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07-31-2009, 10:20 PM
|  | Official Forum Flunkee | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA | | | Luthier Rant
Gah....
I drop my bass off for a routine fix. Nothing more. I bring it back to find that my adjusters have been ****ed with. Why is that some luthiers just have to freakin change everything to what they think is right? I didn't ask for you to check out my setup. Hello?!!?!? You know, some of us obsess over our gear. I know I can spend an evening just messing with the adjusters to get the right sound/feel.
Yes I know my adjusters are low and that I will lose some sound, but I intended it to be that way. I want playability over sound so don't freaking touch my setup unless I say so!!!!!
Grrr....... 
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Last edited by Jeremy Allen : 08-02-2009 at 09:42 AM.
Reason: protests about profanity
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07-31-2009, 10:23 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brookfield, CT | | | And the fix was.......?
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by Lesfunk  I have trouble staying in shape because I'm a lazy, fat, piece of crap; not because I'm a musician. | |
07-31-2009, 10:24 PM
| | Official Forum Flunkee | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA | | | Nothing that had anything to do with my bridge or adjusters. Something needed regluing because it became a little loose. |
07-31-2009, 10:34 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Towson, Maryland | | | Well now you know. Next time tell them not to mess with it. |
07-31-2009, 10:49 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: NorCal | | | |
08-01-2009, 12:15 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Toronto | | Quote:
Originally Posted by grifff Well now you know. Next time tell them not to mess with it. | I have to side, very much, with HDIDDY on this one! Would you expect to take your car in for one type of repair, and have them do something completely unrelated? Something unrelated that causes you grief??
Are you suggesting HDIDDY should have run through a list of all the things he DIDN'T want done? "Please don't mess with the nut", "Please don't mess with the tuning machines", "Please don't mess with the tailpiece" - not very efficient communication, is it?
Whatever happened to asking the customer what they want, and trying to make them happy? There are, unfortunately, some luthier shops where the assumption seems to be that the customer doesn't know what they need.
Lastly, I don't know what the last poster's emoticons mean. If they're meant to indicate "unnecessary crying", I couldn't disagree more. |
08-01-2009, 10:11 AM
|  | 'Woodworker - Witch Doctor - Luthier'
Owner/The Bass Spa, String Repairman/L & M Vancouver | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Crescent Beach, BC | | Quote:
Originally Posted by hdiddy Gah....
I drop my bass off for a routine fix. Nothing more. I bring it back to find that my adjusters have been ****ed with. Why is that some luthiers just have to freakin change everything to what they think is right? I didn't ask for you to check out my setup. Hello?!!?!? You know, some of us obsess over our gear. I know I can spend an evening just messing with the adjusters to get the right sound/feel.
Yes I know my adjusters are low and that I will lose some sound, but I intended it to be that way. I want playability over sound so don't freaking touch my setup unless I say so!!!!!
Grrr....... | It was guys like that got me started setting up guitars many years ago and look where I ended up! 
My sympathies HDID and good luck finding someone who communicates with you more fully.
Last edited by Jeremy Allen : 08-02-2009 at 09:42 AM.
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08-01-2009, 10:15 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Oregon, USA | | | I've had Lutiers do things to my bass that I did not ask them to do and I have never been back to them. It's one thing to find something that they believe 'needs' done and call the owner and ask them if they want the work done. To take the liberty to go ahead and do the work with out permission is criminal. IMHO |
08-01-2009, 11:41 AM
| | Official Forum Flunkee | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA | | | The problem is that there is noone else to go to in the SF Bay Area without some sort of compromises. A series of lesser evils if you will.
Seems like I'd have to drive about 2 hours just to find a reasonable expert. I've resorted mostly to doing my own work - even fingerboard dressing to a small extent and as scary as that sounds. Anything major, I'm going to the best luthier i can find - which would mean driving far.
Last edited by hdiddy : 08-01-2009 at 11:44 AM.
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08-01-2009, 12:02 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Oakland, CA | | | If that 2 hour drive is in the direction I think it is, it's worth it.
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08-01-2009, 12:20 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Willmar, Minnesota | | | A 2 hour drive is nothing for good work. Make the drive.
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Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.
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08-01-2009, 01:37 PM
|  | JeffKissell | | Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Soquel, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Jake If that 2 hour drive is in the direction I think it is, it's worth it. | East or south... 
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"...sounds like a goddamn train wreck!" |
08-01-2009, 02:09 PM
| | | | I drive 2 hours in one direction to see Nnick when I could drive 3 miles in 10 minutes to my local shop for the same work. The local shop is very very good.
Nnick is better.
I go where I get what i want, not what someone else wants. |
08-01-2009, 02:21 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Maui | | Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffKissell East or south... | I've played a couple of rental basses that I wouldn't mind driving a couple hours west of San Francisco.  |
08-01-2009, 03:00 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Alameda, CA, USA | | | For glueing seams and such, I go about 10 minutes to downtown Oakland ,but for anything big or pertaining to setup, I have to drive 5 hours and it's not too far.
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John Wiitala
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08-01-2009, 03:32 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: London, UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by eh_train
Are you suggesting HDIDDY should have run through a list of all the things he DIDN'T want done? "Please don't mess with the nut", "Please don't mess with the tuning machines", "Please don't mess with the tailpiece" - not very efficient communication, is it?
| No, it's not very efficient communication.
Thankfully, the phrase "Please do not do anything I have not expressly asked for" covers the whole list |
08-01-2009, 03:54 PM
| | JeffKissell | | Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Soquel, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson I've played a couple of rental basses that I wouldn't mind driving a couple hours west of San Francisco. | The Farallons are only about an hour west...
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"...sounds like a goddamn train wreck!" |
08-01-2009, 04:10 PM
|  | Less barking, more wagging! | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: San Diego, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Jools4001 <SNIP> Thankfully, the phrase "Please do not do anything I have not expressly asked for" covers the whole list | Is your luthier's work acceptable otherwise? It sounds as though this issue could have a lot more to do with communication and intention than quality of work. |
08-01-2009, 04:43 PM
|  | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by hdiddy Gah.... my adjusters have been ****ed with. Why is that some luthiers just have to freakin change everything to what they think is right?
Grrr....... | Um. What are adjusters for? What's the big deal? Why so angry? It's not as if he re-cut your bridge or changed anything permanent. You take a bridge off and put it on the bench and back a few times and the adjusters spin a bit. So you string the bass up and set the string height to where you think it should sit. So it's too low, wind 'em up a bit. 
Last edited by Jeremy Allen : 08-02-2009 at 09:43 AM.
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08-01-2009, 05:18 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: deepest alabama | | | That's nothing. My nearest luthier is a 4 hour drive away. So, I drop off my Shen for setup work, wait a week as requested, then call to verify it's ready.
Drive up, and working 6 twelve hour days a week I have to plan this trip, get there and my bass is on the floor in his shop, untouched. Plus, there's a new gouge on the top.
Drive up, the next week and everything is done, but not very well. Nut slots are too high, fingerboard not dressed properly, etc...
I'm learning to do the work myself, it isn't rocket surgery. |  | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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