Fret repair....

pukeohontas

Hi All,

I just bought a secondhand Epiphone Dot, and there is some fret wear on some of the frets. It creates a 'chime' everytime I bend on the fret in question. It looks like tiny notches on the fret.

My question is this...

Where can I bring this to get looked at. I Live in Lucan, and I would rather do it local if possible. Getting in and out of town can be a right pain. Hopefully, one of you out there in guitar land could recommend a shop or individual that could work this for me.

Thanks ,

Pukey.

DeadSkin

Is that the one ya got from Chris' guitars? If so, bummer dude, or did ya know/expect they'd be some wear on the frets.

Folk here mention Derek Nelson for all things guitar repair, check the sticky.

pukeohontas

Yup. The very same. And no. I didn't expect to see this on the frets. I rang him and he suggested I ship it back. I told him it would probably be easier (and cheaper ) to get whatever done here. But it did take the gloss off my new baby. However it does sound wonderful, and this is only a minor issue (I hope). If it turns out to be a pain, I'll resolve this with chris. I'll check out the Derek Nelson sticky now. Thanks for the input.

Pukey.

Alanstrainor

Derek Nelson is the man for the job, he does some really wonderful work, but it will cost you. Get in contact with him and get a quote before committing to anything. Sorry to hear your "new" guitfiddle is giving you trouble!

eoin5

It could be worth giving Dave Travers a shout, he might be able to do it cheaper than Derek Nelson. Also its only a short hop from Lucan to Maynooth http://www.myspace.com/instrumentrepair

pukeohontas

Here's a picture of the wear.

Pukey.

pukeohontas

Oh BTW I've contacted Dave, to see what he thinks. Thanks for the tip.

Pukey.

Doctor J

Ouch. That's a pile of ****e that he sold it to you without mentioning that. Looks like the previous owner used to rest it fretboard down, bad bad bad. That whole thing that Chris goes on about, "it gets serviced and setup before we ship it out" is a pile of ****e to be honest, this isn't the first time I've encountered him sending out something that really should have been noticed. There also was a Fender Coronado bass which had tickled my fancy, it was there for a couple of years on the site. He recently reposted it on the front page, this time mentioning the plastic jewel which had been crudely embedded in the back of the neck behind the 3rd or 4th fret. Funny how that wasn't mentioned for a couple of years, it was fairly easy to spot.

On the positive side, the gouges don't look too deep so it should be possible to level and dress the frets fairly quickly and cheaply.

Johnny Storm

Could that have happened during shipping?

BarryCreed

I have a similar problem, but it's way up on the 17th fret, the wood, and the steel fret (i never actually know what the official name is for that, after 20 years of playing...) are dented, and I get a chime depending on the string, if its right on the dent, its a muted note...is it expensive usually to fix this kind of a problem..?

Dord

Doctor J wrote: »

Ouch. That's a pile of ****e that he sold it to you without mentioning that. Looks like the previous owner used to rest it fretboard down, bad bad bad. That whole thing that Chris goes on about, "it gets serviced and setup before we ship it out" is a pile of ****e to be honest, this isn't the first time I've encountered him sending out something that really should have been noticed. There also was a Fender Coronado bass which had tickled my fancy, it was there for a couple of years on the site. He recently reposted it on the front page, this time mentioning the plastic jewel which had been crudely embedded in the back of the neck behind the 3rd or 4th fret. Funny how that wasn't mentioned for a couple of years, it was fairly easy to spot.

On the positive side, the gouges don't look too deep so it should be possible to level and dress the frets fairly quickly and cheaply.

Yeah, it sounds like BS alright. The usual "Martin sets this up perfectly, he used to work for X guitar company" seems to be a load of crap.

I'd prefer if the shop told me the guitar/bass might need fretwork. Actually Ishibashi did tell me about one of my basses. I had Derrick do some work on it when I got it here. Granted it's an older instrument and I wasn't expecting it to be brand new condition.

pukeohontas

Hmmmm, and I thought that Martin (mentioned in the webpage) was a genius. Anyway, I'm following up with him, and hopefully I'll get this resolved. He did mention this could have happened during shipping, but this is crap as far as I'm concerned. The frets would have had to be at molten level for this amount of damage/wear to happen over a week.
It has soured my love for Chris Guitars though. Maybe his aftersales service will make up for it. I plan to ask him for the cost of whatever this service is.
Hopefully Dave in Maynooth can do this guitar justice. If not I'll ship it back and Chris can cough up for my total cost of purchase including shipping and customs. I can't see him happy about this, but, as he will learn, I am all about consumer rights and customer happiness. If it was not mentioned at the start, it's false advertising, and I would assume a lot of his business comes from this forum and word of mouth.
Anyway, I'll see what the man has to say himself and I'll keep you lot posted. I have to give him a chance to make up for this mistake.

Unhappy pukey

pukeohontas

Again, as usual, your replies help me a lot, and I appreciate all of them. Boards.ie rocks. I've learnt more in the last 6 months than....well forever I suppose. You guys rock

Pukey...

pukeohontas

I've had a reply from Martin, and he assures me that this has happened in shipping. He says that the guitar fell on it's face during shipping, and that the string caused this wear. What do you think guys, I'm not sure if this could happen over a week.

Thanks,

Pukey.

feylya

It fell on it's face 8 times going by that picture... and fell hard! If that's actually true, then the shipping company owes Chris some insurance money.

DeadSkin

How well was it packed Pukey, any foam, that bubble stuff, does the outer packaging look rough?

pukeohontas

It was well packed with lots of little foamy bits(pain in the arse to clean up), and the case itself was packed with bubble wrap. Also there was some bubble wrap on the body itself to stop it moving around.
I still can't believe it happened during shipping, I mean, the guitar itself was in good nick, no cracks or other damage I could find, also the intonation was good after tuning, and the action looked good post tuning. Surely there would be some damage to the guitar itself if this was the case. Maybe I'm wrong (there has to be a first time )
Pukey.

Johnny Storm

DeadSkin wrote: »

How well was it packed Pukey, any foam, that bubble stuff, does the outer packaging look rough?

plus does the guitar move a bit inside the case? Or does the part of the case over the strings bend very easily? In other words if it was tossed around when loading/unloading would guitar move inside the case?
What you could do is slide some cardboard under the strings, put the guitar in its case and then drop it on its face and see if the strings have made a big impression in the cardboard in the same area where the frets are damaged. I wouldn't do it though Maybe just press on the outside of the case over the strings?

If its loose then I think its fairly reasonable that a lot of damage could occur during trans-atlantic shipping. It's probably ****ed onto several trucks/vans and baggage handling systems before it even gets ****ed onto the plane.

Having said that I have bought several guitars which have been shipped internationally and none of them were damaged. Although one had a big hole in the outer cardboard box where the prong of a forklift truck or similar went through it.

DeadSkin

I've had guitars shipped from the States & Europe, that had no hard case and never had any problem.

Edit: Just lookin' at the thread where you announced the purchase and saw this photo ;
http://www.chrisguitars.com/epi04dot-bk-antiquities6.jpg

Looked at the photo of the damage and if it was done during shipping it would look like some big fcuker was sitting on the box!!!

pukeohontas

believe it or not, the photo you showed was BEFORE shipping, not after
Doesn't bode well, does it......

Voodu Child

Interesting pics...

I would say its definitely possible that it occurred during shipping. The neck looks to be supported (in the case) just above the 12th fret in those pics, and the damage seems to be concentrated right at the 12th fret (with a little less damage either side).

I would say there were a few heavy boxes stacked on top of the guitar, and in the flight (or road transport) they vibrated up and down a few times on the case (or even just when they were thrown on top). Because of the way the neck is supported (ie badly), all the weight would have come down at that point, and pinched the string against the fret.

Its impossible to know without seeing close-ups before, but I wouldn't say its at all far-fetched that the damage occured during shipping.

DeadSkin

pukeohontas wrote: »

believe it or not, the photo you showed was BEFORE shipping, not after

Oh I know yeah

Out of curiosity was there a 'fragile' sticker of somethin' on the outer packaging, not that'd probably matter.
Just a bummer dude, hope ya get it all sorted.

pukeohontas

now chris tells me if it's higher than $100, shipping insurance wont cover it. I'm just loving this the more I hear. I don't think I'll ship from abroad again. This is not good. :mad:
I'm not sure how to approach this. I'll get a quote I suppose, and lead from there.

Thanks again everyone for inputs. The prize goes to ......

Originally posted by Johnny Storm
What you could do is slide some cardboard under the strings, put the guitar in its case and then drop it on its face and see if the strings have made a big impression in the cardboard in the same area where the frets are damaged. I wouldn't do it though Maybe just press on the outside of the case over the strings?

I don't think I'll try this, but sounds scientifically good. I think enough damage has been done already.

Pukey

Voodu Child

pukeohontas wrote: »

now chris tells me if it's higher than $100, shipping insurance wont cover it. I'm just loving this the more I hear.

Something seriously wrong here... I havent dealt with Chris and don't know his policies in relation to shipping, but if the above quote is true, theres a serious breakdown in the system tbh.

A guitar should be fully insured during shipping, and if it's not fully insured, you should be made aware of that beforehand, and if it costs extra you should be given the options, etc etc. Springing a gem like the above quote on you, after the fact, just isn't on, imo.

Personally i make sure myself to check all the shipping details before buying something valueable from abroad, but someone in Chris's line of work should make sure the customer has all the details they need to know, without having to ask.

eoin5

pukeohontas wrote: »

now chris tells me if it's higher than $100, shipping insurance wont cover it.

The dollars arent worth much at the mo but I'd say its not far off covered with that. Either way he does a fair bit of business with the lads on the board here so hed be mad not to sort it out for you fully.

Most of the guitars I see come with greaseproof paper around the strings. It saves the strings from corrosion (sea salt gets everywhere) but it helps stop this kind of problem too. Maybe he could do with buying a roll or two.

Gaspode

pukeohontas wrote: »

I've had a reply from Martin, and he assures me that this has happened in shipping. He says that the guitar fell on it's face during shipping, and that the string caused this wear. What do you think guys, I'm not sure if this could happen over a week.

Thanks,

Pukey.

Hard to see that number of dents on the fret happening in transit tbh.
Mind you I got a parcel from thomann recently and the box was busted open in 2 places, so maybe its possible however unlikely.

Johnny Storm

pukeohontas wrote: »

The prize goes to ......

I don't think I'll try this, but sounds scientifically good. I think enough damage has been done already.

yeah! I'm full of ....eh.... great ideas! Sorry, I posted that before I saw your post about "there was some bubble wrap on the body itself to stop it moving around".
It still looks to me from the photo of the inside of the case that pressure to the front of the case could be passed onto the strings around the 12th fret like voodoo_child said.

It looks like the gouges are not too deep so hopefully a competent luthier can sort it out not too expensively. Chris's attitude seems disappointing given his previous reputation.
Best of luck with it and I'm sure that if you get a good tech on the job you'll be enjoying that guitar very shortly.

Red Sleeping Beauty

i wouldnt buy a guitar from soneone who has this on their front page :

In support of our troops…


IN WONDERFUL ALBANY, NY, USA



anyway, sorry for yr loss i'll be avoiding this chris fella (unless he comes through for you...)


he probably sent it to you knowing full well that there was issuse but thought that cause it's being shipprf to Ireland he could get away with it!
it's not like u can take him to the small claims court.

pukeohontas

Well, The latest update is that I left the guitar in with KN'B in Maynooth, (who dave travers works with), and in short, it's going to cost me 150 euro for the privledge of repair. Does this sound reasonable to you? He suggested 1-2 fret replaced, and the rest polished, plus setup, strings etc.....???


Pukey

darrenw5094

How much would it cost to get all the frets replaced?
I have genuine Gibson fret wire and i am looking to have them put into my '93 Gibson Les Paul Standard......
Also where would i go......i'm not far from Carrickmcross which was mentioned in an earlier thread...

DeadSkin

pukeohontas wrote: »

Well, The latest update is that I left the guitar in with KN'B in Maynooth, (who dave travers works with), and in short, it's going to cost me 150 euro for the privledge of repair. Does this sound reasonable to you? He suggested 1-2 fret replaced, and the rest polished, plus setup, strings etc.....???


Pukey

Has Chris offered you anything towards repair?

pukeohontas

I've sent an email. Only sent yesterday, so I'll keep you posted. He mentioned before meeting me on repair cost, so I'll assume he's a stand up guy.

Pukey.