Tele nightmare

[TeleTucson]

I cannot believe this happened to me!

I recently moved to Maryland for work. After a few months of living here, I noticed my Tele had developed pretty bad fret sprout (Fret ends were protruding from the edge of the fingerboard) and was no longer comfortable to play. I thought about fixing up the frets myself as I have done other repairs on my guitar. However, I did not want to risk messing the frets up, so I decided to take my guitar to a professional. I brought my guitar into the shop and let the guy know it had fret sprout. The guy's response was "Fret what? Fret Sprout? I never heard of it." So, I showed him what I was talking about, and he proceeded to annotate what needed to be done and told me it will be ready in a few days.

Four days later (Today), I go to pick up the guitar, and notice the frets felt the same. I took a closer look and realized not only were the frets still protruding, but they were worse than before and the wood around the frets was chipped along almost every fret. Some chips were deeper than others. On top of that, the tops of the frets were no longer smooth but gripping the string if you tried to bend the string!!! My wife was there, she does not play guitar, but even she could see how bad of a job he did.

I inform the employee who was going to ring me up for the work (The guy who did the fret job was not in today), and his words were "yes, you are definitely not paying for this. Let me speak to the manager." I'm glad they realized it was a very poor job and didn't try to defend the work!

After about an hour, the place ended up placing an order for a replacement neck for me that should be arriving in about 3 - 5 days free of charge for me ($450). I'm pretty bummed out that my guitar will no longer have the original neck, but I guess I will hold onto it if I ever decide to sell the guitar in the future. The guitar is a Fender Road Worn 50's Telecaster. I added some photos for you to see.

AND I just realized the Low E string is not ringing freely. I hope nothing is wrong with the bridge!!! I'll have to do a proper set up once I receive the new neck and ensure everything is still okay with the bridge.

Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, did it motivate you to learn to do the work on your own guitars?

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I don't think you're out of the woods yet. A new Fender factory neck comes with just shallow "pilot grooves" on the nut, and the nut will need to be filed to proper depth for each string. Frankly I wouldn't trust any shop that did that to my guitar to do any further work. Tough spot to be in. I hope it works out for you.

From Fender's site, "Because Fender genuine replacement necks have not been mounted to guitar bodies, nut slots must be cut by qualified personnel. Other installation processes may be required, such as fret work, fitting the neck to the neck pocket, and other instrument setup procedures. Your local FMIC Authorized Service Center can install genuine replacement necks; find Authorized Service Center locations near you in the “Support” section of fender.com."

 

[sloppychops]

Whew! Can you give some details on the "tech" who did this? I gather you spoke to him when you left it off...so, his approximate age, general appearance, that sort of thing. Did he say he played guitar, or did he try the guitar out in front of you to see what you were talking about when you left it off?

I'm just wondering what sort of cretin could do this and not admit he totally f-ed up.

 

[Cloodie]

Sometimes I read these type of posts and look at the pictures and I struggle to see what the problem is. Others with a more professional eye obviously pick up on them. In this case though even I can see that looks horrific. I don't know how anyone can leave the neck in that sort of state and think they've done their job. It's incredible.

 

[Muckman]

I can't even imagine what was going through his mind to do that. Maybe he got really high. I've got nothing else.

Being high is no excuse for that travesty lol

 

[Muckman]

Lack of experience working on frets doesn’t even explain that. Looks like it was their first time working with tools if any kind. Wow

 

[Durtdog]

For an unskilled person, I can understand botching one fret like that.

But to continue and ruin every single fret is just bizarre.

 

[TelePlayer_Ruben]

Whew! Can you give some details on the "tech" who did this? I gather you spoke to him when you left it off...so, his approximate age, general appearance, that sort of thing. Did he say he played guitar, or did he try the guitar out in front of you to see what you were talking about when you left it off?

I'm just wondering what sort of cretin could do this and not admit he totally f-ed up.

Yes I spoke to the "tech" when I dropped off the guitar. I'm a younger guy and he's a gentlemen probably in his 50's. He was speaking kind of odd where I had a hard time understanding everything he was saying, but I decided to trust him and not judge as he is, after all, a hired guitar tech. I basically showed him the sharp fret ends after he did not know what Fret Sprout was. He ran his hand through them and joked "Ah yes, we don't wanna get Tetanus from this," and said Ok It will take a few days as he will have to go through them with a fret file. I said great and left it with him. Few days go by, I receive a call from him saying it is ready to be picked up, but just to ask for the manager as he wasn't going to be in for a few days.

 

[TelePlayer_Ruben]

Thankfully once I receive this new neck, I have a set of Music Nomad's Nut File set and their Nut Height Gauge to properly set up the nut. I also own their easy guitar setup tools which have been wonderful and very easy to use. The only thing I do not own are fret files. Which I have decided to take a shot at it if needed just have to purchase some and continue to watch YouTube videos on the process!

 

[TelePlayer_Ruben]

For an unskilled person, I can understand botching one fret like that.

But to continue and ruin every single fret is just bizarre.

Yes Exactly what went through my mind. Mess up one fret, why continue? Something must have been off with him.

 

[Lone_Poor_Boy]

Now I'm no Luthier, and I'm horrible with tools. My few attempts at woodworking resulted in an injury and a fire. When it comes to detail work I am the worst.

All that said, that looks like some fine craftsmanship.

 

[TelePlayer_Ruben]

Depending how it goes with the Fender replacement neck, I may take some time to fix up the frets on the old neck. If I can get the old neck playing well, I'll most likely put the original neck back on the Telecaster, and may use the replacement neck for a fully loaded Tele body I may pick up from STRATosphere. One step at a time though. It May suck that the neck is chipped in places, but I don't think it affects the playability of it. After all, someone mentioned here that it is a Road Worn Telecaster, so the chips "add" to it. Ha. Really all I need is the frets to be repaired.


Someone had also mentioned they would not be as relaxed about this as I seem to be. Honestly, I was upset, but at the same time I'm also a "Worship Guitar Player." I am a follower of Christ and I know not everyone sees things the same way, and that is totally okay. I will never judge anybody. I do hope that "guitar tech" finds a line of work where he can excel.
I feel it in my heart That this is a Lesson from God showing me materialistic things are not important and we should not get too attached to items as that brings stresses when things like this happen.

 

[Dog Bite]

I do hope that "guitar tech" finds a line of work where he can excel.

 

[AndrewG]

It has definitely encouraged me to learn more about these types of repairs.

I bought a file specifically for dealing with fret ends, but didn't have the courage to use it, so off went my guitar to someone I trust! I should find a cheap wreck and practise on that.

 

[Trenchant63]

I cannot believe this happened to me!

I recently moved to Maryland for work. After a few months of living here, I noticed my Tele had developed pretty bad fret sprout (Fret ends were protruding from the edge of the fingerboard) and was no longer comfortable to play. I thought about fixing up the frets myself as I have done other repairs on my guitar. However, I did not want to risk messing the frets up, so I decided to take my guitar to a professional. I brought my guitar into the shop and let the guy know it had fret sprout. The guy's response was "Fret what? Fret Sprout? I never heard of it." So, I showed him what I was talking about, and he proceeded to annotate what needed to be done and told me it will be ready in a few days.

Four days later (Today), I go to pick up the guitar, and notice the frets felt the same. I took a closer look and realized not only were the frets still protruding, but they were worse than before and the wood around the frets was chipped along almost every fret. Some chips were deeper than others. On top of that, the tops of the frets were no longer smooth but gripping the string if you tried to bend the string!!! My wife was there, she does not play guitar, but even she could see how bad of a job he did.

I inform the employee who was going to ring me up for the work (The guy who did the fret job was not in today), and his words were "yes, you are definitely not paying for this. Let me speak to the manager." I'm glad they realized it was a very poor job and didn't try to defend the work!

After about an hour, the place ended up placing an order for a replacement neck for me that should be arriving in about 3 - 5 days free of charge for me ($450). I'm pretty bummed out that my guitar will no longer have the original neck, but I guess I will hold onto it if I ever decide to sell the guitar in the future. The guitar is a Fender Road Worn 50's Telecaster. I added some photos for you to see.

AND I just realized the Low E string is not ringing freely. I hope nothing is wrong with the bridge!!! I'll have to do a proper set up once I receive the new neck and ensure everything is still okay with the bridge.

Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, did it motivate you to learn to do the work on your own guitars?

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Not only was the tech incompetent, but the shop tried to charge you and see if you’d accept it before being caught and forced into a concession. Either that, or no one there is doing any QA on the work from this tech. Either scenario is unacceptable. I wouldn’t do business there again.

 

[OlRedNeckHippy]

Your first clue was when he did not know what fret sprout was.......

Yea, that is a very common issue, especially in areas of big humidity swings.

You know, I have been beating myself up for trusting a guy who does not know what fret sprout is. I should have turned right around and left the place. Now I know for next time!

Yea, hindsight...
Years ago, I realized my guitars needed professional work done, stuff I was not willing to do myself, especially to my old acoustic. That can be tricky.

I polled the local music community as to who do they use.
One name seemed to come up more than others, much more, so I took them to him (the acoustic and 2 electrics).
The work he did (including a re-fret of the acoustic), was stellar, and now, years later, I've been back to him many times. Each of my gigging guitars go in every 2 years, weather I think they need it or not, and each time they come back and I'm like "Wow! I guess it needed it! Money well spent"

Ask around, find the right guy.

 

[Alex_C]

You know, I have been beating myself up for trusting a guy who does not know what fret sprout is. I should have turned right around and left the place. Now I know for next time!

I would've walked out. If someone doesn't know a common term about products they deal with, that is a red-flag.

 

[Festofish]

I’d like a playback of his thought process while hacking away. Terrible.
I’ve had a Studio getting a headstock reattached since June. Firehouse in Grand Rapids.

 

[Feck Studios]

Wow. That neck unfortunately is now a fender 'chide worn'.

Hope all goes well!

 

[Festofish]

I’ve taken mine in for the same thing. Nothing new to Michiganders.

 

[MTPoteet]

Your first clue was when he did not know what fret sprout was.......

Exactly.

Ad that guy is a hack.