Buc McMaster Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Took lunch hour to run to the guitar shop to pickup my J45TV. Had a new nut and saddle of an unmentionable material installed, having ordered blanks for both from Mr Colosi. The nut and saddle job are top notch and the tone is excellent! He did a perfect job of compensating the saddle for each string. I've had the blanks since before Christmas but finally pulled the trigger last week. However, there is bad news. The finish is bubbling/blistering on the back! WTF?! Not a good development at all. I cannot blame this on the luthier with any certainty but it was not there when I left the guitar with him. I will trek to the shop where I bought the guitar this weekend and inquire about a warranty remedy. Such is life....... Pardon the less than good photos from the iPhone, but I think you can see the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ol fred Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I feel your pain Buc. Looks like measles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I feel your pain Buc. Looks like measles Chicken pox, to me. That's really strange! I usually think of that as looking like bonding failure bewteen coats, like you might get from surface contamination or a contaminated spray gun.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gijs Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Contact with soft plastic surface? Maybe it can be buffed out quite easilly. Let's hope so! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 . Sorry to see that Buc. Another possibility - the area was exposed to a heat source which warmed up the wood to the point it off gassed under the finish, resulting in the bubbles. Hope it's turns out to be an easy fix. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Looks to me like he has put the guitar on a bench where something had been spilled previously? BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morkolo Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Good luck Buc, hopefully you'll have it back in order in no time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Yeah, pretty much sucks. If the shop did do this damage with heat from some source and did not admit it up front I don't hold much hope of the owner admitting it under pressure. He is a Gibson authorized repair shop and I have traded with him in the past and gotten excellent results. Not too happy about this. I'll take it to the point of purchase and get an opinion from their Gibson authorized guy........ This may not end well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Dang! That does pretty much suck. It will be interesting to hear how this shakes out. How does it sound? Is it an amazing difference or just subtle? Did you have new pins as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Taking the guitar in through the door without – then back out with blisters, speaks a universal language. Though 'clumsy' and uncomfortable you have to ask him if he has a radiator, heater or heating-tool somewhere. No matter the answer a serious dialog must take place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I think you've got a very reasonable question here, and plausible action. http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1823 Just have to be prepared to find a lawyer that is a guitar player. Is there anything in the case that could have done this, is there any tell-tale odor or discoloration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby b Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 It sure looks like some sort of blistering due to contact with vinyl or something similar that was 'off gassing' into the lacquer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyReb Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 . Sorry to see that Buc. Another possibility - the area was exposed to a heat source which warmed up the wood to the point it off gassed under the finish, resulting in the bubbles. Hope it's turns out to be an easy fix. . This would be my guess as well. Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchristo Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 sorry to hear about that finish, I hope your shop fixes it......it looks like a heat issue from the pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Yeah, pretty much sucks. If the shop did do this damage with heat from some source and did not admit it up front I don't hold much hope of the owner admitting it under pressure. He is a Gibson authorized repair shop and I have traded with him in the past and gotten excellent results. Not too happy about this. I'll take it to the point of purchase and get an opinion from their Gibson authorized guy........ This may not end well. Chances of getting it fixed look pretty good to me. Either Gibson, or authorized Gibson facility. Either it is a defective guitar, or it was damaged. Both parties are present here. I would take it back to him. (does he even know?). He then judges if it is defective of damage caused by whatever. He can send it back, or fix it himself. If he chooses to go the Gibson route, they either agree to fix it or he is holding the paper that says it is his fault. I wouldn't jump to conclusions. I don't think anyone knows what is the cause yet. And besides, why assume the repair guy isn't an honest guy who would step up if he made a mistake? At least give him a chance to make right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Just have to be prepared to find a lawyer that is a guitar player. And it will end up costing you ten times what the repair itself would run. It does look like some kind of comminicable guitar grunge. If the shop is run by good folks or at least folks who would like to keep your business, they will take you at your word and make it right. If not and if it were me it would be bye bye ye olde guitar shop. Anyway, I do wish you luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfox14 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Oh, no!! Can't believe my eyes. Looks like your guitar had an allergic reaction to something and broke out in hives. What a bummer dude. Hope you can get it fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greatwhite_10 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Bummer Buc. You have some good advice from the crew here and all our wishes for a satisfactory outcome. Let us all know how this shakes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerBuckeye Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Bummer Buc. You have some good advice from the crew here and all our wishes for a satisfactory outcome. Let us all know how this shakes out. It does look like it could be from a heat source. I'd be looking at the underlying braces to see if they may have loosened. Enough heat to damage the finish like that may well have caused a brace to lose adhesion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted April 1, 2012 Author Share Posted April 1, 2012 I think I may have figured out how this happened......... First of all, another thing I did not mention is the fact that the luthier took it upon himself to buff out the top of the TV finish to a high gloss! Wow. Just the top, not the back & sides. Why did he do this? He had no immediate explanation but I think I've figured it out. In this photo you can see several scratches and one large gouge in the top near the pickguard. I, like some others with J45TV models, wanted to move the pickguard outside the rosette and since it was at the shop for a nut/saddle job I figured it was as good a time as any to have that done. When I called to ask if the guitar was ready for pickup I was told there were some scratches on the top of my guitar as is someone had tried to pry up the guard. Umm......that would be you. The mark on the upper left is actually a pretty deep gouge. The finish is unbroken but the wood is obviously damaged and I know to a certainty it was not this way when I left it with the luthier. Then there's the blistering of the finish on the back. I have taken the instrument to three different respected retailers in town and all three say the damage is the result of heat applied to the finish. Hmmm. But how and why? Looking inside the guitar you can see three little balls of the residue of removing the pickguard adhesive and some substance that has leached from them into the back wood. In the second photo there is some of the same substance on either side of the back center strip. So putting all this damage and evidence left behind here's what I think happened. The pickguard was removed as requested and some unknown tool was dropped on the top or poorly handled in this process. The job of cleaning off the old adhesive was done sloppily, leaving some unknown quantity of the removal agent inside the guitar on the back, at which point a hair dryer/heat gun was used through the soundhole in an attempt to evaporate the removal agent, heating the back of the guitar from the inside and raising blisters on the finish. There are also now the scratches and gouges on the top from the careless handling of some tool, so the attempted remedy is buffing the offended area. Uh oh. The scratches are still there and now we have a shiny, high gloss spot on this matte finish top! Solution? Buff out the entire top to try and hide the damage. This guy should never be allowed to touch another guitar, ever. I asked him about all these points when I was in his shop to pick up the guitar last week. He disavowed any knowledge of the source/cause of any of the damage. There were three other customers in his shop at the time and I decided not to make a major scene at that time in front of some of his other clients. At the time I was under the gun to get back to the office and I had not the time to put together the how and the why of what I was looking at. After further pondering of the apparent damage to my guitar, I sent the owner/luthier an email detailing my displeasure and he has yet to respond at all. As much as being dismayed with the damage to my instrument, I am very disheartened to learn that the guy I have known for many years is not the stand-up man I thought he was. He acknowledges no part in any of the obvious damage done to this guitar. And he is a Gibson factory authorized service shop. I think at the least he should be stripped of this status.........this is not how Gibson wants to be represented in the marketplace. As for a remedy, I will send the guitar to Bozeman for repair at whatever the cost may be. I do love the thing and though the damage is all cosmetic, the manner in which it was incurred grates on my sensibilities. I need it restored to it's original condition so I can be the one to inflict any future damage, not a Gibson authorized repairman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Good Gawd Buc! What a nightmare scenario. I think you or me could have done the work needed without inflicting half of that damage. That is scary to think that he is an "authorised Gibson repair" dealer! What a freaken' mess.... Some days it pays to stay home and play! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchristo Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 sorry to hear about your bad fortune Buc, but at the very least, I would report that guy to Gibson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gijs Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 I can feel what you go through right now, as I have had a similar experience with my Hummingbird. That case eventually resulted in my beloved instrument being replaced with a new one. So I understand situations like this. Best of luck with the repair and hopefully you will get a decent answer from the repair guy. That helped for me. Killing a guitar is one thing, but not acknowledging you did is just not acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanCarlosVejar Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 wow I'm glad you are sending it to bozeman . that is a wonderful instrument and that "luthier" is a jerk !!! man it pains me to see those photos . is it a one man shop or are people helping him out ? the people at Bozeman will restore it to it's original glory :) and I would do the same .I think that guitar is priceless. JC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spot Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 So sorry Buc..... Can we get the Luthiers name Buc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.