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Post subject: A bad experience with a guitar shop
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:51 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:29 pm
Posts: 924
Location: Louisiana, USA
I made the mistake of trusting a shop that I was not familiar with and paid the price.

A few years ago I gave my brother a 2004 MIM Stratocaster that I picked up for a good price. My brother lives in Idaho and I went recently made the 3 day drive out to visit him. I noticed the Stratocaster nut was worn out at the "G String" and the string would slip out of its groove when you bend the string.

There are a local few shops and a Guitar Center in the town where he lives. I checked out one of the local shops and the guitar tech was very nice and seemed to know his way around. Usually I do a lot of my own work and have done a few nut replacements, however I was away from home and without my tools. I asked the tech if he could replace a nut on a Stratocaster and he said it would be no problem. The next day I brought the guitar in and left it with him, and he said he would have it the next day, or the day after. I have him my brothers cell number to call when it was ready. Well............a week later and no call. My brother called him and he said he was waiting on a nut and it would be ready tomorrow. I already had developed a uneasy feeling as he was taking much longer than predicted so I figured I had better look into it.

When I got the the shop the Guitar was behind the counter on a stand. The tech said the new nut would be in tomorrow and his set of tools to cut the grooves would be in too. Well come to find out he had never cut a nut and did not even have the correct tools. Added to that I noticed he broke the rosewood section ahead of the nut from the b string down to the end of the wood. It had been glued back in place. I asked for the old nut and he said it broke and he threw it away.

Inside I was both very angry and also felt sad for this kid. He had taken on something he should not have attempted and screwed up. On top of that I think he spend a lot of time doing it. He had obviously attempted to install a nut and broke the rosewood attempting to place a nut that was too big for the groove. The part of me that felt sorry for him won out. The nut groove was broken and had been glued, nothing was going to change that. On top of that I did not even have the old nut to use as a guide.

As angry as I was I held it in. Nothing in the world was going to change the fact that the guitar was damaged. I have been in that kids place before. Taking on something new and messing it up. As mad as I was, I felt compassion for his situation. I took the guitar and left. I did not even point out to him that I saw that the neck was damaged. Again nothing was going to change reality.

So now I have this guitar home with me and will replace the nut. The damage is there but I must say he did a good job of gluing it back. It will work OK in the end.

Sometimes you trust people and it does not out. Be it an auto shop, a doctor, ........our neighbors. Usually I am very cautious with such things. This time I gambled a bit and lost.

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Post subject: Re: A bad experience with a guitar shop
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:24 am
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Professional Musician
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wow, removing the old nut is the easy part. I've never heard of such a bad repair/upgrade experience with guitars before.


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Post subject: Re: A bad experience with a guitar shop
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:38 am
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Location: Illinois, USA
Good story, thanks for posting. Glad you have patience. 8)

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Post subject: Re: A bad experience with a guitar shop
Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:06 am
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Location: ohio
i replaced a nut in one of my strats about a year ago. did a lot of research, watched a few videos, and it went well. this is not that difficult of a job. sorry it turned out the way it did.


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Post subject: Re: A bad experience with a guitar shop
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:20 am
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Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:38 am
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Location: Canada
It sure does put you at the hands of the shop or store when you leave gear with them. I know how lack of information or little familiarity can be detrimental.

I’ve mentioned this here in the Forum before but, perhaps, it will help someone to think about leaving their gear without a little homework if the information is at all available, which is unlikely as in my case.

I left my drums on consignment only to find the store closing out because of a pending bankruptcy. Had it not been for a fellow co-worker alerting me, I would not have rushed to pick up what was not missing of my kit, and having the help of a receptionist’s brother (lawyer) who quickly helped me to retrieve some lesser desired replacements because there was little to choose from. No phone call was ever offered to pick up my gear, and I found that no one knew where my irreplaceable British snare went along with the hardware and Zildjians.

How does this relate to a bad experience with a guitar shop? Well, I got burnt so bad in the past from a store/shop that even though I have since taken my acoustic/electric and electric to a well known and trusted shop for a trusted experienced tech to work on, I still I have thoughts of doors closing and my guitars becoming unavailable. Therefore, I try to have a short turnaround time and I pick them up as soon as possible when the job is done. Still, that’s only some assurance. Yes, I could do the work myself but I’m lazy, and a great job on his better equipped workbench is less time consuming, inexpensive, and worth the effort for me.

Sorry to hear the experience with your brother’s MIM. I know it took some will power to handle it the way you did OL. Good on ya!

FSB

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