How else will the problem be remedied if no new body? Filling the hole and re-routing is not an acceptable remedy. How will the custom paint be matched? I would not trust this guy to come even close.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
How else will the problem be remedied if no new body? Filling the hole and re-routing is not an acceptable remedy. How will the custom paint be matched? I would not trust this guy to come even close.
I'd be surprised if you can replace that body for $500 given the custom paint.
+1 for USA Custom Guitars. I have a P bass and a J bass, both made with USA Custom Guitars bodies. They are fantastic quality....easily as good as anything that Fender provides (IMHO of course!).
For the record, I have no affiliation with USA Custom Guitars. I'm just a very satisfied customer!
The more I look at it, $500 was polite.
What a horrible experience. That pickup is way off, and the routing look oversize. It is evident you got Sanduskied. I would ask for it to be re-done right. Or find out why the pickup was installed that way.
Sometimes good reputation is more marketing and sales than the true ability of one's skill.
Sometimes good reputation is more marketing and sales than the true ability of one's skill.
I think the luthier should be on the hook for a new body even if it far exceeds the cost of the original work. Its unfortunate, but this shouldn't have been a difficult job for someone who knew what they were doing. Amateur woodworkers build basses from scratch all the time and don't seem to have trouble routing pickup holes.
Yeah, semi pro at best. I did my own with a router and used to do it professionally at a guitar shop
on a Bridgeport Milling Machine, THOSE came out awesome! He botched the setup/alignment.
but honestly? I have seen worse come into the shop back in the day!
This is my own P Bass I did on the Bridgeport (added the Jazz)
on a Bridgeport Milling Machine, THOSE came out awesome! He botched the setup/alignment.
but honestly? I have seen worse come into the shop back in the day!
This is my own P Bass I did on the Bridgeport (added the Jazz)
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
If the cost of a refinish was too high, the reimbursement cost of the used body would be considered acceptable. Filling the hole, re-routing and painting the body is most certainly an acceptable option. Autobody shops match paint on car repairs all day long. Good luck convincing any judge on the planet that guitars are somehow different. I know this hard for some on this forum to accept but we are talking about property here, nothing more.
On the note of who does the repairs, OP does not have to have this shop do the repair work if he is not comfortable with it. He does have to give them a fair shake when it comes to repairing it though. The OP cannot just go get a refinish done and hand them the bill. The OP would need to get a couple quotes and use the average.
What that, sadly, means is that would’ve been HIGHER originally.
The luthier should pay for a new body, as well as for the cost of a DIFFERENT luthier putting it all back together.
You will never get any satisfaction from the shop that did that. And the only solution, in my opinion, would by to route for a new larger pickup. As most on here agree. But I would name the shop to warn others. ( to be fair I would ask the shop to provide a new body which is the only equitable solution, they probably wont, then I’d put them on blast)
I think so too, and I think the better option would be to just leave it at "replace the body with an equal value one in the same custom color".
I'm not sure who you used for this botched modification work, and I don't know where in NJ you are...but this is my guy (link below) I would go to for setups, repairs, etc. I've been living here in the same house in Middlesex County for 25 + years and he's been in this same storefront since before I bought my house. He's a one man shop that holds his own in the face of Guitar Center and Sam Ash based on the quality of his work and service.
If you are looking for a good place to get this corrected, I'd recommend John at Hy-Way.
Link Removed
Going to his shop is a bit like stepping into a time machine back to when people hung out in music shops, smoked cigarettes and other things, and generally talked shop. Nobody smokes in Johns shop but that's the vibe. His setups are good, he talks straight and he doesn't try to sell you something you don't need unless you really insist on it. The back room is like a museum of dusty old tube amps and reel to reel tape machines.
That is beneath amateur work and it makes my blood boil to think that someone took your money to hack the body like that. A pro would have used a template or at least an edge guide for the basic outline. inebriated? I am a hobbyist woodworker and my first three pickup routs looked professional because I cared about it. That’s an easy job to do well.
If this isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, and he doesn’t see a problem, offer to share his work with the community. Print closeups of this job with his name and business name clearly indicated, and distribute copies to every guitarist and bassist within 50 miles.
If this isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, and he doesn’t see a problem, offer to share his work with the community. Print closeups of this job with his name and business name clearly indicated, and distribute copies to every guitarist and bassist within 50 miles.
That's awful. For the life of me I can't figure out how he even did that. Routing templates are readily available, inexpensive and easy to use. There's no excuse for that.
