pwrmac7600 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 So after buying my 2 Trad Pro II's about 2 months ago, I decided I wanted to upgrade all of my Les Paul's. My 2 new Trad Pro II's and my 96 LP Standard. So I dropped the first one off today. Getting Graphtech Tusq XL nuts, TonePros locking TOM with Graphtech String Saver saddles, and TonePros locking studs put on all 3 guitars. Very anxious to play the first one when it's done. Tech said he should have it finished by thursday. Pick one up drop another off hopefully on Saturday work prohibiting. Just felt like sharing my excitement in anxiously awaiting the return of Paul number 1. Incase anyone cares about the outcome I will post back once complete. This is the first one to go in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkimo Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Hell ya Bro, Keep the lot of us satisfied. Let us know how they shake out,all things wicked or wild. Good luck. X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Well, got the first one back, sad to say there was a huge problem.....I gave the tech all of the part numbers to order, and when I picked up the guitar I discovered he ordered a metric tonepros bridge, and drilled my les Paul to fit these posts!!!!!! Needless to say I am less than happy about this. Don't get me wrong the guitar plays and sounds amazing, but now the guitar can not be set back to stock if I ever decided to sell it. And I didn't want a metric bridge on my us standard. S now I am trying to figure out what to do. I think my only real option is to make him dowel the holes he drilled and redo it with the correct bridge. I am at a complete loss for words..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 WHY would any competent Luthier/Tech, even think about changing to Metric, from Standard, unless he/she was directed to, by the owner?!! That's inexcusable, IMHO! To make that kind of drastic change (redrilling holes, and/or filling)??? WHY didn't they just reorder the correct bridge, when they noticed the mistake?!! I think your Luthier just bought your guitar! Or SHOULD! Amazing!! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 1406071811[/url]' post='1544177']WHY would any competent Luthier/Tech, even think about changing to Metric, from Standard, unless he/she was directed to, by the owner?!! That's inexcusable, IMHO! To make that kind of drastic change (redrilling holes, and/or filling)??? WHY didn't they just reorder the correct bridge, when they noticed the mistake?!! I think your Luthier just bought your guitar! Or SHOULD! Amazing!! CB I mean at this point it is my only option right? To dowel, sand and re drill? I am so annoyed because I gave him all of the proper part numbers to order all he had to do was copy and paste them when ordering...Needless to say he didn't charge me for the work, but now he is contacting tonepros to see if they can fabricate him bushings that are the same size, but with standard threads to be able to place a us standard Nashville on the guitar, before we go the dowel route.... I am just glad at this point that the first guitar I had him do wasn't my old standard, because I think I would have cried like a little girl if it had been that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Jesus H dude, I don't know where in NJ you are, but please tell me this guys first name wasn't Ernie. And for godsfrigginsake, don't give him any more work to do. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 1406074727[/url]' post='1544202']Jesus H dude, I don't know where in NJ you are, but please tell me this guys first name wasn't Ernie. And for godsfrigginsake, don't give him any more work to do. rct No not Ernie. We are working on a few options, but I think in the end, doweling is going to be my only options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 It is not your only option. That guy should own that guitar right now. He did the work and then he didn't charge you? Sorry bro, this is a serious what the fcuk moment, not a joke wtf. NObody, I sincerely mean nobody cuts up a standard American guitar and puts metric on it. I would not have taken that guitar home with me. But now that you have, if I was you and I'm not, I would be at small claims court tomorrow. It'll take time, it won't be easy, and you won't be a zillionaire, but at least you'll get reimbursed for your guitar, because your guitar is no longer your guitar. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPguitarman Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 REALLY, Some a*#h&@1 drills holes in your Les Paul without telling you because he got the wrong part? I'd be steaming mad, and he would be buying me a new Les Paul exactly like the one he screwed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesBonfire Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Wow! Reading this makes me sick to my stomach! I had to get the nut redone on my Traditional here in Toronto, Long & McQuades sent it to the Yorkville (Canada's Gibson Distributor) Custom Shop, and I still felt on easy because of that! How does a mistake like this happen? I never even knew there was metric or standard when it came to guitar parts? Nuts, bolts and screws sure...but how is this even possible? I'd also be leaving that guitar with the tech and taking him to court to figure something out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 You see here's the thing. I have had loads of work done by him on all of my guitars. The guy really does do extremely solid work, and even on this job the works he did do was great work, the guitar plays like a dream. He is the tech at a local big box which will remain nameless for now. and I know most people say don't use the big box tech for work, they don't know what they are doing. BUT as I stated he does do amazing work. I purchased this guitar, along with another 2 weeks apart from each other from this "Big Box Retailer". With that being said, I have proposed to them what i feel is a fair solution to what is clearly there mistake. which is as follows. This is the email I sent to him at about 1 am this morning while hopped up on Vicodin from getting 5 teeth pulled yesterday, lol I am trying to take a professional approach to this first, If they do not agree to this solution, which I feel I am being extremely forgiving on, then I will have to get ugly about it. "Firstly I want to say, I appreciate the apology, and there is no questioning the quality of your work. All of the work I have had done by you has been excellent work. With that being said, this has been on my mind since I saw you today and I can not get past the point that my guitar is no longer "my guitar", and any future resale value has been killed on this guitar due to the inability to be able to return the guitar to it's stock form, which was my intention when ordering the specific bridge that I had asked for to be ordered. In addition to that this was not, in the end, what I was looking to have done to my guitar. So, after thinking about this all night, and speaking with some guitar player friends of mine, I have come up with a solution that I feel is very fair, and would leave myself and "Big Box Retailer" walking away with minimal loss. So I would appreciate if you would take this solution to the store management and let's not see if we can work out a solution that allows everyone to walk away from this situation happy and with minimal loss. The solution I am proposing is this; 1. "Big Box Retailer" orders another NEW Traditional Pro II in Vintage burst into your store. 2. I will eat the cost of purchasing another Tonepros bridge model T3BP, and a new Graphtech Tusq XL nut 3. When the guitar arrives we swap the tailpiece locking studs, the Burstbucker 3 and the Graphtech saddles off of my guitar onto the new one. 4. We put the stock tailpiece studs and saddles that were removed from the tone pros bridge onto my guitar. 5. "Big Box Retailer" keeps my Les Paul, for resale, and I pay for installation of all new parts onto the new Les Paul. Each side will end up taking some kind of monetary loss in the deal, but I think my offer is being extremely fair, especially being that the guitar is only 2 months old, and considering the amount of money I have spent there over a very short period of time. Again I want to say, I really like your work, it has all been top notch, I really like working with you, I really like shopping at your "Big Box Retailer" location because everyone I have dealt with has been out standing with customer service. From the reaction of my fellow Les Paul playing friends, I feel I am trying to handle this all in a very calm and peaceful manner, but in the end I feel a mistake was made on "Big Box Retailers" end that "Big Box Retailer" needs to rectify, and in the end, as I stated I feel what I am proposing is a fair solution. Please speak with whomever it is you would need to speak with about this and let me know where we stand with my offer of a solution." In the end I have an entire chain of emails back and forth between him and I outlining exactly which parts i needed him to order, and what i was looking to have done with the guitar, so in the end I have enough to go to court and win because I have clear evidence this was their mistake. i even have an email from him apologizing to me and admitting this was his mistake. Like I said, I want to try and handle professionally first, if that doesn't work, I will then go to "Big Box" Corp, and if that doesn't work I will then go to court. I will keep you updated as to what their response is to my proposed solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Wow! Reading this makes me sick to my stomach! I had to get the nut redone on my Traditional here in Toronto, Long & McQuades sent it to the Yorkville (Canada's Gibson Distributor) Custom Shop, and I still felt on easy because of that! How does a mistake like this happen? I never even knew there was metric or standard when it came to guitar parts? Nuts, bolts and screws sure...but how is this even possible? I'd also be leaving that guitar with the tech and taking him to court to figure something out! Yes metric part are for Epi's, Esp, Etc.. Non US made Guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Mistakes like this are why you shouldn't use the techs at the Guitar Centers of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Get around the tech. Go to the store manager. If possible, go to the district manager if you can get his/her email. There's only a couple big boxes around here, both are the same when it comes to this stuff. The managers will do something for you if they possibly can. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Sutherland Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Man, I'm sorry you are going through this... the elation from the first post to the despair in the latter posts. Not to mention some dental work on the side... I really hope this works out, and I'm sure this tech has done some good work, but at a minimum he should have notified you when he ordered the wrong part and he definitely should have notified you before drilling into your guitar. No point crying over spilled milk at this point, but I hope you are able to find another luthier to do the work on your other guitars. Good luck getting this resolved to your liking, what you are offering is (in my opinion) more than fair, all things considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPguitarman Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 So, if I understand correctly, you haven't paid for anything yet. Your deal offer seems fair as long as your total costs for parts and labor does not exceed what you originally agreed to pay, and they do the work on a completely new, exact model, Les Paul. You should not have to pay any more for their mistake. The only negative that may come out of this is no two LP's are exactly the same , wood, top grade(flame), tone, weight, etc... I hope the new one you get is as good or better than the original. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 1406156932[/url]' post='1544610']I am willing to be they will tell you no f-ing way and you will end up going to court. Was the part number you told him to order a mistake or did you give him that part number? I gave him the correct part number, they ordered the wrong part. I have the emails to prove it as well as all of my instructions as the what I wanted done with my guitars. And in addition like I said an apology email from him admitting it was their mistake. So we shall see, he said he spoke with the sales manager and she wants to sit with the store manager and possibly the regional manager to see if they will accept my proposal. If they order me a new guitar, and take my current one that they screwed up on and resell it, they will regain probably pretty close to their cost on what they get les Paul's for, so we shall see, he said it may take a day or two to get back to me, so like I said I am trying to be nice right now, I will give them a chance to do the right thing before I get nasty. The reality is the parts I requested to be ordered from tonepros were direct drop in part, that would have threaded directly into the gibson posts, the only part I ordered that required real work was the install of the tush nut, which did come out perfect. I just figured since he was installing the nut I would just have him drop in the rest of the parts at the same time. In hindsight I should have had him just do the nuts, and installed the bridge and saddles myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 So, if I understand correctly, you haven't paid for anything yet. Your deal offer seems fair as long as your total costs for parts and labor does not exceed what you originally agreed to pay, and they do the work on a completely new, exact model, Les Paul. You should not have to pay any more for their mistake. The only negative that may come out of this is no two LP's are exactly the same , wood, top grade(flame), tone, weight, etc... I hope the new one you get is as good or better than the original. Good Luck. Believe me, i know, and this is going to be my biggest worry in them replacing the guitar, because this one really does play AMAZING, even with the metric bridge, this one has a perfect neck, and the action is so unbelievable. I Love everything about this guitar other than the fact hat it now has a metric bridge. All i can really do is keep my fingers crossed that the replacement plays and feels as perfect as this one does. Because this one practically plays itself. i am just so glad that it was one of the new ones I started with, because had this been my older Les Paul Standard, I would be reacting much differently than I am now, that guitar is irreplaceable to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Well in waiting for my local store to get back to me while they are bumping this issue up, I decided to email Big Box Corp with the entire story and my solution to fix the problem. I also added in the end, that I am not trying to be threatening, but that I am fully prepared to go to court if they are unwilling to do what I am asking of them, because I feel that what I am asking is more than a fair and forgiving solution on my part. So we shall see, we shall see...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 On the bright side, I do have to say the TonePros bridge, Graph Tech nut, and saddles are amazing, and I cant wait to get them installed on all of my les pauls. lol the guitar really resonates ow, i can feel the tone much more throughout the body of the guitar, and it sounds killer plugged in, amazing sustain, and tonality. Sorry just needed to give myself something positive to think about in this situation that otherwise makes me want to scream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Sutherland Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Believe me, i know, and this is going to be my biggest worry in them replacing the guitar, because this one really does play AMAZING, even with the metric bridge, this one has a perfect neck, and the action is so unbelievable. I Love everything about this guitar other than the fact hat it now has a metric bridge. All i can really do is keep my fingers crossed that the replacement plays and feels as perfect as this one does. Because this one practically plays itself. i am just so glad that it was one of the new ones I started with, because had this been my older Les Paul Standard, I would be reacting much differently than I am now, that guitar is irreplaceable to me. I guess it bodes well for your other two guitars that you are so satisfied with the modifications, and I would normally say that if you are happy with it, who cares what hardware was installed. But as you mentioned, you will never be able to fully return this guitar to its original stock state. It's not like they dropped in the wrong pickup or something... they did major reconstructive surgery to your guitar without your prior authorization. I do hope you are able to get this resolved to your satisfaction. Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Well just heard back from the tech, he said the store manager absolutely agrees with my options to fix this, and she is ordering me a new guitar today and they should have it by this weekend!!!! Now let's keep my fingers crossed that It plays just as nice as this one.... I am so releaved that j didn't have to get ugly about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Sutherland Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Well just heard back from the tech, he said the store manager absolutely agrees with my options to fix this, and she is ordering me a new guitar today and they should have it by this weekend!!!! Now let's keep my fingers crossed that It plays just as nice as this one.... I am so releaved that j didn't have to get ugly about it. That's awesome news, congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPguitarman Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Well just heard back from the tech, he said the store manager absolutely agrees with my options to fix this, and she is ordering me a new guitar today and they should have it by this weekend!!!! Now let's keep my fingers crossed that It plays just as nice as this one.... I am so releaved that j didn't have to get ugly about it. Congrats on the upcoming NGD. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrmac7600 Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 I am so relieved that they agreed without me having to fight with them about it. I really was expecting resistance. Now I just need to order a new tonepros and nut, and I will be good to go. Now my excitement has returned, and I will keep you all updated on each of them as I get them back. I still have faith in the tech because as I said I have been using him for a while and he always does spectacular work for me, other than this one incident. And since they are doing the right thing I will keep my faith in them. I am loyal to people who do the right thing, and own their mistakes. I respect that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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