Bad Luthier experiences?

[RP]

Originally Posted by rabbuhl

I had a guitar tech for a long time was respected but difficult to work with. He showed up late, took a long time to finish repairs, and in the end delivered shoddy work...

Tell me again why this person was respected...

[Shadowfox]

I had originally commissioned a build of a GA Alpine/ Ebony. However, Ebony was extremely stubborn and would not dry/cure. So I waited about a year for the initial order which was supposed to be like 5/6 months. So they allowed me to upgrade to Cocobolo for free, and then put me in the front of the next batch of production guitars.

I am extremely happy with my guitar, but will always wonder what an ebony would have sounded like, or even a Mad Rose (which was the other option besides Cocobolo)

[fregly]

I got a guitar from a vendor advertising they take special care in getting guitars ready for customers with set up etc. and I received this:

Frets ends filed in on treble side in first position almost so string sitting on edge when fretted.

Frets unpolished, very gritty

5 fret high spots on the treble side

Set up, what set up. First I was not asked what measurements I prefer. Nut slots were too high and higher on strings where depth should be lower than others, so incoherent. Saddle slope on treble side too steep, so did not match fretboard radius and makes treble clearance difficult to set. Too much relief, did not touch. Arbitrary action height set higher than the average player would find comfortable.

Oh and to top it off the guitar was sent from overseas just in the box with bubble plastic and no case.

[SonofA]

Luthier ...yes, I traded a bunch or brand name gear to get what I thought was a very impressive 4k Les Paul copy,....only to find it had very cheap pickups, hardware &..... the 2 pc body seam begin to separate. All of this was a learning experience for me. I now pay attention to hardware & the small details.
I ended up learning the art of" luthery" & continue to do so today. I think alot of people need to be aware that luthiers learn from there mistakes & become extremely crafty at fixing/covering mistakes. It is an art form after all.

[Neil K Walk]

I don't "have" a luthier and my "prized" guitar is actually pretty well worn so I can't answer to the poll. The only thing I can share is when I had a "luthier" do a slip block neck reset on a $300 Takamine. He got a little sloppy with CA glue, but truth be told we went into the transaction knowing that my guitar was not high end and I didn't want to pay more than what it was worth. He quoted $100 for the repair but took $80 without protest.

[TDavis]

The only unresolved issue I have ever had was on an electric...not an acoustic. I took a Stratocaster I'd bought from a local guy into a shop here in my area that had a tech who was spoken of highly, especially on how good a job he did on electrics. This Strat was dirty, needed a full setup and I expected it to be look 100% better and play the same when I picked it up.

The shop called me telling me my guitar was ready, so I went down with my expectations high. I was totally deflated when the guy brings the guitar to the counter...and it looked like it had never been touched except for a string change. It was still filthy, the fretboard looked as dry as when I brought it in and it still played like it needed some attention. The young salesman looked sheepishly at me as he pushed the credit card reader in front of me so I could pay, and I told him my grievances. I could see the shop manager right behind him. He could clearly hear that I was far from satisfied, and refused to pay for such a lack of service...but he did nothing at all.

End of story. I ended up tossing $20 on the counter for the string change...and walking out of the shop in disgust over not only the lack of service...but the manager's lack of concern. I've never been back.

[Mr Bojangles]

Two horrible experiences with "factory-authorized repair shops":

A new USA Fender Tele with a truss rod that wouldn't budge; after receiving a brief lecture from the repairman about not being able to do a simple adjustment myself, he proceeded to break the rod with brute force. Fender provided a new neck (the shop actually tried to charge me for installation after refusing to let me do it myself, but a call to Fender straightened that situation out).

A new Martin Dreadnought with a lifting pickguard. The repairman installed a new guard, but it was put on crooked and he scratched up the high gloss finish surrounding the guard. I ended up taking it to the Martin factory where they installed a new one and fixed the finish damage while I took the factory tour.

All is well that ends well!

[Mr. Paul]

A rather well known Denver luthier reset the neck on my Bozo. Cracked the heel of the guitar and after the "reset" the saddle was barely above the bridge on the treble side. Butchery. I never
even considered bringing the guitar back to him.

A friend owns one of the guitars he built and it's fantastic.

[bufflehead]

I brought my Breedlove from one of their "Distinctive Dealers" and decided to have it set up there because of the unique bridge truss. The setup was fine, but they didn't adjust the bridge truss. When I asked why, I was told, "We just leave it set up where the factory leaves it."

I haven't been back to that shop since.

[Scotso]

Commissioned a luthier for a build. Put a few bucks down. Firmed up the build specs. Time frame was 5-6 months. In five months checked with him again to see of he need more money. There was no communication from him over the time period.

At this point he said the guitar would be another 3-6 months. OK. Again I waited and checked again after 3 months. At that point he said it would be another 9 months. I asked for my money back. He said the down payment was nonrefundable. I filed a Paypal case on which the complaint was fraud given the false promises of time frame. Paypal refunded my $$.

[brad4d8]

I clicked small problem that was rectified, but that's only part right. When the lockdown began, rather than take a guitar to my usual local guy, I sent it to someone highly recommended by a number of people. It needed a neck reset, and when it came back the reset was fine. However, there was a buzz on the open D string, that I attributed to a fret coming loose in shipping. Took it to my local guy, and it was indeed a loose fret. However, the first luthier had replaced the nut and saddle, and turned out that the nut wasn't notched right and the saddle was flat rather than the 12" radius of the fingerboard. Perfect, now. Needless, I won't be using the first guy again.

[rstaight]

Originally Posted by SonofA

Luthier ...yes, I traded a bunch or brand name gear to get what I thought was a very impressive 4k Les Paul copy,....only to find it had very cheap pickups, hardware &..... the 2 pc body seam begin to separate. All of this was a learning experience for me. I now pay attention to hardware & the small details.
I ended up learning the art of" luthery" & continue to do so today. I think alot of people need to be aware that luthiers learn from there mistakes & become extremely crafty at fixing/covering mistakes. It is an art form after all.

That is the difference between an average woodworker or carpenter and a superior woodworker or carpenter. Their aptitude for fixing their mistakes.

[fjblair]

You mean a builder or a tech? Big difference. I've never had an issue with a builder, but have had a few with technicians. Nothing major, just didn't meet my expectations.

[Winkyplayer]

Friend mine took his 1974 LP in for some work. Electronics were buggy and it didn't play well. The tech did a decent job on the neck/trussrod and a Plek fret job, but in the process, somehow dislodged a fret marker trapezoid-thing, which dropped on the floor and was unbelievably "lost". The tech said he searched everywhere in his shop but simply never found it. My friend had to wait ages for a replacement (which matched!). Weird thing to go wrong. Even the tech acknowledged that.

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by Scotso

Commissioned a luthier for a build. Put a few bucks down. Firmed up the build specs. Time frame was 5-6 months. In five months checked with him again to see of he need more money. There was no communication from him over the time period.

At this point he said the guitar would be another 3-6 months. OK. Again I waited and checked again after 3 months. At that point he said it would be another 9 months. I asked for my money back. He said the down payment was nonrefundable. I filed a Paypal case on which the complaint was fraud given the false promises of time frame. Paypal refunded my $$.

You were able to get Paypal to reverse a transaction older than 180 days? I thought that couldn't be done.