Brian W
Well-known member
Hi all!
I am working with a custom builder who is currently in the process of making me a soprano. He sent me pictures of his progress, and I noticed a problem in the herringbone rosette. I have two pictures attached to show everyone what I mean. He didn't originally mention it to me, but after I had him send me some more close up shots, he did admit that after installing the rosette, the seam where it starts and ends has a small gap. He said this was this was a common issue and usually the fretboard would cover it up. However I wanted a 12 fret soprano, and not a 16 (which would be the total frets needed to extend the fretboard and cover the flaw). The reason I didn't want a 16 fret soprano is, for one, I never play that high on the fretboard, and two, I was going to have him design a decorative point at the end of the fretboard that was going to match the point on the headstock and the design on the bridge. I did not want the point, however, to cover the rosette, or extend to the soundhole. He said he attempted to fix it, but now it looks worse. What would you all do in my situation? Do I have him extend the fretboard to cover his mistake, do I have him start over and make him design what I originally wanted, or do I walk away and look for another builder? If I walk, then I loose my $100 deposit, but I don't have to pay the total instrument price of $725 on something that I didn't completely want. The funny thing is that I didn't want a rosette to begin with, but he talked me into it. Am I being too unreasonable? By the way, the 1st picture is his attempt at fixing the mistake by filling with epoxy. The second picture better illustrates the gap in the rosette.
Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Brian
I am working with a custom builder who is currently in the process of making me a soprano. He sent me pictures of his progress, and I noticed a problem in the herringbone rosette. I have two pictures attached to show everyone what I mean. He didn't originally mention it to me, but after I had him send me some more close up shots, he did admit that after installing the rosette, the seam where it starts and ends has a small gap. He said this was this was a common issue and usually the fretboard would cover it up. However I wanted a 12 fret soprano, and not a 16 (which would be the total frets needed to extend the fretboard and cover the flaw). The reason I didn't want a 16 fret soprano is, for one, I never play that high on the fretboard, and two, I was going to have him design a decorative point at the end of the fretboard that was going to match the point on the headstock and the design on the bridge. I did not want the point, however, to cover the rosette, or extend to the soundhole. He said he attempted to fix it, but now it looks worse. What would you all do in my situation? Do I have him extend the fretboard to cover his mistake, do I have him start over and make him design what I originally wanted, or do I walk away and look for another builder? If I walk, then I loose my $100 deposit, but I don't have to pay the total instrument price of $725 on something that I didn't completely want. The funny thing is that I didn't want a rosette to begin with, but he talked me into it. Am I being too unreasonable? By the way, the 1st picture is his attempt at fixing the mistake by filling with epoxy. The second picture better illustrates the gap in the rosette.
Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Brian
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