Members vintage clubber Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 One of my regular "repair" customers picked this beater up for like $10 and brought it to me to resurrect. When I got it from him, it had no nut; the tuners were FUBAR; and the electronics were not working. I installed a nut, new tuners, re-wired (although the stock pickups are VERY noisy), etc. I cut my actual labor time charged by about 1/2, so between parts and labor he owed me about $90 for this work. He intended to sell it, but there's no way he'll be able to recoup his cost, so he told me to keep it... I'm going to put 2 Carvin AP-11's from my parts drawer in it to see if they are less noisy than the stock pickups. If that pans out, I'm going to replace the bridge/tail piece which is non-adjustable and a pain in the ass to string with either a Squier Duo Sonic bridge or a Mustang trem/bridge set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrChitlins Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 I've done some turd polishing myself. Pays poorly, but can be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Snappy Hat Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 What did he think it was going cost ? free? some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fu2jobu Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 ...so between parts and labor he owed me about $90 for this work. He intended to sell it, but there's no way he'll be able to recoup his cost, so he told me to keep it... Wow, people never cease to surprise me. I would of just handed you $90 bucks, frowned and then gone off to find some kid to give it too as their first guitar. Or used it at a show as a giveaway. or...... etc. I wouldn't stick somebody else with my problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wein Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 What a jackass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MyEmergency Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 That was rough man, you should have told he had to pay, you can't waste your time doing work for free, especially with a guitar you would not even be able to get what he owed you out of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted April 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 I've done some turd polishing myself. Pays poorly, but can be fun. yeah, I think I have used several gallons of turd polish on this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted April 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 That was rough man, you should have told he had to pay, you can't waste your time doing work for free, especially with a guitar you would not even be able to get what he owed you out of. If this had been a first timer with me, I probably would have done that. This guy has brought me about 10 jobs in the last few months and I know he will bring me some other work going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 If this had been a first timer with me, I probably would have done that. This guy has brought me about 10 jobs in the last few months and I know he will bring me some other work going forward. Well, if you add about $15-25 on the next couple of jobs he brings you, hopefully you can make it up in volume! You can call the adder a "douchebag allowance"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 I'm not sure a Mustang trem would work, and it's probably not enough room for a Jag trem either. I'd just Tune-O-Matic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Well, I'm curious to see how you do with that guitar. One of my sons friends had one. He was not in a position to buy a better guitar but had a lot of desire. He asked me to assess it. I played it once and promptly gave him my Squier 51 because no one should have to play a guitar that bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted April 25, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Well, I'm curious to see how you do with that guitar. One of my sons friends had one. He was not in a position to buy a better guitar but had a lot of desire. He asked me to assess it. I played it once and promptly gave him my Squier 51 because no one should have to play a guitar that bad! ouch! yeah, we will see how the Carvin pickups sound in it and then I believe the Duo Sonic bridge to replace the current set up and hopefully be able to intonate it... the original wiring had the pickups wired together and a volume and tone pot, but nothing worked so I removed the tone control and added a toggle to be able to separate the pups... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted April 25, 2011 Members Share Posted April 25, 2011 Mystery guitar mojo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flatspotter Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 Well, I'm curious to see how you do with that guitar. One of my sons friends had one. He was not in a position to buy a better guitar but had a lot of desire. He asked me to assess it. I played it once and promptly gave him my Squier 51 because no one should have to play a guitar that bad! Frets, my guitar is a piece of crap. Can I have your Epi Riviera? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted April 26, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 ok...I swapped the pickups out for a pair of Carvin AP-11's I had acquired from rusholmeruffian a few months back. I gotta say those pickups sound great in this POS guitar. Now to figure out which replacement bridge to get... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members influencevip Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 Frets, my guitar is a piece of crap. Can I have your Epi Riviera? yup, could I have>hehe. Your Epi Riviera is so cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillyCorgan Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 That's a stage smasher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 Well, if you add about $15-25 on the next couple of jobs he brings you, hopefully you can make it up in volume! You can call the adder a "douchebag allowance"... +1 His costs just went up...due to shrinkage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HELSTRUME Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 I would have hit the guy over the head with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 That's a stage smasher. Haha, a kid I went to school with offered me a guitar - a total piece of crap - for $20 on the last day of school. I wanted to buy it just to see what it was like to smash a guitar at a show. Unfortunately, I never had money as a 15-year old, and none of my friends did, either. The kid left right after school ended, and I never saw him again. Oh well. Back to the OP, kinda sucks to lose the income, but hey - maybe you'll have fun with the crappy guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harold heckuba Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 The guy really did you dirty. That was low class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CoqBelliqueux Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 Did you really expect him to pay 90$ (or 180$ ) for fixing a POS? Man, be more careful than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrfan Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 Chris, I think if you were up front with the customer about the cost and what he would end up with I would have made him pay.Not somebody I would want to do business with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MojoFilter Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 If you're doing business with this guy again, I would tell him that you've changed your policies, and request payment before you do any work, after giving him the estimate. Also, as bsman suggested, after tacking on an additional $30 to whatever the cost actually is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Carroll Posted April 26, 2011 Members Share Posted April 26, 2011 Those are fun guitars, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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