Is this a hack job?

[wgbm92]

I have a Fender Deluxe J-bass that I've had for about 5 years. I used to play it every weekend at church and never really had any issues with it. One day my leaders had offered pay for getting my bass serviced and getting a routine maintenance at Guitar Center. So I gladly said yes and off it went for about a week. I finally got it back and it was not the same. One of the knobs no longer had that mid position little dent feel thing (not sure how to say it lol) and I would get an occasional pop from the output jack when moving around. Being a passive person at the time and the lack of knowledge on bass (and still do lol), I just let it slide without saying a word, when I should have returned it to get it repaired again. Unfortunately, that was years ago and it's too late to go back.

Now, the popping noise has gotten pretty bad, to the point where I can't even move without it making noise. I replaced my cable twice just to make sure that wasn't the issue. So I thought maybe the jack just needed a little cleaning. As I was removing the screws holding the jack plate, I notice again that one of the screws did not match the other and looked kind of worn out. As I am pulling the jack out I notice this



I don't know much about bass electronics, and tell me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there should be tape holding the wiring together. Is this the root cause of the popping that I am getting?

[Bobster]

Yes and Yes.

This needs to be a soldered, solid connection. It can definitely cause the popping you getting as the wire moves.

Looks like they probably rewired it. You can get the original pot types and have it put back together as it was, fairly cheaply.

Best of luck

Bob

[Hapa]

Call the GC and make a formal complaint. That is unacceptable. The "tech" replaced your pot with something else, and was too freakin lazy to cut a new piece of wire for the ground and make a clean new solder join. I will call out of principle, jeez. pm me wgbm92

[elgecko]

Originally Posted by wgbm92

...mid position little dent feel thing (not sure how to say it lol)...

That would be a "center detent".

[invalidprotocol]

GC should know better. They're supposed to use duct tape.

A year is a long time to go back about and I don't know that I would let them touch my guitar a second time. The pot choice seems like an honest mistake by what are probably every day people trying to perform the work of a guitar tech. Tape is just slop. Is there tape on any of the connections to the pot?

[wgbm92]

Here's what the pot looks like from inside



Looks completely different from the rest of the pots. The solder job looks half-decent as well. I'm very disappointed in the quality of work the tech performed on my bass. This no way to represent the company you work for or even yourself. I will never go back to Guitar Center for service.

@Hapa: I just wrote a complaint on the GC customer service website. I hope to get a response from them.

[fourstringdrums]

What was wrong with the bass at the time that required the electronics to be serviced?

[wgbm92]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

What was wrong with the bass at the time that required the electronics to be serviced?

Nothing at all! If i recall correctly maybe there was a slight popping from the jack but that's about it, so I thought he would just clean it up a bit, re-solder the connection, or even replace the jack. I was actually just expecting to get the action and intonation adjusted, hoping it would have gotten done from a pro technician as opposed to me improperly adjusting it since I had never done it before at that time. I can honestly say that bass was in better shape before bringing it to GC. I just brought it there because the church insisted on paying the bill.

[fourstringdrums]

Originally Posted by wgbm92

Nothing at all! If i recall correctly maybe there was a slight popping from the jack but that's about it, so I thought he would just clean it up a bit, re-solder the connection, or even replace the jack. I was actually just expecting to get the action and intonation adjusted, hoping it would have gotten done from a pro technician as opposed to me improperly adjusting it since I had never done it before at that time. I can honestly say that bass was in better shape before bringing it to GC. I just brought it there because the church insisted on paying the bill.

Did they even adjust the neck at the time?

[wgbm92]

I honestly can't remember, this was a number of years back.

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by wgbm92

Here's what the pot looks like from inside



Looks completely different from the rest of the pots. The solder job looks half-decent as well. I'm very disappointed in the quality of work the tech performed on my bass. This no way to represent the company you work for or even yourself. I will never go back to Guitar Center for service.

@Hapa: I just wrote a complaint on the GC customer service website. I hope to get a response from them.

Yeah, I see something wrong here - it's an Active Jazz Deluxe, right??? - the midrange pot on one of those is an application specific part, and certainly nothing a typical GC would carry as a stock item... My Deluxe P Bass Special uses the same midrange pot - IIRC, it's a 100k pot with a center detent - and I had to order it specially from Fender...

So, not only did they hack up the jack install, it appears that they replaced the midrange pot with the wrong one... Fender can tell you exactly what pot is *supposed* to be in there - I would check with them... BTW, it's supposed to be different than the other ones - but that still doesn't mean they put the right one in there...


- georgestrings

[darkstorm]

Why do people use guitar center for repair or even setup work? Might as well have untrained monkeys do it imo.

[soulman969]

Well it's a lesson learned but from now on you'll realize that taking your bass to a competent guitar tech who will do it right the first time saves both time and money. Based on what they're willing to pay people GC probably has very few if any competent repair techs.

I'm sure that if you get it in the hands of quailified tech he'll get it straightened out for you.

[wgbm92]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

Why do people use guitar center for repair or even setup work? Might as well have untrained monkeys do it imo.

As I stated earlier, I did not know squat about bass setups or repair and my church offered to pay for the service. You don't bring your guitar to get service done and expect to get it in worse or sub par conditions like in my situation. Unfortunately I found all of this out years after the "repair" was done and paid for.

[NorCal Dog]

Originally Posted by wgbm92

As I stated earlier, I did not know squat about bass setups or repair and my church offered to pay for the service. You don't bring your guitar to get service done and expect to get it in worse or sub par conditions like in my situation. Unfortunately I found all of this out years after the "repair" was done and paid for.

it's all good, ya live & ya learn, just a small bump in the tone road & i'm sure it'll git fixed up as good as new in no time

it's sad, all the flak that you'll receive from members saying " what were you thinking ?,, or,, you should have known better than to " when you've explained the situation not once but twice

reading comprehension 'yall,, <<< google it if ya don't know what it is

[wgbm92]

GC got back to me. They said "because of how long ago the repair was done, the best they can do is fix the bass at half off." No thanks.

You only can make a good first impression once, and quite frankly, they failed at doing so. And I wouldn't want that same tech working on my bass if he's the one who screwed up the repair in the first place. Now I'm going to have to buy the parts myself and have to look for a reputable tech. What a headache!

May this be a warning for anyone else who may come across this thread. I am not sure if all of GC's technicians work in this manner, but stay away from GC in Orange, CT for when it comes to guitar repair. Learn the craft on your own or pay someone who really knows about guitars to do the work.

[Lee H]

you get a little flack here...but everyone on here was a noob once. Don't take it too seriously.

The damage is repairable, and your bass will be better then ever when a qualified tech does the repairs

[georgestrings]

Originally Posted by wgbm92

GC got back to me. They said "because of how long ago the repair was done, the best they can do is fix the bass at half off." No thanks.

You only can make a good first impression once, and quite frankly, they failed at doing so. And I wouldn't want that same tech working on my bass if he's the one who screwed up the repair in the first place. Now I'm going to have to buy the parts myself and have to look for a reputable tech. What a headache!

May this be a warning for anyone else who may come across this thread. I am not sure if all of GC's technicians work in this manner, but stay away from GC in Orange, CT for when it comes to guitar repair. Learn the craft on your own or pay someone who really knows about guitars to do the work.

Yeah, I figured that much - it's not that big a job, if you're the least bit mechanically inclined, can solder, and pay attention to where each wire go - there are only 3 on the midrange pot, and 3 on the jack... Call Fender, and they'll give you a part# for the pot, and refer you to a dealer to order it from - the jack is just a simple stereo 1/4 jack...


- georgestrings

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

Why do people use guitar center for repair or even setup work? Might as well have untrained monkeys do it imo.

Harsh. I think they're probably as good as trained monkeys.

[dullsilver_mike]

Originally Posted by wgbm92

You only can make a good first impression once, and quite frankly, they failed at doing so. And I wouldn't want that same tech working on my bass if he's the one who screwed up the repair in the first place. Now I'm going to have to buy the parts myself and have to look for a reputable tech. What a headache!

On the bright side, GC's employee turnover is so high that there's little chance the same guy is still there!