katthestar
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- Oct 13, 2017
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I haven't been posting too much lately. I gave my luthier two projects and he hasn't touched either one of them. One was the M-85 II, which is probably in a very long limbo (it's been at the shop 2 months so far). The other, is my Gibson ES-137C.
This guitar was probably the worst guitar purchase I have ever made, and nothing has gone right with it. First, I ordered it from Musicians Friend back in 2004 in order to have a proper jazz guitar. UPS leaves it on my deck, where it remains for a few days during the late winter.
Then, being new to jazz, I slap on some flat wounds without doing a set up. I play in a jazz band at school for a while, I'm not very good and the teacher kind of hates me.
One day while walking down the stairs to go home, the handle on my Gibson case breaks, and the guitar goes down several flights of stairs unassisted. I ended up buying another case and having my Dad stitch the handle with thread originally designed for horse saddles.
Finally, I get kicked out of jazz band and decide to play rock & roll. I take my guitar to a local shop with a good reputation. They tell me the truss rod is bent, so it takes them two weeks to adjust the neck and do a set up for round wound strings. I later find out that they took it upon themselves to spray lacquer on the top of my guitar as well, without asking me.
I play rock for a while, but I'm not too great at that, so I end up quitting for a while. Then I notice that the finish on my guitar is peeling off. I also humdified it too much at this point, because I wasn't humdifying it at all before, and had no idea what I was doing.
Finally, I tell the luthier I started going to last year about it, asking if he could fix it up so it looks good again. It is decided that it needs a refinish, which I really just wanted in a clear coat to protect the wood, because there's some gorgeous maple in there.
He has me strip the paint off, which does not go well. Gibson must've put ten very quick coats on this guitar and it came off like thick sludge. It was so bad that there was still some blue in the wood. Since I had never done this to a guitar before, I end up melting some of the binding with the solvent in the stripper.
I rush to get it to him because I know it's summer and I need to try and get a spot during the rush. I deliver the mostly stripped guitar to him on June 29th. I almost got hit by a car that day, then got yelled at by the people who almost hit me (it was supposedly my fault that they moved forward without looking for people in a parking lot).
I made a joke to my luthier about him having it done by my birthday, letting him know to take his time.
Fast forward almost 3 months, and he hasn't even touched the guitar....
My birthday is about a week away, and he just came back from another vacation this week. He's going to look at the stuff that came in while he was gone, get through that, and THEN look at my Gibson.
I feel awful, because I told him to take his time and summer was busy, but I thought he would at least start on it this month. I'm seriously considering pulling both projects from him, because I don't think he actually wants to do either job, and if my Gibson is getting pushed back multiple times, with the Guild behind it, I worry they will never get done.
I'm thinking of e-mailing him, letting him know that if he doesn't start on it in the next 2 weeks, I will take the Gibson back. He doesn't like Gibsons, but I thought since he was familiar with Guilds, he would be willing to help me restore it. I thought by now I would at least know when I would be seeing the Gibson again.
Am I being a jerk? I'm trying to be understanding, I know he was busy and that he went on two vacations, but I think he should've cleaned it up by now.
I always get depressed around my birthday, so I am worried I'm not thinking clearly. Part of me is mad and thinks he is being too cavalier with the job.
A coworker at work asked me about it, saying he would be willing to buy it from me and paint it himself. He does guitar work in his spare time, and I wonder if it would be better to just sell my defective and naked Gibson to him for a song, so at least it has a chance at being repaired soon. I can also at least get something for it, instead of paying hundreds to have it refinished...
I thought I loved this guitar, I loved how it was crunchy and loud for rock. I even got complimented on the sound I got out of it as a jazz guitarist. I worked really hard at Wal Mart to buy the guitar. I don't play much guitar anymore, and I went out and bought a Starfire III to replace the Gibson (I figured the quality would be better, and even though the Guild is 8 years older, it is).
I'm sorry this is so long, but I wanted some advice so I don't do something stupid. My luthier does great work, but I'm starting to think the work I give him doesn't matter as much as other people's, and it makes me angry. I'm trying to get away from situations that needlessly stress me out, and I'm starting to think this might be one.
This guitar was probably the worst guitar purchase I have ever made, and nothing has gone right with it. First, I ordered it from Musicians Friend back in 2004 in order to have a proper jazz guitar. UPS leaves it on my deck, where it remains for a few days during the late winter.
Then, being new to jazz, I slap on some flat wounds without doing a set up. I play in a jazz band at school for a while, I'm not very good and the teacher kind of hates me.
One day while walking down the stairs to go home, the handle on my Gibson case breaks, and the guitar goes down several flights of stairs unassisted. I ended up buying another case and having my Dad stitch the handle with thread originally designed for horse saddles.
Finally, I get kicked out of jazz band and decide to play rock & roll. I take my guitar to a local shop with a good reputation. They tell me the truss rod is bent, so it takes them two weeks to adjust the neck and do a set up for round wound strings. I later find out that they took it upon themselves to spray lacquer on the top of my guitar as well, without asking me.
I play rock for a while, but I'm not too great at that, so I end up quitting for a while. Then I notice that the finish on my guitar is peeling off. I also humdified it too much at this point, because I wasn't humdifying it at all before, and had no idea what I was doing.
Finally, I tell the luthier I started going to last year about it, asking if he could fix it up so it looks good again. It is decided that it needs a refinish, which I really just wanted in a clear coat to protect the wood, because there's some gorgeous maple in there.
He has me strip the paint off, which does not go well. Gibson must've put ten very quick coats on this guitar and it came off like thick sludge. It was so bad that there was still some blue in the wood. Since I had never done this to a guitar before, I end up melting some of the binding with the solvent in the stripper.
I rush to get it to him because I know it's summer and I need to try and get a spot during the rush. I deliver the mostly stripped guitar to him on June 29th. I almost got hit by a car that day, then got yelled at by the people who almost hit me (it was supposedly my fault that they moved forward without looking for people in a parking lot).
I made a joke to my luthier about him having it done by my birthday, letting him know to take his time.
Fast forward almost 3 months, and he hasn't even touched the guitar....
My birthday is about a week away, and he just came back from another vacation this week. He's going to look at the stuff that came in while he was gone, get through that, and THEN look at my Gibson.
I feel awful, because I told him to take his time and summer was busy, but I thought he would at least start on it this month. I'm seriously considering pulling both projects from him, because I don't think he actually wants to do either job, and if my Gibson is getting pushed back multiple times, with the Guild behind it, I worry they will never get done.
I'm thinking of e-mailing him, letting him know that if he doesn't start on it in the next 2 weeks, I will take the Gibson back. He doesn't like Gibsons, but I thought since he was familiar with Guilds, he would be willing to help me restore it. I thought by now I would at least know when I would be seeing the Gibson again.
Am I being a jerk? I'm trying to be understanding, I know he was busy and that he went on two vacations, but I think he should've cleaned it up by now.
I always get depressed around my birthday, so I am worried I'm not thinking clearly. Part of me is mad and thinks he is being too cavalier with the job.
A coworker at work asked me about it, saying he would be willing to buy it from me and paint it himself. He does guitar work in his spare time, and I wonder if it would be better to just sell my defective and naked Gibson to him for a song, so at least it has a chance at being repaired soon. I can also at least get something for it, instead of paying hundreds to have it refinished...
I thought I loved this guitar, I loved how it was crunchy and loud for rock. I even got complimented on the sound I got out of it as a jazz guitarist. I worked really hard at Wal Mart to buy the guitar. I don't play much guitar anymore, and I went out and bought a Starfire III to replace the Gibson (I figured the quality would be better, and even though the Guild is 8 years older, it is).
I'm sorry this is so long, but I wanted some advice so I don't do something stupid. My luthier does great work, but I'm starting to think the work I give him doesn't matter as much as other people's, and it makes me angry. I'm trying to get away from situations that needlessly stress me out, and I'm starting to think this might be one.