Guitar One vs. Guitar Hospital vs. Guitar Salon

[TKTS]

I know this is kinda late, but it's just now that I've thought of sharing my experience with Guitar Hospital AND Guitar One.

I first when to GH, and it was my first time having my Godin set-up since I purchased it a few years ago.  Nagkaron na kasi ng matinding fret buzz and naging sampayan na sa taas ng action. My impression is that Arie is a good guy, very knowledgeable, and apparently, very skilled (according to the accounts of everyone else). I consulted him about my guitar, he explained A LOT to me (much of it was unnecessary, though), and I ended up having a re-fret done. Well, my guitar DID need one badly. I left my guitar, and came back in three days to pick it up, and I was satisfied. I went home, played on it, and three days later, the neck seemed to have moved, and balik na naman si awful fret buzz and high action. I went back to Arie a couple of days later to have it fixed again. When he was going down to meet me downstairs, I heard him talk to a guy (na mukhang trabahador - I'm not judging, but you'll get it when I'm done explaining), who seemed to be someone who he was employing.

Medyo tumaas kilay ko, kasi I heard Arie say, "Ah, eto ba yung gitara na may ukab yung fret...?". I thought, diba siya yung gumagawa ng mga guitar jobs? So, why did he talk as if he wasn't the one who worked on it? I didn't want to jump to conclusions right away, so I just gave him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, so I left my guitar to have it setup again.

A couple days later, I came back to pick it up. Hindi naman ako siningil ulit. I was in a hurry so I didn't get a chance to check it there. Later that night, at my place, I tested my guitar. I was shocked. Kasi ang pinaayos ko kay Arie, three things: re-fret, lowering ng action (shredder ako), and fret buzz. When I returned my guitar to him nung nagka buzz ulit, what he did to my guitar the second time around was very disappointing. Para matanggal yung fret buzz, all he did was increase the action of my neck, at ginawa nya ulit sampayan. Shinortcut nya, para lang matanggal yung buzz. Ergo, I was very disappointed.

I came to the conclusion na pinagawa nya lang yung gitara ko sa tauhan nya na muka lang trabahador and hindi mukang sanay sa pag setup ng gitara. I COULD BE WRONG, but that was the only logical conclusion, kasi it wouldn't make sense na sobrang poor yung quality ng work, given na siya ang tinaguriang best na pinoy luthier.

After that, I just went to Jon de la Cruz sa Guitar one (E.rodriguez, QC). Nagulat si Jon sa fret job na ginawa ni Arie (or ng trabahador nya), kasi sobrang sablay daw, and he explained to me why. Yung pag shape sa frets, yung pag level, yung angle ng neck, yung level ng bridge pins, etc. Everything was wrong. Anyway, he fixed my guitar right in front me, right then and there.  Everything was brilliantly done in a little over an HOUR, and months later my Godin is still playing like it was new, even better. Hanggang ngayon, my Godin is still playing like a dream. Jon dela Cruz is brilliant.

I'm not bashing Arie, because I still believe that he is a very good luthier. However, I am presenting my experience objectively, as it actually happened, and it is up for you to form your own conclusions.

Bro you have to consider that Jon criticized Arie's works in order for him to 'win you' as his customer. And since you told your 'sad' story to him, he did that for you to be his next life long patronizing customer. Business is business.

Trivia: Did you know that Jon was Arie's customer before he became a luthier? All his guitars went thru Arie and he always admired Arie's job on them. He was a frequent customer and he learned a lot from what Arie would share.

[striker]

I know this is kinda late, but it's just now that I've thought of sharing my experience with Guitar Hospital AND Guitar One.

I first when to GH, and it was my first time having my Godin set-up since I purchased it a few years ago.  Nagkaron na kasi ng matinding fret buzz and naging sampayan na sa taas ng action. My impression is that Arie is a good guy, very knowledgeable, and apparently, very skilled (according to the accounts of everyone else). I consulted him about my guitar, he explained A LOT to me (much of it was unnecessary, though), and I ended up having a re-fret done. Well, my guitar DID need one badly. I left my guitar, and came back in three days to pick it up, and I was satisfied. I went home, played on it, and three days later, the neck seemed to have moved, and balik na naman si awful fret buzz and high action. I went back to Arie a couple of days later to have it fixed again. When he was going down to meet me downstairs, I heard him talk to a guy (na mukhang trabahador - I'm not judging, but you'll get it when I'm done explaining), who seemed to be someone who he was employing.


Medyo tumaas kilay ko, kasi I heard Arie say, "Ah, eto ba yung gitara na may ukab yung fret...?". I thought, diba siya yung gumagawa ng mga guitar jobs? So, why did he talk as if he wasn't the one who worked on it? I didn't want to jump to conclusions right away, so I just gave him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, so I left my guitar to have it setup again.

A couple days later, I came back to pick it up. Hindi naman ako siningil ulit. I was in a hurry so I didn't get a chance to check it there. Later that night, at my place, I tested my guitar. I was shocked. Kasi ang pinaayos ko kay Arie, three things: re-fret, lowering ng action (shredder ako), and fret buzz. When I returned my guitar to him nung nagka buzz ulit, what he did to my guitar the second time around was very disappointing. Para matanggal yung fret buzz, all he did was increase the action of my neck, at ginawa nya ulit sampayan. Shinortcut nya, para lang matanggal yung buzz. Ergo, I was very disappointed.


I came to the conclusion na pinagawa nya lang yung gitara ko sa tauhan nya na muka lang trabahador and hindi mukang sanay sa pag setup ng gitara. I COULD BE WRONG, but that was the only logical conclusion, kasi it wouldn't make sense na sobrang poor yung quality ng work, given na siya ang tinaguriang best na pinoy luthier.

After that, I just went to Jon de la Cruz sa Guitar one (E.rodriguez, QC). Nagulat si Jon sa fret job na ginawa ni Arie (or ng trabahador nya), kasi sobrang sablay daw, and he explained to me why. Yung pag shape sa frets, yung pag level, yung angle ng neck, yung level ng bridge pins, etc. Everything was wrong. Anyway, he fixed my guitar right in front me, right then and there.  Everything was brilliantly done in a little over an HOUR, and months later my Godin is still playing like it was new, even better. Hanggang ngayon, my Godin is still playing like a dream. Jon dela Cruz is brilliant.

I'm not bashing Arie, because I still believe that he is a very good luthier. However, I am presenting my experience objectively, as it actually happened, and it is up for you to form your own conclusions.

pics or it never happened..

[candyapplered]

i still don't know how it's possible for a guitar to mess itself up three days after a fresh refret and have FRET BUZZ and HIGH ACTION at the same time. other factors might contribute to the buzz, but after a refret from that place, i find this hard to believe.

i've had a refret done at GH just recently, and it took more than four weeks to finish the job, and i didn't have any qualms about the wait because it was a very demanding fret job that required jumbo stainless steel frets, rounded fret edges, and very low action:





the pictures don't really do justice to the quality of work put on my guitar. to top it off, i've also had a custom inlay done on the fretboard. this post is not really intended to defend GH or invalidate your post, but maybe something was amiss in your account which led to the guitar having high action and fret buzz again.

[Chum]

They are all good, to be fair, but Mike Sison gets my vote for the following reasons:
1.  He will sit down and listen to you, and do the work you want to be done YOUR WAY, that is, the way you want the job to be done. If YOUR way is not feasible, or if there is a better way to do the job you want done, he will politely suggest it to you.
2.  He does the work in a reasonable amount of time.  If he can do it on the spot, and there are just a few people in the shop at the time, you can wait for the guitar (simple set up, truss rod tweak, change strings, pickup adjustment or pot replacement). If he says it will be ready on Friday, this date, it will be ready, unless there's a typhoon or worse.... One of the luthiers here (I won't mention na his name), he took almost THREE years to glue the side of my Gibson guitar that had opened up due to age. Almost three years, imagine, my favorite guitar, FIRST WIFE going by Stevie Ray Vaughan's term of endearment for his strat... All the time, I was following up, etc. to no avail.
3.  His fees are reasonable. And I mean very reasonable. Jon's fees are to a point reasonable, Arie is known to be a little pricey.
4.  He is very honest about everything. No [gooey brown stuff]. He will tell you straight what needs to be done, how he will approach the job, how much he will probably charge, when the guitar will be ready, and once you agree, he will do the job as he described it.

The only cons I have: I'm from QC, he is from Paranaque.... I have to go on leave to visit his shop. But hey, that's my problem 

Chum 

[rrralf]

I highlighted some parts of your story just for clarification: was this godin an acoustic guitar? and how well were you satisfied the first time you got the guitar back from arie? I'm also curious as to how a guitar with too high an action would have fret buzz, at what parts of the neck were the buzzes located?

It's an electric. The first time I got my guitar back from Arie, I was satisfied... But only because I was not educated on what was really a "good" and a "bad" job. There were a few quirks that I experienced when I first got it back that I didn't know were major quirks (such as with the shaping and ends of the frets). Regarding the buzz- it came back, even with the recurrence of the high action because it seems that the frets were not leveled properly.

[rrralf]

Bro you have to consider that Jon criticized Arie's works in order for him to 'win you' as his customer. And since you told your 'sad' story to him, he did that for you to be his next life long patronizing customer. Business is business.

Trivia: Did you know that Jon was Arie's customer before he became a luthier? All his guitars went thru Arie and he always admired Arie's job on them. He was a frequent customer and he learned a lot from what Arie would share.

Trivia:
1. Jon didn't know at first that I had a problem with the previous guitar job. There was no "sad" story.
2. He didn't criticize Arie's work. In fact, he was surprised, because he knew how good Arie was, and my guitar didn't look like one which was worked on by a good luthier.
3. I am an objective person. I approach most situations without bias and I only take things as they really are. Jon showed me what was wrong with my guitar, and I formed my OWN conclusions.
4. It does not matter if Jon was Arie's customer before. That doesn't have anything to do with what I experienced.
5. Like I said, based on what everyone is saying, I already know that Arie is a very good luthier, and I am not saying that he did a bad job. I DID say that there was a possibility that he MIGHT have had someone else do the job. That is my personal conclusion based on my own account.
6. If you're pointing fingers at someone, and saying "business is business", I would say, IMHO, that it shouldn't be Jon you should be pointing at.

[rrralf]

pics or it never happened..

I respect your freedom to believe that I am lying or that I made this all up for the reason that I don't have any pictures to satisfy you.

[makkkkk]

.

I should have handed over to these luthiers the repair of my yamaha guitar last 2009. I miss my yamaha, i sold it for 4500php only since it has issues.


.

[fretboard]

di ba pwede ipila sa thread title roadtone tsaka micsis? 

[sheepsmellslikeseashells]

Madali naman kausap si Arie, eh. I've been a client of his for 15 years now. So far, i have at least eight guitars that i can remember being re-fretted by him apart from other guitars I've checked in to him. Ok naman lahat. Kung may problema man, ibalik mo pa rin sa kanya kahit na pangatlong ulit na yan. Tsaka, naalala ko minsan, may nagpapa-refret sa kanya ng brand new na gitara pero tinanggihan nya. Sabi nya, hintay daw muna siya at least 3 years bago ipa refret yun kasi medyo 'malikot' pa daw ang kahoy nyan. So, you might as well consider checking out your guitar's production date as well.

It would also help to give him a modest SMS asking him what to do for whatever-your-technical-concern-with-the-guitar-is. This is how i do it if ever i have issues with his work, "ser, may konting (name your concern) po sa guitara ko. *blah blah blah* ...paano po kaya ang gagawin dito?" And he would gladly advise you to bring the guitar to his place and have it rectified as warranty to his work. Minsan naman, may gusto ako ipagawa sa kanya sa gitara ko tapos pag balik hindi nya pala ginawa maliban na lang duon sa iba pang mga dapat gawin. When asked, he would explain to me why he didn't do it and would advise you to have it (insert scope of work) first before he could do what i eventually wanted him to do to my guitar.

[FollowTheReaper]

I trust my guitars to these 3 luthiers:

Rey Vargas (Guitarfix)
Jon Dela Cruz (Elegee/Guitar 1)
Mike Sison (Micsis)

All of their works are great. I absolutely have no problems because whatever needs to be done, they've done well. The guy that I go to all the time is Sir Rey because his shop is nearest to my place. I tried Jon's and Micsis' services out of curiosity and so that I know where else to go in the event that Sir Rey isn't available.

[IncX]

i got to try arie's services once ... it was a rather low point in my guitar playing career, so i went to his place, told the first guy i saw in the house that i want to have my washburn dime's action set low, and i left. i did not meet arie, nor was i aware of his [apple]. he did the job well.

a few years later, i got into basses and jon was heavily endorsed in the bass part of the world, so i went to him to have a fretless neck on my warwick. i sent him the fretted neck so he can copy it, which he did. the neck was great. he stained the maple so the color would not clash with my black warwick, and he put in hidden position markers, which was an awesome idea.

the only bad thing about it was that the position markers and side dots could have been better. the side dots were messily done. they weren't even circles. but all in all, the neck is great. all of this happened without me meeting jon face to face.

-*-

the next job i had with jon was my custom bass. i wanted to have it set to low action. this time i met jon face to face.

he set the action low, but after a few months it went back to being medium-high. i dont know if its my bass' problem or what. jon also cut me a nut free of charge cause my custom had an improperly cut nut. i thought that was great of him. i paid him more than his asking price.

jon is really friendly and great... but you have to remember, he is running a business. take everything he says with a grain of salt, because some of them are advertisements, and if you are that impressionable, you would be spending the money you saved for a Gibson Les Paul into an elegee Custom, and you might not be happy - or you could be, i dont know. all i know is that custom guitars have terrible resale value.

i still am going to go back to jon, despite his limitations ... but who knows, reading the thread, im a bit curious with arie. if he sounds ok on the phone, i might give him a shot.

[Al Nico Five]

I know this is kinda late, but it's just now that I've thought of sharing my experience with Guitar Hospital AND Guitar One.

I first when to GH, and it was my first time having my Godin set-up since I purchased it a few years ago.  Nagkaron na kasi ng matinding fret buzz and naging sampayan na sa taas ng action. My impression is that Arie is a good guy, very knowledgeable, and apparently, very skilled (according to the accounts of everyone else). I consulted him about my guitar, he explained A LOT to me (much of it was unnecessary, though), and I ended up having a re-fret done. Well, my guitar DID need one badly. I left my guitar, and came back in three days to pick it up, and I was satisfied. I went home, played on it, and three days later, the neck seemed to have moved, and balik na naman si awful fret buzz and high action. I went back to Arie a couple of days later to have it fixed again. When he was going down to meet me downstairs, I heard him talk to a guy (na mukhang trabahador - I'm not judging, but you'll get it when I'm done explaining), who seemed to be someone who he was employing.

Medyo tumaas kilay ko, kasi I heard Arie say, "Ah, eto ba yung gitara na may ukab yung fret...?". I thought, diba siya yung gumagawa ng mga guitar jobs? So, why did he talk as if he wasn't the one who worked on it? I didn't want to jump to conclusions right away, so I just gave him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, so I left my guitar to have it setup again.

A couple days later, I came back to pick it up. Hindi naman ako siningil ulit. I was in a hurry so I didn't get a chance to check it there. Later that night, at my place, I tested my guitar. I was shocked. Kasi ang pinaayos ko kay Arie, three things: re-fret, lowering ng action (shredder ako), and fret buzz. When I returned my guitar to him nung nagka buzz ulit, what he did to my guitar the second time around was very disappointing. Para matanggal yung fret buzz, all he did was increase the action of my neck, at ginawa nya ulit sampayan. Shinortcut nya, para lang matanggal yung buzz. Ergo, I was very disappointed.

I came to the conclusion na pinagawa nya lang yung gitara ko sa tauhan nya na muka lang trabahador and hindi mukang sanay sa pag setup ng gitara. I COULD BE WRONG, but that was the only logical conclusion, kasi it wouldn't make sense na sobrang poor yung quality ng work, given na siya ang tinaguriang best na pinoy luthier.

After that, I just went to Jon de la Cruz sa Guitar one (E.rodriguez, QC). Nagulat si Jon sa fret job na ginawa ni Arie (or ng trabahador nya), kasi sobrang sablay daw, and he explained to me why. Yung pag shape sa frets, yung pag level, yung angle ng neck, yung level ng bridge pins, etc. Everything was wrong. Anyway, he fixed my guitar right in front me, right then and there.  Everything was brilliantly done in a little over an HOUR, and months later my Godin is still playing like it was new, even better. Hanggang ngayon, my Godin is still playing like a dream. Jon dela Cruz is brilliant.

I'm not bashing Arie, because I still believe that he is a very good luthier. However, I am presenting my experience objectively, as it actually happened, and it is up for you to form your own conclusions.

ser best to give benefit of the doubt. some things to think about and consider:

- it is normal for our temperature changes in our country to cause the neck to move
- different kinds of wood react differently to weather changes. some move easier than others.
- did you actually see with you own eyes that it was his assistant that did the work?
- it is normal for luthiers to have assistants. even leo fender had assistants

i also noticed sa start pa lang ng pag describe mo kay arie meron ka ng 'bais' agad sa kanya..
mahirap pumunta sa isang luthier na simula pa lang ay puro duda ka na..

give the bebefit of the doubt po muna ser.

[Chum]

To be fair, ALL of them have assistants... If they didn't have any, they all would be swamped with work.

For me, what is important is that the guy in charge (be it Jon, Arie, Mike, Max or whoever) performs quality control and the final tweaks, if any, that need to be done before the guitar leaves his shop. Furthermore, the assistants must always have a "by-your-leave" from his boss before he tackles any of the tasks assigned to him. The boss should always endorse the job, state the instructions clearly infront of the customer, and the customer should always be informed what the assistant will be doing.

Just my two cents anyway...

Chum

[techbp]

Since nobody is vouching for GS (Guitar Salon), for the TS, replace na lang natin siguro yung GS. Perhaps, Guitar Fix (Rey Vargas) - my luthier or to Micsis ang puwedeng ipalit..

[fretboard]

- it is normal for our temperature changes in our country to cause the neck to move
- different kinds of wood react differently to weather changes. some move easier than others.
- did you actually see with you own eyes that it was his assistant that did the work?
- it is normal for luthiers to have assistants. even leo fender had assistants

sir eto po ang ibang reason kaya tayo nagpapa SET UP
e according to the guy e dalawang beses na nya binalik kay arie

hindi masamng tinapay si arie sakin, nililinaw ko lang baka di mo nabasa ng maigi post nung guy

kung ako yung nag pa set up, mas gugustuhin ko ng isiping na sa assistant nya pinagawa yung job, dahil na rin sa status ni arie.
kasi kung babasahin mo mga testimonies dito re: arie,  di naman sya basang papel, and with flying colors pa mga comments sa kanya dito.

[firemodel55]

Arie's side of the story:

1. Arie does the fretwork and neck adjustments.  So ang message niya sa complainant ay trabaho niya iyan and nobody else.  Kung na-pangetan siya sa fretwork, wala na raw magagawa si Arie.

2. It is normal for necks (the wood of the neck) to adjust because before refret work, you need to release the neck from tension. The wood will look for its natural state of rest after release from tension.  After completing refret, you bring the neck up to tension again, so the wood will need to adjust again.  So depending on the quality of wood of your guitar; it takes some time for some necks to be stable kaya babalik ka talaga for some guitars for adjustment.  Higher quality guitars that use higher quality woods do NOT have this problem -- their necks adjust immediately.

3. Kaya naging sampayan ang action ay dahil complainant passed by at night to pickup his guitar when Arie was NOT in the house.  So hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataon si Arie to customize further to complainang required low action.

P.S. Ang dapat pag-isipan ni complainant ay bakit siya sinabihan ni Jon magpa-refret when Jon should be knowledgeable that the neck may have to undergo a period of adjustment before settling. 

[TKTS]

Madali naman kausap si Arie, eh. I've been a client of his for 15 years now. So far, i have at least eight guitars that i can remember being re-fretted by him apart from other guitars I've checked in to him. Ok naman lahat. Kung may problema man, ibalik mo pa rin sa kanya kahit na pangatlong ulit na yan. Tsaka, naalala ko minsan, may nagpapa-refret sa kanya ng brand new na gitara pero tinanggihan nya. Sabi nya, hintay daw muna siya at least 3 years bago ipa refret yun kasi medyo 'malikot' pa daw ang kahoy nyan. So, you might as well consider checking out your guitar's production date as well.

It would also help to give him a modest SMS asking him what to do for whatever-your-technical-concern-with-the-guitar-is. This is how i do it if ever i have issues with his work, "ser, may konting (name your concern) po sa guitara ko. *blah blah blah* ...paano po kaya ang gagawin dito?" And he would gladly advise you to bring the guitar to his place and have it rectified as warranty to his work. Minsan naman, may gusto ako ipagawa sa kanya sa gitara ko tapos pag balik hindi nya pala ginawa maliban na lang duon sa iba pang mga dapat gawin. When asked, he would explain to me why he didn't do it and would advise you to have it (insert scope of work) first before he could do what i eventually wanted him to do to my guitar.

+1000

Arie's side of the story:

1. Arie does the fretwork and neck adjustments.  So ang message niya sa complainant ay trabaho niya iyan and nobody else.  Kung na-pangetan siya sa fretwork, wala na raw magagawa si Arie.

2. It is normal for necks (the wood of the neck) to adjust because after refret work, you need to release the neck from tension.  So depending on the quality of wood of your guitar; it takes some time for some necks to be stable kaya babalik ka talaga for some guitars.  Higher quality guitars that use higher quality woods do NOT have this problem -- their necks adjust immediately.

3. Kaya naging sampayan ang action ay dahil complainant passed by at night to pickup his guitar when Arie was NOT in the house.  So hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataon si Arie to customize further to complainang required low action.

P.S. Ang dapat pag-isipan ni complainant ay bakit siya sinabihan ni Jon magpa-refret when Jon should be knowledgeable that the neck may have to undergo a period of adjustment before settling. 

another
+1000

[candyapplered]

firemodel, TS is saying na kay arie siya nagparefret. medyo magulo nga rin talaga kwento about this. i think ang ginawa ni jon ay adjustments/fret level.

[firemodel55]

firemodel, TS is saying na kay arie siya nagparefret. medyo magulo nga rin talaga kwento about this. i think ang ginawa ni jon ay adjustments/fret level.

The facts:

1. First time for complainant to undergo a refret.
2. Complainant did NOT understand that some necks need time to adjust or settle after refret.

P.S. Sorry if I misunderstood that Jon did a refret.  If he did leveling, then he was lucky enough to level after the neck achieved stability.  And since complainant is happy, B.S. lahat ng explanation ni Jon.

[candyapplered]

based on the complainant's account, parang ambilis kasi nakuha ni complainant yung guitar three days after it was refretted. even a week might have been too soon, in my opinion.

[sheepsmellslikeseashells]

based on the complainant's account, parang ambilis kasi nakuha ni complainant yung guitar three days after it was refretted. even a week might have been too soon, in my opinion.

Yes. But, i thought that would be normal for him. Not sure about the others, though. ...one of my recent job orders with him was last year, December 2013. I had one more a month after. Anyway, I had 3 guitars checked in to him that needs to be accomplished prior to their Christmas break and that he only had about 4 days (or 5 days, at most) to finish the job. All three guitars needed a full set-up, 2 of which requires a re-fret, the other one needed fret re-dressing & (unknown to me) one of the three guitars had a broken neck. So, that's another service he did for me that time all in a span of less than a week.

All three guitars i've eventually 'gigged' with a few weeks after that. No problems since on my end, though.

[rrralf]

ser best to give benefit of the doubt. some things to think about and consider:

- it is normal for our temperature changes in our country to cause the neck to move
- different kinds of wood react differently to weather changes. some move easier than others.
- did you actually see with you own eyes that it was his assistant that did the work?
- it is normal for luthiers to have assistants. even leo fender had assistants

i also noticed sa start pa lang ng pag describe mo kay arie meron ka ng 'bais' agad sa kanya..
mahirap pumunta sa isang luthier na simula pa lang ay puro duda ka na..

give the bebefit of the doubt po muna ser.

Wala akong bias against him. Didn't you read my whole account? I experienced what I experienced, and I saw what I saw. On the other hand, even if I didn't see EVERYthing, I did form my conclusions objectively.

I didn't say anything that luthiers shouldn't have assistants. Of course they should! Especially if the volume of their work is getting high. What I'm saying is that the work on my guitar didn't match with what everyone else is saying about what I should expect from GH / Arie. No one should take this personally, nor should anyone cast me as a bad guy. Arie may be a respected luthier, but that doesn't make him immune from committing mistakes or errors in judgement. Just take everything with a grain of salt.

[rrralf]

ser best to give benefit of the doubt. some things to think about and consider:

- it is normal for our temperature changes in our country to cause the neck to move
- different kinds of wood react differently to weather changes. some move easier than others.
- did you actually see with you own eyes that it was his assistant that did the work?
- it is normal for luthiers to have assistants. even leo fender had assistants

i also noticed sa start pa lang ng pag describe mo kay arie meron ka ng 'bais' agad sa kanya..
mahirap pumunta sa isang luthier na simula pa lang ay puro duda ka na..

give the bebefit of the doubt po muna ser.

If you did read my account, you would have understood that I already gave him the benefit of the doubt the first time around. The second time around, he just adjusted the neck and raised the action by a considerable amount to quickly remove the fret buzz that recurred.

Yes, I now that temperature and humidity can affect a neck. However, yung pagtaas ng action the second time around was the intervention which was done in order to fix the fret buzz which recurred... which isn't right.

[rrralf]

Arie's side of the story:

1. Arie does the fretwork and neck adjustments.  So ang message niya sa complainant ay trabaho niya iyan and nobody else.  Kung na-pangetan siya sa fretwork, wala na raw magagawa si Arie.

2. It is normal for necks (the wood of the neck) to adjust because before refret work, you need to release the neck from tension. The wood will look for its natural state of rest after release from tension.  After completing refret, you bring the neck up to tension again, so the wood will need to adjust again.  So depending on the quality of wood of your guitar; it takes some time for some necks to be stable kaya babalik ka talaga for some guitars for adjustment.  Higher quality guitars that use higher quality woods do NOT have this problem -- their necks adjust immediately.

3. Kaya naging sampayan ang action ay dahil complainant passed by at night to pickup his guitar when Arie was NOT in the house.  So hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataon si Arie to customize further to complainang required low action.

P.S. Ang dapat pag-isipan ni complainant ay bakit siya sinabihan ni Jon magpa-refret when Jon should be knowledgeable that the neck may have to undergo a period of adjustment before settling.

I didn't say anything about having my guitar refretted by Jon.

Siguro nagkamali ako by posting in English at parang minasama pa ng mga tao ang comment ko. Sige, tagalog na lang.

Dinala ko gitara ko sa GH nakausap ko si Arie, inexplain sakin lahat, good, naintindihan ko, inayos, sinetup, ni refret, binaba yung action. In 3 days kinuha ko. Pagkakuha ko, napansin ko masyadong rounded yung ends ng frets, pero since first time ko magparefret, akala ko ganun talaga. Syempre nung kinuha ko, akala ko ok.

Of course, my guitar felt better in the playability department, so I thought ok na. Umuwi ako. Ilang araw lang lumipas, bumalik si matinding fret buzz. Nung nangyari yun, binalik ko kay Arie. Sabi ko nagka buzz ulit. Iniwan ko gitara ko ulit. Nung bumalik ako sa scheduled date, pinulot ko si gitara. Syempre, expecting na ok na, inuwi ko na agad kasi nagmamadali ako. Paguwi ko, the same night, binuksan ko yung case, nilabas ko yung gitara ko. Ayun, nawala nga yung fret buzz, pero ang ginawa sa gitara ko is tinaas lang yung action para mawala yung buzz, which is hindi tama.

Pagkatapos nun, pumunta na lang ako kay Jon, based sa advice ng tropa ko. Ininspect ni Jon, nakita nya na kaya nagbubuzz kasi hindi naka level ng maayos yung frets, hindi tama yung height ng bridge pins, hindi tama yung vertical angle ng neck. Inayos ni Jon sa harap ko, sinetup, ni level yung frets, and so on. MONTHS later, walang nagbago sa gitara ko.

Sana wag niyo palakihin tong bagay na to. Based sa comments ng iba, parang nagiging kontrabida pa ako. Nagkwento lang naman ako ng naranasan ko. THAT'S IT.

Hindi din naman ako [chewbacca]. Actually, matalino ako. Alam kong umuurong ang kahoy, pero alam ko din na may hindi tamang ginawa sa gitara ko dun sa una kong taong pinagdalhan, at ang talagang nakaayos sa gitara ko ay yung pangalawang taong pinagdalhan ko.

I am not biased against, or for, anyone. Etong nangyari na to ay walang koneksyon sa pagiging first timer ko sa pagpaparefret/setup ng gitara. Kung hindi nyo maintindihan yung kwento ko, pakibasa na lang ulit to tsaka yung original comment ko.