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Hatchet job? (Ending edited and inching toward a postitive)

#141
@Fletz give Fender a call tomorrow. Explain what had been done and ask if they could provide you a quote for a new body. This gives a good starting by point whe you talk to the shop.


I’d also refrain from emailing the guy first. If you want to email him, just let him know you found a problem you would like him to look at and ask when he’s available. Always better to do these types of things in person.
 
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#143
buldog5151bass said:
I would ask him to refund the actual cost of that exact body from Fender, ask for that exact amount of money, and the hourly cost of a professional to assemble the instrument (and you get to keep that body as well). I would also ask for his explanation of not only what happened, but why he did not tell you. Absent some explanation of which I cannot imagine, he is incompetent and/or unethical.

Absent complete satisfaction, I would go to small claims court with both instruments, and as good pictures of a proper P/J as you can find. If you can find any articles on proper pickup placement, bring that as well. A judge is unlikely to be knowledgeable on instruments. It's gonna take some time. Until then, play the instrument. You may decide to keep any proceeds and live with it
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sorry, imo, Luthier buys a body, he gets the old body. the value of instrument drops. you lose. I suspect the best you get from the judge is a full refund, again you lose. My guess, there was no written contract, or sketches involved.
 
#148
Fletz said:
went to a reputable local guitar repairman to see if he could install a j pickup on my American design Experience precision bass. He said he could and he showed me other guitars he’d repaired, built etc. No jazz pup installations but he assured me he could do it. I bought a p/j set and brought it to him. A week and a half later it was done so I picked it up. In the moment, I plugged it in and it sounded good. No ground hum or buzz. Wasn’t thrilled with the rout but it wasn’t enough for me to gasp in horror. I finally got home and took it out. I played for a few minutes then took a closer look only to realize he did a god-awful job lining up the pickup. First I noticed the poles didn’t line up to the strings but thought maybe it was a slight bridge adjustment. Then I noticed that the jazz pickup is dramatically higher than up on the body than the precision pickups. (Not pickup height up and down but position wise into the body). See the pictures below. The blue bass is the one that I am talking about. I put the pencils on there for alignment. The black one was done by another guy when I was working elsewhere and was much closer.

What course of action would you take? It wasn’t cheap and it’s essentially ruined this bass. What do you think? Am I wrong?
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Wow.. I'd be Ultra Pissed.. Got an attorney buddy?
 
#149
DiabolusInMusic said:
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.
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Sorry, plugging the hole is not acceptable.
 
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#150
DiabolusInMusic said:
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.
Click to expand...

As someone who has been doing repairs for over thirty years, trust me that "Filling the hole, re-routing and painting the body" sounds good in theory but unlike Autobody shops (actually not so different from auto body work cause it happens with metal too), chances are that at some point as the finish cures and wood/glue dries out the finish around the repair will sink. There are ways to get around it (such as putting a larger veneer over the area) but unless you replace the entire top there will always be a chance of it showing.

Why go to all that trouble when there are replacement bodies readily available as well as competent paint sources for the same, if not less money?


Moonshine :bassist:
 
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#151
sonic 7 said:
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)
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The problem is (as the Op has stated repeatedly) the Op wants a jazz pickup there, not a larger pickup.

Why would he settle for anything less?



Moonshine :bassist:
 
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#152
I haven’t read all 150 replies but a skilled woodworker (def not the original guy lol) could make a custom pickup cover/enclosure just big enough to cover up the nastiness with a bog standard jazz bass pup inside. I don’t see any other way, because there’s really no practical way to add wood back once it’s gone as paint will eventually sink into the areas of the repair.
 
#154
I still think something similar to these trim ring(s) makes the most sense.Other than starting with a new body that is.
jazz bass rings.PNG
 
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#155
The situation is terrible. There are many suggestions for remediation so I won't go into those. I had a vintage bass I took to a local guy that was referred to me. He lost his notes and drilled a hole in a vintage bass. I won't go into details. But he took notes, then lost notes then proceeded with what he "thought he remembered" I was horrified. And never made whole in the legal vernacular. And I was a project manager in construction for years, sigh.
What I will say is this:
After discussing the proposed work, I will from now on, do things differently.
1) make a record of discussion. Through notes, recording, vid. or whatever means possible. And be certain you BOTH have copy's.
2) review discussion in detail to confirm we are on the same page about every aspect of the work.
3) if any questions or variance of work directly or indirectly discussed arises, I demand work be stopped and to be contacted for clarification.
GET IT ALL IN WRITEING !!!!!!!
I know from experience that even a written contract is no guarantee of satisfaction.
 
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#156
Your email to him is very good, and the remedy you ask for is reasonable and appropriate. This is not the worst job I’ve ever seen, but it’s not right by a lot. The “but how does it sound” argument is absurd. Who cares how it sounds? Does it sound better this way as opposed to being evenly located? The job was done wrong, and it can’t be remedied without replacing the body. You shouldn’t have to install a bigger pickup to fix it.
 
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#157
Fletz said:
went to a reputable local guitar repairman to see if he could install a j pickup on my American design Experience precision bass. He said he could and he showed me other guitars he’d repaired, built etc. No jazz pup installations but he assured me he could do it. I bought a p/j set and brought it to him. A week and a half later it was done so I picked it up. In the moment, I plugged it in and it sounded good. No ground hum or buzz. Wasn’t thrilled with the rout but it wasn’t enough for me to gasp in horror. I finally got home and took it out. I played for a few minutes then took a closer look only to realize he did a god-awful job lining up the pickup. First I noticed the poles didn’t line up to the strings but thought maybe it was a slight bridge adjustment. Then I noticed that the jazz pickup is dramatically higher than up on the body than the precision pickups. (Not pickup height up and down but position wise into the body). See the pictures below. The blue bass is the one that I am talking about. I put the pencils on there for alignment. The black one was done by another guy when I was working elsewhere and was much closer.

What course of action would you take? It wasn’t cheap and it’s essentially ruined this bass. What do you think? Am I wrong?
Click to expand...



He screwed up!

Take it back, in person and have a conversation, basically saying this is "unacceptable", it needs to be remedied.

Clearly, it is not aligned.

Small claims court? At least it will be easy to see the problem.
 
#158
Just get a new body and have the shop pay for it. It's really sad considering the provenance of the bass in question and I'm not sure you can even still get a US LPB body from Fender, but it's the most practical route that involves the least amount of headache. TGIF (thank God it's Fender) and that it's a body that can be easily had and certain to be a perfect fit, albeit likely not in the color you would have wanted.
 
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#159
Drgonzonm said:
sorry, imo, Luthier buys a body, he gets the old body. the value of instrument drops. you lose. I suspect the best you get from the judge is a full refund, again you lose. My guess, there was no written contract, or sketches involved.
Click to expand...

The issue is that a judge likely has no knowledge of how instruments are valued, and there aren't going to be any experts witnesses in small claims court. I would argue that even with a new body, with everything installed, the value of the instrument will not be the same. If he gets his money back - he isn't whole - he has a damaged instrument. This is a contract case - the fact that the "luthier" accepted the money and did the work overcomes the fact that there is no written contract. He was expected to do the job in a workmanlike manner. The other bass and any articles or photos will demonstrate what is workmanlike.

He can prove breach of contract. The issue is determining proper damages.
 

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