Should I be concerned about this?

[Sarge]

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...

I haven't wrote the guy back yet.

I can't imagine him not being ble to do a touch up on it like he claims.
He also told me that the pickups (DON MARE) sounded really bland.
I think that is due to his shitty setup. He is supposed to (according to him) be an ace at building guitars.
I think he sent me a picture of the nicks on purpose to see if I would say anything.
What a douche.
I should have went with someone else...

And yes.. I am kind of a perfectionist. I am more rectal than anal. I am pretty much just the whole peri anus area.

Breasts,
Sarge

[ELVIS]

Have it stripped and send it to someone else...

Like Tom Petty said...

[indeedido]

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.

I figured that out this time right after it happened. LOL. too little too late, BUT there is always next time!

[ELVIS]

If you have the neck handy (which this guy did if i'm not mistaken) you should be checking the fit throughout the finishing process...

[Seshmeister]

If he doesn't his head will probably fall off...

[GAR]

Sarge, even if I with my experience were to do the touchup, there may still be a shadow where the clearcoat area is. It is near impossible to just do a small golfball sized area, it's easier to do the whole thing.

I don't trust the guys' skills to strip it, either. Get it back as is, settle on a price and if you can't learn to deal with it as it is minor, play it for a year, scratch it up, in the meanwhile take the time to find a competent refin guy.

GMW here in LA does xlnt work, Glendora CA.

[GAR]

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

Someday.. you'll understand. It's not about the headstock at all, but what it brings out of you that a fine instrument like that can do for you.

[ELVIS]

I'm sitting here in my living room looking at nine guitars and two bases, all strung and ready to be plugged in...

I have well over ten more in various states of assembly, repair or modification...

I know what a fine instrument is...

But if I think what i'm playing looks like shit, (I mean truly don't like it cosmetically) it does affect my inspiration and/or desire to play...

I'm sure some DeTemple guitars are excellent instruments...I can pretty much tell that by looking at their website...

But I HATE that headstock...

Someday.. you'll understand...

[ELVIS]

But i'm sure I don't need a "Fossilized Mastodon nut."


LMAO!

[hideyoursheep]

But i'm sure I don't need a "Fossilized Mastodon nut."

[jhale667]

Yup, it's FIT and Finish...

Yeah Sarge, I'd agree get a refund (or at least a sizable discount), knock about on it a bit and touch it up, or have it refinished (btw, GMW was no longer accepting outside finishing work last I heard, GAR...has that changed?); but I don't think I'd let the other guy mess around with it anymore either.

I've gone so far as to do "dry-runs"; fully assemble the guitar unfinished. That way all your screw-holes are already drilled, you know everything fits. Once you get it back from being finished, prep the contact points of the neck and hardware as described and there ya go...

[ELVIS]

I've gone so far as to do "dry-runs"; fully assemble the guitar unfinished.

I do that several times throughout a project, including stringing it up and playing it...Especially if it involves drilling holes for bridge or trem placement...

Even though you have a tiny bit of wiggle room on a bolt on neck guitar, after stringing it up a couple of times you get a feel for exactly how you want the neck to sit in the pocket...

I pick necks and bodies that fit well together. Tight, but not too tight and sand, trim and finish the pocket prior to the last installation...

By that point, I know it's going to fit without any chance of breaking the finish...

In that first pic it looks like the neck might be too tight which can exacerbate the problem causing the chipped area to get worse...

[78/84 guy]

It will bug you, I would say have him strip it and send it back but how well will he strip it ? I would tell him you were expecting perfection for the money and you are not happy with the results. I would ask for some of your'e money back, get the guitar back and find someone else to fix the chip's in it. It sounds like a common problem when assembling guitar's with this type of paint because of the thickness. I would not let this guy strip it !! My guitars are all beat to shit so it's hard to know how much it will bother you to know it's touched up. It look's cool to me but the first thing I would do is run the thing into a door walking around the house playing it !!

[GAR]

My guitars are all beat to shit so it's hard to know how much it will bother you to know it's touched up. It look's cool to me but the first thing I would do is run the thing into a door walking around the house playing it !!

I used to be very critical about finishes, carefully buying only those perfectly smooth.

Now I only care about weight, playability and tone.

If the guy strips the finish, based on his tape-off job on doing the binding, I wouldn't want to risk the stripper eating into the binding when he strips it.

And I'm willing to bet you don't notice all that little anal bullshit once you play a year into it. You're gonna notice more how your buckle rashed the back of it, the jeans rivets, stupid stuff like that.

IMExperience the first ding is the heartbreaker, the hymen-buster.. the DeVirginizer. After this, it'll be easier to look at it as a playing instrument and not a wall-hanging edifice of "God ain't it purty.. it's perfect, don't touch it" proportions.

[78/84 guy]

Yah, I would worry about the binding getting screwed up stripping it.