Should I be upset? VIDEOS ADDED

[paulyc]

Sorry to hear that. Sucks for sure.

 

[mystixboi]

Sorry to see you went through this. For the record, I’ve used Marty bell and his work is amazing. No issues. I had sent him a guitar to refinish and he had it back to me in less than 3 weeks. From NJ to Cali and back. Guitar was perfect.

 

[Mr. Willy]

I rally appreciate the support from several of you guys. It has made this all a little better.

 

[311boogieman]

That sucks

 

[UltraGary]

To make yourself feel somewhat vindicated, you should at least spend a little time hitting up other forums to spread the word about what a bad luthier, business-person, swindler, human this is. It'll feel good helping others who may be about to spend money getting their prized guitars done by someone.

 

[vultures]

Void Pig - don’t EVER, EVER mention my children on here again. Not in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM. You son of a bitch.

Lol. Give me a break. You've got a raging case of little man syndrome. If you make a video of your child, post it on the web, I can comment on what the child said. Nothing disrespectful was said about the child.

What are you going to do, fly that little 5'6" frame over here and kick my ass? Your potbelly says you'd be winded before you got to my doorstep.

I've got some friends who do DOD work in Hunstville, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be too hard to find out who you are. I think you should be more concerned about your NG coworkers finding out about your antics and behavior in this thread.

We get that you are upset, but you are pulling some unprofessional and shady tactics here. The "unboxing" video is fake af. If it was real, that would have been the first thing you posted in this thread.

Also, it was not a 1900 job. It was about 1100 in work with the rest being all new hardware and shipping expense. You keep saying it was this "expensive" job, but it really wasnt.

It was a budget restoration. You sent him a colosally trashed instrument and were expecting the moon for your 1K. (even just refretting with jumbos and cutting a new nut would cost half your budget.) I get that you are upset over the fretboard, but you never provided any before pics. He says he has plenty.

From his correspondence, it was clear he was working to your budget. You didn't give him carte blanche to do everything, in fact you had to "save up money" to get your guitar back.

If you work in engineering, you know that requirement specification is very important. As far as we can see, there was nothing in writing about specific items he was to address. It looks like the two of you had a phone conversation.

If you had handled this professionally and intelligently, you would have leverage to get a CC charge back or small claims, but you have none so you are trying to extort him by trashing his business. The amount you want returned would basically mean he did the work for free.

I entered this thread trying to help you find some satisfaction. But you just keep heaping it on. I am in no way affiliated with the luthier.

I'm thinking very hard about reporting this post to the FBI.

 

[Monkey Man]

Definitely unhinged.

 

[skullfxr]

Personal threats are not cool, nor should they be tolerated. Period.

 

[mystixboi]

Void Pig - don’t EVER, EVER mention my children on here again. Not in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM. You son of a bitch.

Lol. Give me a break. You've got a raging case of little man syndrome. If you make a video of your child, post it on the web, I can comment on what the child said. Nothing disrespectful was said about the child.

What are you going to do, fly that little 5'6" frame over here and kick my ass? Your potbelly says you'd be winded before you got to my doorstep.

I've got some friends who do DOD work in Hunstville, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be too hard to find out who you are. I think you should be more concerned about your NG coworkers finding out about your antics and behavior in this thread.

We get that you are upset, but you are pulling some unprofessional and shady tactics here. The "unboxing" video is fake af. If it was real, that would have been the first thing you posted in this thread.

Also, it was not a 1900 job. It was about 1100 in work with the rest being all new hardware and shipping expense. You keep saying it was this "expensive" job, but it really wasnt.

It was a budget restoration. You sent him a colosally trashed instrument and were expecting the moon for your 1K. (even just refretting with jumbos and cutting a new nut would cost half your budget.) I get that you are upset over the fretboard, but you never provided any before pics. He says he has plenty.

From his correspondence, it was clear he was working to your budget. You didn't give him carte blanche to do everything, in fact you had to "save up money" to get your guitar back.

If you work in engineering, you know that requirement specification is very important. As far as we can see, there was nothing in writing about specific items he was to address. It looks like the two of you had a phone conversation.

If you had handled this professionally and intelligently, you would have leverage to get a CC charge back or small claims, but you have none so you are trying to extort him by trashing his business. The amount you want returned would basically mean he did the work for free.

I entered this thread trying to help you find some satisfaction. But you just keep heaping it on. I am in no way affiliated with the luthier.

I'm thinking very hard about reporting this post to the FBI.

You should. Who the hell makes threats via a guitar forum?

Tool

 

[lespaul6]

Jesus... just read this thread! What a nightmare

 

[Mr. Willy]

I’ve never seen anything like void pig. I’ve been here since 2009. Never seen anything like. Crossed the line and went waaayyy beyond it.

 

[phil b]

Willy, I hope you read my earlier post about getting appraisals from other luthiers to "fix" what he didnt do. You absolutely needed those to make any type of claim. Remember, texts can be altered, pics can be altered and emails can be altered. Unfortunately there was no solid contract on his letterhead or exactly what was to be done. That didnt help in the decision unfortunately. Without letters and estimates from other luthiers its really tough for a credit card company to determine what the value would be on any guitar work.
Sorry ya got denied. Sucks!

 

[Mr. Willy]

Willy, I hope you read my earlier post about getting appraisals from other luthiers to "fix" what he didnt do. You absolutely needed those to make any type of claim. Remember, texts can be altered, pics can be altered and emails can be altered. Unfortunately there was no solid contract on his letterhead or exactly what was to be done. That didnt help in the decision unfortunately. Without letters and estimates from other luthiers its really tough for a credit card company to determine what the value would be on any guitar work.
Sorry ya got denied. Sucks!

I appreciate it, man. I didn’t expect to get anything back. I had a small sliver of hope. I’m really ready to move past it. I realize looking back that I should’ve been more detailed on exactly what I wanted. I’ll type up a bulleted list and go through it point by point with the next luthier who works on her.

He knew before he sent the guitar back to me that I was unhappy with the bill. That I thought he’d overcharged past what we’d agreed on. I told him that I’d be looking her over with a fine toothed comb when it got to me.

If I were the luthier in that situation, I would’ve called the client and talked to them. Would’ve said here’s exactly what I’ve done to the guitar. Sent more detailed pictures. The ones he sent me looked good. It wasn’t till I got it home in my hands that I could see the poor detail and actual damage he’d done to her. There are tooling marks up and down the fretboard, plain as day if you have the guitar in your hands. There are cracks and chips in the back...oh well. I’m getting fired up again. Lol

I’m going to take her to a local guy to at least get that 10th fret on the low E side leveled. She buzzes realll bad right there. I will say, that’s the only place she buzzes. Lol

I love my guitar though. She’s special. Always has been.

 

[mystixboi]

i am sorry if i missed this, but did you pay with a credit card? if so, can you file a claim through them?

i saw you mention your claim was denied, but was that via paypal?

 

[Mr. Willy]

i am sorry if i missed this, but did you pay with a credit card? if so, can you file a claim through them?

i saw you mention your claim was denied, but was that via paypal?

It was via PP. 4 installments (because it end up being much more than I thought it was going to be.)

I’m just going to let it go. I never wanted all of my money back. He does deserve to get paid for his work. But I did think based on the quality of the work and the lack of clarity in what he was charging, I thought I deserved about $950 back. His estimate was $900-1100. The bill ended up being $1900. I had to pay the full amount so I he would send me my guitar back.

Hard lesson learned. I’m getting over it. I really hope, though, that many here can learn from my mistake. I know I have.

 

[CornNutz]

Just read the whole thread.

Here's my 2 cents. You paid WAY too much for the quality of work you got in return IMO. But the guitar looks good, I would be happy with it if the total cost was less than 1k

I'm not sure you have much recourse, so cut your losses, enjoy what you have, and warn people that the guys workmanship may not add up to what he charges (which you have).

I had a restore pain job on a bike, it looks great. But you can see marring of the metal through the paint in spots if you look close. I traded an amp I built for the work, I was slightly bummed, but I got over it, and I don't notice the imperfections anymore. No one else has either. I'm happy no regrets.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Just read the whole thread.

Here's my 2 cents. You paid WAY too much for the quality of work you got in return IMO. But the guitar looks good, I would be happy with it if the total cost was less than 1k

I'm not sure you have much recourse, so cut your losses, enjoy what you have, and warn people that the guys workmanship may not add up to what he charges (which you have).

I had a restore pain job on a bike, it looks great. But you can see marring of the metal through the paint in spots if you look close. I traded an amp I built for the work, I was slightly bummed, but I got over it, and I don't notice the imperfections anymore. No one else has either. I'm happy no regrets.

I’m with you 100%. Actually got a chance to plug it in today, and she sounds killer. I’ve got two high spots on the frets, but I can get those leveled out.

What’s been obscured through all of this is that I had some custom pickups wound for her by Josh Gravelin that sound absolutely killer.

 

[mystixboi]

Man… I have been following this thread since the beginning and it bums me out. I know that the original poster decided to MoveOn but I can’t believe that he got screwed by a fellow forumite.

Piece of shit