How long should a urethane coat take in a shop?

No.

Presuming they're going to do multiple coats and sand it down between coats, it would take several days -- and quite possibly a week or two, depending on humidity -- for an extremely un-busy shop from start to finish. Like, if you were their only customer, it would still take 7-10 days...because each coat needs to dry thoroughly, and that takes time.

 

I can tell that you were just trying to be patient and reasonable by taking a "get to it when you can" approach when you dropped it off, but having worked in a number of different shops in many different industries, once your project gets stuck into the "get around to it" pile, that is where it will stay.

 

Man, I'd ask him to put it back together - that's crazy. If the shop is set up for it, spray a neck even with a cure time between coats is 15 minutes per day for a few days. 4 bolts to pull the neck off, and a few more to pull the tuners. Re-assembly and restringing is 20-30 minutes tops.

I hate hearing about really simple jobs taking a year - there's no excuse for that except the shop owner being lazy.

You literally could have bought the stuff in a spray can and learned how to coat the neck yourself in less than a week's time for $5 in materials.

Good luck.

 

Do you have any idea how long it takes to breed and raise enough of them to make a urethane coat?

 

I suck at soldering. Really, I tried for over ten years and finally I gave up - but even at my worst, installing pickups took me an hour (its a 5-10 minute job).

If you're next to Guitar Factory, by all means take it there! Good to hear they're still around. I swung by there in the 90's and walked in and they gave me a tour. Real nice guys (if its the same people) - and I was basically just a broke college kid, not a high potential sale.

 

Not sure how long it takes, but I'm pretty sure it's less than three years. ;-)

 

For a busy shop, assuming he is squeezing you in between other customers, and assuming multiple coats of poly with buffing at the end, less than 2 weeks allowing for proper curing time.

 

Depends on the urethane used. Standard poly will take at least a couple of weeks, a high end 2 part 2K urethane about a week or less. Moisture can be a huge factor in dry times also.

 

Seems like telling this guy "no rush" was a big mistake. Insist that he commits to a completion date when you give him the job, then hold him to it. At this point, just call him back and say "I need my bass completed by XX date." He should be able to give you a straight yes or no answer. If he can't commit (or if he blows the deadline), I'd start looking for another tech. You don't need to be apologetic or make excuses -- you are a paying customer.

 

And you keep giving him work?

 

To fully cure, you are somewhat correct. I believe cure time at 70 deg F with a RH of no greater than 50% for oil based poly is 30 days, lower temps or higher RH levels and jump that number up...

that is to FULLY CURE the urethane though. There is a huge difference between dry and cure...

FWIW, Even fully cured, the best urethanes feel sticky to me. I VERY much prefer a smoothed and oiled finish versus urethane any day! Feels better to me anyway.

 

It's pretty obvious work only gets done on your jobs as some kind of freak occurrence

Made me chuckle with the thought of immediately handing back my bass to the guy who just took a year to install some pickups

 

A LOT depends on the quality of the urethane itself, and how the prep was done... My Ibanez basses both are worn in on the backs of the necks, so that the urethane is off of the thickest part where my thumb rests... The years of hand oils and sliding motion have worn them butttery smooth... Not something I would expect any urethane of any sort to match...

I'm not sure about the Geddy Lee Signature Jazz basses, but I know Geddy had the urethane stripped off his own 72 Jazz neck and oiled it up. There was an interview with him a couple of years back where he was talking about having that done...

I must confess to preferring oiled finishes anyway, as a woodworker not just as a bass player. Traditional oil / wax finishes just feel right to me. Urethane finishes much more so than lacquers, feel like plastic to me, I just don't care for the stuff... Like so much else in this pursuit, YMMV and a LOT depends on personal tastes...

I hope you can get things settled with this guy soon... And I am sorry you are having such a hard time with getting your instrument completed... May the extra time have been worth it in quality!

 

Is the guy's last name Serio, perchance?