is this acceptable custom work.

[nhspike]

I agree in principle with the concept of a tight-contact in the neck pocket fit, but if pressed, I would have to say that my favorite guitar of all time has so much side-to-side play that I routinely have to center the strings (and am glad to have enough slop to do so) by holding it in just the right position while I tighten the four neck-attachment screws.

I notice no difference in sustain.

I like the idea of a tight-fitting pocket better than a loose one however.

And, if that's what you paid for, and you didn't get it, that's lame.

Sure is fuggin' purty though!!!!

[Jack Napalm]

I have seen people bitch about less. This looks unacceptable.

[SEEGERMANY]

He screwed the pooch. Unacceptable.

[Trem]

Buisness cards implied the original neck was not a tight fit in the first place, i don't think anything could be done about it really, the cut of the neck pocket doesn't even look straight.
Neck/Guitar looks awesome tho, i would shim the neck pocket.

[RobRR]

To be 100% honest, I dont think you got a new neck... I think you got a new fretboard on the original neck. Hence the same, if not larger gaps.

[Bengal65]

I didn't even have to page down to see where you got the neck from. Mr. Woods is not quite there anymore. I think he has more work than he can handle and probably will go into demise as other builders have building similar products. It's unfortunate, but as your business grows you need to add talented people. I recently got a body from him that looked like he chopped down a tree with an axe, then cut it to shape with a chain saw! I was going to order a neck from him with LED's, but I think I could do the job better myself.

That neck/body situation is totally unacceptable. I'd return it ASAP and tell him to build to fit and not 6 months or a year from now.

[gemini8026]

no, he still has my old neck, i was going to sell it on Ebay. This new neck has SS frets, a Wolfgang carve, and is a 5 piece

[straycat]

I would add shims to each side paint to match and call it good thats about all you can do.Its a very easy fix really.Oh and get a new luthier.Killer looking piece tho'.

[z1n]

Well if that's the original neck in those pics it looks like the body was f'ed up from the get go. 58mm is what that prestige should be. measuring the pocket/necks will tell you whats wrong. If the new neck is 58mm wide, then a new body should solve the problem. where did you get that prestige?

[RobRR]

Or, beings that hes a luthier and he BUILT the neck from scratch, he could have EASILY measured the pocket himself and cut the neck to match. There is no excuse, especially beings that he had the body in hand the whole time!

[gemini8026]

Thanks RobRR, Im trying to be civilised and positive about it, but those are the words I have been wanting to say. I just gotta watch how I go abou tthings, he has roughly 1200$ of mine....

[gemini8026]

BTW, he suggested putting an epoxy on the sides there. Not sure what that all entails, but Im thinking I'll ask him if he can supply a new body, and I'll just take that in trade (no finishing) I'll take a few hundred dollar loss, at this point, I just want to have it, im tired of waiting. I now realise that I will never order another custom, it seems that it's too much of a worry/headache......

[Mat]

unacceptable IMO.

ask him to send the original neck back, just to make sure he didnt put a new board on top of the old neck

[Trem]

Or, beings that hes a luthier and he BUILT the neck from scratch, he could have EASILY measured the pocket himself and cut the neck to match. There is no excuse, especially beings that he had the body in hand the whole time!

Think about it this way tho,
If the neck pocket is the culprit, then i'de rather have the neck made to exact standard spec, cause really, the neck is the meat of the guitar, it's pretty much the main component, and the most expensive part.
I'de rather have a neck that i can slap on any body, than some distorted dimension hack job, that would require routing off another body to get it to fit.
Bodies are easy to come buy cheap, granted paint isn't, especialy since he had it made to match that paint job but,..anyway yeah.
This is considering the neck pocket is routed bad, which seems to be the case.
I don't know if he noted this to you prior to building or after, with the pics of the cards. It should have been brought up prior, if i was doing the job, i would have told you first, and suggested alternative body or shim ect...

But, at this point, I'd just shim the neck pocket man, i know it sux, but really it will be as good as perfect (stability wise) and you can paint fairly good to match such a small area.

[lerxstcat]

The gap on the bass side looks greater where the neck first meets the body than it is at the 24th fret. Maybe that neck pocket isn't cut perfectly straight.

If that's the case, you sent him an imperfect body to work with, which he wouldn't know until he got it. Making you a custom neck, but with dimensions that match that body's IDEAL dimensions, might mean that if he'd made the neck to fill that gap, the neck might not sit straight from bridge to nut.

I would ask about it, but again, maintain your composure. People here telling you to get indignant are not the ones who will be dealing with the guy trying to get satisfaction. Luthiers as artistic types can have short fuses; we all know the story about Lee at GMW and Genebaby. Remain calm.