A Guitar Tech Ruined My Guitar In The Process Of Changing The Pickups To Fishmans

[Acme]

A guitar tech drilled the pickup mounting screw of the neck pickup through the body of my Mayones Regius Core 7 while he was changing the Seymour Duncans to the Fishman Keith Merrows in my guitar. Apparently, a piece of wood fell out of the guitar, so he glued it back and tried to hide it. It boggles my mind how could a professional, who makes his living out of repairing guitars, make a mistake like this. When I went to collect the guitar, he made it look like the damage was already there before I gave him the guitar, then, after showing him images of the guitar from a few days before, he hinted that maybe it was the pickup mounting screw which caused the damage, but he cannot say for sure. I paid him the 80 Euros for his shoddy work and left as soon as I could to investigate what the hell happened, making a mistake of not asking for any paperwork or anything. The Mayo guys came to rescue me, so they will handle the situation, but this is still a horrible story. Lesson learned though, from now on, I won't give any of my guitars to any guitar repair guy, I'll install the pickups myself instead. See the pictures attached to see the damage.

 

[_MonSTeR_]

Argh there's nothing worse than a "repair guy" that makes things worse. You have my utmost sympathies!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

jesus, it's not that fucking hard to mount pickups. No decent tech would've done this.
also- definitely start doing your own setups/pickup installs, it saves you cash, gives you experience and keeps guitars out of the hands of shitty techs. practice on cheapo guitars before you go butchering nicer guitars though, that way if you do mess up it isn't a big deal.

 

[Jason B]

Am I misreading that you paid him the full amount, left without a receipt, and made a thread?

 

[Acme]

You paid him the full amount, left without a receipt, and made a thread?

He never gives a receipt. I paid the full amount because I wanted to be fair in case he was not lying and it was not his fault. But after further inspection at home, it became obvious it was him, who caused the damage.

 

[MSS]

I take it the original Mayones screws were not used? My Duvell screws are 14mm and I actually had to use 17mm for the Guitarmory Atlas pups which, if you order direct mount, have no legs. I don’t think the Mayones pup screws are even long enough to punch through the back. What are the gouges in the wood near that area?

 

[Humbuck]

Ugh. That's beat. What a bozo.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

This almost made me feel nauseous. I can't imagine how you felt. No receipt/ no invoice... I hope that if this guy is consistently doing a disservice to his clientele, that his business is shut down. An accident is one thing but to try to hide such a significant fuck-up and then blame the customer... unforgivable. Really sorry that this happened and I truly hope that with the help of Mayones you are able to find compensation and ultimate resolve.

 

[Acme]

I take it the original Mayones screws were not used? My Duvell screws are 14mm and I actually had to use 17mm for the Guitarmory Atlas pups which, if you order direct mount, have no legs. I don’t think the Mayones pup screws are even long enough to punch through the back. What are the gouges in the wood near that area?

I'm fairly sure he was using the Fishman srews (around 32 mms), see pics attached.

 

[Ordacleaphobia]

I actually had a tech do this to one of my old S7320s. Luckily it was at an actual store and not just a guy, so they did the whole song and dance when I dropped it off where you declare what model it is, how much it's worth, and document the condition it's in. Ended up getting the work comped and a $50 store credit. Was still pissed, but they were genuinely as upset as I was, so I was 'happy enough' with it and just found a new tech.

Unbelievable that someone would do that to something as expensive as a Mayones though. Fuck dude, my guy wears gloves when he works on a super high end instrument (like higher than Mayo-tier, but still). You'd think they'd be extra careful.
__
Edit: Is that a low-key name & shame in the thread tags? Nice

 

[MSS]

I think he

I'm fairly sure he was using the Fishman srews (around 32 mms), see pics attached.View attachment 69243 View attachment 69244

That’s exactly what happened! Those screws are way too long...they are meant to be measured and cut in my experience. Additionally, you should use a screw driver and not a powered one...

 

[MaxOfMetal]

What are the gouges in the wood near that area?

When the dude realized he made an oopsie he tried to drill and plug, but in his panic he didn't hold his drill firm and it walked.

That’s exactly what happened! Those screws are way too long...they are meant to be measured and cut in my experience. Additionally, you should use a screw driver and not a powered one...

Powered screw drivers set up to go nice and slow are fine.

Drills set to bore quickly are a no-no. Which is probably what he used given what we're looking at.

 

[MrWulf]

It is funny because it also just happened to me yesterday. Was visiting a GC Guitar Tech I know who often can do works pretty quick. He also accidentally went through the guitar with Fishman's screws as well. Good thing that a. It was a used Agile in natural finish so he didn't particularly screwed up a 3K guitar and b. he docked 50 dollars off of the setup/pickup change and strings. I could have make a bigger fuss but i decided that "eh, not like people are going to see the back anyway", but I'd absolutely blow a gasket if it is a 3K guitar. At least Mayones seems to be willing to fix it which is good.

 

[Jason B]

Being a Richmond guy, myself, I have to wonder what went wrong in this guy’s 20s to end up as the Modesto Guitar Center’s tech. Maybe he’s in witness protection? In any case, it seems quite in line with what you’d expect from the best tech in Modesto

 

[budda]

If someone puts a screw through your guitar, you should not be paying a penny to get your guitar back.

Sorry this happened.

 

[MrWulf]

Being a Richmond guy, myself, I have to wonder what went wrong in this guy’s 20s to end up as the Modesto Guitar Center’s tech. Maybe he’s in witness protection? In any case, it seems quite in line with what you’d expect from the best tech in Modesto

It is in Houston, actually. One of the bigger one in town. And the dude is a 30s guy. Usually he done decent jobs with my guitars. It certainly makes me want to learn how to set up guitar myself a lot more than before though i will tell you that haha

 

[Randy]

What's Mayo doing?

 

[Acme]

What's Mayo doing?

I'm not sure yet. They said "I have received your email. We will take care of it. Do not try to fix it yourself. I'll let you know more details on Monday through email."
I assume it will cost me a couple of hundred Euros, but at least it will be fixed by skilled people.

 

[budda]

I'm not sure yet. They said "I have received your email. We will take care of it. Do not try to fix it yourself. I'll let you know more details on Monday through email."
I assume it will cost me a couple of hundred Euros, but at least it will be fixed by skilled people.

Why is the tech not paying for it...?

 

[Acme]

Why is the tech not paying for it...?

There's no evidence he did it. No paperwork, nothing.