Maude Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hi all, I need to know a fair price for a repair to a bass as my new one from Gedo has been delivered damaged. They have offered to pay for the repair to be done or give me a discount if I do it myself, I just need to know if their offer is a fair one. The repair is to glue the fingerboard back on and sort out the cracked finish where the fb has broken away from the neck. During manufacture the fb must, I assumed, be glued to the neck before the neck and fb are finished off as the fb didn't leave a perfectly clean edge, kind of jagged lacquer if you know what I mean. I have glued the fb back on and sanded the rough edges back where the finish cracked away, it feels ok now but looks a little untidy, I need to use the bass this Wednesday and Thursday so wilk leave as is for now but I will need to either apply some lacquer to tidy it up and flat and polish it or build up a couple of layers of wax or oil to make perfect. I admit I'm fussy on finishes but this is a new bass and should be finished properly. Anyway Gedo have offered me 70 euros to compensate for having to do this and I just want to know if you think this is a fair price to pay for that job to be done, how much would it cost if I had to pay a luthier? I don't want to try and sting Gedo but I would like the discount to reflect the cost of the repair. Thanks in advance for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubassman Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I'd say £60 is pretty fair for the work involved , thats about 3 - 4 hours for many a luthier. I wouldn't bother with oils and wax. The neck will have a nitrocellulose finish and thats a very easy repair. Good luck with it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponehandloose Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 why not send it back? if this has happened surely it indicates inferior workmanship, youmay fix this now , be happy for a few months and something else will go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Thanks for the reply, I'll email them in the morning and tell them I'm happy with that. I've ordered the Hidersine gig bag which was £59 so I've basically been given a free, good quality gig bag, which I'm happy with. I given it a bit more of a sand with some fine paper and it's nice and smooth now, I've some good quality furniture wax here in varying shades so I've given it all a light rub of clear to cover any bare edges and blended the ends in with a darker wax, looks and feels nice now, don't want anything much on there anyway else it feels too grippy. I've given it a good set up as well and it's feeling good, Now to start playing it at last, home practice tomorrow, band rehearsal Wednesday, gig Thursday Can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I sanded my neck down including the edges of the board anyway, playing it for twenty years should do the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 [quote name='keeponehandloose' timestamp='1370292351' post='2098832'] why not send it back? if this has happened surely it indicates inferior workmanship, youmay fix this now , be happy for a few months and something else will go wrong. [/quote] To be fair this looks like a one off from a selection of basses from the company and they offered a choice of repair options to the op, from the service we have all had from Gedo I'm sure if a different problem arises in a few months they will sort it anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) [quote name='keeponehandloose' timestamp='1370292351' post='2098832'] why not send it back? if this has happened surely it indicates inferior workmanship, youmay fix this now , be happy for a few months and something else will go wrong. [/quote] I would want the same bass and the rest of this one seems good, I could get another one which may have a different issue, at least I know this fb is rock solid as I've done it myself. Another one would be at the mercy of international couriers which is never good. I can't afford a good quality bass which is available in this country within driving distance, I did a lot of research of budget basses and Gedo and Thomann came out on top, but they're still mass produced basses which in turn leads to these sort of issues sometimes. I could wait for a second hand one to come up locally but that could still have unknown issues and I may not have enough experience to spot issues and get stitched up. If anything happens to this one in a few months it will get fixed or returned as it has a two year warranty. I know a lot a folks would say save up and spend more money on a better bass but it's not that I can't afford too, it's that I can't justify it at this point in time with a cottage to renovate and a family. It's basically a Gedo or Thomann bass or no bass at all. Edited June 3, 2013 by Maude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeponehandloose Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 i simpathise with your dilema, its just that 35 years being an Engineer means that quality issues are second nature to me , and it seemed as though you were short changed somewhat. Hope the repair goes well. Make sure you keep the joint under pressure for a good while. the idea of hide glue is that it soaks into the wood, not leave a layer of glue like the filling in a sandwich. i was told this by a guy who worked for Fylde Guitars, so he knows such stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubassman Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Thomanns have always had exceptional customer service and I bought a new [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/198335-ortega-r-lizard-an-alternative-to-the-u-bass/"]Ortega R-Lizard.[/url] from them. It had a couple of manufacturing issues and they took it back with no hesitation and even paid for postage back to Germany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Yup... I'll second the Thomann vote. Got my first (budget) upright from them.. and apart from the strings (got Innovations on it now ) its a great instrument for the money. And their after market sales are superb. Send it back and get a Thomann would be my advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 [quote name='ChrisF' timestamp='1370439582' post='2100854'] Yup... I'll second the Thomann vote. Got my first (budget) upright from them.. and apart from the strings (got Innovations on it now ) its a great instrument for the money. And their after market sales are superb. Send it back and get a Thomann would be my advice. [/quote] Thomann have just the same issues as seen in the original thread, both companies have been superb everytime anyone has dealt with them so its six and two threes imo, makes a change to try and decide which one is better at being really good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 I agree that Thomann are a very good company to deal with, my EUB came from them and they were very good, but Gedo have been very good too, that bass is mass produced and the couriers have dropped it, neither of these things are Gedos fault, and they gave me all options of how to deal with it. I choose to glue it back on myself for a discount as I would end up with the bass I wanted, with the knowledge that the fingerboard is now rock solid and the Hidersine case I wanted basically thrown in for free. I'm happy. On a previous thread we came to the conclusion that, all things being equal, a hybrid will sound better than full laminate, and Thomann don't list any hybrids so the choice between Thomann and Gedo was made for me. This thread was purely to ask what was a fair price to glue a fb back on, which was answered in the second post, the bass had already been repaired and is being used so no more advice on what to do with it please, I don't mean to sound harsh but it's all sorted. Thanks for the replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cattytown Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 The other reason for using hide glue is that heat & Moisture and you can fully dismantle a bass for repairs. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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