Guitar damaged by shop

ActionArnie · 2012-10-04T08:56:54+00:00

A buddy of mine in Joburg took his guitar in for a setup at his local guitar shop and its come back with a ding on the front. No doubt the shop will maintain...

Guitar damaged by shop

ActionArnie

Reinhard wrote: That sucks man. The problem is even if you prove they did it, how will it be rectified? Chances are a "repair" could turn out to be even more obvious than the ding. Unless they have someone working there with the skill level of Neon Gekko.

What kind of guitar is it? Acoustic, electric? Type of finish?

It's an Epi Les Paul. Not 100% sure of the finish but I think its that ebony black colour.

singemonkey

If he doesn't ask, they certainly won't do anything about it. That's for sure. ?

ActionArnie

singemonkey wrote: If he doesn't ask, they certainly won't do anything about it. That's for sure. ?

true dat

Reinhard

So that would probably be a poly finish. This could be fixed by building up the ding with super glue and leveling it to the surrounding surface afterwards. Seems like a lot of work.

Getting back to your original question, I guess your friend could contact them and see what happens. Even if they don't fix it, maybe they can give a partial refund or something. The likelihood of a satisfactory outcome is probably slim ☹

Neon-Gecko

Generally a polyurethane is used on Epi's and more than enough of it too. As long as the underlying colour hasn't chipped then you can get away with drop filling with a good quality superglue. This normally takes few applications as some superglues tend to shrink during curing.

If the the colour has been damaged then it's a question of trying to match the colour before drop filling, but obviously this depend entirely on the size of the ding as this technique has it's limits.

ActionArnie

Thanks for the replies gents.

What should one do to avoid such a situation? I guess maybe inspecting the guitar with a staff member before the shop takes it to have everyone clear on what the state of the guitar is before they work on it. Is the shop even liable for damage?

AlanRatcliffe

You don't know until you ask. Most shops will try and do something to make you happy, even if it's not a repair (refund, free strings, massive discount on something else you want).

You also have to look at it that working guitars get dinged. The first one is always the worst, but at the end of the day it's not a trainwreck.

exsanguinator

I'd be foaming at the mouth and an ambulance,security or both would be summoned....

reminds me of a couple years ago when I picked up my car from the panelbeaters,
it was late fri arvo,paid and went home,
woke up in the am and saw a 1"fresh gouge to the metal on my boot,
obviously made by a switched off grinder spinning down and possibly bumped over onto the blade or something,
I couldnt believe they never patched it up and said nothing or something.
I had to wait till Mon am to arrive foaming at the mouth..
and nearly lost it completely when they denied it was them...really..
It was around the same back window area they worked on..come on...
It wouldve been front page news if they didnt sort it out....

Elvin

HI . Elvin here. i couldnt introduce myself and my guitars to you yet because im to stupid to find out how and where.
Im just wondering why you have this obsession with Superglue ? Why not use Poly laquer instead . the stuff thats on the guitar already. I use it from a can and spray some into a cap till its thickens enough to do the drop-filling .
cheers

AlanRatcliffe

Elvin wrote: Im just wondering why you have this obsession with Superglue ? Why not use Poly laquer instead . the stuff thats on the guitar already.

Because poly doesn't melt the way nitro and acrylics do. CYA does a better job at blending in than poly does and is thin enough to penetrate hairline cracks and make them all but disappear. Plus it grips the poly better and dries quicker, clearer and harder. Works equally well on all finishes - acrylics, polyester, polyurethane, waterbase and even nitro (althoughit buffs up shinier than nitro, so nitro is still best for nitro repair).

Elvin

do u mean as much or in the same way refering to yhe melting ? ive found the poly blending with the surronding poly finish because it "melts" that finish . It makes a little crater that one fills up later . I make it quite high and then strip sands it even. you casnt see where the mark was after hand-buffing it . For me the only benefit about Suprglue is the quick drying

AlanRatcliffe

Elvin wrote: do u mean as much or in the same way refering to yhe melting ?

I mean at all. The lacquer thinners are a carrier rather than a solvent and poly cures by chemical reaction rather than evaporation, so do not redissolve in the thinners once cured. Poly is completely inert once cured - particularly the catalysed polyurethanes used in guitar manufacturing, so it even laughs at chemical strippers.

Elvin

Im sorry alan . Im new to these things.
I just want to tell you what i do if you still have patience left over.

I take a can of clear laquer from the hardware . then I spray some into the cap of the tin. when it gets abit thicker due to the thinner evaporating I use it to fill up the dent with a toothpic . what happened was that the surrounding area melts with the new filler . so iI leave it to dry and fill more till its making a bulge . from there i just sand it even and it worked on my yamaha Fg 335 and on my Antoria698N.
so leaving out the technicals thats what worked for me .

thanks for the patience

ps .The Antoria is a Super guitar . Do you know of anybody with an antoria in SA ?

AlanRatcliffe

You can safely assume that if your existing finish melts with the new lacquer, it's not a poly finish.

I've never seen the Antoria guitars and don't know anything about them.

Elvin

Hello allen.
Maybe the finish is something other than Poly . both the yama fg335 and Antoria are quite old . dont know what the used in the seventies ??

I cant upload pics here but you can see my Antoria on " Antoriaguitarsite " if you Google Antoria guitars . Its the one in curly maple ,almost gold in color on page 16 or near the end. it says " Very rare antoria Jumbo " or something like that .

Take a look please . the guitar is currently in for a new clearcoat for the top only. and I pray it doesnt affect that amazing sound.

Cheers Elvin