guitar tech horror story

BZ Beetle · #1 09-10-2002, 12:19 AM

So i took my beloved RG570 into the shop for a setup. I figure, hes done them before, he knows what hes doing, it will be aLOT faster. ok first the dinger. it cost me 80 bucks. that hurt. a lil more than i was expecting. but i played it and it felt GREAT. so i took it home, plugged it in, and it was WAY out of tune. so i took a quick gander at the bridge, the trem angle was about 10 degrees off. i couldnt belive it! a world class tech made no attempt to check the bridge angle. I still didnt get it right, but im working on it. i have no idea what im really doing so its all trial and error to get the angle right lol. anyways, goes to show u. ask your tech a few questions so you can find out if he knows what the FAK hes doing first

toshiro · #2 09-10-2002, 12:41 AM

$80 for a setup!?!?!?!?!

Did that include a fret level and recrown?

I'd go back and complain, personally.. Bad enough he charges about 3-4 times as much as anyone I've talked to, but to not do a good job just takes the cake. Hell, I charge $25 for a floyd-equiped guitar setup.. I mean it's only an hour long job, or so.. Geez...

BZ Beetle · #3 09-10-2002, 01:58 AM

it was a while ago, and alot of people told me that that wasnt alot of money for a floyd double locker. either way, i was far more pissed at the fact that he horribly botched it.

Sypher · #4 09-10-2002, 02:14 AM

Dude thats nothing the nearest tech wants 1-1 and a quarter plus about a week to setup any guitar, he told me he want 250 for a fret and a recrown 50 dollars to install a pickup etc. hence the reason I started teaching myself how to do stuff.

sniperfrommars1 · #5 09-10-2002, 03:34 AM

You can tell the little shops just dont make jack because they overcharge for everything. Thats not always the case. Techs are like guitars. Some look good, but dont do the job, some look good but are just too expensive, but sometimes you find one thats just right. Now who ate my porridge?

bammbamm · #6 09-10-2002, 07:17 AM

If its' not right, take it BACK !
Don't fuss with it and change anything, you paid him too much to not be able to bitch about his work.

Bamm

MidnightFlamed · #7 09-10-2002, 09:02 AM

Oi, 80 bucks and an offset trem. I second the suggestions to make him do it right. And encourage you to delve further into self-tech work on your guitar. Sometimes it's fun in that "take apart all your toys before you play with them" sorta way....

Reaper · #8 09-10-2002, 03:28 PM

dude I got my SG setup with a truss rod adjustment (yeah it's a hard tail, so floyds would run about $15-$20 more) and had frets 12-22 dressed for $70! The action and feel is much better and it plays great! If I were you, I wouldn't go back. Find someplace else or learn how to do it yourself...

darren wilson · #9 09-10-2002, 04:10 PM

How did you not notice that the bridge was so far off when you picked it up?

Was the bridge sitting too far forward or too far back? Did it return to level after you re-tuned it?

I'm just theorizing here, but is it possible that he just didn't stretch the strings adequately? If this were the case, it's possible that while the guitar was in its case on your way back home, the downward pressure on the bridge could have knocked them out of tune, resulting in the bridge being pitched at a weird angle.

BZ Beetle · #10 09-11-2002, 04:01 AM

Darren, the trem wasnt THAT far off, but far enough to go out of tune after a few hours. but im sure we all know it only has to be off a "smidgin" to fall out of tune. I didnt take it back right away because I honestly didnt notice. the strings were all fairly in tune well enough for the first few days. it wasnt until I went to play with my band when i threw the tuner on it cuz it sounded funny and it was WAY out of tune. then i go back 3 days later and tell him he did it wrong? i dont think so, then i look like an idiot for not noticing right away lol

basically im just gunna do everything myself. im sick of paying people to screw things up for me

it takes me ALOT longer, because its all just trial and error. I know how to do it, just now how to be good at it hehe

and darren, i checked that. i think that was a small part of it, but after i retuned it, it went right back out of tune even 3 days later. stretched the strings more, and still the same thing. besides, if a tech doesnt know to stretch the strings he shouldnt be a tech

rty13ibz98 · #11 09-11-2002, 10:50 AM

sorry, but you got ripped on that deal. floyd setups are like $25-40 here. and i do them for all of my friends for free(cuz i like to). no one has EVER complained about a setup i did for them....unless they had no idea of how a good guitar should play.
i was just like you before, tho. what promted me to learn how to setup guitars was i was 16-17 with no job and no funds with a floyd. i learned thru trial and error and thru asking tech's in the area when i went to shops. after awhile i finally came up with some techniques of my own and some revelations and "theory" on setups. it took me alot longer to get it under my hand, but at least i knew what i had done to set or screw it up. so good for you for learning to do your own work. for me, it has saved me well over $3000 in labor costs and at least $1000 for my friends. this accrued with the feeling of pride of doing it yourself is unparalleled. coolest thing now is that we have the internet at our disposal, not a luxury that i had when i was learning. between jemsite, universal jems, and ibanezrules they got setups covered.

rich

mike777 · #12 09-11-2002, 03:45 PM

Actually, in this region of the US, it's not uncommon for a basic, but full, set up to be $65.00 but get near $80.00 when it comes to 12-strings, 7-strings, or guitars with floating trems. But that's for well-trained, well experienced technicians.

They can go for less but very likely by some dude who does his work when the store isn't busy and his skills were developed by picking-up a few pointers roadie-ing at one point in his life. Or the type of person who thinks that since he's playing for 30 years, he must know everything about guitars.

Basically, no one should be willing to take money from you and tell you the job is finished and hand you your instrument that way. Take it back for a do-over and don't pay a penny more. A good tech should take pride in his/her work and take responsibilty for what he/she does.

Mike 777 Haug