kplumm
2008-05-13 15:28:55 UTC
Okay, I'm going to try and keep calm about this, just report the facts
and leave it at that. I am boilingly angry but it seems the
conscientious thing to do, if anyone here's is on the verge of taking
a guitar in to downstairs in what is now Music Ground.
I took a sub-two hundred quid acoustic into the place to have a bone
saddle and nut to replace its plastic. I've got to a pretty good
level at making these myself, from bone and Tusq, but at the last
minute I often seem to go too far with a slot in the nut. There was a
steep learning curve with getting the nut's fit straight too. I just
thought, seeing as i had a little bit of money put by that I'd have a
professional job for once. The guitar was bought for me by the woman
I'm seeing and I didn't want to botch something with sentimental
value. I wrote notes on their copy of the receipt to say the tuning
used, a semitone lowere version fo open C, and that I wanted a little
bit of leeway in the nut slots for sometimes using lights instead of
mediums.
I have no problem at all with waiting a week or ten days as the young
fella told me would be the case when I brought the guitar in. I rang
the next week and though the job wasn't done the young woman working
there offered to do it for the next day. I said the next week was
fine. I was a bit anxious about a crammed job.
When I turned up an hour or so ago, I immediately saw that the nut was
absolutely awful in terms of fit and string spacing. The 3rd string's
nut slot was too deep, following the 'hold the string down at the 3rd
fret (or midway between 3rd and 2nd) test'. The slots themselves
seemed ot have been cut with coarse sandpaper, certainly not but
slotting tools. I had splashed out on two of these myself. I don't
really want to have a go at the woman, but she is simply doing work
she's not ready for. But this wasn't the worst of things. A senior
repairer was there, I don;t confidently say that he was Graham noden,
but he did cite 35-years' experience, and I imagine this is the man
that's worked on Clapton's guitars and so on. To be honest, I had
thought the workshop was run by the fella who used to work upstiars in
Andy's, an altogether more polite and helpful person. This man I
spoke to tried to bullshit his way round how the job had been done. I
am a quiet bloke, I keep myself to myself and this technician clearly
saw this, and that I'd turned up alone, and took advantage of me. His
claim that if the neck and frets were set up the nut would be fine
somewhat overlooks the fit of the nut and the quality of slotting, and
more importantly my request for leeway with the nut slots; and in fact
to scrutinise his claim, if the neck were any truer the problem of low
nut slot would actually be worse. It must be ten years back that. to
be factual and avoid any slander, an offer was made to put it right
within the hour. I was worried that they would refuse to give me my
guitar back if I refused to pay. upon leaving the shop I became
worried how the guitar might look if they'd worked on it another hour,
so I went back. I said, 'How do you feel about letting me pay for the
saddle and finishing the job myself?' The senior technician went
through a reportoire of sarcastic facial expressions and came out with
further bluffing about the job done.
I do wish I'd taken a photo of the nut they'd made - seriously you
would not find worse on a pawn shop classical. The bottom string was
only a millimetre from the neck's edge, which for this low tuning is
hopeless, and the string spacing was easily noticeable as uneven, even
a short-sighted person could see it at first glance. I'm well aware
methods of sorting the string spacing varies and that some like the
spaces even, some like to compensate for string size difference, but
this was something else again.
I know how the internet works. I might get mocked about this, or
ripped apart by some Metal fan, but I'm not fussed: I am quite shaken
up, physically shaking. I know this is because I'm angry and didn't
see any way to resolve this in a satisfactory way, and because the
technician had been rude, dishonest and bullying in his manner, try as
he might to hold it in.
I suspect that if I'd taken a Martin in he would have done the job
himself.
The upshot is that I paid for the saddle, twelve quid, which I am
going to have to finish myself as it is much higher than I'd asked for
('A few hairs higher than the Tusq saddle included', as I'd written on
the receipt, and before you think I'm being obsessive, 'hair' is just
a figure of speech as used by anyone.)
I am quite stunned. Denmark Street! A quote of 37 quid for the whole
job - I just thought I'd get a professional grade job. When I get
home I am probably going to have to deepen the space where the nut
sits as glue was clumsily sanded off in ways I haven't managed for
over a decade. Even the sound of it as I sat waiting while my old
Tusq nut was refitted - I hope she didn't glue it -augured badly.
If the woman who did the job should read this, I'm sure you love the
guitar, and you may even be a marvelous person, but you are not ready
for this work, and I would be more sympathetic if you could own this
and had not gone along with the senior technician, albeit passively,
without any of the bullshit or bullying, or better still leave that
job before you facilitate more of the same and end up with the same
kind of manner.
Thanks, and be warned. I'd be delighted if someone would back me up,
similar story or no.
and leave it at that. I am boilingly angry but it seems the
conscientious thing to do, if anyone here's is on the verge of taking
a guitar in to downstairs in what is now Music Ground.
I took a sub-two hundred quid acoustic into the place to have a bone
saddle and nut to replace its plastic. I've got to a pretty good
level at making these myself, from bone and Tusq, but at the last
minute I often seem to go too far with a slot in the nut. There was a
steep learning curve with getting the nut's fit straight too. I just
thought, seeing as i had a little bit of money put by that I'd have a
professional job for once. The guitar was bought for me by the woman
I'm seeing and I didn't want to botch something with sentimental
value. I wrote notes on their copy of the receipt to say the tuning
used, a semitone lowere version fo open C, and that I wanted a little
bit of leeway in the nut slots for sometimes using lights instead of
mediums.
I have no problem at all with waiting a week or ten days as the young
fella told me would be the case when I brought the guitar in. I rang
the next week and though the job wasn't done the young woman working
there offered to do it for the next day. I said the next week was
fine. I was a bit anxious about a crammed job.
When I turned up an hour or so ago, I immediately saw that the nut was
absolutely awful in terms of fit and string spacing. The 3rd string's
nut slot was too deep, following the 'hold the string down at the 3rd
fret (or midway between 3rd and 2nd) test'. The slots themselves
seemed ot have been cut with coarse sandpaper, certainly not but
slotting tools. I had splashed out on two of these myself. I don't
really want to have a go at the woman, but she is simply doing work
she's not ready for. But this wasn't the worst of things. A senior
repairer was there, I don;t confidently say that he was Graham noden,
but he did cite 35-years' experience, and I imagine this is the man
that's worked on Clapton's guitars and so on. To be honest, I had
thought the workshop was run by the fella who used to work upstiars in
Andy's, an altogether more polite and helpful person. This man I
spoke to tried to bullshit his way round how the job had been done. I
am a quiet bloke, I keep myself to myself and this technician clearly
saw this, and that I'd turned up alone, and took advantage of me. His
claim that if the neck and frets were set up the nut would be fine
somewhat overlooks the fit of the nut and the quality of slotting, and
more importantly my request for leeway with the nut slots; and in fact
to scrutinise his claim, if the neck were any truer the problem of low
nut slot would actually be worse. It must be ten years back that. to
be factual and avoid any slander, an offer was made to put it right
within the hour. I was worried that they would refuse to give me my
guitar back if I refused to pay. upon leaving the shop I became
worried how the guitar might look if they'd worked on it another hour,
so I went back. I said, 'How do you feel about letting me pay for the
saddle and finishing the job myself?' The senior technician went
through a reportoire of sarcastic facial expressions and came out with
further bluffing about the job done.
I do wish I'd taken a photo of the nut they'd made - seriously you
would not find worse on a pawn shop classical. The bottom string was
only a millimetre from the neck's edge, which for this low tuning is
hopeless, and the string spacing was easily noticeable as uneven, even
a short-sighted person could see it at first glance. I'm well aware
methods of sorting the string spacing varies and that some like the
spaces even, some like to compensate for string size difference, but
this was something else again.
I know how the internet works. I might get mocked about this, or
ripped apart by some Metal fan, but I'm not fussed: I am quite shaken
up, physically shaking. I know this is because I'm angry and didn't
see any way to resolve this in a satisfactory way, and because the
technician had been rude, dishonest and bullying in his manner, try as
he might to hold it in.
I suspect that if I'd taken a Martin in he would have done the job
himself.
The upshot is that I paid for the saddle, twelve quid, which I am
going to have to finish myself as it is much higher than I'd asked for
('A few hairs higher than the Tusq saddle included', as I'd written on
the receipt, and before you think I'm being obsessive, 'hair' is just
a figure of speech as used by anyone.)
I am quite stunned. Denmark Street! A quote of 37 quid for the whole
job - I just thought I'd get a professional grade job. When I get
home I am probably going to have to deepen the space where the nut
sits as glue was clumsily sanded off in ways I haven't managed for
over a decade. Even the sound of it as I sat waiting while my old
Tusq nut was refitted - I hope she didn't glue it -augured badly.
If the woman who did the job should read this, I'm sure you love the
guitar, and you may even be a marvelous person, but you are not ready
for this work, and I would be more sympathetic if you could own this
and had not gone along with the senior technician, albeit passively,
without any of the bullshit or bullying, or better still leave that
job before you facilitate more of the same and end up with the same
kind of manner.
Thanks, and be warned. I'd be delighted if someone would back me up,
similar story or no.