Bruxist
Poster Extraordinaire
I really hope they never let that guy near a guitar again. Seems like he might hate them.
Tele nightmare
- Thread starter TelePlayer_Ruben
- Start date
Lankytwang
TDPRI Member
Ive just been sick!!
thekaziromel
TDPRI Member
I would say they owe you a replacement guitar! Why should You be penalized for this utter nonsense and settle for a ‘partscaster’ now?!... I just can’t get that horrible hack job picture out of my head!
PS: I’m pretty sure there was a fair bit of ‘intentionality‘ behind this ‘butchery’. It’s impossible to do unknowingly. Maybe a grudge against the employer or smthn’…
PS: I’m pretty sure there was a fair bit of ‘intentionality‘ behind this ‘butchery’. It’s impossible to do unknowingly. Maybe a grudge against the employer or smthn’…
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That is absolutely the worst hack job I have ever seen on any neck anywhere. They at least are replacing the damaged neck, but that should never have been necessary in the first place. Hope you finally get it all squared away to your satisfaction.
This, when he didn’t know what you were talking about you probably should have left. Of course, it’s easy being a Monday morning quarterback.
fender4life
Friend of Leo's
My god ! This is w/o a doubt the worse hack job on a guitar in the history of guitars. Unreal. If they don't fire that guy i would be extremely interested to hear why. That guy should not be allowed within a 100 yards of a guitar. How in god's name did he get a job as guitar tech in the first place? Whats really a head scratcher is what in the world was this guy was thinking when e defiled that poor neck?!
hot_buttered_soul
TDPRI Member
Depends on what he was high on
kuch
Friend of Leo's
There's a couple of things you could to after you get your new neck. IMHO all is not lost.
Take it to a pro and have him/her fix it the best they can.
Do it yourself. get a fret file and file the fret ends down to where it's comfortable. It's slow going and takes some time if you want to do it well. run your hand along the edge of the fretboard until it feels close to like a new neck. when satisfied with the frets, take some fine sand paper and a sanding block and sand the edge of the fretboard. It might not look like a new neck, but it should look ok and be playable.
sorry you had to go through this.
good luck
Right.
It was unreasonable to let him proceed with any work on this guitar. There was basically Zero Percent chance this work was going to be to anyone's satisfaction.
So, as bad as this repair fellow was, The O.P. helped create the mess. I'm really sorry, but someone needed to just say it.
suave eddie
Friend of Leo's
"The guy's response was "Fret what?"
This is when you walk out and look for another tech.
I'm wondering what the 'logic' was behind the attempt. Was the tech attempting to widen the slot with the fret installed? Were they trying to clamp the fret down with vise grips? Maybe a flat head screw driver, resting on the fret and hammering the handle, it would explain the notches when the screw driver tip slipped off the fret. Why didn't they stop when they noticed the wood damage after the first attempt? This is just my morbid curiosity.
Paca G51
Tele-Meister
OMG !!! How old was he ? 8,9 years old , sorry 8 and 9 year olds , you could have done a better job
Sax-son
Friend of Leo's
I often go to music stores and then come to the conclusion that I know more than those who work there. Therefore, I never leave anything that needs maintenance with them. You have to search out techs and repairmen who know what they are doing. There are very few things that I can't remedy when fixing a guitar. However, fretwork is one thing I leave to those who can do a better job than I can do. I don't have the necessary tools to do the best job, nor do I do enough to justify purchasing it.
As the original neck is a bit of a loss at this point, you may want to give this a look to see whether it can be rendered usable. I recently picked up a dirt-cheap Squier Bronco bass with fret ends that would carve up my fingers up and down the neck. Not having much invested and figuring that the cost of either buying the appropriate fret file or hiring someone to do the job for me was way out of line with value of the instrument, I went ahead and took the approach described in this video. What an amazing difference it made!
HWTele
Tele-Holic
That’s an awful story.
I have a 2003 highway one tele maple board that sits on a guitar stand all year. I like to have it within easy reach. I’m in a cold weather climate with forced hot air heating & it gets dry as a bone in the house. Every winter without fail the board shrinks a bit and the fret ends get a bit sharp. By spring when the moisture comes up the neck goes back to normal. It’s a 20 year old guitar it’s been doing this forever. You probably could have left it and let it acclimate.
Most everything else I keep in a case with humid-packs, they work wonders.
I have a 2003 highway one tele maple board that sits on a guitar stand all year. I like to have it within easy reach. I’m in a cold weather climate with forced hot air heating & it gets dry as a bone in the house. Every winter without fail the board shrinks a bit and the fret ends get a bit sharp. By spring when the moisture comes up the neck goes back to normal. It’s a 20 year old guitar it’s been doing this forever. You probably could have left it and let it acclimate.
Most everything else I keep in a case with humid-packs, they work wonders.
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aging_rocker
Poster Extraordinaire
I've used a 'professional' repair person exactly twice, once to get a Gibson headstock re-attached (as you do...) and once for my acoustic to be 'serviced' after it spent 8 weeks in a container travelling the globe.
Other than that, I've always done stuff myself. Electrical work is easy for me, luckily. I did do a full fret-dress and nut tweak on my virtually-free Ibanez and my near-40 year old P-Bass clone. These were my 'practice' guitars, out of necessity.
Worked out OK, I now have 2 very playable (if a little ugly) instruments, and I acquired a few essential tools too - you don't actually need many. I'd be happy to take on a better quality instrument now, after that experience.
@TelePlayer_Ruben - Do it slow, do it carefully, and focus/concentrate. It's not rocket science. If you are reasonably comfortable using hand tools and follow some of the excellent advice available here and watch some videos, you'll be fine.
But yeah, that neck... to use a car analogy - if you took your car into the shop for some work, and they borked the engine, would you be satisfied with a 'sorry' and having a nice shiny new engine just dumped on the counter? I'd like it actually fitted into the car and properly setup, thanks. Same with your Tele. I reckon.
Other than that, I've always done stuff myself. Electrical work is easy for me, luckily. I did do a full fret-dress and nut tweak on my virtually-free Ibanez and my near-40 year old P-Bass clone. These were my 'practice' guitars, out of necessity.
Worked out OK, I now have 2 very playable (if a little ugly) instruments, and I acquired a few essential tools too - you don't actually need many. I'd be happy to take on a better quality instrument now, after that experience.
@TelePlayer_Ruben - Do it slow, do it carefully, and focus/concentrate. It's not rocket science. If you are reasonably comfortable using hand tools and follow some of the excellent advice available here and watch some videos, you'll be fine.
But yeah, that neck... to use a car analogy - if you took your car into the shop for some work, and they borked the engine, would you be satisfied with a 'sorry' and having a nice shiny new engine just dumped on the counter? I'd like it actually fitted into the car and properly setup, thanks. Same with your Tele. I reckon.
