Luthier isn't an exalted position where attaining the title endows you with all virtue. By the way, assistant already knew hi boss had had his hands on the guitar. He might not have wanted to second-guess the master.
But... Before I had my best guitar (at the time) worked on, I went around to the guys in the local studio guitarist community and asked
them who they went to. I've been using that guy for twenty-fie years. He's a real luthier, not just a tech: he actually builds guitars (I've got his T-shirt) and for years worked at a small-shop guitar maker's shop before he moved home to take care of his ageing parents and put out his own shingle. When working as a tech he calls himself a "playability specialist," and his work bears that out.
This guy is fun to watch. I go in with a guitar and it starts out more like a conversation: we talk about interesting cases he's had in the door lately or mutual friends who've been there or famous guitarists who flew in for work. But all the time Kenny (his name) is sizing up the instrument I've placed in his hands. He sights down the neck to check for relief and angle. He slides his fingers over the frets to see how they are crowned and to check the fret ends for smoothness. He casually pulls out a straight edge and sizes up any suspected high frets, looking for whether they are high or raised out of the slot. All the while we are talking about guitars and players. He examines the bridge and the nut. Eventually he turns to the subject of this guitar and he gives me his diagnosis, prognosis, and the charges.
We talk of how long it will take, he says he can slot it in after the one he'll be finishing on
this date. I can leave it or bring it by the day before that date so I'm not without it. Then he does the work and delivers, on time. I go to pick it up and the conversation begins again. I play it up and down the neck. I bend notes. He sees the smile on my face and it brings a smile to his. Eventually I break into the conversation and say, "Oh, yeah. This is perfect. Did you get any surprises?" "Oh, the eighth fret was sort of funky and raised out of the slot. I wicked some glue under it and clamped it down and was able to level it after that." His standard setup that he calls the "modern setup" isn't crazy low and doesn't need to be. It is medium low and very consistent with really smooth fret ends. It feels like an old friend. More on his work,
HERE.
So, you get the idea. Just watching him you can tell that he's totally in command of his craft and has an amazing feel for the instrument. That's what you want in a tech.
Bob