Should I be upset? VIDEOS ADDED

[harddriver]

The guitar is very sentimental to me. I will never sell it. I never said the words “relic” or “aged” to him. I specifically told him I wanted her to look and play the best she could.

I’m all fairness, he got the look right. I specifically wanted it to look similar to the Peter Frampton LPC minus the middle pickup. Also pointed directly to Brian Robertson’s LPC minus the pickgaurd. He got the look right. It’s the quality of work this is way, way off the mark.

The fact that he upcharged you after he completed the charge means either he doesn't know his job or he ripped you off, basically holding your guitar hostage if you did not pay, that's unethical and bad business period. My luthier will quote me a price up front and stick to it, he has never tried to upcharge me after the fact on any work I have taken to him. He said he has done enough jobs to know what everything entails and there are no surprises, so he can quote a hard price for all work.

I think he should refund the total upcharge he applied to you to make this right. If $1100.00 was the orignial quote, he needs to refund you at least the 800 of the upcharge. I would ask for that at a minimum. If he is in Nashville he better have a good reputation or he will starve.

I understand your position, I took my old number one guitar to my guy for a complete refret, and the Floyd has to be reposted and I made sure I told him this was my baby please don't F$%K it up.

 

[Goat]

The guitar is very sentimental to me. I will never sell it. I never said the words “relic” or “aged” to him. I specifically told him I wanted her to look and play the best she could.

I’m all fairness, he got the look right. I specifically wanted it to look similar to the Peter Frampton LPC minus the middle pickup. Also pointed directly to Brian Robertson’s LPC minus the pickgaurd. He got the look right. It’s the quality of work this is way, way off the mark.

Then request 1/2 of the cost to be refunded.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Here’s the extent of our text conversation yesterday:

Me:
I’ve started a thread on Rigtalk for others to evaluate the work you’ve done on my guitar. It’s unanimous among those who’ve seen the pictures that you did a poor job. I have not told them yet who did this work, but they are wanting me to reveal the business that did this work.

I’m going to give you a chance to make this right. I believe you owe me at least half my money back for the poor job you have done. I paid you roughly $1850 for this work. I want $925 back. I think that’s MORE than reasonable.

If you do not respond to me by tomorrow afternoon and send me $925 back, I’ll do what I need to do to make this right. Count on it.


See here what others think of the work you did - (sent link to this thread.)

I meant by THIS afternoon. You have until THIS afternoon to respond to me. You have done me wrong. You need to make it right. It would be the ethical thing to do.

Him:
the " razor marks" and or other miscellaneous damage to the fret board was done during the previous fret job. fret board was re plained to 12" radius, but had to stop short not to sand through original mop inlays

Me:
That is not true. Those marks were NOT there. The chips were there. The razor/file marks were not.

Him: sent pic of my guitar: attachment 1

Me:
Where are the razor/file marks on that pic? I see the chip. I acknowledge that that chip is there. You should have fixed the chip, too. If you weren’t going to, you should have told me. Communication man. Communication.

I’m not upset about the chip. I’m upset about the file marks that were not there before. I know those where done when you worked the frets.

Bottom line. Are you going to offer me any kind of refund on this work? If not, will you at least apologize for either your lack of communication or the fact that I’m very unhappy with the work, or both? I would like at least a partial refund as I’m going to have to send this to another luthier to repair the damage and fix the mistakes in the finish.

(Continued...)

 

[Mr. Willy]

Him:
i apologize

Me:
I really appreciate that. You’re a good guy. I’m a good guy. This is not anything personal. This is not a fight I want to have. I’m very unhappy with my guitar. It looks good from a distance and it plays good. I’m just very unhappy with the attention to detail.

Are you going to give me a refund of any kind? Whether or not I am, and how much, will dictate the further course of action I take. I don’t have an issue with paying you for your labor. I’m not asking for a full refund. I have an issue with the amount I paid versus the quality of the work.

Him: (sent attachment 2)

Me:
But you can grain fill the wood with grain filler. Did you attempt to fill the mahogany with grain filler? Or any type of filler? You could also fill the pits in with clear coat. Could a primer not have been used on the “contaminated” wood?


End conversation. That’s it. Nothing back.

 

[halebox]

I know who it is and had similar results didn't love the refinish with grain coming through

 

[Norton666]

I would be livid!!

 

[paulyc]

It’s mid afternoon and no name... yet.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m left with no choice.

NTL Guitar in Nashville did this work.

Website: http://www.ntlguitar.com/

He is a member here. Handle is murkat. He responded to me back when I started a thread about luthiers in the Nashville area.

His restoration pics sold me. Especially the ones of the Frampton LPC.

 

[Goat]

Just my opinon... but, I'd rather have a guitar with no grain filler. No filler is what makes some special order LP's so, well... special. By example, my 2018 Wildwood spec R7 has no body filler applied, and man does it sing! My 2016 R7 has body filler applied, and while it's a fabulous sounding instrument, it doesn't have the same vibe at all. Both are great, but I much prefer the Wildwood spec model. As for the LP Custom, I prefer no filler anywhere, thin finish on the back, heavier finish on the front.

 

[paulyc]

OP, you should get in touch with Lee at GMW and ask him for an estimate. I have an 84 Charvel I’m going to be sending him for some work. Very fair quotes.

I don’t think Lee will spray nitro...

 

[Goat]

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m left with no choice.

NTL Guitar in Nashville did this work.

Website: http://www.ntlguitar.com/

He is a member here. Handle is murkat. He responded to me back when I started a thread about luthiers in the Nashville area.

His restoration pics sold me. Especially the ones of the Frampton LPC.

The beer bottles sitting next to the 'work-in-progress' pics would have been enough to turn me away. Then again, he did a fine job on the Nugent R8.

 

[thisguy]

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m left with no choice.

NTL Guitar in Nashville did this work.

Website: http://www.ntlguitar.com/

He is a member here. Handle is murkat. He responded to me back when I started a thread about luthiers in the Nashville area.

His restoration pics sold me. Especially the ones of the Frampton LPC.

Just looked at that thread. Glaser got the most recommendations. Dave Onarato at Dojo Guitar Repair was second. Murkat recommended himself. Just an observation. Not trying to rub it in. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, now I know for sure to stick with Glaser because I have two guitars that need refretted.

 

[paulyc]

Hey murkat, you’re a piece of shit. Give Mr Willy his money back.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Just my opinon... but, I'd rather have a guitar with no grain filler. No filler is what makes some special order LP's so, well... special. By example, my 2018 Wildwood spec R7 has no body filler applied, and man does it sing! My 2016 R7 has body filler applied, and while it's a fabulous sounding instrument, it doesn't have the same vibe at all. Both are great, but I much prefer the Wildwood spec model. As for the LP Custom, I prefer no filler anywhere, thin finish on the back, heavier finish on the front.

I hear you. Clear coat could’ve been used to fill the grain pits, though, right? I mean, fill - wet sand - fill - wet sand - repeat until the clear coat is flat. Then buff.

Someone who knows finishing well...is this correct?

 

[Mr. Willy]

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m left with no choice.

NTL Guitar in Nashville did this work.

Website: http://www.ntlguitar.com/

He is a member here. Handle is murkat. He responded to me back when I started a thread about luthiers in the Nashville area.

His restoration pics sold me. Especially the ones of the Frampton LPC.

Just looked at that thread. Glaser got the most recommendations. Dave Onarato at Dojo Guitar Repair was second. Murkat recommended himself. Just an observation. Not trying to rub it in. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, now I know for sure to stick with Glaser because I have two guitars that need refretted.

Agree there as well. His restoration pics sold me. Those Framptons had the look I was going for. Hindsight for sure.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m left with no choice.

NTL Guitar in Nashville did this work.

Website: http://www.ntlguitar.com/

He is a member here. Handle is murkat. He responded to me back when I started a thread about luthiers in the Nashville area.

His restoration pics sold me. Especially the ones of the Frampton LPC.

The beer bottles sitting next to the 'work-in-progress' pics would have been enough to turn me away. Then again, he did a fine job on the Nugent R8.

Those beer bottles definitely have made me think the same, looking back.

 

[harddriver]

If he isn't willing to work with you at all on any kind of refund then i would get your credit card company involved to see what they can do if you feel he has not been honest in this transaction. If there were any issues he found with your guitar when he received it he is obligated to notify you of any increase in the original price quote, at that point it would have be up to you to continue or terminate the original invoice and have him return the guitar. Also the demand for payment up front for materials is also kind of sketchy, that is like up front payment for an item a seller doesn't have.

The only good thing about this is the guitar plays better than when it left and you are somewhat satisfied with the finish. Does the the finish actually look like a relic or does it look like an amateur job?

 

[Mr. Willy]

If he isn't willing to work with you at all on any kind of refund then i would get your credit card company involved to see what they can do if you feel he has not been honest in this transaction. If there were any issues he found with your guitar when he received it he is obligated to notify you of any increase in the original price quote, at that point it would have be up to you to continue or terminate the original invoice and have him return the guitar. Also the demand for payment up front for materials is also kind of sketchy, that is like up front payment for an item a seller doesn't have.

The only good thing about this is the guitar plays better than when it left and you are somewhat satisfied with the finish. Does the the finish actually look like a relic or does it look like an amateur job?

The main things I’m upset about are the dips in the finish, the cracks in the back that go clear to the wood, and the razor/file marks on the fretboard.

All that combined with the amount I paid and the lack of communication on his part is what takes it over the top for me.

Edit: finish does not look relic to me. It looks like a poor job.

 

[Goat]

Just my opinon... but, I'd rather have a guitar with no grain filler. No filler is what makes some special order LP's so, well... special. By example, my 2018 Wildwood spec R7 has no body filler applied, and man does it sing! My 2016 R7 has body filler applied, and while it's a fabulous sounding instrument, it doesn't have the same vibe at all. Both are great, but I much prefer the Wildwood spec model. As for the LP Custom, I prefer no filler anywhere, thin finish on the back, heavier finish on the front.

I hear you. Clear coat could’ve been used to fill the grain pits, though, right? I mean, fill - wet sand - fill - wet sand - repeat until the clear coat is flat. Then buff.

Someone who knows finishing well...is this correct?

Maple has a tighter grain vs mahogany, so a couple coats of ebony, then nitro. Nitro shrinks quite a bit, and also needs to hang for about 30 days before handling. Gibson increased the plasticizer content back in 2004 or 2005. Shorter dry time = increased production. "Pure" nitro smells like cake frosting! Plasticized nitro has little to no smell. By example, my 2016 R7 finish has no smell at all, and it feels more like poly. My 2018 Wildwood R7 finish is old-school "pure" nitro, and smells like a candy factory!

 

[Kordoba]

Lesson: Never hire a luthier from an internet music forum.

Worked out well for me! Though this most certainly wasn't the built by the same luthier who worked on Mr. Willy's LP

I've got a build in process with the same luthier.