Defect in neck

P

po_0784

Junior Member
Messages
88
(sorry for the english)

Hi guys, just want to share this story with you.

I just assembled my "Warmoth" guitar...pretty much a bunch of parts and a warmoth neck. After giving the guitar some rest and a proper set up, I sent the guitar to a luthier near my place for a proper set-up and a fret leveling. Thats when things started to get bad...

First fret level, the luthier give me the guitar back : lot of dead notes and strange buzz all around. I take it back there. He did a second fret level and setup (free of charge) : about the same problem but this time I really took the time with him to check out the instrument. It turns out that the neck got a wicked high spot at the end of the fretboard (seems like the fretboard isn't level at all?!?!). Now this guy is one of the better known luthier in my area, Im quite sure he did a great job both time.

If you look at the neck, it actually got the usual curve (small banana), but at the very end of the fretboard (last 6-7frets) if you look closely, theres another slight slope until the last frets

Now, if the luthier still do a 3rd level, not only will it cost me 200$ again, but my last frets will be too low.. Now, am I screwed? Warmoth wont take the neck back if the frets have been messed up with. Still there is no way I think a customer can see that kind of defect on a neck without any string tension and setup on it! But even if Warmoth take back this one and give me a new neck, I will still have to pay big money again to have it setup and have the fret leveled without knowing if THIS time it will work (and pay the shipping back and forth....f#$@). Bummer

Anyway sad story, might give Warmoth an email about it...or just throw the guitar to the trashcan and sells some of the parts to cover the luthier work. What an hassle seriously!

Sorry, I should just give the nearest wall some good ol' punches  :icon_thumright:

nah
:sad1:
 
po_0784 said:
Sorry, I should just give the nearest wall some good ol' punches  :icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

good idea - maybe you'll break your hand.

What I don't get is if the guy is doing a setup he keeps handing it back to you in bad shape? He just does the setup and doesn't notice that anything is weird about it until you tell him? I mean you'd think he'd either get it so it's playable, or tell you that something is wrong. But then again, considering my luck with "luthiers" and "techs" this isn't that surprising. The ethic more and more these days seems to be: do some quick work, get the money, hope the sucker doesn't notice the rush job.
 
I think exactly like you Godrex, and its a shame. This situation piss me off.

And we just received some amazingly good ibanez at the guitar store where I work that sells for 400$ and they kill. Well, at least there is no defect on them.

That piss me off even more.

Someone is interested in a neck  :laughing7:?
 
so the guy leveled your frets before giving the neck a complete check out, and then passes off things as discovering (after he has modified the neck) that there's a problem?

this sounds rather odd to me!


did he also shim your neck when it was installed? is the shim on the body side of the mounting screws closest to the heel, or is the shim on the headstock side of the mounting screws closest to the heel? if there is a shim, it should NOT be on the body side of the screws.

how did the neck rise get measured? did you actually measure with a slotted straight edge (slotted so that the machined edge has gaps to rise above the frets), or did you simply measure the top of the frets? if you did measure, what is the physical distance?

all the best,

R
 
hey skuttlefunk, thanks for the interest

Well its seems you can actually see it just by looking at the side, its pretty obvious to me. But one of those notched straightedge would be a great way to tell if thats EXactly the case! Thanks for the idea. Im gonna try to find someone in the area who got one. I just emailed someone at Warmoth about it.

Anyway, I feel like im gonna loose on that one. No custom guitar, never...NEVER again.  :sad1:

:eek:ccasion14: Tomorrow is friday, I will just get way drunk and forget about the money lost  :laughing7:
Just humor, so I dont go crazy!
 
Hmm.  I'm also suspicious of your tech. . But in any case, call W and explain the situation and see if they'll do anything for you. It's worth the quarter to see what they'll say.
 
AND. . . I've been turned down for work, if the luthier believes that the job presented, can't be done !

Can you post a link to your luthier friend? and as previously requested a pic (with a straightedge per Max-imum)

We are here to help . . .  :headbang1:
 
GoDrex said:
po_0784 said:
Sorry, I should just give the nearest wall some good ol' punches  :icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

good idea - maybe you'll break your hand.

What I don't get is if the guy is doing a setup he keeps handing it back to you in bad shape? He just does the setup and doesn't notice that anything is weird about it until you tell him? I mean you'd think he'd either get it so it's playable, or tell you that something is wrong. But then again, considering my luck with "luthiers" and "techs" this isn't that surprising. The ethic more and more these days seems to be: do some quick work, get the money, hope the sucker doesn't notice the rush job.
Click to expand...

that's true, two techs i went to and did a hack job (one on my nut and the 2nd one on my overall setup, guitar kept buzzing all over and he said it's fine)

i said dang it and learned how to set up my guitars
now i'm happier than ever that i don't need any "luthiers"
they probably have less knowledge than most guitar players hanging out in forums like this one.
 
Still there is no way I think a customer can see that kind of defect on a neck without any string tension and setup on it.
Click to expand...

Agreed! That's why you put string tension on it... and buy a copy of this book:

"Guitar Player Repair Guide" by Dan Erlewine. I really think Warmoth ought to require new customers to buy this, or pass some kind of quiz.... :headbang:

http://www.danerlewine.com/guitar_repair_books.html
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224840358&sr=8-2

Whether you choose to learn to do all your own work from this book (it can do that) or not, you'll never, ever, ever get ripped off again by a "luthier." Costs 20 smackers, I figure I'm up at least a couple of grand by now. Hey, with all that money I "saved", maybe I should go look at the Showcase again..... :help:
 
A truly qualified tech can look at a neck and tell you if there is anything structurally wrong with it that would be covered under warranty. He can also tell you if you've just had a hack job done to your frets.

The swiftest path to know what you have in front of you is to find the best tech in driving distance and show your neck to him. The evaluation should be free or almost free. That will save you a lot of time.

BTW - I've noticed the titles of these threads are almost always something like "Defect in Neck."  Most of the time it is found out there was a "Defect in Tech." 
 
Gregg said:
A truly qualified tech can look at a neck and tell you if there is anything structurally wrong with it that would be covered under warranty. He can also tell you if you've just had a hack job done to your frets.

The swiftest path to know what you have in front of you is to find the best tech in driving distance and show your neck to him. The evaluation should be free or almost free. That will save you a lot of time.

BTW - I've noticed the titles of these threads are almost always something like "Defect in Neck."  Most of the time it is found out there was a "Defect in Tech." 
Click to expand...
+1.
 
What area do you live in? Perhaps someone here can recommend a luither, or even do it themselves.

Oh, and Kreig, try Max. Just Max. That's it. Max.
 
Orpheo said:
Gregg said:
A truly qualified tech can look at a neck and tell you if there is anything structurally wrong with it that would be covered under warranty. He can also tell you if you've just had a hack job done to your frets.

The swiftest path to know what you have in front of you is to find the best tech in driving distance and show your neck to him. The evaluation should be free or almost free. That will save you a lot of time.

BTW - I've noticed the titles of these threads are almost always something like "Defect in Neck."  Most of the time it is found out there was a "Defect in Tech." 
Click to expand...
+1.
Click to expand...

There are Luthiers, then there are Screwthiers
 
Yeah Id like to get some imput. I live in Montreal, QC.

Thks for the suggestions, I will get the neck under examination by someone who knows something about guitars
 
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