A warning - Noden's repairers in Denmark Street
kplumm
and leave it at that. I am boilingly angry but it seems the
conscientious thing to do, if anyone here's is on the verge of taking
a guitar in to downstairs in what is now Music Ground.
I took a sub-two hundred quid acoustic into the place to have a bone
saddle and nut to replace its plastic. I've got to a pretty good
level at making these myself, from bone and Tusq, but at the last
minute I often seem to go too far with a slot in the nut. There was a
steep learning curve with getting the nut's fit straight too. I just
thought, seeing as i had a little bit of money put by that I'd have a
professional job for once. The guitar was bought for me by the woman
I'm seeing and I didn't want to botch something with sentimental
value. I wrote notes on their copy of the receipt to say the tuning
used, a semitone lowere version fo open C, and that I wanted a little
bit of leeway in the nut slots for sometimes using lights instead of
mediums.
I have no problem at all with waiting a week or ten days as the young
fella told me would be the case when I brought the guitar in. I rang
the next week and though the job wasn't done the young woman working
there offered to do it for the next day. I said the next week was
fine. I was a bit anxious about a crammed job.
When I turned up an hour or so ago, I immediately saw that the nut was
absolutely awful in terms of fit and string spacing. The 3rd string's
nut slot was too deep, following the 'hold the string down at the 3rd
fret (or midway between 3rd and 2nd) test'. The slots themselves
seemed ot have been cut with coarse sandpaper, certainly not but
slotting tools. I had splashed out on two of these myself. I don't
really want to have a go at the woman, but she is simply doing work
she's not ready for. But this wasn't the worst of things. A senior
repairer was there, I don;t confidently say that he was Graham noden,
but he did cite 35-years' experience, and I imagine this is the man
that's worked on Clapton's guitars and so on. To be honest, I had
thought the workshop was run by the fella who used to work upstiars in
Andy's, an altogether more polite and helpful person. This man I
spoke to tried to bullshit his way round how the job had been done. I
am a quiet bloke, I keep myself to myself and this technician clearly
saw this, and that I'd turned up alone, and took advantage of me. His
claim that if the neck and frets were set up the nut would be fine
somewhat overlooks the fit of the nut and the quality of slotting, and
more importantly my request for leeway with the nut slots; and in fact
to scrutinise his claim, if the neck were any truer the problem of low
nut slot would actually be worse. It must be ten years back that. to
be factual and avoid any slander, an offer was made to put it right
within the hour. I was worried that they would refuse to give me my
guitar back if I refused to pay. upon leaving the shop I became
worried how the guitar might look if they'd worked on it another hour,
so I went back. I said, 'How do you feel about letting me pay for the
saddle and finishing the job myself?' The senior technician went
through a reportoire of sarcastic facial expressions and came out with
further bluffing about the job done.
I do wish I'd taken a photo of the nut they'd made - seriously you
would not find worse on a pawn shop classical. The bottom string was
only a millimetre from the neck's edge, which for this low tuning is
hopeless, and the string spacing was easily noticeable as uneven, even
a short-sighted person could see it at first glance. I'm well aware
methods of sorting the string spacing varies and that some like the
spaces even, some like to compensate for string size difference, but
this was something else again.
I know how the internet works. I might get mocked about this, or
ripped apart by some Metal fan, but I'm not fussed: I am quite shaken
up, physically shaking. I know this is because I'm angry and didn't
see any way to resolve this in a satisfactory way, and because the
technician had been rude, dishonest and bullying in his manner, try as
he might to hold it in.
I suspect that if I'd taken a Martin in he would have done the job
himself.
The upshot is that I paid for the saddle, twelve quid, which I am
going to have to finish myself as it is much higher than I'd asked for
('A few hairs higher than the Tusq saddle included', as I'd written on
the receipt, and before you think I'm being obsessive, 'hair' is just
a figure of speech as used by anyone.)
I am quite stunned. Denmark Street! A quote of 37 quid for the whole
job - I just thought I'd get a professional grade job. When I get
home I am probably going to have to deepen the space where the nut
sits as glue was clumsily sanded off in ways I haven't managed for
over a decade. Even the sound of it as I sat waiting while my old
Tusq nut was refitted - I hope she didn't glue it -augured badly.
If the woman who did the job should read this, I'm sure you love the
guitar, and you may even be a marvelous person, but you are not ready
for this work, and I would be more sympathetic if you could own this
and had not gone along with the senior technician, albeit passively,
without any of the bullshit or bullying, or better still leave that
job before you facilitate more of the same and end up with the same
kind of manner.
Thanks, and be warned. I'd be delighted if someone would back me up,
similar story or no.
Angus Manwaring
>Thanks, and be warned. I'd be delighted if someone would back me up,
>similar story or no.
Can't help regarding the shop, but you put your case over very well. Would
it be worth editing this post and using it as the basis of a letter to the
manager of the shop. I think your even-handed and non-confrontational
approach does you credit.
Best of luck, I hope you can sort the guitar out okay.
All the best,
Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)
I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga
Game reviews by Amiga players http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html
Trimble Bracegirdle
You are only expecting the sort of basic decent quality & expertise
work-personship
that anyone would in going to a 'Professional .
Your post is well written & states the situation calmly & clearly.
Track down the Boss of This Shop & send that post to them.
Try to do this via Email or Ordinary Post (do they have a Web Site ?)
to save (pointless) further anger / frustration in trying to talk to them.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse
Greg Edwards
> **much snippage***
>
> Thanks, and be warned. I'd be delighted if someone would back me up,
> similar story or no.
I feel for you. TBH, Denmark St isn't all it's cracked up to be. My
local music shops in Southend are better stocked and priced.
I would however suggest you look for a local, reputable
luthier/repairman. A lot of music shops these days seem to be staffed
by kids (either me getting older or them keeping costs down) who aren't
as skilled as they should be carrying out delicate work. A lot of the
shops actually farm out there setup/repair work to local guys anyway,
so try them? The guy I've used does work for one shop, and has done
private customer work that the other shop has messed up!
So it stands to reason, go straight to the local guy all the time!
Greg
kplumm
was shaking.
Yes, I was clearer in person as to what I meant by this 'leeway'. I
just meant that I was happy to grin and bear a bit of extra height
with the mediums so that when Lights were used they weren't sunk so
low that they were too low. The mediums would be used with a pseudo
baritone tuning and the lights with Open D, so it would even out,
clearance-wise and pain-wise.
Anyway, I am pleased with the response I got here and through
uk.music.guitar. I am now inviting Mr Noden to compensate me to have
the work corrected elsewhere in a letter ot be posted in a few
minutes, a modest £50 cheque. My favorite paragraph in my letter,
heh, is where I suggest that if he were a tailor he would make only 36
inch chests jackets and then blame the customer for being to
overweight to fit it.
Ta.
paisl...@gmail.com
In the end, a mate did the work for me - lowering the action, which took about half an hour with sandpaper on the saddle.
It was the same guy - all bluster and faded glory, I've-done-stuff-for-the-stars-you-know, almost sneering at my daring to bring in an instrument that cost less than four figures.
I've been hearing a few similar stories about this shower - caveat emptor.
Karl Smith
Antony Grenney
A long time ago now but a few similar things happened before then and since, that mean my health situation isn't great, and as part of something like a 'death by a thousand cuts' I do still on occasion find myself recalling that experience - it really did mark me and dent my enthusiasm for continuing with the guitar, which thankfully at present is in better condition.
I don't know what you can mean by 'no nonsense' though. 'All nonsense' seems more accurate. I certainly didn't see any kind heart.
He told me in a letter - we exchanged two each, to no avail - he'd been bullied at school and resented me having described his bullying manner. I suppose we could say that he was 'aggressively embarrassed', like when a shoplifter is caught. Aggressively embarrassed rather than angry. A horrible way to carry on though, offensive and abusive.
I hope the apprentice continued - I did see her working in another shop not so long after, at the counter, but coming from a small town I'm always impressed when women have or pursue unusual skills. I would hope she could continue to train in better circumstances with a more responsible teacher. I was genuinely upset to read that Graham had passed the buck with her, as if it wasn't his fault for giving her the task. Surely you buy some bad guitars from somewhere and train people up on those, not brand new guitars a customer owns. He didn't have a leg to stand on and should have backed down and apologised and asked himself some serious questions. I wonder what the cut-off point is for him where he will do the job himself? A 500 quid guitar? £300? 1000?
I gather he's still there, now below Hanks, still doing work for millionaires. I would think I was far from a one-off, but no doubt his reputation with professional players is intact. I hope my post lost him some work at least.
Though I've been ripped off like most people regarding technology items and work in my home I'm also now a victim of misconduct by local government and the police. Five years into that experience and attempting to resolve it without money for a lawyer. Needless to say my trust for people isn't great and though the guitar experience is dim in my memory it resonates together with some very corrupt people I've encountered.
All of my guitars have my own nuts and saddles on at present. I don't relish making a nut but seem to have more than got the hang of it and am quite proud of my compensated saddles. I've come to not fancy taking any instrument or other stuff like computers to would-be professionals as a shock always seems to be in the offing.
Another ten years and I might give myself a hair transplant - how hard could it be?
