My GMW experience,

[lantz_c]

Re: My GMW experience,

Wow, that’s some pretty sloppy inlay work. You have every right to be angry about that alone not even considering the other issues.

Hope everything gets sorted for you, best of luck.

[Metalcop]

Re: My GMW experience,

Dealing with Lee can be a very trying experience, to say the least. Usually it is worth putting up with his unyielding arrogance for the superior product you get. Clearly, that is not the case here. First and foremost, you deserve a 100% new guitar, done correctly to your spec's. Failing that, a FULL refund should be offered instead.

A few things are out of Lee's control, but that doesn't excuse the substandard guitar you received. GMW doesn't make their own necks and bodies in some cases, for example, basic strat, dinky, star shapes, are made by an outsourced supplier. Same goes for strathead necks, formerly available and Jackson *style* necks. So a standard Fender/Charvel style neck pocket is what you get, same with no at the nut truss rods. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to order a guitar, exactly as you want it, simply paying upcharges for the non-standard specs.
I have never had a problem with Lee's fretwork, and I own several GMW's. Your guitar isn't representative of his work, and it should be perfect, not acceptable, or in this case, just plain awful. As far as the inlays, it sounds like a half-assed job was done, because he didn't want to do them in the first place. Unacceptable.
I hope that this issue is resolved to your satisfaction. Selling your guitar on Ebay is not an option. Why should you take a $500++ hit on this guitar? Lee should also refund all of your shipping, to boot. Good luck, In my experience, negotiating with Lee is like arguing with a brick wall.

[charvelguy]

Re: My GMW experience,

Can Lee sell your guitar?
This sounds as tho it is a contractual problem and this is how I personally would handle it based upon how strongly I felt on the senario and as a last resort consideration.
If he's threatening to put the guita on eBay, sounds like temper is running pretty hot and working towards an amicable solution may not be in the works.

If he thinks your refusing to cover his costs that he feels correct in charging to you in trying to ammend any of this.. then, yes. ... he as a service provider can sell the guitar to cover his ticket of expenses.

It is your guitar, but if there is a bill outstanding which remains unpaid and he is refusing to obligate you in any way of compensation or rework for free out of good customer service..then he could quite well sit on it for 60 days (maybe it has been that long) after which in most states it is typically considered abandoned property.

I've been in this situation before just not with a guitar. Most people consider something to be in their possession 'theirs' especially if there is dept owing that is unpaid which they'll justify rightful possession.
(with the belief that possession is 9/10th of the law)

I, for one, think that is bs, you paid for it, it is yours.
However, if you give him the impression you don't want to take it back , the guitar is going to sit in the shop taking up space (which he can charge you for storage)
with the argument raging as you both go round and round in circles, he'll sell it, and probably before before it even gets to that stage. He'll just get to point where he may feel legally justified in refusing to speak or correspond.

I have not read this whole thread, just bits and pieces.
But my advice is if he is threatening to sell your guitar to cover his costs or for whatever reason, you need to get that guitar back.

If he had a contract to do work in a specific way and he did not fulfill that contract...sue him.. plain and simple for breach of contract in a small claims court.

Hopefully this will not exceed small claims guidelines in his county where you'd have to sue. If it does, then you can only sue for a portion of the rework or whatever. It is on your time and ticket which you can add to the suit..but beware and make sure you have all your facts straight cause if he countersues for anything like lost time etc..then it can get sticky.

Save all your emails and correspondence, recall and note anything you feel is pertinent in all your phone conversations. Just get the guitar back and send him a demand letter to fix the contractual problem and start down that road.

This is a person that sounds like you need to be tough with, but ya gotta do it by the book or live with the axe being substandard and never fully vindicated.

The guy is being a dick, and that is how I would approach it. Again, good luck..maybe one of the real lawyers on the can give a little better perspective on this.

[charvelguy]

Re: My GMW experience,

ehh, I just realized after reading more of this, you're in Australia. Well an actual suit against him may have to wait. You might want to disregard my above rant unless someone here does the legwork.

What a freaking pain in the ass and sad to hear.
"details, details...it's all in the details." [img]/images/graemlins/help.gif[/img]

At the very least, it sounds like a new fretboard is in order. I hope ya get it.

[paddok]

Re: My GMW experience,

Oh man that is wild to hear. My GMW, a custom order, is fantastic. The only slight complaint that I have with it, is that the 14th fret dot isn't perfect. I was a little poorly cut, but that isn't really enough to keep me from loving it. I have a guitar being built right now, and last I saw the neck looked great. Weird.

[surfdork]

Re: My GMW experience,

Hey Paddok...how close are your 12th fret dots? I've got some on a SD neck that was reworked at GMW that you can kick field goals through.

[Top Jimmy B]

Re: My GMW experience,

I just saw those pics in the other thread of the truss rod and cavity. Lee owes you a new guitar, not a repair. This kind of workmanship is not what I would have ever expected from GMW.

You're going to need an advocate in the US if you want this resolved to your satisfaction. Given the distance between you and Lee, I would not expect him to be willing to work this out. This whole situation is just beyond comprehension.

Again, I'm sorry to hear what you're going through.

[Genebaby]

Re: My GMW experience,

Thanx guys, Lee is like a brick wall, he's amazingly stubborn, but at the moment he has the upper hand. He's got the guitar, and will only "fix" what he feel like "fixing". I have already asked for a refund last year when I first got in touch with him. No dice. I would love a refund to get this experience out of my life.

Yes, the guitar now has a recessed Floyd, another thing I had to accept to make the neck shim go away. I don't think there's a snowballs chance in Hell he would make a new body with the correct neck pocket angle, and a new neck. He does owe me a new guitar, but he doesn't see it that way. If he can make the Floyd recess look perfect (and he can if he wants to) I can live with that. A new neck, with a good nut, proper inlays and good frets is what I'm most after.

Yes he said he would sell it on Ebay, take 10% and give me the rest, I have since asked him NOT to do that. It is my guitar and I own it (unfortunately).

Can I get someone here to pick it up for me? Lee made me return it to him, but he still owes me return shipping, but I don't want him to send it out next week like he plans, it neds more work, so if someone can take it off his hands, that would be a weight off my shoulders. I would like it to stay in the US until it's right.

[j2379]

Re: My GMW experience,

he must be taking lessons from Wayne & Michael....BS. goodluck

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: My GMW experience,

Damn that sucks Gene.

If you pay for a custom and do not get what you want then he should make it right, that is a nice amount of money to be unhappy with the product. My GMW was perfect with the exception of not getting two volumes and no tone, I got a volume and a tone [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] not a major complaint and a super easy fix.

Where is the thread with the rest of the pictures? I'd like to see he entire guitar.

[Genebaby]

Re: My GMW experience,

This is it here:

[paddok]

Re: My GMW experience,

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Paddok...how close are your 12th fret dots? I've got some on a SD neck that was reworked at GMW that you can kick field goals through.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Chris, I just whipped out my star and compared it to my San Dimas Jackson. They are dead on. I think I vaguely remeber talking to Lee about your guitar, and he didn't seem to remeber it. Or maybe that was someone else with a complaint about dot spacing. [img]/images/graemlins/brow.gif[/img]

[paddok]

Re: My GMW experience,

Hey Gene, if you really want someone to pick it up for you, PM me. I'm about 15 minutes from GMW and need to get over there sometime soon anyways.

[paddok]

Re: My GMW experience,

Again, it's hard for me to speak ill of Lee. He has always done right by me. He has sort of an **** sense of humor sometimes, but that is really just his way. He has always responded in kind to me, done work right away, and been generally a stand up guy. He can come off as an ass sometimes, but again that is just Lee. If I had even the slightest bit of mistrust in him, there would be no chance I'd have ordered a second GMW from him.

[surfdork]

Re: My GMW experience,

Paddok, it was a couple years ago that I had the work done. I've said before that the fretboard replacement and actual fretwork were excellent. It was like getting a brand new SD pointy neck...literally. They also cleaned off ALL the dirt and grime on the back of the neck...which was not necessary,or even desired.

It's still hard for me to understand how (at the time) a Jackson dealer, who repairs c/j guitars in addition to making replicas of charvels spaced the dots the way they did. I am living with it...and it's only cosmetic. I guess it further adds to the "modded" guitar it's on! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]