Should we have an unrecommended luthiers thread?

[Soloshchenko]

That's it, guitar and bass luthiers are now dead to me. I know many do incredibly good work and develop loyal and devoted customer bases but I'm not letting anyone do any work on my guitars from now on.

I recently put a Japanese Stratocaster in for a new graphite nut and string tree. I was promised a full set up into the bargain for around £40 which I thought was reasonable. Before dropping it off I asked him if he could poke around with the electronics as a middle [pickup had died as well. Weeks passed and when I finally got the guitar back I was mortified. It had the wrong strings on (I specifically asked for 10s) but most worrying was the nut. I'd been tempted to do it myself before but thought I'd treat myself to a "professional" job. E, A and D were fine but the G string was noticeably lower than every other string (despite this being the hightest point of the curved fretboard). It chocked like crazy and to compensate had clearly had the saddle raised.

He'd also made the trem float which I hadn't asked for but fair enough, I thought, I can easy change that back. I said I wasn't happy with the nut and strings and he agreed to sort it.

A few more weeks passed and I have the guitar back. The G string has somehow been raised and now has some mucky gunk near the groove (Has he just put glue in there?) and is now far higher than the B and E strings so still feels totally unbalanced. I mean, does this guy actually play guitars? Also, while he's changed the strings to 10s he hasn't altered the floating bridge which is now nearly at 45 degrees from the body so the guitar won't tune.

The charge for all this came out at £85. £85 paid so that I can now take my guitar to pieces and totally re do the nut, electronics, bridge and set up. Brilliant.

My question is shopuld we not have a name and shame "unrecommended luthiers" thread? I'm interested to know people's thoughts as I know someone else who is unhappy with this man's work on his bass as well.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Soloshchenko

[waynepunkdude]

Why not? If you're not happy then people should know.

[Soloshchenko]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1253772' date='Jun 2 2011, 12:04 PM']Why not? If you're not happy then people should know.[/quote]

Maybe we should say photographic evidence should be provided though? This bridge looks f**king ridiculous if I'm honest! I teach teenagers who could set up a guitar better.

Oh, and I've just noticed he's quite badly scratched the fretboard at the 1st fret. Wonderful.

[Noisyjon]

I think a balanced report (good or bad) in the Feedback thread is the way to go and has been talked about before on alot on BC.

Go for it.

[Ross]

£85? Blimey, you gave him more money after the £40?
Why would someone say they were a luthier when they don't even know how to set up a guitar?

Most I've paid for a setup is £30, that was quite a few years ago but I can't imagine it costing much more nowadays.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Ross

[BigRedX]

Name and shame.

Plus if it was my guitar, I'd be taking him to Trading Standards to get my money back.

[waynepunkdude]

I paid £35 to have my Sterling, set up, re-strung, buckle rash taken out, neck sanded, electrics looked over and fretwork done by a great luthier (DW Maidstone)

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1253819' date='Jun 2 2011, 12:37 PM']Name and shame.

Plus if it was my guitar, I'd be taking him to Trading Standards to get my money back.[/quote]

This.

Too many people have this happen to them these days.

[Soloshchenko]

[quote name='chrismuzz' post='1253835' date='Jun 2 2011, 12:44 PM']This.
[b]
Too many people have this happen to them these days.[/b][/quote]

This my reason for wanting to advertise the fact this guy is crap, I don't want people to get done by him again.

Problem is though, surely we need a sticky for such a thread where we "name and shame" otherwise BCers might miss it.

[deepbass5]

Slightly uncomfortable with the suggestion, as it will end up a witch hunt, a lot of BC'ers can be a little OTT on this sort of subject. If the Moderators wish to set up a sort of Trip Adviser style star rating that may be more useful. Some luthiers are better in certain areas than others. Neck, Body, Electrics, or just basic professional finishing. Or the guy who constructs their necks or wires the control cavity leaves to join someone else or sets up on his own we maybe should know about it.
We have a lot of power here to influence others so criticism should be done responsibly, direct to those concerned. They should have a means of redress. I am thinking more of the British Bass Luthier, not the local music shop who knows this guy who tinkers with guitars.

Edited June 2, 2011 by deepbass5

[LawrenceH]

It's a nice idea but if I was a mod I'd be concerned about the legal issues. I do think you should get on to trading standards about your case though, charging extra for sorting out his mistakes is effing ridiculous - and then making it worse woulo be a total joke if it wasn't so irritating!

[ped]

I don't think there's any harm in saying who did the work and letting us all know what the issue was/is. Perhaps said 'luthier' might decide to do the right thing and refund your money to regain some credibility in the eyes of the BC masses?

ped

[Soloshchenko]

Sorry, I may have misled people. His initial quote was £40, then when I went to collect the guitar the "extra work he'd done" had taken the price to £85. Then when I took it home and had a play I was pissed off so returned it to be further butchered so he didn't exactly charge me extra for correcting his mistakes, he just charged me well too much for a crap job, then didn't improve things much second time round!

Some good points raised here which I agree with.

Deepbass5, your point about differing between bass luthiers and odd job repairmen rings true with me and this falls into the former. He builds custom guitars and basses that he sells for well over £1000. His basses have been mentioned on here before (though he isn't a recommended luthier thank god). This is why I'm so shocked by how shoddy the repair is.

Also, your point about people being OTT is valid which is why I've decided to hold off until I have photos uploaded of the crap job he's done. I want people to actually see it and make up their own mind as to whether this is £85 worth of work. Keep your eyes peeled for a new thread.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Soloshchenko

[Soloshchenko]

[quote name='ped' post='1254350' date='Jun 2 2011, 06:00 PM']I don't think there's any harm in saying who did the work and letting us all know what the issue was/is. Perhaps said 'luthier' might decide to do the right thing and refund your money to regain some credibility in the eyes of the BC masses?

ped[/quote]

I wouldn't mind that but regardless, he definitely isn't getting his mitts on my guitar again!

[henry norton]

Maybe you should go back to him and tell him you'll name and shame him if he doesn't give you a full refund. It's one thing if some work ends up a bit below par for the money, quite another when the tech/luthier is knowingly doing a second rate job. In that sense every potential customer has the right to know, unless he's prepared to do the right thing.

[Eight]

I think the thread could be handy.

I'd like to know if someone was deeply unhappy with the luthier I was thinking of going to - and I would assume that if other people had received an excellent service from the same chap then they would also post. That way I can read some different opinions.

Of course, I'm in the norf so we have BassDoc. Nuff said really.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Eight

[Soloshchenko]

[quote name='henry norton' post='1254640' date='Jun 2 2011, 09:29 PM']Maybe you should go back to him and tell him you'll name and shame him if he doesn't give you a full refund. It's one thing if some work ends up a bit below par for the money, quite another when the tech/luthier is knowingly doing a second rate job. In that sense every potential customer has the right to know, unless he's prepared to do the right thing.[/quote]

But still, if I get my cash back and am happy as Larry who will know this guy is awful at set ups and repairs?

[lettsguitars]

i think rather that un-recommended luthier thread. how about checking the recommended luthier thread before entrusting your instrument to someone. if he screwed your guitar you should have smacked him with the headstock. or at least got a more competent recommended guy or gal to fix the bad job. i would have maybe asked for my money back. and by the way this doesn't sound like a 'luthier' to me. in my opinion, a luthier is someone who can build or repair any stringed instrument. the word gets chucked around too much. this guy sounds more like a roofer with an allen key. i build basses. i am not a luthier. i am a bass maker.

Edited June 2, 2011 by lettsguitars

[Big_Stu]

Assuming you got an itemised receipt for it I'd tell him you want a refund - or partial refund - your call. The "or else" is to take him to the small claims court. You can use the CAB as your advisor, he can worry about the refund but more importantly teh bad press from the newspaper article(s). Last I heard it costs 10% of what you're claiming. That way you can ask for a refund of your initial outlay+ the cost of having it rectified.
This way you have to be honest with yourself as to what was agreed & what he failed to deliver & you can ask another (researched & trusted luthier) for an estimate of what repairs would cost.

[Mykesbass]

Erm, just for clarity, in your first post you say you took your Strat in, then in the later post you say when you picked your bass up. Which was it?

[lettsguitars]

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='1254784' date='Jun 2 2011, 11:09 PM']Erm, just for clarity, in your first post you say you took your Strat in, then in the later post you say when you picked your bass up. Which was it?[/quote]
good work holmes.

[Soloshchenko]

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='1254784' date='Jun 2 2011, 11:09 PM']Erm, just for clarity, in your first post you say you took your Strat in, then in the later post you say when you picked your bass up. Which was it?[/quote]

Quite right mate, now corrected.

It was and always has been a strat. Force of habit (the word bass is permanently on my mind).

[Lozz196]

Maybe a thread entitled - Unsatisfactory Work by Luthiers?

Then simply post the details of the work requested, and the results.

Offer no opinions, such as "I wouldn`t use this guy again" keep everything matter of fact, then the forum wouldn`t be subject to attack from those disgruntled luthiers.

Must admit though, I`ve been very lucky in my experience with luthiers, never had bad work done by any of them.

In the recommended thread, I put the details of TJC Guitars, in Stevenage. Great quality of work, and very reasonable prices.

[Ross]

I think you definitely should have played it before handing over any money.
Not quite sure how he can justify charging you £85 for that job either, did you not ask him why? If someone quotes me one figure then charges over double I'm gonna refuse to pay that.

You should definitely be doing more.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Ross

[mcnach]

[quote name='Ross' post='1253817' date='Jun 2 2011, 12:37 PM']Why would someone say they were a luthier when they don't even know how to set up a guitar?[/quote]


probably because "luthier" has become misused widely to include anyone who does some minor repair to guitars.
Just like an "engineer" can be any tech, and not someone with an engineering degree.