Jump to content

I need help and knowledge from those in the know, I've been burned bad ?


AxRookie

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Let me start by saying hello to everyone here as this is my first post, Hi !

 

And a little about myself, I'm an electric guitar rookie with not a lot of money so I've always tried to make do with what I have but have yearned for something better, I had a guitar that I have tried to upgrade over the years that had a maple banana neck and a no-name base wood body that a year ago I bought a new Genuine Floyd Rose Pro 1000 setup and a fat tungsten sustain box for and was looking for a nice tonewood body to go along with it, And this is where my trouble stated !

 

I came across a guy on Ebay (mistake) who sold body made of the tone wood of your choosing and router for the bridge and pickup of choice, So I picked the wood I wanted and told him what bridge and pickup I had and asked him if he could correctly fit my neck to the new body he would make, He said yes he could, At that point I told him of a problem with my neck which was it had metal neck screw inserts installed that didn't look squared and inline with each other and asked him if that could be fixed before installing the neck to the new body he was making, And again he said yes he could do that by removing the inserts, drilling out the holes, and gluing wooden dowels in the holes and then relocate the holes and install a new metal neck insert kit I had bought, And he said all that was needed was to send my neck with locking nut, bridge with the new posts I had bought, and my new neck insert kit, and he said he would need half of the total cost of everything up front and he directed me to his website where I joined as a new customer and I paid for the package of all the work and the body we had agreed on using paypal and I sent everything off to him.

 

Now my first question is does anyone see anything wrong with that or anything that should have been a warning sign that all was not as it seems ???

 

Edited to correct spelling errors...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Whilst I may have a comprehension problem I have read this twice

Since your story ends with you sending your parts off to him we don't have a clue what your problem is?

How have you been burned? Was the body and work done badly? Did he take the money and run? What was "not as it seems"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
What I'd like to do is give anyone who might have an opinion on this thread a chance to see in and weigh in on it before I move on to what has happened and is continuing to happen...

 

What is happening right now ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
What I'd like to do is give anyone who might have an opinion on this thread a chance to see in and weigh in on it before I move on to what has happened and is continuing to happen...

 

Well it sounds like you sent money and stuff to "some guy" on the internet outside the protections of ebay, or typical vendor sites. That's troublesome if you don't have a good feel for the guy or his reputation.

 

That in itself isn't a problem unless he broke the deal. Do you have a paper trail of the agreement you made with him? It essentially sounds like a breach of contract issue. Paypal may offer you some protection if you have the documentation to prove it. You may want to contact their claims department.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I bought the custom body on ebay with my fathers ebay and paypal account and I was directed to the Luthier / Owner Custom Guitar web site where I paid half up front for the neck repair & fitting to the new body and setup of the Floyd Rose Pro bidge by signing up as a customer and using my fathers paypal for the half down on agreed upon work...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
I bought the custom body on ebay with my fathers ebay and paypal account and I was directed to the Luthier / Owner Custom Guitar web site where I paid half up front for the neck repair & fitting to the new body and setup of the Floyd Rose Pro bidge by signing up as a customer and using my fathers paypal for the half down on agreed upon work...

 

...and?

 

Then what?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

AxRookie, no, if the guy is a legitimate repair guy, then I see nothing wrong with your agreement... although I have to think you are putting lipstick on a pig. Plus, I do see something wrong with your presentation, however, as the facts are thin and poorly presented.

 

You say you don't have a lot of money, but you are paying this person to do all this custom work?

 

You say your trouble started when you went to the e-bay guy, but you are wrong. Your trouble started when you thought you could upgrade your guitar without knowing what it would entail or the additional costs. I see no mention of getting competitive bids from other shops, a really big error in judgement.

 

Also, sorry, but this 'I want to see other's thoughts' approach with this thread is kind of pointless absent any facts to go on.

 

What guitar is this, and why sink hundreds of dollars worth of hardware and labor into a [assumed] crap guitar? There are so many alternatives to this that your course of action appears questionable from a logical standpoint.

 

You started out with what I assume is a ultra-cheap instrument [of unknown origin and unknown quality], and now, even though you are aware that the neck is poorly made, you would rather pay to modify it rather than purchase a good quality neck? And you want a new custom routed body from 'some guy you found on e-Bay' who will install a locking trem?

 

Also unclear: did you pay 50% or the entire charge upfront via Paypal?

 

Explain the entire situation in detail, otherwise, how do you expect any kind of informed opinion from the forum members?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
AxRookie, no, if the guy is a legitimate repair guy, then I see nothing wrong with your agreement... although I have to think you are putting lipstick on a pig. Plus, I do see something wrong with your presentation, however, as the facts are thin and poorly presented.

 

You say you don't have a lot of money, but you are paying this person to do all this custom work?

 

You say your trouble started when you went to the e-bay guy, but you are wrong. Your trouble started when you thought you could upgrade your guitar without knowing what it would entail or the additional costs. I see no mention of getting competitive bids from other shops, a really big error in judgement.

 

Also, sorry, but this 'I want to see other's thoughts' approach with this thread is kind of pointless absent any facts to go on.

 

What guitar is this, and why sink hundreds of dollars worth of hardware and labor into a [assumed] crap guitar? There are so many alternatives to this that your course of action appears questionable from a logical standpoint.

 

You started out with what I assume is a ultra-cheap instrument [of unknown origin and unknown quality], and now, even though you are aware that the neck is poorly made, you would rather pay to modify it rather than purchase a good quality neck? And you want a new custom routed body from 'some guy you found on e-Bay' who will install a locking trem?

 

Also unclear: did you pay 50% or the entire charge upfront via Paypal?

 

Explain the entire situation in detail, otherwise, how do you expect any kind of informed opinion from the forum members?

I'm doing my best BUT many of your questions are answered in my first post BUT I will do my best to go through all of your points...

 

you are paying this person to do all this custom work? A majority of any "custom work" was on the body I bought on ebay and was included in the price I paid for that body on ebay

 

You say your trouble started when you went to the e-bay guy, but you are wrong. Your trouble started when you thought you could upgrade your guitar without knowing what it would entail or the additional costs. I see no mention of getting competitive bids from other shops, a really big error in judgement. That's not correct, as I stated in my first post I knew what was needed to fit all of my other parts to the new body I bought and asked if he could do all that work and after talking many times by email and once on the phone about what I wanted him to do which was essentially correctly fit my neck to the new body I had bought from him and install all other needed hardware required to string up the guitar and adjust everything like string height and neck bow and more to verify everything was correct with how the guitar played. which he told me yes he could so, of course, I asked him how much would it cost and he told me and I had no problem with the cost, As I said in my first post "he said he would need half of the total cost of everything up front and he directed me to his website where I joined as a new customer and I paid for the package of all the work and the body we had agreed on using paypal and I sent everything off to him"

 

Also, sorry, but this 'I want to see other's thoughts' approach with this thread is kind of pointless absent any facts to go on. I was hoping to get other opinions on the initial agreement I made with the Luthier / Owner of a un-named custom guitar shop BEFORE moving on to the problems I'm having...

 

What guitar is this, and why sink hundreds of dollars worth of hardware and labor into a [assumed] crap guitar? There are so many alternatives to this that your course of action appears questionable from a logical standpoint. You assumed incorrectly, Everything other than the body I had just bought like the neck, hardware, and electronics and the like I already had and it was all high quality like genuine Floyd Rose or schaller da vinci tuning pegs and the like BUT the question of the quality of the parts I wanted the Luthier to install to the body I bought from him I irrelevant to the work I paid half up front for him to do...

 

You started out with what I assume is a ultra-cheap instrument [of unknown origin and unknown quality], and now, even though you are aware that the neck is poorly made, you would rather pay to modify it rather than purchase a good quality neck? And you want a new custom routed body from 'some guy you found on e-Bay' who will install a locking trem? Again you are assuming incorrectly, The neck was of very good quality and the rest of your questions are answered above...

 

Also unclear: did you pay 50% or the entire charge upfront via Paypal? I was very clear when I said "he said he would need half of the total cost of everything up front and he directed me to his website" and I said "using paypal"...

 

Explain the entire situation in detail, otherwise, how do you expect any kind of informed opinion from the forum members? Believe me, I'm trying so please try to be patient and try not to be so combative with your assumptions like "ultra-cheap" or "crap guitar"...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Obviously you and I are not reading your thread the same way. You are not giving us the full story, and I do not really understand what you are asking. You ask for patience, we ask for information, you come back blaming me for making assumptions due solely to your refusal to explain anything in any reasonable detail.

You titled this thread: [h=2]I need help and knowledge from those in the know[/h] but you don't give us enough information to give you any kind of input.

 

If you did not get other bids to do the work, then how did you know this guy is the right guy?

You still didn't answer what the original guitar is...

You say the neck is of good quality but you originally stated the neck inserts were off line, which is not good quality.

and what does the term 'banana' have to do with a guitar neck other than to describe excess bow/relief/curvature?

Instead of refuting my questions by referring me back to the post, why not do me the courtesy to clarify and just answer the questions?

 

Let's face it, you don't communicate effectively, so here we go...if you are replacing the body, rather than having it routed, because the body was "a no name base wood body"...what else are we to assume but that this was a cheap guitar? I mean, really?

 

Here is another perfect example of how you talk without saying anything:

you said this: and I paid for the package of all the work and the body

then you said this: I was very clear when I said "he said he would need half of the total cost of everything up front and he directed me to his website" and I said "using paypal".

Not clear at all...is English not your first language? I see you partially explained in a subsequent post, but it was very confusing in the OP. Maybe we should be talking to your Father...

 

If you don't tell us what the original instrument is then we can can ONLY make assumptions. I don't think I was being combative, but your lack of info, your weak exposition and poor phrasing, while asking for opinions, and then making out like I'm way off base is rather FRUSTRATING, to say the least.

 

I suggest you start over, from the BEGINNING, with all the PERTINENT information if you expect any reasonable help.

 

Otherwise, I will close this thread and you will be back at square one again...or...:wave:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Obviously you and I are not reading your thread the same way. You are not giving us the full story, and I do not really understand what you are asking. You ask for patience, we ask for information, you come back blaming me for making assumptions due solely to your refusal to explain anything in any reasonable detail.

You titled this thread: I need help and knowledge from those in the know

 

but you don't give us enough information to give you any kind of input.

 

If you did not get other bids to do the work, then how did you know this guy is the right guy?

You still didn't answer what the original guitar is...

You say the neck is of good quality but you originally stated the neck inserts were off line, which is not good quality.

and what does the term 'banana' have to do with a guitar neck other than to describe excess bow/relief/curvature?

Instead of refuting my questions by referring me back to the post, why not do me the courtesy to clarify and just answer the questions?

 

Let's face it, you don't communicate effectively, so here we go...if you are replacing the body, rather than having it routed, because the body was "a no name base wood body"...what else are we to assume but that this was a cheap guitar? I mean, really?

 

Here is another perfect example of how you talk without saying anything:

you said this: and I paid for the package of all the work and the body

then you said this: I was very clear when I said "he said he would need half of the total cost of everything up front and he directed me to his website" and I said "using paypal".

Not clear at all...is English not your first language? I see you partially explained in a subsequent post, but it was very confusing in the OP. Maybe we should be talking to your Father...

 

If you don't tell us what the original instrument is then we can can ONLY make assumptions. I don't think I was being combative, but your lack of info, your weak exposition and poor phrasing, while asking for opinions, and then making out like I'm way off base is rather FRUSTRATING, to say the least.

 

I suggest you start over, from the BEGINNING, with all the PERTINENT information if you expect any reasonable help.

 

Otherwise, I will close this thread and you will be back at square one again...or...:wave:

You clearly have a chip on your shoulder for some reason and I have no wish to engage it, BUT I have started the exact same thread word for word at two other guitar forums and the members there are not having the problem that you seem to be having?

 

I'll just repeat my second post...

 

"What I'd like to do is give anyone who might have an opinion on this thread a chance to see in and weigh in on it before I move on to what has happened and is continuing to happen..."

 

With more to follow shortly...

 

I will add that I believe a forum mod should seldom be seen and their opinions never heard, Close this thread if you must...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Question is: How long ago did you send this guy your gear and money? If yesterday, then don't worry about it. If 6 months ago, then you have a cause for worry.

Has there been communication from him?

Has there been severely negative feedback on his work?

Does he have a client list?

 

The way I see it, and I am a tech myself, is that you sent your guitar to be repaired/setup/built, sent 1/2 the money to some unknown dude, and wonder if you did the right thing.... what, the day after? A week/month? More then likely, the guy's legit. Most techs will require a down payment being paid in advance for work when you aren't in the same city/state/whatever. Dan Earlwin's shop does the same.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Question is: How long ago did you send this guy your gear and money? If yesterday, then don't worry about it. If 6 months ago, then you have a cause for worry.

Has there been communication from him?

Has there been severely negative feedback on his work?

Does he have a client list?

 

The way I see it, and I am a tech myself, is that you sent your guitar to be repaired/setup/built, sent 1/2 the money to some unknown dude, and wonder if you did the right thing.... what, the day after? A week/month? More then likely, the guy's legit. Most techs will require a down payment being paid in advance for work when you aren't in the same city/state/whatever. Dan Earlwin's shop does the same.

 

It ended up going on for a year...

 

I'll tell the rest on this tonight when I get home If this thread isn't closed by then...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
I suggest you start over, from the BEGINNING, with all the PERTINENT information if you expect any reasonable help.

Let me try to lay it out one step at a time...

 

1 - The person in question was running a custom guitar business and website which listed all of his services, The website in which he was self-described as Luthier / Owner of his custom guitar shop with his business also on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter with an online presence on ebay listing some of his offerings such as guitar bodies of your choice with your choice of tonewood, routing for the pickups of your choice, and routing for the bridge of your choice all included in the price of the body which I bought one of on ebay...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

2 - I had everything else besides the body that was needed for a complete guitar such as a quality birdseye maple neck, a relatively new Floyd Rose Pro complete tremolo system, and all the quality electronics such as the volume pot, pickup, and everything else needed.

 

So being as he runs a custom guitar shop and I had just bought one of his guitar bodies I asked him if he could professionally install my guitar neck correctly to the body I had just bought while having a good idea of his answer which was yes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

3 - I then informed him of the one concern I had with my neck which was the neck mounting locations didn't appear to be squarely located and asked him if there was a fix for this again having a good idea of his answer from reading about how guitar necks can be repaired of issues in many cases, and I also asked if he could perform such a repair before he installed the neck on the body I had bought from him which said yes to both questions...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

 

It ended up going on for a year...

 

I'll tell the rest on this tonight when I get home If this thread isn't closed by then...

 

okay...now that is the pertinent part of the equation. See, you started of with a sad tale about an old guitar, blah blah, I've been burned bad.......and it comes across as a troll....of which we are not favorable.

The crux of the issue was: why were you asking without telling us the whole story?

Now this time around no mention of old guitar...why not just have said you were having the guy build it for you with a neck you already had....[and 'banana' isn't bird's eye...]

Also, please do not mention the name or location of this luthier with whom you contracted.

 

So obviously there is much more, right? :snax:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I applaud the patience of many of you guys who've tried to sort this out. Enough to piss off a saint... is this some online game of clue? Dear OP: suggest making an outline of what you want to post so it has some clarity & direction. Maybe give outline to friend etc who can give tips so that the more than happy to help crowd here can have bit more than an inkling of what the heck you are talking about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

22 posts and we have advanced the story by a whole 'it started a year ago'

Enough already

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQjz4JYeL50cUkWTUwFAGbNVX_12golC5RqoSwhL33BJQzK0me0.jpg","data-attachmentid":32535490}[/ATTACH]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Just never mind, This place is too toxic to be of any real assistance and what happened to me will just end up as entertainment that other member can take cheap shots at, Who needs that??? Not me...

 

I'll just suck it up and more on...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...