Anyone had a set up from J White Guitars in Ash Vale?

EduardoFalicioni · June 12

Philly_Q said:

EduardoFalicioni said:

In my profession; we always say that you’re only as good as your last job

Hitman?

Sadly none of my music charted ;o)

Offset · June 12

Philly_Q said:

EduardoFalicioni said:

In my profession; we always say that you’re only as good as your last job

Hitman?

...And Her?

HAL9000 · June 12

Sporky said:

Small claims goes up to £10k I believe.

So two claims, one for each guitar, could potentially cover their value?

victorludorum · June 12

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

EduardoFalicioni said:

In my profession; we always say that you’re only as good as your last job

Hitman?

...And Her?

Michaela Strachan?

Brio · June 12

If i was Eduardo I'd consider sending a link to this thread to Fender so they can see how a loyal customer has been crapped on by a "luthier" and the support he has received in the community.

EduardoFalicioni · June 12

Brio said:

If i was Eduardo I'd consider sending a link to this thread to Fender so they can see how a loyal customer has been crapped on by a "luthier" and the support he has received in the community.

I know master builder Jason smith though a mutual friend, but fender corp cannot and will not help with any non warranty issues and he, whilst very sympathetic confirmed this

digitalscream · June 13

Thread reopened - with the more pitchfork-y stuff removed.

Remember, folks, this is about resolving a problem and not actively attempting to victimise the business in question. If it goes that way again, this thread will be permanently closed...but we'd really rather not do that, so please keep such thoughts to yourselves.

SPECTRUM001 · June 13

Just read this - what a horrendous experience @EduardoFalicioni, you certainly have my sympathy.

It does highlight the latent risks present once we are no longer in control of events/possessions etc. Also the dilemma of "shall I do it myself and possibly bodge it ?" or "shall I give it to someone else who may bodge it ?".

Both overtly negative starting points, and why it is worth only dealing with third parties who are 100% on the money (a few trusted names have already been mentioned above).

Don't give up hope though.

My similar experience (albeit a fraction of yours) came when I took my guitar to a long established tech on Denmark St. Who irretrievably damaged parts, screwed up the wiring, removed Pots and ultimately left it with electrics issues. @ICBM was kind enough to school me on what needed fixing and I took it to Stairway to Kevin who sorted out as much as was possible (note - Kevin shook his head in disbelief when he removed the guard and saw the mess).

FWIW, I decided not to name and shame, as it was during Covid, and everyone can have a bad time and be off their game.

However I felt that my Number One was tainted and could never be as "factory perfect" as what it was. Happily, that changed with some new pickups and sending it off to @WezV who gave it a full redux (and then some). It is now a little different to when it was stock new, but actually has realised its potential and back as my favourite guitar. It also proved to me that I was able to move with the (emotional) changes. As for financial losses - it was (only) a couple of hundred pounds, which I mentally wrote off as part of my learning curve.

I am pretty sure if you took the issues to a company such as Feline they would be able to address the damage, and return the guitars to you with inspiration. One thing I wouldn't do (YMMV) is take it back to the guys that caused the problems...

Wishing you all the best with this.

digitalscream · June 13

SPECTRUM001 said:

It does highlight the latent risks present once we are no longer in control of events/possessions etc. Also the dilemma of "shall I do it myself and possibly bodge it ?" or "shall I give it to someone else who may bodge it ?".

Just as a point here - the deciding factor for me, when faced with that choice, is "Is the risk enough to have somebody with liability insurance and legally-enforceable responsibilities take care of it instead?".

OilCityPickups · June 13

digitalscream said:

SPECTRUM001 said:

It does highlight the latent risks present once we are no longer in control of events/possessions etc. Also the dilemma of "shall I do it myself and possibly bodge it ?" or "shall I give it to someone else who may bodge it ?".

Just as a point here - the deciding factor for me, when faced with that choice, is "Is the risk enough to have somebody with liability insurance and legally-enforceable responsibilities take care of it instead?".

'Do I sit here with a mirror, a packet of codeine and a few common kitchen implements and take out my appendix ... or go to a hospital?' You mean :-)
Well the doctor may be a cowboy, but at least he's a cowboy I can sue if he accidentally staples my spleen to my knee ...

BillDL · June 13

OilCityPickups said:

'Do I sit here with a mirror, a packet of codeine and a few common kitchen implements and take out my appendix ... or go to a hospital?' You mean :-)
Well the doctor may be a cowboy, but at least he's a cowboy I can sue if he accidentally staples my spleen to my knee ...

Easily enough sorted at home with some codeine and a common office implement

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/e2097296398b372d624a687011f5ae64b499ee8bed83a42e7b

sev112 · June 13

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

EduardoFalicioni said:

In my profession; we always say that you’re only as good as your last job

Hitman?

...And Her?

Female/Hitwoman on the front page of the Times today in fact ! Not a very good one it turns out

SPECTRUM001 · June 13

OilCityPickups said:

digitalscream said:

SPECTRUM001 said:

It does highlight the latent risks present once we are no longer in control of events/possessions etc. Also the dilemma of "shall I do it myself and possibly bodge it ?" or "shall I give it to someone else who may bodge it ?".

Just as a point here - the deciding factor for me, when faced with that choice, is "Is the risk enough to have somebody with liability insurance and legally-enforceable responsibilities take care of it instead?".

'Do I sit here with a mirror, a packet of codeine and a few common kitchen implements and take out my appendix ... or go to a hospital?' You mean :-)
Well the doctor may be a cowboy, but at least he's a cowboy I can sue if he accidentally staples my spleen to my knee ...

Well...slight derail, but oddly relevant - Upon my being admitted to Homerton Hospital at midnight with chest pains -

Doctor - where's Mrs001 ?
Me - in Brighton on a training course
Doctor - you need to call her and get her here immediately
Me - It's 2am, what's going on ? I am not disturbing her without more information
Doctor - we have very serious concerns you are gravely ill. You need to call her now and get her here
Me - there's no way I am waking her up without more information
Doctor - well, we cannot make you call her, but we will repeat our test at 4am
Me - ok

7am

Head Consultant - what are you doing here ?
Me - er...waiting to die ?
Head Consultant - you can go home
Me - what ? your Doctor told me you had serious concerns and I needed to get my wife here
Head Consultant - you are fine - he read the chart wrong
Me - really ? how do I know that you are not reading it wrong and I only have minutes to live
Head Consultant - darling, I have been doing this a long time. go home - we need the bed for someone who is really dying

sev112 · June 13

SPECTRUM001 said:

OilCityPickups said:

digitalscream said:

SPECTRUM001 said:

It does highlight the latent risks present once we are no longer in control of events/possessions etc. Also the dilemma of "shall I do it myself and possibly bodge it ?" or "shall I give it to someone else who may bodge it ?".

Just as a point here - the deciding factor for me, when faced with that choice, is "Is the risk enough to have somebody with liability insurance and legally-enforceable responsibilities take care of it instead?".

'Do I sit here with a mirror, a packet of codeine and a few common kitchen implements and take out my appendix ... or go to a hospital?' You mean :-)
Well the doctor may be a cowboy, but at least he's a cowboy I can sue if he accidentally staples my spleen to my knee ...

Well...slight derail, but oddly relevant - Upon my being admitted to Homerton Hospital at midnight with chest pains -

Doctor - where's Mrs001 ?
Me - in Brighton on a training course
Doctor - you need to call her and get her here immediately
Me - It's 2am, what's going on ? I am not disturbing her without more information
Doctor - we have very serious concerns you are gravely ill. You need to call her now and get her here
Me - there's no way I am waking her up without more information
Doctor - well, we cannot make you call her, but we will repeat our test at 4am
Me - ok

7am

Head Consultant - what are you doing here ?
Me - er...waiting to die ?
Head Consultant - you can go home
Me - what ? your Doctor told me you had serious concerns and I needed to get my wife here
Head Consultant - you are fine - he read the chart wrong
Me - really ? how do I know that you are not reading it wrong and I only have minutes to live
Head Consultant - darling, I have been doing this a long time. go home - we need the bed for someone who is really dying

And how has the rest of the day been ?

digitalscream · June 13

SPECTRUM001 said:

Well...slight derail, but oddly relevant - Upon my being admitted to Homerton Hospital at midnight with chest pains -

Doctor - where's Mrs001 ?
Me - in Brighton on a training course
Doctor - you need to call her and get her here immediately
Me - It's 2am, what's going on ? I am not disturbing her without more information
Doctor - we have very serious concerns you are gravely ill. You need to call her now and get her here
Me - there's no way I am waking her up without more information
Doctor - well, we cannot make you call her, but we will repeat our test at 4am
Me - ok

7am

Head Consultant - what are you doing here ?
Me - er...waiting to die ?
Head Consultant - you can go home
Me - what ? your Doctor told me you had serious concerns and I needed to get my wife here
Head Consultant - you are fine - he read the chart wrong
Me - really ? how do I know that you are not reading it wrong and I only have minutes to live
Head Consultant - darling, I have been doing this a long time. go home - we need the bed for someone who is really dying

To be fair, that's better than what happened when I went into hospital with severe chest pains.

Which is to say, they left me (along with 12 other people) sitting there waiting to be seen from 11:30pm until 9:30am the next day, at which point they had a shift change and palmed us off on another department that actually had doctors present.

Oddly enough, it wasn't even anywhere near Surrey.

OilCityPickups · June 13

digitalscream said:

SPECTRUM001 said:

Well...slight derail, but oddly relevant - Upon my being admitted to Homerton Hospital at midnight with chest pains -

Doctor - where's Mrs001 ?
Me - in Brighton on a training course
Doctor - you need to call her and get her here immediately
Me - It's 2am, what's going on ? I am not disturbing her without more information
Doctor - we have very serious concerns you are gravely ill. You need to call her now and get her here
Me - there's no way I am waking her up without more information
Doctor - well, we cannot make you call her, but we will repeat our test at 4am
Me - ok

7am

Head Consultant - what are you doing here ?
Me - er...waiting to die ?
Head Consultant - you can go home
Me - what ? your Doctor told me you had serious concerns and I needed to get my wife here
Head Consultant - you are fine - he read the chart wrong
Me - really ? how do I know that you are not reading it wrong and I only have minutes to live
Head Consultant - darling, I have been doing this a long time. go home - we need the bed for someone who is really dying

To be fair, that's better than what happened when I went into hospital with severe chest pains.

Which is to say, they left me (along with 12 other people) sitting there waiting to be seen from 11:30pm until 9:30am the next day, at which point they had a shift change and palmed us off on another department that actually had doctors present.

Oddly enough, it wasn't even anywhere near Surrey.

That's nowt .... when my wife and I used the same doctor ... I went to collect my asthma prescription and found he'd put me on the pill!
While my Mrs had inhalers to spare!!!

EduardoFalicioni · June 13

The lovely master builder at Fender Custom Shop said this to me on text today:

“I just can't believe somebody would take on a job like that without knowing what they're doing and do such crap work and expect you to pay for it. The photos you showed me are complete amateur work”.

digitalscream · June 13

EduardoFalicioni said:

The lovely master builder at Fender Custom Shop said this to me on text today:

“I just can't believe somebody would take on a job like that without knowing what they're doing and do such crap work and expect you to pay for it. The photos you showed me are complete amateur work”.

I would strongly suggest you keep that message, and preferably screenshot it with a date and time. Something tells me that if you go down the legal route, it's going to be really useful.

EduardoFalicioni · June 13

Prior to that he had said:

“Wow! I am horrified to see what this so called "luthier" did to your guitars. These are amateur repairs at best. Unfortunately since the guitar was modified, it voids all warranty.

…I would suggest removing the inserts, plugging the holes with dowels and redrilling. Those inserts you were trying to have installed are a constant issue. They strip, and come loose in the wood all the time. I always prefer to just dowel holes and redrill”.

p90fool · June 14

OilCityPickups said:

WezV said:

simonhpieman said:

Offset said:

^^ Fair point @darthed1981 - but there a few unhappy bunnies on here which would suggest this isn't an isolated incident.

My memory is crap but wasn't it John Birch who similarly ploughed ahead and did his own thang regardless of what the customer wanted?! Happy to be corrected.

John Birch was nothing more than a butcher who did whatever the hell he wanted before giving a guitar back in a VERY different state, possibly with different parts (not limited to small parts but necks and bodies, too!). He'd have been long out of business if the Fretboard had been a thing back then! Absolute madman and egotist.

My mind is going blank now but I'm sure I've met someone who had a guitar looked at by him that didn't end well...

J White is certainly surrounded by echoes of J Birch, that's for sure.

I have a soft spot for JB because of his place in British Guitar history. His mods are usually bad, his factory guitars are usually pretty good apart from a few additions of body filler hiding under paint. His custom builds are all over the place.

It's easy to get blinkered when working on guitars - the ones you see are heavily skewed towards the examples with problems, and it's easy to forget there are still a lot of good examples out there. Many lean into this to say how much better they are than the big factories. I'm fairly sure JB saw himself as fixing all those issues. We now see it differently, but almost all of his ideas are based on the issues he saw musicians as having at the time.

I too have a soft spot for JB ... I've played quite a few of his own guitars and always quite enjoyed the experience. People now see him as butchering f'ine, old vintage guitars' - but at the time they were just ratty old guitars that didn't do what the customer wanted.

This is bollocks, my 63 strat just needed a refret and that was all that the then owner asked for.
It came back with a refinished neck, a different, homemade Fender logo, he'd dug out the clay dots and replaced them with pearloid ones, changed the scratch plate (he was fond of burning the originals as they gave off a pretty green flame) and painted the pickup covers with what looked like Tippex.

He did exactly the same neck work on my mate's 62 Precision, again unasked for.

Of course they were worth less in those days, but he wasn't carrying out customers' wishes, he was just mental.

They might not have been fine vintage guitars, but they were much loved second hand guitars he was butchering without consent.

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Anyone had a set up from J White Guitars in Ash Vale?

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