted a head clean , I said sue I'll do it now , he said I can't wait , I said it will take 10 minutes Max , he scuttled off and said he would call back later, I cleaned the heads , turned it on ( or at least tried to) and disccovered the Power supply was shot, My alarm bells rang , I sent out a fax with the Guys details to the other Repairers in the Area, I got two replies back ,one saying the Guy had sent it in for repair the quote was $300 in those days for a new power supply , he rejected the quote and refused to pay the $30 quote fee , the second said he had sent it in for a head clean , and when they told him the power Supply was shot he, blamed them and demanded they fix it as it was fine when he sent it in , they informed him they use protected clean power outlets and to F##K off ( the Tech was Ex Navy), so when he came back and tried it on me , I informed him of an offence called " Obtain benefit By Deception" and if he would like to try his chances with the Local constabulary I was happy to see who the winner would be ! he left never to be heard of again ( I sent a fax with his and the machines details to all the other repairers in the area( well the ones I liked) .
I'm Fortunate in that I,m a bit out of the way, don't do a lot of repairs and most of what I do is for mates that are Muso's or Mates of Mates, if it's something simple they usually hang and Chat while I do it , and I like that , if they have to leave it we both go over it together, not because I don't trust them , Just to make sure while it's in we fix all that needs to be fixed . But this info is good to know .
Cheers,
I spent 11 years in the Electronics Repair game so I've ssen it all before and developed a Bit of a radar , I learnt early in the peice , when a Guy came in with a VCR and wanted a head clean , I said sue I'll do it now , he said I can't wait , I said it will take 10 minutes Max , he scuttled off and said he would call back later, I cleaned the heads , turned it on ( or at least tried to) and disccovered the Power supply was shot, My alarm bells rang , I sent out a fax with the Guys details to the other Repairers in the Area, I got two replies back ,one saying the Guy had sent it in for repair the quote was $300 in those days for a new power supply , he rejected the quote and refused to pay the $30 quote fee , the second said he had sent it in for a head clean , and when they told him the power Supply was shot he, blamed them and demanded they fix it as it was fine when he sent it in , they informed him they use protected clean power outlets and to F##K off ( the Tech was Ex Navy), so when he came back and tried it on me , I informed him of an offence called " Obtain benefit By Deception" and if he would like to try his chances with the Local constabulary I was happy to see who the winner would be ! he left never to be heard of again ( I sent a fax with his and the machines details to all the other repairers in the area( well the ones I liked) .
I'm Fortunate in that I,m a bit out of the way, don't do a lot of repairs and most of what I do is for mates that are Muso's or Mates of Mates, if it's something simple they usually hang and Chat while I do it , and I like that , if they have to leave it we both go over it together, not because I don't trust them , Just to make sure while it's in we fix all that needs to be fixed . But this info is good to know .
Cheers,
Paul .
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