Hey everyone,

About a month ago I took my '07 Highway One to a guitar shop to have it setup.

That guitar had a "bruise" close to the bottom strap lock, and when the tech took the guitar out of the gigbag, he tought he had done that bruise and decided to reapair it without telling me.

In the meanwhile, I had a couple gigs and needed the guitar, so I went to the shop, they gave me the guitar back but told me to stop by later when I had the time so the tech could finish polishing the bruise (he filled it with some substance I don't know what it is). So I did.

And today, after 2 weeks of waiting, they finnaly mailed the guitar back (shop is 200km from where I live), and when I took it out of the gigbag, I wanted to cry. He had applied a reflective, glass-like finish to my beautiful opaque vintage-looking Highway One stock finish.

Also, this may just be me wanting to find more bad things about said new finish, but I noted that my guitar's tone is alot brighter (not in a good way) and the bass strings somehow sound muffled or muted.

I phoned them, and the shop clerk told me he was gonna contact their tech, so I can have the guitar sent there again so they can apply a finish similar to the stock one, or just to "wipe away" that glossy finish.

Is this advised? Will this be the final blow to my precious? Any disadvantages?... Help me if you can please... Thanks in advance.

TLDR: A guitar tech put a glossy finish on top of my opaque stock Highway One finish. How can I get the stock finish back, if there is a way?

Hi rawnoise: I wonder whether he refinished the guitar, or just polished it up.

If he was working on a flaw he'd likely have added a drop or two of nitrocellulose to that spot - because that is the lacquer used on the HWY-1. Then he'd have sanded that spot repair flat and buffed it to make it blend in with the surrounding paint. In so doing he'll have brought that area to a high gloss - which will have then looked wrong, assuming the rest of your Strat has the satin finish found on HWY-1s in the last few years. So then he buffed the entire body to make it all sit properly together.

If I have all of that right then you don't need to worry. Simply rubbing it gently all over with very fine wire wool (or similar treatment) will take the shine back off it. I presume they'll do that for you without additional charge if you let them know - politely - that you don't like it shiny.

And if I'm right about all of that then it can't have changed your tone any. Personally, I think you'd need dog ears to detect a difference even if they'd refinished it with polyester - and you'd have my admiration for your amazing hearing!

Anyhow. Just have a friendly chat with them about exactly what has really been done to your guitar. I bet it's a story with a happy ending.

Good luck - C

Are you sure its the same body? It might be interesting if you pull the guard off and look inside. I say this because he may have pulled your hardware and neck and put it on another. Its a thought

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Thank you so much for your quick reply! Hmm that might be the cause, I just phoned them and the clerk said it's possible to get it looking like it was, he was gonna contact their tech and let me know about it as soon as he had an answer. Thanks again And the tone difference, that me be indeed me overreacting and finding flaws to be angrier about xD That or I haven't played it in so long that I don't remeber the tone like if I had played it the day before...



I also thought that for a moment, but then again, I think most of us would know the body of our guitars inside out like we know the body of our girlfriends/wives/whatever right?

That so called tech had absolutely no business fixing this bruise on your guitar. I'd kill him if it was me. If you did not specifically request that he do this then where does he get off doing it?

Yeah I agree, I trusted them with my guitar for a setup, not guitar plastic surgery :\ He thought he caused the bruise (while actually it was my fault, but the bruise was relatively small, and the strap hid it) and he was so upset about it that he decided to fix it, because he had never bruised a customer's guitar before, or so they told me.... But well, I hope I can get this sorted out and have a happy ending!

I'd find another guitar tech to do your next set up if I were you. He should have told you what he was going to do before he did it, so that you'd have some say in it.

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Can anyone say "justifiable homicide" ???

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"I like the way he puts Yngwie J. Malmsteen on his album covers. You know,....so you don't confuse him with all the other Yngwie Malmsteens in the business"


2008 Fender MIM Stratocaster
2010 Epiphone Masterbilt
2009 Fender Super Champ XD

Even if he caused the damage, he had no business proceeding without your consent. I would get other people to look at it, and see how much a refinish would cost. he ruined you satin finish, I wouldn't trust him to fix it, but I would expect him to pay for it.

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

+1 Amen to that !!!

_________________
"I like the way he puts Yngwie J. Malmsteen on his album covers. You know,....so you don't confuse him with all the other Yngwie Malmsteens in the business"


2008 Fender MIM Stratocaster
2010 Epiphone Masterbilt
2009 Fender Super Champ XD

I totally agree, he shouldn't have done anything but the setup... It did cross my mind that he could take further liberties with my guitar including putting that gloss finish on, that every guitar seems to have, but I liked my finish because it was relatively unique (at least where I live), why did he have to ruin it... Oh well, I'll just wait and see what they have to tell me.

Thanks for all your replies, I will post in this thread (if it still exists) when I have news, in case of bad ones...

I have a strong suspicion he's on the Trade Secrets mailing list and has read this page:

http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/ts0 ... clk=141631

The clue is at the top where it says: "Accidents happen — but thank goodness the customer will never know!"

Any tech taking his cue from that will believe that putting right an issue without discussing it with the owner is a proper way to proceed. Massive admiration for Dan Erlewine - but I think he's giving a bad lead on that one!

Cheers - C

PS: it's a nicely done drop-fill repair, though...

I am with 12B on this one. He should have told you and asked what you would like done before proceding futher.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I'm thinking of putting a guitar in for a service soon... and I'll bet that it'll come back sounding brighter than before because I'm pretty lax when it comes to changing strings! New strings after a prolonged absence could potentially make quite a difference to your tone...

I gave my Highway One a high gloss appearance ... on purpose!

I think they look much better that way. But it is your guitar!

I don't know what can be done to get it back to satin. Steel wooling it won't exactly be the same, unfortunately. That just looks like a bunch of scratches and swirls. I know because I have taken steel wool to the back of a neck or two over the years.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.