French polish on a rosewood fingerboard - plus bonus aggression!

Trude

Hi folks

I'm currently having an issue with a setup from a shop local to me.  Overall it feels nasty, the frets are grubby and not smooth, generally not a nice feel.  I've spoken to the guy, and he mentioned that if could be residue from "French polish" he used on the fingerboard....

I've never heard of French polish being used on a fingerboard, and Googling it doesn't offer any examples except for a thread with people advising against it. 

I'll be continuing the discussion with the guy later today, but before that I thought I'd ask the forum gurus here what they think!  

munckee

Can I ask which shop, you're pretty close to me!

Trude

@munckee - I'll inbox you.  They still have a chance to put it right so I don't want to start bad-mouthing them publicly before we've reached some kind of conclusion.

WezV

French polish would be an odd choice, but should still be compatible with rosewood

I assume he means a wipe down with a bottle of pre-mixed "french polish", rather than a proper french polish finish, which is as much about the process as it is the material used.  You would struggle to do the french polish process on a fretted board.


If it is a pre-mixed bottle, it likely has other additives to increase shelf life which may be causing the issue.

SteveRobinson

Does he mean shellac? I don't know why he'd apply that to a fretboard.

Trude

Just got a reply - Coloron apparently.  Anyone heard of it?

Trude

I have a feeling he means this:

https://www.colron.co.uk/products/maintenance/french-polish/

WezV

its not an appropriate choice, but it shouldn't have done any harm either.  You should be able to clean it off with meths, alcohol, naptha etc.... whatever is safest for the lacquer on the rest of the instrument

Trude

Thanks @WezV, that's good to know.  

In other bizarre news, having texted him to clarify the exact product used I just got a very aggressive phone call from the shop's other co-owner in which he essentially told me I was harassing him, I'm wrong to complain, have "no leg to stand on", that I am a prick and if I ever cross his path he'll basically assault me.  Oh, and also Guild guitars are "a pile of shit".  Yeah, really.  For complaining about a guitar setup, and asking about what products they used.

Oh, they also "set up" a bass for me which still buzzes uncontrollably.  They're in denial about that too.

I'm going to wait and see if the original guy gets back to me - I daren't text him again in case his mate turns up at my door with a sledge-hammer....

How's everybody else's day going?

RobertW

I think at this point naming the shop wouldn't be totally inappropriate, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't want to take my guitars there.  

munckee

Trude said:

Thanks @WezV, that's good to know.  

In other bizarre news, having texted him to clarify the exact product used I just got a very aggressive phone call from the shop's other co-owner in which he essentially told me I was harassing him, I'm wrong to complain, have "no leg to stand on", that I am a prick and if I ever cross his path he'll basically assault me.  Oh, and also Guild guitars are "a pile of shit".  Yeah, really.  For complaining about a guitar setup, and asking about what products they used.

Oh, they also "set up" a bass for me which still buzzes uncontrollably.  They're in denial about that too.

I'm going to wait and see if the original guy gets back to me - I daren't text him again in case his mate turns up at my door with a sledge-hammer....

How's everybody else's day going?

Wow what a twat. Never using them then. 

Trude

I haven't even mentioned that this was their second attempt at setting up these guitars.  Exactly the same issues were there first time round, and I sent them back (to profuse apologies from owner #1 about his staff, and promises that he would personally do the work this time).

Obviously tempers are hot over there right now (for reasons that still baffle me), so I'm going to give them a day or two of grace before I start thinking about going public with Facebook / Google reviews etc.  In theory owner #1 is still planning to take the guitars back again tomorrow evening but I'm not sure if that will happen (or even if I want it to if I'm honest)

In the meantime I'm happy to disclose the shop name via DM to anyone who wants to know.  This is in the Fareham/Portsmouth area BTW.

poopot

Tbh not sure why anyone in their right mind would apply shellac to a rosewood fretboard!...

is it a guitar shop or a furniture restorers you took it to?

also, name them... they sound like a bunch of cowboys!...

edit*** and post pics of the guitar they have worked on!.

Trude

Photos.  Quite hard to focus this close up, but do these frets look like they've just had a £65 setup to you?

Winny_Pooh

AFAIK fretwork is not part of a normal setup, for a setup I'd expect: intonation, neck relief, action & pickup adjustment. If you want the frets smoother buy a Crimson fret rubber for an occasional polish.

Trude

Winny_Pooh said:

AFAIK fretwork is not part of a normal setup, for a setup I'd expect: intonation, neck relief, action & pickup adjustment. If you want the frets smoother buy a Crimson fret rubber for an occasional polish.

I don't know - this is the first setup I've had where the frets ended up feeling gritty. He did say they had been polished, though I suspect now this meant they got covered in this Colron polish stuff and not rubbed off properly  afterwards.
I think one of those Crimson fret rubbers may be in my future - thanks for the tip!

munckee

At the shop I mentioned to you earlier I paid £35 for a set up. It didn’t need any fret work but they lemon oiled the fingerboard and there was nothing gritty or grimy looking like those frets. 

chotu495

Were you wearing the MAGA hat when you dropped it off? 

I’d be finding a better place to take my guitars. Have you asked around on here, hopefully there will be a couple of decent options.

Trude

chotu495 said:

Were you wearing the MAGA hat when you dropped it off? 

I’d be finding a better place to take my guitars. Have you asked around on here, hopefully there will be a couple of decent options.

Heh - if you look closely you'll see the hat is modified to say Make Americana Great Again, but I realise it's not the best choice for an avatar right now. Or indeed ever. But no, I was hatless for the whole episode!

Trude

munckee said:

At the shop I mentioned to you earlier I paid £35 for a set up. It didn’t need any fret work but they lemon oiled the fingerboard and there was nothing gritty or grimy looking like those frets. 

Yeah, I just need to make the effort to go down to Southsea next time.  A lesson hard learned.

I just thought I'd give these guys a try as they're a local independent shop/builder who seemed to be worthy of support.  It's weird because all their online reviews are glowing, with people mentioning their friendliness, great repair work etc.  The degree of disconnect between that and my experience is really strange.

PonchoGreg

For a £65 setup I would expect the frets to be polished - they clearly weren't, based on the pics above. And I mean polished with just a bit of wire wool, that literally takes 2mins so there's not even a discussion of it adding billable time.

heck, most workshops I know would charge just £5-10 more for an actual fret skim.

A setup with no attention paid to the frets whatsoever would be closer to £50 in London.