This situation is yet another distressing and proof positive example of what I've been saying for years now: Just because a given dealership is an authorized facility, it should not automatically be presumed that the help they have is competent, totally or in part.

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about the law. However, common sense dictates that no manufacturer would assume unilateral responsibility for any of its authorized dealership's "manhandling" of any of their consumer owned products. Rather, this would be one of those "reasonable care" issues brought in a small claims court suit by the instrument's owner against the particular dealership. Here too though, there would have to be an awful lot of immediately 'before and after the fact' proof for the plaintiff to win the case.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

Hi Violin Parent: I very much doubt you could convince a judge that Fender "forced" you to go to a particular tech - force is a strong word. Since they are an Authorised Dealership but not a Fender employee I also doubt you'd convince a judge that Fender are legally responsible for the shop's misconduct, if such it is. And in any case you say the work was in fact not done by the authorised person but by someone else. Your argument is entirely with the shop.

You say that the manager would laugh at you, but we won't know that for sure till you've at least talked to him/her about it and given them the chance to put things right.

A couple of supportive points. I absolutely agree that you should get your guitar back in perfect condition. It is entirely possible to work on guitars without damaging them and that is your reasonable expectation. Accidents do happen of course, and in those cases they must be put right. ...Talk to the manager.

Also on the plus side. Without seeing it we can't be certain (pictures, please?), but if the scratches are as small as you seem to be describing it is very likely that they can be buffed out and the instrument returned to mint. A good tech can do this, and that is what the shop should be offering you, to put right their error. Alternatively, assuming the scratches aren't too deep you can also do it yourself quite easily. If you like we can tell you how.

OCD? I'm on your side. Here to help.

Cheers - C

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Wow this is a strange thread. My advice is to put a big ding in it yourself to take your mind off the tiny sand grain sized dings.

Just kidding. Yeah it happens. That's why I do just about all my own work. Nobody to blame but myself. There are tons of books on repairs and setups, and http://www.stewmac.com has everything you need to do the work and they also sell videos for lots of repairs. Unless you can absolutely prove that the tech did it and signed something saying the guitar was as pristine as you say it is, it's all hearsay and probably won't hold up in court or anywhere else. It's a lesson learned, sad but true.

I recently bought a Martin Guitar Performing Artist that needed a setup because it was just a tiny bit higher than I liked.. GC said they'd do it for fifty bucks. Nazareth Pa is a little less than an hour from my home so instead of letting some gorilla at GC do it, I drove it to the Martin Guitar factory and let the folks who built it, adjust it. The work was free and I got to play some pretty cool high end instruments while I was there.

Unfortunately we're not all that lucky. I don't live near Nashville, or Fullerton so my Lester and Strat get adjusted by yours truly as well as my Ibanez, Supro, Dano, and cigar box guitars. Electric guitars aren't hard to do simple repairs and setups on. If you need to take it to someone, get referrals. Remember, Being Factory Authorized means NOTHING!!!

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

you need to lighten up a bit , it's a guitar , a tool for making music, not a work of art, it's meant to be played , it's gonna get dinged , my old 89 mij strat was so bad i ended up sanding it down and finishing it with danish oil (including the fretboard) it looks bloody lovely now oh and i do all my guitar work myself , it's not hard and if you do bugger something up you ain't paying some tard to do it for you get a decent book for doing guitar setups and you will save money and you'r guitar will never leave you'r side , HTH , cheers
Alan

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Alan, You hit the nail on the head. I have buggered up almost all my guitars. It's just a matter of time. Play the damned thing, make it sing and forget about what it looks like. I have a friend who has been gigging with the same Tele since '73. Would you expect this thing to be mint? It almost has chips out of the wood in spots where his belt buckle doinked it but the dude will never give up his prized possession his dad bought him. Get over it and play dude, PLAY!

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

+1 Alan, well said. When you start gigging, you'll get plenty of battle scars. Usually players who never take their guitars out of the house get really upset over the tiny stuff. My guitars are tool just like a wrench or screwdriver. It's a means to an end which is my music. Here's a photo of the back of my 57 Dano U1 neck. Damage not done by me.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

the OP needs to buy a drum kit just to leave in his practice area, a couple of cymbal scars on the neck and headstock will easily distract him from all the little stuff!!

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I have also determined to become my own tech and do my own work. this was a learning experience.

this is the best piece of advice you have given yourself. Not only will you get a better feel for your instruments...there is a certain satisfaction that comes with this act of self empowerment...its a win/win situation all round

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

Did the topic line change again??

Violin Parent, in my 45 years of playing and more guitars than I care to admit I've owned, I've never had all these problem you've had with gear. Nobody forces you to use an authorized Fender tech. You can use who you want. You'll have to pay for it, but I've found in most cases it's well worth getting your own tech because most of the authorized techs don't care. I'm sure they don't make huge bucks on warranty work.

Fixing bolt together guitars is easy. There's a wealth of information on the internet as well as hundreds of books on the subject. It would be in your best interest to do your own work. If it's static it's easily fixed, if it's hum and noise there's fixes for that too. A ground has nothing to with static popping as Bill and others have said.

I think what you need to realize is don't sweat the small stuff. No guitar or amp is dead quiet, things go out of adjustment once in a while especially in weird weather conditions. Static, string buzz etc. can all be weather related and will pass when the weather gets back to normal. There's no need to run to a tech every time it rains, it will pass. When I was a kid, I think I spent more time adjusting my guitars than playing them.

The only guitar I own that never loses adjustment or can be dinged is my 63 Supro because it's made out of fiberglass.

Anyway, try the dryer sheet fir static and remember, if it ain't buzzing, it ain't a single coil pickup guitar. An Electro Harmonix Hum Debugger works great with single coil pups.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal