Should I be concerned about this?

[Sarge]

I bought a double bound body and a flamed neck from USACG and had luthier that builds to order (not mentioning his name) finish, assemble and setup the instrument.
I paid for a Lake Placid Blue new non reliced finish. I told him that I didn't care if the guitar was painted in nitro or poly (thin poly)

He ended up going with nitro.

When he was done he sent me 5 pictures and in every single picture I can find small imperfections. I wasn't looking too hard, they were just visable in every picture. Some of them I couldn't tell if it was the flash or just chips.

Here is one of them


I didn't want to sound too picky so i asked about just the above neck pocket chip.
What kind of angered me was that when I asked if that was a chip, this was his response..

---------------
I did the best I could but there is a small chip in the neck pocket that isn't going to be repairable...I can repair it, but then it will be more visible. There is a small chip in the pocket. also...the "hammer in" cup jack caused checking around its edges. the only way to have made this guitar completely new would have been to have used 20+ coats of nitro which would have been nearly 3 times the film thickness of poly. Ever noticed that Fender only does "closet classics" in real nitro? This is exactly why. The only thing that I could do if you're not happy would be to strip it and send it back with a refund.
----------------

I don't mean to complain but if I wanted a closet classic finish I would have paid for it.
Chips in the neck pocket and chips on the jak cup are not part of a closet classic finish. Chips near the jack cup show that the jack cup was not installed correctly.
What bothers me is the guy thinks I am being unreasonable to expect that the guitar should have a new finish.
I don't really consider myself that picky of a person. The neck pocket chip bothers me .. because that is one of the first places I look at on a guitar to evaluate the neck/body fit and to see of there is any cracks in the body.

Am I focusing on the wrong thing or being too picky?

[ZahZoo]

I don't think you're being unreasonable.

That chip near the neck pocket could be easily repaired by drop filling the thing with the base color, then mask off all but the chip area and shoot a light coat of clear on it. Done right he may not even have to buff it out.

If he used real nitro... the fresh clear should just melt into the surrounding finish coat. Nitro never fully dries... technically speaking.

[indeedido]

Every guitar I've painted with lacquer, chips at the neck pocket when I attach the neck. Lacquer takes years to fully cure, in fact never really cures completely. It is very brittle. It dries and is sandable in a month, but is still brittle. I just finished up my lynch tiger and chiped it in the same damn spot no matter how careful I was. My next one will be poly.

Lacquer breathes better over time and has better tone, but is a bitch to handle.

Now I don't have a business and sell paint jobs, but if I did it would have to be flawless before I released one. Seems to me you are right on to complain. If I paid for a paint job, I better be the one to chip the paint. A professional would know how to do this.

[ELVIS]

Get a refund...

I've had PERFECT results done for me and I have achieved perfect results doing some of these things myself...

I imagine you paid a fortune for the work...

Take your refund and the strip offer and get it finished in poly, especially if you want it to look new and shiny...and stay that way...

[GAR]

You're not being too picky, but it sounds like it's being finished by an autobody shop or just some helpful guy with a sprayer. People like that don't account for the added thickness the paint creates to bind parts like the jack-cup, the string ferrules, the neckbolts and pocket. At the factory, which I had visited before so I know, they'd use a Dremel with a die grinder bit or a sandpaper 80-grit to remove drips before smashing the cup in. And they don't smash it in, there's a steel clip shim with a hole that actually does the "holding" of the cup in the hole using the jack as the connector - the cup in never smashed in with a hammer, its a loose fit not a snug fit.

Those cracks are his fault, if he's in the business of finishing guitars he's expected to know fit-and-finish issues, and its not debatable.

That break-out is the result of a weak area, commonly addressed at the bare-wood stage by hand-blending and shaping with a safety razor, proper masking and trimming of the tape prior to paint w/exacto blades, and careful buffing.

Guitars I've done do not have these issues, any fit and finish bullshit gets settled first before the first coat of anything.

From the photo it looks like he didn't shape that thin area before paint.

If his skills aren't that strong, go to the 99 cent store get a small bottle of nail polish clear, wash it out with lacquer thinner and send it to him to fill with the original color for future touchups.

When you get the body, dab it yourself.

[GAR]

Get a refund...

I wouldn't advise that, I'd ask for some touchup paint to be sent back in a baby-food jar or something and dab the spot myself from the original color.

It doesn't look that terrible to warrant a refin, not at all. I'm more concerned with the binding tape-off job looking a little blocky but even that's negligible.

Just play dammit! Get it back, assemble it and love the thing.. its not a bad color choice

[GAR]

Every guitar I've painted with lacquer, chips at the neck pocket when I attach the neck.

You're missing a subtle but important step - the pocket must be dressed before fitting the neck or you will always bust out that piece.

Really it should be shaped before paint, but sometimes a refinish will buildup a ledge, and in that case it needs to be dressed by removing with sandpaper, xacto knife or with a file or a combination of these tools.

[Sarge]

You're not being too picky, but it sounds like it's being finished by an autobody shop or just some helpful guy with a sprayer. People like that don't account for the added thickness the paint creates to bind parts like the jack-cup, the string ferrules, the neckbolts and pocket. At the factory, which I had visited before so I know, they'd use a Dremel with a die grinder bit or a sandpaper 80-grit to remove drips before smashing the cup in. And they don't smash it in, there's a steel clip shim with a hole that actually does the "holding" of the cup in the hole using the jack as the connector - the cup in never smashed in with a hammer, its a loose fit not a snug fit.

Those cracks are his fault, if he's in the business of finishing guitars he's expected to know fit-and-finish issues, and its not debatable.

That break-out is the result of a weak area, commonly addressed at the bare-wood stage by hand-blending and shaping with a safety razor, proper masking and trimming of the tape prior to paint w/exacto blades, and careful buffing.

Guitars I've done do not have these issues, any fit and finish bullshit gets settled first before the first coat of anything.

From the photo it looks like he didn't shape that thin area before paint.

If his skills aren't that strong, go to the 99 cent store get a small bottle of nail polish clear, wash it out with lacquer thinner and send it to him to fill with the original color for future touchups.

When you get the body, dab it yourself.

This was a professional job done by the guy at http://kingbeeguitars.com and it wasn't cheap.
He builds relics and non relics... but I think the reason why he is into building relic guitars is because his attention to detail is lacking.

I don't have the guitar... he still has it.
Here is a picture of the front
(attached)

It has Don Mare Tweed Monster pickups
a custom pitched pocket from USACG
10 inch radius neck from USACG
Tom style roller bridge for the bigsby..

It should be cool, but the guy doesn't seem to be very good at customer service.
Every email he seems to get more pissed at me.

Gar, the jack cup is a hammer in one found at glendaleguitars.com

He also needs to put screws in the pickguard.
I am going to ask him to fix the defect and see where that leads me.

Breasts,
Sarge

[GAR]

If he just can do a touch-up with a dab of paint to color the wood it should be fine.

If he can't I'd use blue Magic Marker to stain the wood exposed before dabbing some finernail polish clear over it.

[GAR]

The jack cup cracking the paint thing: I'd be disappointed about that, but even then the guy's supposed to know to clear the overspray so the knurling can bite into bare wood.

His strong suit is paint, not assembly. I'd ask for half labor cost refunded, and hope to settle for a third labor cost refund.

[Seshmeister]

He also needs to put screws in the pickguard.

Not a good sign...

[GAR]

Best modern Tele ever made, when a real 52 can't be had..

http://www.detempleguitars.com/temp/CATALOG_ITEMS/DeTemple_52.php

Six grand says you get any color you want, properly assembled, but with a 1 year waiting period.

[Sarge]

Best modern Tele ever made, when a real 52 can't be had..

http://www.detempleguitars.com/temp/CATALOG_ITEMS/DeTemple_52.php

Six grand says you get any color you want, properly assembled, but with a 1 year waiting period.

I would rather buy from Ron Kirn...
Or sort through a stack and find a nice Custom Fender.
6 grand is way overpriced for a simple guitar like a telecaster

Breasts,

[ELVIS]

Gar, If i'm not mistaken, he already offered a strip and a refund...

If you can notice some of these smaller flaws in a photo, not to mention an unacceptable chip, imagine the flaws after Sarge recieves it and goes over it with a fine-toothed comb...


If the guy was capable of a professional touch up, he would have done so prior to sending Sarge the pics...

Sarge, get your money back...If you don't, I predict it's going to continue to bother you to the point where you end up getting rid of the guitar and take a loss...

I imagine you being quite a perfectionist and thats what my prediction is based on...


Just my 22 cents...

[ELVIS]

Best modern Tele ever made, when a real 52 can't be had..

I could never get past that awful headstock shape...

Might as well be playing a Hondo...the headstock looks like one...