This was an incident at the local guitar store earlier today. It involved the Jackson JS22-7 you see above...
... and a Gruv Gear Fret Wrap.
The guitar in question was sent to the store for a re-string. The owner's Mother (as accounted by the son), alleged that the store mishandled the instrument while doing so & scratched the fretboard area proximate to the nut. There was also damage done to the Fret Wrap after it was removed for the re-string to happen. The Fret Wrap manifested signs of fraying.
The store personnel did not contest what took place. From start to end, efforts were made to address & compensate the alleged damages. While this was taking place the Mother referred to the responsible party as 'stupid' & wasn't happy with the services rendered which was understood to be $10. She claimed that her son could do a better job at it. She was also unhappy that the store started operations only at 1.00pm & reprimanded the personnels there accordingly.
As I was in the store & witnessed the incident, I would like to share some perspectives.
1. Scratch probability
Ladies & gentlemen, we note the JS22-7 sports a non-locking nut. The chances of a hard implement scratching the fretboard area between the first fret & the nut is very low. The re-string process involves a direct placement of string material onto the nut slots. No insertion or pull-through is required. Should there be stray string material coming into contact with the fretboard, it would unlikely be a sharp or pointed tip. As someone who appraises instrument for its QC, I note dry ends & glue marks resident in the aforementioned vicinity. The markings could have been inherent before the re-string took place & obscured by the strings themselves. Strings that come into contact with the fretboard could also scratch & dent the surface area, depending on the intensity of the player's fingering, the amount of vibrato action that took place & the frequency of such activities taking place during play.
2. Fret Wrap fraying
Fret Wrap (FW) is a string dampening/muting device. Upon fastening round the guitar neck, the fabric comes into contact with both the wood & metal elements of the instrument. Users remove the FW to tune the instrument at times & removal is mandatory for a re-string to take place. Players sometimes slide the FW across the guitar neck repeatedly (watch Greg Howe do it in many of his video clips) to increase the level of effectiveness with regards to proximate tension changes in attempts to increase muting efficiency. As an FW user myself (since 2015 when Sound Alchemy first brought it in), repeated removal & constant sliding did not result in any damage whatsoever. The chances of the implement's fabric being frayed by the guitar's neck is remote.
3. Time of operation
Please check the operation schedule of stores here before dismissing them as late or for that matter (it's just an internet check away), offering any form of opinion in terms of punctuality. If you are early, it does not equal to others being late. If you are early & have to wait for a business entity to start operations, take pride in your personal time etiquette. People queue at the doctor's all the time, they don't complain about the clinic not being mindful of their waiting considerations. Should this be any different with other businesses?
4. Know what you are dealing with
I've noted time & again, parents trying to mitigate the circumstances on behalf of their offsprings only to utter rubbish in the presence of so many people. In this case for instance, if you don't know the mechanics of a guitar re-string & what a Fret Wrap is to begin with, watch what you are saying. It is definitely OK to represent your kids according to the circumstances especially when the law states that they are too young to represent themselves in a commercial transaction. You don't go to the car garage & tell the mechanic off for scratching your bolts & nuts when a flat tyre is being replaced, do you?
5. We are educated (aren't we?)
I still hear this low level engagement taking place when tempers flare. I understand the lack of control in bouts of anger but we do not stoop so low by engaging in name-calling & verbal disrespect in this regard. If issues need to be addressed, we stick to the matter so that an outcome could be reached. No amount of name-calling could settle disputes. In fact, it will further ferment the situation. If you continue to do so, nuisance & harassment are just two ambits of the law that could be used against you. If you wish to be escorted out of the premises in handcuffs in front of your kids, the choice is yours.
The store did well to address the matter accordingly & reimbursements took place with pleasant wishes- respect! However, I've lost respect for the family that chose to create a ruckus hoping things would get solved this way. Young man, if you are reading this, I hope you could re-think what took place & maybe ask yourself, if your Mother claimed you could do a better job, why send it to the store to begin with? I'm sounding like a broken record here but I urge guitar owners to educate yourselves in dealing with basic guitar maintenance. If you can't do it yourself, at least know how it's done so that disputes like this could be avoided. If you don't trust others to service or maintain your instruments on your behalf, then ask your Mother to do it.
