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Overly cautious/trust issues???

Lawdawg01

Lawdawg01

Aug 12, 2019
77
302
Suburbs of Atlanta, GA, USA
#1
I recently decided to start playing after a few years hiatus. For motivation, I bought a new bass. I’m very happy with it, but after a few weeks I started noticing an electrical issue or two. Not sure if it’s grounding or shielding, but probably one or the other or both.

Anyway, my issue is that I no longer know anyone locally that does repairs. The bass is an old BC Rich with all the knobs and switches and about a half mile of wiring. Not something I’m comfortable leaving with the kids at the well known national chain stores. After searching online. I found a guy with a shop real close to my house. Kind of strange because I’ve lived there for over a decade and never saw or heard of the shop. Nonetheless, it’s a got an informative website and has outstanding reviews and testimonials. I’ve googled the owner and no mugshots came up.

I’ve emailed with the owner about my issue and he’s been real helpful and appears to be completely legitimate. They aren’t generally open on Saturdays, but he agreed to meet me tomorrow and look at my bass.

My concern is, if we agree to have it repaired, I’m going to have to leave it with him. It’s really new to me and wasn’t inexpensive, and I’ve never worked with the owner or his shop before. He seems to be very timely and responsive, but I’m still nervous about leaving it with, essentially, a complete stranger. In the past, I’ve always had a pre-established working relationship for awhile with anyone that did any work on my basses.

Anyone have experience with this type of situation? If so, how did you handle it? Of course, I wouldn’t leave it without getting a receipt with the serial number on it.

Any advice/suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
 
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#2
Lawdawg01 said:
I recently decided to start playing after a few years hiatus. For motivation, I bought a new bass. I’m very happy with it, but after a few weeks I started noticing an electrical issue or two. Not sure if it’s grounding or shielding, but probably one or the other or both.

Anyway, my issue is that I no longer know anyone locally that does repairs. The bass is an old BC Rich with all the knobs and switches and about a half mile of wiring. Not something I’m comfortable leaving with the kids at the well known national chain stores. After searching online. I found a guy with a shop real close to my house. Kind of strange because I’ve lived there for over a decade and never saw or heard of the shop. Nonetheless, it’s a got an informative website and has outstanding reviews and testimonials. I’ve googled the owner and no mugshots came up.

I’ve emailed with the owner about my issue and he’s been real helpful and appears to be completely legitimate. They aren’t generally open on Saturdays, but he agreed to meet me tomorrow and look at my bass.

My concern is, if we agree to have it repaired, I’m going to have to leave it with him. It’s really new to me and wasn’t inexpensive, and I’ve never worked with the owner or his shop before. He seems to be very timely and responsive, but I’m still nervous about leaving it with, essentially, a complete stranger. In the past, I’ve always had a pre-established working relationship for awhile with anyone that did any work on my basses.

Anyone have experience with this type of situation? If so, how did you handle it? Of course, I wouldn’t leave it without getting a receipt with the serial number on it.

Any advice/suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
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Where are you seeing reviews? If they're just on his website, that's not enough. There should be Facebook groups in your community for musicians; I'd ask around in places like those and look for reviews on Yelp, etc. Generally if you're getting reviews from a few different places like Yelp and others, it's unlikely there will be a problem of the type you're fearing.
 
#3
LBS-bass said:
Where are you seeing reviews? If they're just on his website, that's not enough. There should be Facebook groups in your community for musicians; I'd ask around in places like those and look for reviews on Yelp, etc. Generally if you're getting reviews from a few different places like Yelp and others, it's unlikely there will be a problem of the type you're fearing.
Click to expand...


Good points - looks like the social media accounts are new. Opened at the start of the year. The shop has 8 google reviews and 1 yp.com review. All 5 stars.
 
#4
If you're still queasy after meeting him in person, tell him that money is tight right now and you'll have to think about his estimate for a few days before agreeing to it. That way, you're under no obligation whatsoever to leave the instrument. Also, ask him for references from past satisfied clients – not some random online reviews. If he can't provide you with the phone numbers of at least two or three happy customers, that should be all the impetus you need to look elsewhere.
 
Last edited:
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#5
garp said:
If you're still queasy after meeting him in person, tell him money that is tight right now and you'll have to think about his estimate for a few days before agreeing to it. That way, you're under no obligation whatsoever to leave the instrument. Also, ask him for references from past satisfied clients – not some random online reviews. If he can't provide you with the phone numbers of at least two or three happy customers, that should be all the impetus you need to look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Thats also a good idea. Thanks.
 
#6
Lawdawg01 said:
Good points - looks like the social media accounts are new. Opened at the start of the year.
Click to expand...
I think what @LBS-bass was getting at was social media groups of local musicians who could provide you with their personal experiences with a particular shop. For instance, here in Seattle there are several groups on Facebook you can join that help to network local players. These are invaluable for getting real "boots on the ground" types of reviews from people in your local scene.
 
#7
silky smoove said:
I think what @LBS-bass was getting at was social media groups of local musicians who could provide you with their personal experiences with a particular shop. For instance, here in Seattle there are several groups on Facebook you can join that help to network local players. These are invaluable for getting real "boots on the ground" types of reviews from people in your local scene.
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Yes, that's what I meant. Here in Sacramento there are several "sacramento musicians" groups on FB and if I had a question like this I could just go in there and ask if anyone had done business with them, and what they thought.
 
#8
LBS-bass said:
Yes, that's what I meant. Here in Sacramento there are several "sacramento musicians" groups on FB and if I had a question like this I could just go in there and ask if anyone had done business with them, and what they thought.
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The ones here in Seattle are invaluable. There's even a bass-dedicated one that I frequent quite a bit. Glad to hear they're happening elsewhere.
 
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#9
LBS-bass said:
Where are you seeing reviews? If they're just on his website, that's not enough. There should be Facebook groups in your community for musicians; I'd ask around in places like those and look for reviews on Yelp, etc. Generally if you're getting reviews from a few different places like Yelp and others, it's unlikely there will be a problem of the type you're fearing.
Click to expand...

Cool. Thanks. I look for something ‘round here and see if anyone has done business with them.
 
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#10
good advice, but in the end you're going to have make a decision about whether you are willing to trust the guy.

IME: if the cat has other instruments on the walls/benches in various states of dress/repair it's a good bet he's passing himself off as a luthier --- successfully: enough to get others to leave their instruments! --- maybe that's good enough for you, too! luthiers always give newbie customers a receipt. good luck with your ax and your trust issue! :thumbsup:
 
#11
Lawdawg01 said:
I recently decided to start playing after a few years hiatus. For motivation, I bought a new bass. I’m very happy with it, but after a few weeks I started noticing an electrical issue or two. Not sure if it’s grounding or shielding, but probably one or the other or both.

Anyway, my issue is that I no longer know anyone locally that does repairs. The bass is an old BC Rich with all the knobs and switches and about a half mile of wiring. Not something I’m comfortable leaving with the kids at the well known national chain stores. After searching online. I found a guy with a shop real close to my house. Kind of strange because I’ve lived there for over a decade and never saw or heard of the shop. Nonetheless, it’s a got an informative website and has outstanding reviews and testimonials. I’ve googled the owner and no mugshots came up.

I’ve emailed with the owner about my issue and he’s been real helpful and appears to be completely legitimate. They aren’t generally open on Saturdays, but he agreed to meet me tomorrow and look at my bass.

My concern is, if we agree to have it repaired, I’m going to have to leave it with him. It’s really new to me and wasn’t inexpensive, and I’ve never worked with the owner or his shop before. He seems to be very timely and responsive, but I’m still nervous about leaving it with, essentially, a complete stranger. In the past, I’ve always had a pre-established working relationship for awhile with anyone that did any work on my basses.

Anyone have experience with this type of situation? If so, how did you handle it? Of course, I wouldn’t leave it without getting a receipt with the serial number on it.

Any advice/suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
You gonna post the link to the shop?
 
#12
Lawdawg01 said:
I recently decided to start playing after a few years hiatus. For motivation, I bought a new bass. I’m very happy with it, but after a few weeks I started noticing an electrical issue or two. Not sure if it’s grounding or shielding, but probably one or the other or both.

Anyway, my issue is that I no longer know anyone locally that does repairs. The bass is an old BC Rich with all the knobs and switches and about a half mile of wiring. Not something I’m comfortable leaving with the kids at the well known national chain stores. After searching online. I found a guy with a shop real close to my house. Kind of strange because I’ve lived there for over a decade and never saw or heard of the shop. Nonetheless, it’s a got an informative website and has outstanding reviews and testimonials. I’ve googled the owner and no mugshots came up.

I’ve emailed with the owner about my issue and he’s been real helpful and appears to be completely legitimate. They aren’t generally open on Saturdays, but he agreed to meet me tomorrow and look at my bass.

My concern is, if we agree to have it repaired, I’m going to have to leave it with him. It’s really new to me and wasn’t inexpensive, and I’ve never worked with the owner or his shop before. He seems to be very timely and responsive, but I’m still nervous about leaving it with, essentially, a complete stranger. In the past, I’ve always had a pre-established working relationship for awhile with anyone that did any work on my basses.

Anyone have experience with this type of situation? If so, how did you handle it? Of course, I wouldn’t leave it without getting a receipt with the serial number on it.

Any advice/suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
There could be a good reason for not knowing about the shop. Zoning.
Once you go to the shop you either have a great feeling or you’ll run out screaming.

You won’t know until you stop in to drop off or not drop off your bass.
 
#15
Looks legit to me. If there's a way to check the business license number and make sure it isn't just crafted out of somebody's imagination, I'd say follow the above advice. Make a game-time decision about whether you're good with leaving it or not. I agree that if there are other instruments there, I'd feel pretty comfortable if I thought the guy seems competent and didn't mind me looking at what he's working on. It's not like there's HIPAA for guitars, show me what you got!:D

Of course, there's nothing wrong with delaying so you can check him out with the local scene. Good luck!
 
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#17
B-Mac said:
Looking through the various pages of the website doesn’t set off any alarms for me. I think you’re probably lucky to have a shop like this close by. Don’t sweat it and give it a go. ;)
Click to expand...


Thanks. That’s what I’m thinking also. The thing about looking at what he’s working on...the office by my place, which is a legit business office, is the customer drop off location. According to our emails and his website, he only does set ups and minor repairs there. Anything more in-depth, he takes to another office in the next town over. So I’m not sure there will be anything at the drop off site to see.

The business is registered as an LLC with the Secretary if State’s Corporations Division. Everything seems to be checking out, and he had me run through some trouble shooting at my house to avoid unnecessarily brining it in which adds a good bit of credibility.

I’ll let y’all know how it goes after I meet with him tomorrow, and if I leave it, I’ll follow up with the quality and timeliness of the work when I get it back.

HIPAA for guitars...lol...I’m actually a health care lawyer.
 
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#19
FAC607E0-6768-49C0-8665-919F310D8E4A.jpeg
Dean N said:
Ok, I'll be the first to say, you state you have a cool old BCR, but TB law clearly states no pic, no bass.

Show us the pointy goodness!
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