Bad guitar tech

[candy apple]

Hi. I have my guitar at a local guitar shop having the guitar tech fix a couple of frets and sort out the nut of a vintage Vox guitar. The thing is, I suspect the guitar tech has done a bad job as he has been messing me around a bit taking too long and not listening to what I asked him to do. If I go to the shop and find that he has done a bad job on the guitar what can I do? Can I just say that I won't pay and then go home with the guitar without paying? What would you do?

[oldspeed442]

If you are unsatisfied with his work, then I would definitely talk to management/customer service about it after you have your guitar back in your hands. No decent business would make you pay for unsatisfactory or shoddy work. Is it a chain store or local mom and pop shop?

[sleepkid]

Hi. I have my guitar at a local guitar shop having the guitar tech fix a couple of frets and sort out the nut of a vintage Vox guitar. The thing is, I suspect the guitar tech has done a bad job as he has been messing me around a bit taking too long and not listening to what I asked him to do. If I go to the shop and find that he has done a bad job on the guitar what can I do? Can I just say that I won't pay and then go home with the guitar without paying? What would you do?

If he's not doing a proper job, then talk to the management. If he's the owner of the shop and has done a bad job, tell him you're unsatisfied and make him fix it. If he won't, then all you can really do is take it to the internet and make sure everyone knows not to go there. Write reviews of his work, details, etc.

Not sure what you mean by him "not listening to what you asked him to do" - he should always listen to his customers. However, I do know that people can get backed up in the shop, and it can take a while to get things done if you have a long queue of guitars waiting to be worked on. I have seven guitars waiting to get on my bench at the moment, and each guitar can present it's own challenges, or have hidden surprises - and some guitars, especially vintage guitars, sometimes take a little extra time.

Still, he should be up front with you about what's going on and why it's taking so long.

Oh, and if it's a chain, there's a good chance that your "guitar tech" might be just a glorified string changer, and actually not even know what he's doing. I'd advise against ever taking your guitar to one of the big chains for repair work (as they mostly outsource the major work anyway, and just bump up the cost to you.) Take it to a local luthier with a good reputation.

[zip73]

Or learn to work on your guitar yourself. I've discovered that I can mess my guitars up just as good as a "professional".

[candy apple]

Hi. Yeah I got the guitar back yesterday and he has not done what I asked him to do. I asked him to replace two dodgy frets and compensate the nut for better intonation. What he has done is a fret dress and has not really done anything about the intonation except raise the nut with some layers of masking tape. The fret dress is annoying as now the frets are files down to the point where there is almost nothing left of them. I am very shy and couldn't confront him about it in the shop about it. I guess I will write a letter or email to the manager.

[sleepkid]

Hi. Yeah I got the guitar back yesterday and he has not done what I asked him to do. I asked him to replace two dodgy frets and compensate the nut for better intonation. What he has done is a fret dress and has not really done anything about the intonation except raise the nut with some layers of masking tape. The fret dress is annoying as now the frets are files down to the point where there is almost nothing left of them. I am very shy and couldn't confront him about it in the shop about it. I guess I will write a letter or email to the manager.

Well, it's a shame that he hasn't done what you asked him to. However, asking him to replace two frets doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as your new frets will be higher than those around them, causing fret out problems - unless you dress them down to the level of the surrounding frets, in which case... why not start with the old frets? If you had two frets that were fretting out, or buzzing excessively, then without a refret, a fret dress was probably the correct way to go.

The masking tape on the nut thing is inexcusable though. That's a "let's get this guitar playing because you're on in 5 minutes" type of repair, and not a viable repair at all.

However, it does sound to me like you just need to bite the bullet and get a refret and possibly a new nut. That should take care of the problems, and make the guitar very playable again.

By the way, which model of Vox is it? A lot of the vintage Vox guitars have a zero fret, so messing with the nut won't do a thing, and since they also mostly came with individually adjustable saddles, I'm surprised you're not able to tackle most of the intonation problems that way.

[missionguitars]

and has not really done anything about the intonation except raise the nut with some layers of masking tape.

Is there another tech there? This guy obviously doesn't know what he's doing, and if you paid already, you need to take it back, explain the situation, and kindly request someone else do the work, preferably the journeyman, not the apprentice.

Your frets may, as mentioned, be on their last legs and a complete refret may be in order. Has it ever been done before? Can you provide a couple pics to show the situation?

Regardless, unless you can find another guy at the shop to do good work, I would ask around your area for a better tech recommendation, as refrets (especially on vintage guitars) shouldn't be handled by amateurs...

[tobysowen]

A partial refret can sometime be a viable option. I had a mustang with frets with plenty of life in them, but with deep grooves just on the top few strings on the first few frets. In cases like this a partial refret, and then a fret dress to bring the new frets down to the original level and perhaps deal with a few minor issues on the remaining original frets can be more practical and economical than a full refret. This especially true if you like the feel of lower vintage style frets anyway and not a suggestion that makes no sense (although the viability of this depends on the context).

A shame you didnt feel comfortable complaining to the person who serviced your guitar, I also get that, especially if I feel upset by what i consider to be poor service. Is there a different member of staff you could discuss the issue with, perhaps in addition to the letter or email? Best of luck resolving the issue, hope you manage to get your guitar back in tip top playing condition.