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Guitar Center tech repair/setup

Phendyr_Loon

Phendyr_Loon

Sep 4, 2010
685
58
#1
The Luthier which does my setups is about a hours drive for me since my recent move. He was charging around 100 bucks for a setup, he is a bit eccentric and very opinionated but turned out a very good job. He also didn't mind doing odd-ball stuff on my basses.
Now, since the drive out there is long and out of the way, my only option was to try Guitar Center for a standard setup on my Jazz Bass which just got a new neck.
I took it over there today not expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised that the tech, in his late 20's, was there and I got to have a decent conversation with him not only about my bass, but about setups and basses in general.
He seemed very caring and knowledgable, not cocky or eccentric like most of past dealings with techs. He told me that he splits his week doing setups at 2 area Guitar Center locations and that I'd have my bass back in a week.
I'm excited about getting it back, I hope the results will be a good setup as my opinion of GC has been waining.
Has anyone else out there had any experience with setups at Guitar Center?
 
#3
jkramer5 said:
I have, without going into the whole story it was a waste of money, and the guy chipped the nut on a brand new bass by manhandling the strings while impatiently changing them because he installed the wrong type. The rest of the "work" he did was of equal quality.

Hope your experience isn't similar.
Click to expand...

I guess the moral of this story is watch your nuts around GC techs, then.
 
#5
I took a MIM Jazz in to get a new nut put on it, before I started doing any work myself. I dropped it off in a gig bag, flawless, but with a cracked nut. It came back with shavings from the nut stuff all over it, no gig bag, and because he lost the gig bag and it sat around without one for a few days before they called me, a 1/2" dent in the back of it. GC comped me a cheaper gig bag than what I had originally, and when I pointed out the dent they offered to buy the bass off me for $135.

Don't trust your stuff to them.
 
#9
$100 for a setup???????? :hmm:

For $40 you can buy all the tools you need to do it yourself. For another $60 you can buy what you need to make your own nut, including a bunch of bone blanks.

Learn to do it yourself and your bass will always play the way YOU want it too.

We are not talking about rebuilding a F-15 here. :eyebrow:
 
#10
hdracer said:
$100 for a setup???????? :hmm:

For $40 you can buy all the tools you need to do it yourself. For another $60 you can buy what you need to make your own nut, including a bunch of bone blanks.

Learn to do it yourself and your bass will always play the way YOU want it too.

We are not talking about rebuilding a F-15 here. :eyebrow:
Click to expand...

I'm well aware I could do it myself for less but I didn't mind paying for over a decade of experience.
I had all the tools and know-how to replace my water pump in my VW last summer but had my mechanic do it, in these cases time is a major factor.
Besides I can't afford who knows what amount of time to "get the hang of it" to get my only bass to play well.
 
#11
It's weird, I don't have any of the problems people describe at my GC. At any rate, I had the tech at mine set up a bass I picked up there and he did a pretty alright job. The action was a little high for me, but every bass I've ever had was when I got it.
 
#12
The last time I was at a GC (the one in Boston before it moved from Comm Ave), I decided to chat with the tech who was there. It turns out that he wasn't a GC employee, but more like a subcontractor. He ran his own small business, did freelance when he could and did Saturdays at GC just to get the business. I didn't have him do any work for me, but he didn't mind me chatting a bit with him while he worked, so I observed. He was working on what appeared to be a rather nice Les Paul reissue and really had a great "bedside manner," as it were. Handled the guitar like the sacred thing it was to somebody and seemed pretty skilled.

Just thought I'd add that little nugget of experience; I'm not a big GC fan, but I can't say anything bad about the tech I saw.
 
#14
Phendyr_Loon said:
I'm well aware I could do it myself for less but I didn't mind paying for over a decade of experience.
I had all the tools and know-how to replace my water pump in my VW last summer but had my mechanic do it, in these cases time is a major factor.
Besides I can't afford who knows what amount of time to "get the hang of it" to get my only bass to play well.
Click to expand...

But you can leave it for a WEEK?
Once you know what you are doing you can stay on top of it and prevent any problems. Or fix them on the fly.
When you get the bass back and if it plays the way you like, write down all the settings and keep it that way. If you can put a water pump in a VW you can set up a bass.
I am just finishing up making a new bone nut from a blank while I am on TB for a beater bass I picked up for $80. I will also dressed all the frets and give it a good cleaning and a set up. It will be a nice player when I am done and be worth over $250 if I want to sell it.

The water pump in the VW would be a all day job. Dirty and a PIA. A set up on a bass is 20 min.
 
#16
Well, my Ricks take me 45 minutes. :p Then again, full setups on fretless are typically few and far between.

But you're absoultely right - setups are generally quite simple and it pays to know how to do it. I've been doing my own for about 15 years now and all it took was a bit of good advice and a slow hand. After that, it's pretty much a snap.
 
#17
The only stuff I have a tech do is either de-fret jobs or fret leveling, crowning. Everything else I do myself, intonation, neck relief, action, nut slots etc. It's really not difficult to do that stuff at all and it get's set-up exactly as I want it. Learn how to do the basic stuff, it will save you the time, money, and disappointment in the long run.
 
#18
Skitch it! said:
The only stuff I have a tech do is either de-fret jobs or fret leveling, crowning. Everything else I do myself, intonation, neck relief, action, nut slots etc. It's really not difficult to do that stuff at all and it get's set-up exactly as I want it. Learn how to do the basic stuff, it will save you the time, money, and disappointment in the long run.
Click to expand...

yeah.

when i first learned the basics- or really, first trusted myself to do the basics, i discovered in a way that nobody can be better or worse at setups.. its just a matter of knowing how to do it, and how you / your customer happens to want it..

i realised that "a good setup" really is just the time being put in, and a bass thats of a high enough standard to be capable of nice action and all that.

atleast thats how i saw it. have been setting up my basses, as well as students / friends for years.
 

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