crapy guitar tech, what to do?

[matt99camero]

Well the nut on my MIM tele broke a while back. I took it to a guy I heard about localy and he charged me $20 to "fix" it. But when I got it back home and took a look at it he put a strat nut on it and the action was a mile high plus he beat the hell out of my headstock with a hammer. So 2 weeks later I sent it home with my roomie to have the tech fix it at the new shop where he gives lessons in his hometown on the weekends. I didn't have the money that week so I just let them keep it for a week at the shop till I had the money. This weekend I paid the $25 and I just talked to my roommate and he said after he took it home and it looks like the tech didn't even touch the nut. Plus there is a big chip on the front of my guitar like they dropped a screwdriver or something on it. That really pissed me off. My tele was in perfect condition, and I know it wasn't my roommate. I put it inside the guitar case when I gave it to him and he gave it to the guitar tech in the case, it was never out of it's case between those times. The guitar tech was supposed to fix it(which he didn't even do) not mess it up even more. Any advice on where to go from here to get them to fix my guitar? It's my word against their's but I will take them to small claims court without thinking twice if I have to. This just sucks.

 

[HolyDirt]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

Well the nut on my MIM tele broke a while back. I took it to a guy I heard about localy and he charged me $20 to "fix" it. But when I got it back home and took a look at it he put a strat nut on it and the action was a mile high plus he beat the hell out of my headstock with a hammer. So 2 weeks later I sent it home with my roomie to have the tech fix it at the new shop where he gives lessons in his hometown on the weekends. I didn't have the money that week so I just let them keep it for a week at the shop till I had the money. This weekend I paid the $25 and I just talked to my roommate and he said after he took it home and it looks like the tech didn't even touch the nut. Plus there is a big chip on the front of my guitar like they dropped a screwdriver or something on it. That really pissed me off. My tele was in perfect condition, and I know it wasn't my roommate. I put it inside the guitar case when I gave it to him and he gave it to the guitar tech in the case, it was never out of it's case between those times. The guitar tech was supposed to fix it(which he didn't even do) not mess it up even more. Any advice on where to go from here to get them to fix my guitar? It's my word against their's but I will take them to small claims court without thinking twice if I have to. This just sucks.

call the shop and tell em they took a chunk outta the front of your guitar, with good "negotiating" you can get them to fix it for free, wont look liek it did, but it'll be better... i'd take it to someone who you know will fix the nut right..

 

[mrid]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

All I'm saying is a cap full of arsenic in a side of bacon... :burnout:

 

[rspst14]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

mmmm, bacon. :32:

See, this is why I learned to do everything myself. Setups, nut work, fret work, minor routing, drilling, wiring, etc. The only thing I can't do on my own is complicated finishing, or fixing a severe guitar emergency, like a headstock break. For every good tech like John, Zerb, or Blueline, there are about fifty who are the guitar shop equivalent of Barney Fife.

To fix the nut, I would suggest buying a pre-slotted Graphtech nut and a jewlers file to do the work yourself. Depending on the condition of the guitar, you may be able to get your money back from the shop. Small claims court may end up being costly, and unless you have some pics or something to document the condition the guitar was in when you took it to the tech, it'll be your word against theirs. I would ask to talk to the owner of the store, explain the situation to him, and see what he says. Given the fact that they screwed up a simple nut job, asking the same store to fix a finish flaw on your guitar is just asking for trouble.

Ryan

 

[strat_master]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

ya ive had a bad tech do my guitar once, he didnt really adjust it properly, its luck of the draw alot of the times, i would rather go to a big name store to get a tech to work on it, that way you have the bill and the name and can sue the pants of them if theyd ecide to pull one on you.

 

[matt99camero]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

I don't want him to touch my guitar again. I know it is my word against his. I have some pics of the guitar with the date on the pic that I took about a week before he took it to the shop. I have a good guitar tech that usually does my work but I figured I'd support where my roommate works since it's a new shop. When the first guy "fixed" it he didn't even file any string slots into the nut, all he did was file a little of the bottom to make it fit into the nut slot. I really don't care about the money with this other guy, the butthole can keep it, I just want my guitar fixed. I know an MIM tele is not a guitar some people would worry about but it's my highest priced guitar I have and was my first electric and it's my baby. If it has to get screwed up I want to be the one to do it to give it my own character, not from some guitar tech who didn't know what the hell he was doing.

 

[Grandor]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

I don't want him to touch my guitar again. I know it is my word against his. I have some pics of the guitar with the date on the pic that I took about a week before he took it to the shop. I have a good guitar tech that usually does my work but I figured I'd support where my roommate works since it's a new shop. When the first guy "fixed" it he didn't even file any string slots into the nut, all he did was file a little of the bottom to make it fit into the nut slot. I really don't care about the money with this other guy, the butthole can keep it, I just want my guitar fixed. I know an MIM tele is not a guitar some people would worry about but it's my highest priced guitar I have and was my first electric and it's my baby. If it has to get screwed up I want to be the one to do it to give it my own character, not from some guitar tech who didn't know what the hell he was doing.

talk to a lawyer.
Get cash to replace the guitar and to cover legal fees.

 

[bryvincent]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

mmmm, bacon. :32:

See, this is why I learned to do everything myself. Setups, nut work, fret work, minor routing, drilling, wiring, etc. The only thing I can't do on my own is complicated finishing, or fixing a severe guitar emergency, like a headstock break. For every good tech like John, Zerb, or Blueline, there are about fifty who are the guitar shop equivalent of Barney Fife.

To fix the nut, I would suggest buying a pre-slotted Graphtech nut and a jewlers file to do the work yourself. Depending on the condition of the guitar, you may be able to get your money back from the shop. Small claims court may end up being costly, and unless you have some pics or something to document the condition the guitar was in when you took it to the tech, it'll be your word against theirs. I would ask to talk to the owner of the store, explain the situation to him, and see what he says. Given the fact that they screwed up a simple nut job, asking the same store to fix a finish flaw on your guitar is just asking for trouble.

Ryan

me too! i never had a tech touch any of my guitars. i do it all by myself. i learned from cheaper guitars when i was younger(learning to play it at the same time learning to repair/modify/set-up it.) no one thought me how to do anything, reading guitar books/mags helped a lot. i ruined(cosmetically only) a couple guitars in the process but they are cheap and the lesson learned is valuable.

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

Start this all off by phoning and finding out when the manager is going to be there. Speak to him and tell him that you'd like to speak with him in person about some work one of his techs did. Get the pics of the guitar before it went into the shop and bring them along with the guitar when you go to meet him.

The downside of all of this is that they may not do anything to help you. They may tell you to go pound sand and you perhaps may have no recourse; at best small claims court may be something you could consider. With a guitar that isn't terribly expensive and your budget probably not being endless getting a lawyer is probably way too expensive for you.

There is a positive side to this; you now know what tech NOT to take your guitars to and you've also got all the reason you should need to want to learn how to do this sort of work on your own.

 

[orbiter]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

well .. I agree w/ much of what's been said here.

I would def. contact the first guy ... tell him your thoughts and let him know you're not down w/ what he did ... and that he should maybe choose another line of work .. bottom line is .. as a tech .. all you have is your reputation ... and it doesnt take much to tarnish it .... good news travels fast .. but bad news travels faster ... let him know you'll be spreading the word ..

as for the second shop ... get in there asap ... show em your guitar and let em know it didnt look like this when I dropped it off ... try to be as nice as possible .. if you go in w/ guns a blazin' .. they'll probably stonewall you w/ a quickness ... so be cool .. friendly ... but let em know you are BUMBED! and want to work something out w/ them .. if you stay cool and act like you understand these things can and do happen .. your chances of getting some "lovin" are pretty good.

if you get nowhere with them being polite ... and you've exhausted all kindness w/o any compinsation ... tell them .. "you'll be hearing from my lawyer." and leave ... in the long run most shops would rather take a hit on some merch .. than to have the shop name in the paper on how they suck.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

I know how to do alot of tech work but when you have someone who's been playing for 30 years work on it they can really get it on it's A-game. That said I'd tell the tech and manager of the other store they both didn't do a good job/s. The first one talk to him candidly and tell him why you aren't happy and so you took it somewhere else and you don't want your money back, you just wanted him to know what you thought. (no nut slots etc.) The second I would talk to his manager and more than likely he'll take a hit to to hopefully regain, if nothing else, your buying trust. Like they said earlier be nice and understanding but tell them that's the nicest guitar you have and now it's beat up (take the pics). If they won't co-operate tell them you'll see them in small claims court. I wouldn't say anything about a lawyer if you say the word lawyer they might have THEIRS call you and start telling you penalties for slandering the store/owner, tech, etc. Been there in another context.

Luke

 

[joelap]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

If anyone messed up one of my guitars, all holy hell would break loose. I'd come down on them like fire in brimstone.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

Man, I'm sorry hearing that.

talk to a lawyer.
Get cash to replace the guitar and to cover legal fees.

Good advice, it's a civilised way to teach the fukker a lesson. He deserves it.
If he can't take care of the subject he's doing he'd better change profession. There are countless opportunities around where he can miscalculate, mistailor or hit things.

I'd just use direct dental reduction: :smash:

but hey, it's a bad advice to beat the poop out him. It feels good, anyway. It's always said, beating rhytmically improves your rhythm skills


NEVER EVER let anyone do anything with your axe that you don't see. I know pretty talented and careful luthiers in my place, they are highly qualified and talented professionals and I trust them but still I ask about a proper date anytime I need anything and I just go, sit there and talk about gear with the guy during the operation. Oh, and I never forget about playing with my badass Rambo edition Swiss Officers' MultiKnife and throwing it into things innocently while he's working...

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

...and that's why I only deal with techs I have had work done with before or someone who I have been referred to by a player I trust.

Funny story....took a 73' Strat into a place down the street to have the bridge pickup checked out. Called the place later in the day and the kid tells me that the pickup was bad and that he tossed it in the trash. He wanted to know how I wanted to proceed.

I told him to get the pickup out of the trash, put it in the case with the guitar and I'd be by to pick it up in fifteen minutes.

When I arrived the owner was there and could tell I was furious. He was good about things and apologized. I later brought another guitar to them to work on and the owner personally worked on it, and did a hell of a job. he also charged me peanuts for the work as well.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

Personally, I'd just kick him inthe nuts... :burnout:

 

[matt99camero]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

I'm at college and the my roommates hometown where the shop is located is about an hour and a half away. He had to come back to school but he left the guitar with his Dad and he is going to take it into the shop today. But his Dad is very big and looks very convincing but he can keep his cool, I'd probably go off on them. I just knew I should have taken it to my tech but I figured I'd try and support their shop so I guess it's partily my stupidity. The guy who is usually at the shop is the owner and he just has a guy come in to fix them as the guitars come in to be worked on. What ticks me off is they sent it home not being fixed and not telling us about the chip.

The kicker about this is I found out that the first guy who tried to fix it and didn't and the guy who owns the shop that messed it up are friends.

 

[matt99camero]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

I finally got my tele back yesterday. The ding wasn't as big as it was made out to be but it still should have never happened. It looks like he must have dropped a tool on it. The tech that did it wasn't going to pay for it so my roommate had to pay to get it fixed. He took it to a guy who paints motercycles and he tried to match the paint as close as he could. Now it just looks like a dent instead of being able to see all the way through to the wood. Plus he took it to the guy in the first place to fix the nut. He didn't even touch the nut, all he did was screw with the truss rod and action. I had it set up the way I wanted about a month before this so now I have to have that redone plus get the nut fixed. I'm gonna take it to the tech I should have taken it to in the first place and get it fixed right. I wish I could get my hands on the guy who did it.

 

[SheDoesntDoIt4Me]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

Dude, bottom line is...your screwed. Chalk it up to expirience, you and all these "sue happy" people are being ridiculous. This world is going in the toilet over sue happy people. I beleive there are legitimate times for taking someone to court, this is not it. The sad news is you may win...just because of the course our legal system has taken. But, winning doesnt always mean you get anything. Lets look at this closer

Your young...thats fine, but as you age you will get wiser (hopefully)

Your talking about a 300 dollar guitar, thats ok too, im not bashing the guitar

Legal fees, no lawyer is gonna touch this without you dropping some coin to get it rolling...Youd be better off just going and buying a new guitar and some pickups!

You cant just take your **** to anyone and expect good work...thats your first mistake...if you cant do it yourself, research and find someone you trust. This also comes with age.

You sent your guitar with a "roommate" to be sent to a tech, thats assinine, and a judge will laugh at you, you dont know what happened in that time it was gone.

Again, winning a judgement doesnt always mean you get anything.

Youve gained some expirience and your guitar has some character now, chill out play a song and make better choices in the future.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

all these stories make me incredibly thankful for the great local guitar tech who does great work and charges me very little. Tomorrow when I go into the shop I'm going to tell him how much I appreciate his work.

 

[matt99camero]

Re: crapy guitar tech, what to do?

I don't know where you got the though that I was going to sue. I'm not ganna sue over this. I might go and kick his ass but that's it. I kinda feel like your saying it's my fault. How the hell is it my fault. I gave it to my roomate to take it to the tech at the guitar shop where he teaches. That tech took it and gave it to some other guy which he shouldn't have done(he said he didn't have time). I was there at the shop the week before I sent it with my roomate and he gave me a price and told me he would be doing the work. I'll know not to take it to them again but they said one thing and did another.