Warning Melbourne guitar players - 'r...

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message Bluepill Username: Bluepill Registered: 07-2004 Posted on Friday, October 13, 2006 - 11:30 pm:    PLEASE READ THIS, IT MAY SAVE YOU GOOD $$ im not one to usually do this, but the situation i have just experienced prompts me to warn you guys. i have read some good things about 'real guitars' too, hence why i took 3 guitars there to get set-up. if you have had good experiences then great...i am just telling mine so heres what happened: - i took 3 guitars to 'real guitars' to be setup (2 ibanez artist from the 80's and a vester 335 copy) - i showed Ian (the guy that works there) how hard i play, what tunnings i use and he quotes for me for 3 setups at $100 each saying this is what they need...fair enough, seems a little high but if its a good job then no probs right - all seems cool i think great, ive found someone who understand and will do a good job...ace, until.... - the next weekend i return. he brings out the 3 guitars and well...2 of the 3 play like absolute crap, complateley buzzing out from the 10th fret up on the high e & b and all the way on the low e & a - so i ask, what the hell? these things play terrible, only to hear 'oh yeh they need a fret dress'...wtf? why would he set up the guitars, do the internation and charge me $100 for making the guitars play worse? surely he could tell me this when i first took the guitars there or atleast call me to tell me he didnt notice, but the guitars need a fret dress - so i complain, who wouldnt...but after some talk i leave 1 guitar there to get a fret dress at $93 approx. - then i get home and play the other guitars, 1 still buzzes like crap and the other that doesnt it set up terribly, i mean the neck looks like a banana and the action is high, real high and i am def not an action nazi - so i spend all day sunday setting up 2 guitars to get them back to how they before i took them there (some buzzez, intonation somewhat not perfect, action on the high side, but hey playable) - so on monday i think...with this service why the hell would i let someone start sanding my frets. i ring real guitars and say, please dont do the fret dress i am not happy with the work thats been done. the 2 guitars that i picked up now play better than when i got them back from you guys....i will come down next saturday and pick my other guitar up. Ian finds this suprising so i say i can show you the other guitars if you like, he says id like to see that like im a turd and thats that - so today i get to the shop, and to keep a long story short i say pretty much why didnt you tell me about the fret dress before i forked out $300 for guitars set-ups, only to hear than i asked for a set-up not a fret dress...this is f**king bullshit, why would i spend $300 to make my 3 guitars worse? im not the expert they are right - so the worse part! im willing to negotiate here, i mean if they say cool they made a mistake, we will do fret dress for a discount or something then fine, even though this would make it 3 weeks of f**king around and almost $500 for 3 guitars (3 setups & 2 fret dresses).... but Ian tried to tell me i was wrong and that i should have asked for a fret dress, that he can not fix my string buzz problems when i asked for a set-up. he also was not at all interest in seeing the guitars that i had re-setup...and basically tried to talk me down to being a complete fool, this is where i get pissed off, take my guitars home and write this. so basically what did i get from 'real guitars'? 3 guitars that came back worse than when i bought them there, being told i dont know what i am talking about and being a couple of hundred dollars out of pocket, not to mention spending a sunday fixing my guitars and all the same issues on my guitars as to when i took them there!!! f**k!! guys, i am sure many of you have been f***ed around and have similar stories, but from now on i am going to set my own guitars up, and i learnt this the hard way....thanks for reading, sorry this was so long i need to vent me f**king anger... cheers blue Holmis63 Username: Holmis63 Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 6:48 am:    OK Bluepill! I hear you, my experience is that you do best to set up you´r guitars yourself. I´ve never get what i want when a "specialist" (is that the right word or is it Swenglish?) had set up my guitars! I think that´s because it´s a personal thing, you can never explain to another person exactly what you want! Anyway, if one try, you learn to do it yourself and save a lot of money. And that money you can spend on more guitars!!!!!! Isn´t that what´s life´s about? Holmis63 Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 7:33 am:    Thanks BP I'll be steering clear of those guys then. If anyone here knows a good guitar guy in Melbourne (eastern suburbs) then drop me an email please. Cheers six Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 09-2004 Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 7:31 pm:    Bluepill, I have heard afew positive story about a fella called Chris Voce at Guitars Plus in Melbourne. http://www.guitarsplus.com.au Or, my mate Tim Brennan in Brisbane specialises in vintage Japanese guitars but the freight charge would kill ya. http://www.tymguitars.com.au/ The best thing of all is to know exactly how you like your guitar set up. Once your comfortable with the way it plays, then measure the height of the strings at the 12the fret, and work out where the relief on the neck starts from. Mine are set up with the strings 1.2 to 1.5 mm, with the relief starting around the 6th fret. That with you string guage should be all you need to tell a good luthier. There's no excuse for being treated like the way you have. I have a number of people regularly bring in guitars for a set up, and don't really know how they want it, but I'l do the fret shave & dress if needed just to ensure a good job. Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Sunday, October 15, 2006 - 6:11 am:    Snowjays, That is amazing! Chris Voce was the guy I contacted in Melbourne before I left England to ask about storing for the trip and what to do when they arrived in Oz as it was the middle of summer. I keep meaning to contact him. Thanks for reminding me mate. six Bluepill Username: Bluepill Registered: 07-2004 Posted on Sunday, October 15, 2006 - 7:39 pm:    hey guys thanks for the feedback...as i said this is just my experience and if anyone has had a good experience with real guitars than cool... but yeh i currently work a lot of hours so i like to play instead of tinkling with setups...but in saying that holms & snowjays i completely agree that it is a personal thing which is why i am never taking my guitars in for a setup again...a couple of guitars may have to have a fret dress but i will take the guitars to someone specifically for that job from now on six...i have read good things about jim cargill guitars http://www.hotfrog.com.au/Companies/Cargill-Custom-Guitars but ive never actually been there so it may be worth doing some investigations Aaron Username: Aaron Registered: 01-2004 Posted on Sunday, October 15, 2006 - 11:28 pm:    Hi guys, Jim Cargill does the best guitar set-ups/work in Melbourne - His father did it before him for many years. They are the most experienced in Melb without exception and worth the drive. Cheers! Aaron. Pitviper Username: Pitviper Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 12:15 am:    What a horror story Bluepill..as many have already said here...do it yourself..you can learn a lot online to achieve this. One of the first things a certified guitar tech does when setting up a guitar is give it a good once over to see what, if anything, will hinder his work. For the $$ you spent, they should have just made you happy...that's a lot of cabbage to result in guitars that were worse than when brought in. A competent tech would have realized this right away. Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 6:05 am:    Thanks BP and Aaron. I will give him a call. six Fg100 Username: Fg100 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 6:24 am:    To say that he didn't do the fret job, or mentioned the need for it because you didn't ask for it but asked for a set up, is the most stupid excuse a person could try to use. If he saw the problem before hand, he’s admitting he was dishonest, if he didn’t see it before but saw it afterwards he should have consulted you before proceeding, if he didn’t see it at all he’s proving his incompetence. There’s no way this guy could step out of this with his hands clean. What is upsetting is that somebody can just walk out of this with out being punished. This is a crime, in my opinion he either acted in 'bad faith' or was not capable of doing a job for which he charged as a highly trained professional. A real professional would spot that and tell you about it before doing the job, because obviously he would not be able to do a proper setup when it needs a fret job. So, in my opinion he stole money from you. He was very dishonest (in case we believe he really saw the problem before), or he was just the most incompetent idiot trying, afterwards, to throw the responsibility of his mistake on you! Even if you didn't understand anything about guitars it wouldn't matter, because YOU are paying him to work on YOUR property. He is the "professional" and is the responsable for delivering; it's his obligation to know what is needed to do (and how to do) a good job (for which he's charging as a good professional). And on top of all that he has the courage of charging you!!! I hate when I hear this kind of abuse and think everybody should know about that so to avoid that type of "professional". Acetan Username: Acetan Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 5:44 pm:    The way I see it is that this kind of business practice won't last. Just the word of mouth will kill it in no time. I hope the soonee the better. Ace Bluepill Username: Bluepill Registered: 07-2004 Posted on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - 8:31 pm:    FG100....my thaughts exactly! i dont like writing bad raps about people and businesses, thats def not my thing, but i hate being ripped off more esp when it comes to my girls..so hopefully by posting this on a few forums it saves someone some pain and $$ it also angers me to think how many less experienced players that have been to real guitars have handed over the dosh and then been disheartened with thier guitars, and at the worse given up playing because someone has done a number on em six...let me know how you get on with your quest Sixvsix Username: Sixvsix Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 10:24 am:    Sure will BP. I have Jim Cargill's details now thanks to Aaron. six Russellw Username: Russellw Registered: 11-2001 Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 5:35 am:    I'm also a fan of Jim's but for basic set up work on the acoustics I use Mick at the Acoustic Centre in South Melbourne. A good muso in his own right and a man that appreciates a fine guitar. Cheers Russ Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2006 - 12:27 pm:    Russell: I've been trying to contact you about your database. Maybe I've been using the wrong email. Send me an email so we can talk. thanks, JohnS SysOp

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: