davismanLV
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So have I, Dave! So have I.....
Guitar maker scratched my Guild GAD-50E
- Thread starter ParadiseSeeker
- Start date
adorshki
Reverential Member
I kinda suspect they don't get that kind of attention at GREE. (@ParadiseSeeker: Grand Reward Education & Entertainment is the factory where the GAD line was made. It's a pretty high volume operation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farida_Guitars )
They come with inspection tags but those just show the measured specs of that piece. Doubt they actually tweak 'em much, as long as they're within spec range like action height. And suspect 95% of 'em come through within range.
But hey, anything's possible. When looking at pics again started wondering if maybe it would have better break angle if it was reversed.
WhIle thinking about that, it occured to me your guitar may also qualify for a factory warranty (not for this repair, but for future value of your ownership if ever needed)
Was that discussed during the purchase?
It's possible that the GAD line warranties in Europe weren't assumed by Cordoba. Our member Ralf @SFIV1967 may know, he's mentioned history of the changing brand reps/distributors over there, over the last 10 years.
MacGuild
Member
Condolences, @ParadiseSeeker, that is a gut-wrenching discovery. What a shame. Good luck, there are some great suggestions above, I hope you can get it solved to your satisfaction. It is a beautiful guitar. The scratches are unfortunate but it is still very much a beautiful guitar.
Yep.
Heh. I've done that, too. And more than once, I am pretty sure. Hmmm, the action on this is seriously low now..... Oh!!! Did it on a classical, too; untying strings to get a saddle back in is way tougher than popping bridge pins.
Even having done hundreds of set-ups, you can still drop the ball big time. Once, I purchased a near mint emerald green quilted maple Ovation off of Craigslist, y'know the type with those Autumn-colored maple leaf motifs over the shoulder sound holes. Took it home, gave it the full spa treatment, deep clean, lemon oil, new strings, everything, my goodness it looked gorgeous, tuned it up and, gee, this thing doesn't sound right at all. In fact it sounded awful, just ghastly. Then I realized that I had brainlessly strung the D and G strings backwards. I had strung the guitar EAGDBE and then tuned it up to Standard A440.
Even seasoned professionals can make bad decisions, rookie mistakes. (Although in my case, not being a professional luthier, unexpectedly potent smokeable material may have played a significant role in the stringing mishap.) Nobody has a 100% success rate.
Yep.
Heh. I've done that, too. And more than once, I am pretty sure. Hmmm, the action on this is seriously low now..... Oh!!! Did it on a classical, too; untying strings to get a saddle back in is way tougher than popping bridge pins.
Even having done hundreds of set-ups, you can still drop the ball big time. Once, I purchased a near mint emerald green quilted maple Ovation off of Craigslist, y'know the type with those Autumn-colored maple leaf motifs over the shoulder sound holes. Took it home, gave it the full spa treatment, deep clean, lemon oil, new strings, everything, my goodness it looked gorgeous, tuned it up and, gee, this thing doesn't sound right at all. In fact it sounded awful, just ghastly. Then I realized that I had brainlessly strung the D and G strings backwards. I had strung the guitar EAGDBE and then tuned it up to Standard A440.
Even seasoned professionals can make bad decisions, rookie mistakes. (Although in my case, not being a professional luthier, unexpectedly potent smokeable material may have played a significant role in the stringing mishap.) Nobody has a 100% success rate.
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Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
I hate it when I brainlessly mess a set of strings up by stringing the wrong string, cutting it, oops, it's happened.
My classical I bought from the kid's mom in a parking lot years after he left home had no saddle, strung with steel strings. Can't imagine why he gave up on it. Classical saddles are really thin, lots of grueling hand sanding of a typical bone saddle blank.
My classical I bought from the kid's mom in a parking lot years after he left home had no saddle, strung with steel strings. Can't imagine why he gave up on it. Classical saddles are really thin, lots of grueling hand sanding of a typical bone saddle blank.
SFIV1967
Venerated Member
Difficult topic, usually those warranties do apply for USA only and abroad local warranties apply. I really don't know. And after a luthier worked on it it's hard claiming a factory warranty anyway.
There we have it: "*This warranty applies only to Guild instruments purchased and serviced within the U.S.A. and Canada. Warranties outside these countries are as defined by the authorized Fender/Guild Distributor for your country or region, and may vary from the above in terms and/or length."
Ralf
adorshki
Reverential Member
Yeesh, another "DOH Headslap"moment...yeah, the saddle could have been reversed by the "tech" who adjusted the action...still had Runner6's guitar on the brain that hasn't been worked on yet.
Think I might need to get my meds adjusted again.
DrumBob
Senior Member
I understand your frustration, but you can use some Old English and easily touch up the scratches yourself. If the guitar plays great now, that's what is most important. If you use that luthier again, tell him to please be more careful next time. I know it sounds a bit cruel-and I don't mean to be-but it's a very small issue in the big scheme of things. People are dying from a pandemic virus. You will put more scratches, bruises and bumps on that guitar over time than anyone else.
davismanLV
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adorshki
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davismanLV
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It's not about the finish. It's about getting into the wood or glue joints. But it affects all refinish/repair projects. In case you weren't joking.....
ParadiseSeeker
Junior Member
As I have already written, it was an unspeakable stroke of luck that I bought this guitar from far away, in the middle of the Apulian nowhere, where it stood in a guitar store almost 14 years originally packed in a storage room - although no one knows how it got there.
This GAD-50E was new-old-stock and, in this burst, it’s extremely rare. I love this Guild and I don’t see that I get it back from a professional in any other visual condition than perfect, exactly as I gave it to him. I expect, I demand, that a Luthier treats my property with as much love and care as I do myself - whether we are in a pandemic or not.
If I treated equipment entrusted to me this way, I would have long gone bankrupt in the marketing and film industry. And regarding the pandemic issue, which I don't think is appropriate and didn't even want to comment on:
I’m an investigative journalist in Austria, we are currently at the sad peak of incidence worldwide. Our children are being sacrificed by the government, more and more end up in hospital with severe courses. More and more are dying. But this is not an argumentation that should justify bad, inaccurate, loveless work. I know that there are worse things than this. But there always have been.
I’ve played my first guitar, a Guild GAD M-120E, which I have owned since 2012, every single day for a year. Even my kids. Yet it looks like new and doesn't have a single scratch on it. It's all about the way you treat things.
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i use pure lemon oi; on the fretboard and bridge, but nowhere else.
davismanLV
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What does "pure lemon oil" mean, dread??
DrumBob
Senior Member
Handle it however you wish. It's your guitar, not mine. I gave you a suggestion and you got indignant.
We have a phrase here in the USA: Don't sweat the small stuff. A couple of accidental scratches in your guitar is the small stuff. I'm officially done with this conversation. Good luck.
ParadiseSeeker
Junior Member
We also have a saying here in Austria: It's the little things that make life worth living.
And it's not just a couple of accidental scratches. The entire back is so rubbed off that you can't even speak of glossy varnish anymore in places. This reduces the value considerably. And he even damaged the pins. Even if I were to play in chainmail for a year, I wouldn't be able to make it look like this.
All overstatement aside, I really felt badly, unprofessionally and disrespectfully treated. This person took money for his work. So I guess I can expect the first scratches on a completely new product to come from me - and not from him.
I'm a perfectionist in my work. Nothing less do I expect from others. I am still very fresh in the guitar world, and was very unsure whether my demands and expectations are too high. That was answered in this thread, in my opinion, very well and also very clearly.
Thank you all for your opinions, empathy and tips. I have now found a Luthier who was recommended to me. Supposedly a master of his craft. He has seen the guitar and was as horrified as I was. And he will take care of it. I will keep you updated.
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Tom O
Member
Don feel to bad. My old luthier scratched my 64 J-50. He was certified Gibson repairman and actually assembled a couple of F style mandolins for Gibson in addition to building his own designed Mandolins.. Accidents happen. My repair was free because of it. Rickie Scaggs has one of his mandolins. My new luthier says it may not impact the value to much on this old Gibson since it adds mojo.
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OK, well this is why I get in trouble when I assume things...I use Jim Dunlop Lemon Oil. Silly me, just because it says "Lemon oil" on the bottle, I assumed it was actually lemon oil.
The Great Debate: Is Lemon Oil Safe for Guitar Fretboards?
When people debate whether or not lemon oil is safe for guitar fretboards, the real question is: What exactly do they mean by "lemon oil"?
www.guitaranswerguy.com
davismanLV
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"They contain only a small amount of real lemon oil, and the yellow color comes from artificial coloring. In fact, some contain no real lemon oil at all. Instead, they're just mineral oil or some other other fretboard-safe oils, with lemon scent and yellow coloring added."OK, well this is why I get in trouble when I assume things...I use Jim Dunlop Lemon Oil. Silly me, just because it says "Lemon oil" on the bottle, I assumed it was actually lemon oil.
The Great Debate: Is Lemon Oil Safe for Guitar Fretboards?
When people debate whether or not lemon oil is safe for guitar fretboards, the real question is: What exactly do they mean by "lemon oil"?
I'm not personally a fan of lemon scent. It's okay, but Bore Oil smells like nothing, which is good to me. Also, the Dunlop stuff has artificial color and scent, and while I doubt very much it will do any harm, I don't think it helps anything either. So I'll stick with Bore Oil which I was turned onto by the good men and women of this guitar forum.
bobouz
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Fret Doctor is bore oil. It’s now the only fretboard conditioner that’s allowed through the door at my house, and I’ve tried a bunch of them. F-One (as touted in the linked article) was my favorite until using Fret Doctor, which retains a slightly darker color & does not dry out as quickly. We’ve had this discussion a number of times, but any opportunity to re-pontificate is more than welcome!
I shall be purchasing some Bore oil. Thanks, Tom!