helge Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Hi, i just wrote the thrid email to info- and sales@guitarbuildingtemplates.com, because at first i received telecaster templates, that were totally messed up and didn't fit at all and then after i complained, i got a new set of templates which actually looked a lot better, but they still aren't ok, because a standard neckplate is to wide, so that it will stick over into the cutaway and the neck is not wide enough, too. i compared it with my fender telecaster and the neck is 4mm thinner. these 4 millimeters are missing i the neck poket area, too. if these were there, the neck plate would fit and everything would be fine. well, i noticed this, after cutting and routing a whole swamp ash body, and now it is messed up. so i complained again, but newer got an answer. so i thought, that i write it down here. maybe somebody knows, how i can get nice templates, w/o ordering new ones. i already spent more than 150$ for these templates including shipping and the messed up body, which was about 70$. thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Hi, i just wrote the thrid email to info- and sales@guitarbuildingtemplates.com, because at first i received telecaster templates, that were totally messed up and didn't fit at all and then after i complained, i got a new set of templates which actually looked a lot better, but they still aren't ok, because a standard neckplate is to wide, so that it will stick over into the cutaway and the neck is not wide enough, too. i compared it with my fender telecaster and the neck is 4mm thinner. these 4 millimeters are missing i the neck poket area, too. if these were there, the neck plate would fit and everything would be fine. well, i noticed this, after cutting and routing a whole swamp ash body, and now it is messed up. so i complained again, but newer got an answer. so i thought, that i write it down here. maybe somebody knows, how i can get nice templates, w/o ordering new ones. i already spent more than 150$ for these templates including shipping and the messed up body, which was about 70$. thanks for your help. ← What is the width of your neck at the pocket? Seems kinda strange that you would be having trouble with their templates. I know others that have had very good luck, and if I am not mistaken those templates are not made by hand(they should be pretty consistent from set to set). When you are asking how to get nice templates w/o ordering new ones. Are you asking how to go about making your own, from your own drawings? If so do you have drawings to work with? Peace,Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 I would be interested to see the actual measurements. 4mm too thin at the heel would put a fender neck under 2" wide at the 21st fret. I can't imagine that they could have sold so many templates AND had this type of innacuracy. I know they had some QC issues in the past, but it seems that they have been cleared up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 I have the 70s Strat templates, and a strat neck plate fits fine. The body outline is slightly different from my 90s MIM Strat, but that's to be expected. Neck template looks good too. Are you sure the template didn't slip while you were routing? If you place the template back on the wood, are the edges perfectly flush all the way around? That happened to me once when using double-stick tape to secure the template....now I only use screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 (edited) I talk to Ronny. I'll let you know soon. Hang on! EDIT Okay, I looked up the drawing and I drew a standard neck plate in it. It seems to fit perfectly, so I think either you made a routing mistake or something went wrong with the lasercutter... I dunno. Here's a pic of the tele drawing Ronny uses with a standard neck plate in it. The base of the neck pocket (53,7mm) is wider then the neckplate (51,1mm): Edited October 10, 2005 by AlexVDL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarBuildingTemplates Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Helge, First of all, I have replied to all of your e-mails. I have had many Templates sold with no problems. These templates are very consistent and are great tools. However, you must still check and re-check when routing, cutting, etc. This seems to be a mistake on your end and I have already compensated with you with a new set of templates and shipping to Europe. Thanks, Ronny I talk to Ronny. I'll let you know soon. Hang on! EDIT Okay, I looked up the drawing and I drew a standard neck plate in it. It seems to fit perfectly, so I think either you made a routing mistake or something went wrong with the lasercutter... I dunno. Here's a pic of the tele drawing Ronny uses with a standard neck plate in it. The base of the neck pocket (53,7mm) is wider then the neckplate (51,1mm): ← Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helge Posted October 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Hi ronny, i didn't get any replies on the last 2 emails which were send in the past 1 1/2 month. that were the ones, where i added pictures to prove, that the templates aren't ok. well, i just took some new pictures which can be seen here. like i wrote in the email, i don't want to bother you and i have a stratocaster template set, that is really great, but i think when i order templates, that the parts should actually fit to each other and they don't. well, just take a lot at the pictures and let me know what you think. here's the link: Template Pics and i know, that i should have checked before i routed the body, thats why i said, that i cant do anything about the messed up blank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helge Posted October 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 i just read your post again and i really appreciate, that you have already send a new set to europe, and i'm really sorry, but the new set isn't ok also, so tell me, what should i do. just forget about it?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkielad Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Helge, First of all, I have replied to all of your e-mails. I have had many Templates sold with no problems. These templates are very consistent and are great tools. However, you must still check and re-check when routing, cutting, etc. This seems to be a mistake on your end and I have already compensated with you with a new set of templates and shipping to Europe. Thanks, Ronny As a business owner myself, I think this attitude stinks - sorry if i offend but i have to say this. YOUR customer has a problem. He's obviously having communication problems AND you don't seem to care.What does that say to the future potential customers? My ethic would be to get the parts back AT MY EXPENSE and check out what he's saying. ONCE you've checked, you can say whether it's your fault or not. These pics seem to suggest it is! I don't know how long you've been trading but withan attitude like that, i can't see it being much longer. Now, this is only my opinion (to which i am entitled) and may not be in agreement with your work ethic so if i offend, i apologise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helge Posted October 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 i don't want to ruin anybodies business and i really appreciate his work and that he gives us the chance with great templates (as the stratocaster ones prove) to build nice guitars really easy, but i also think, that i should get working items for the money i spent on it and for the templates it was around 70$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 Okay, I just saw your pics. Looking at the last 3 pics with the pickguards I think the last two look best with the pickguard on and the first one is out of shape. But then again the neck pocket of the first one is better than the 2nd one. Judging from the picture the 2nd one (last picture) the neck pocket side looks too much tapered. I guess something went wrong while cutting, I dunno, but I can see what youre talking about now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helge Posted October 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 yes, the second template with the neckpocket from the first template would be it. :-) but again, as you can see in the picture, the first neck template is really "uneven". on the second one, it is straight, but then its not wide enough. its exactly the same missing, as on the neck pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarBuildingTemplates Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 yes, the second template with the neckpocket from the first template would be it. :-) but again, as you can see in the picture, the first neck template is really "uneven". on the second one, it is straight, but then its not wide enough. its exactly the same missing, as on the neck pocket. ← OK. Problem solved. Thanks Alex! Helge, check your e-mail; I made you a more than fair offer. Ronny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
possum1284 Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 anyone know about the accuracy of the prs 24 templates? Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 I dunno.. I drew them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egdeltar Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 I havent had any problems with their templates..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 Wow, for consistent templates, it must be pretty bad luck to ship a guy out two bad templates in a row, eh? I didn't see a public apology or an admittance of being wrong either? Good thing Alex showed up to straigthen everything out, otherwise I have the feeling that Helge would be out of luck. Helge, I'm curious as to the offer? I hope he's going to pay for the wood that was ruined because of the template. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 The only question I have is....if you already have a telecaster, why do you need to buy templates? You could have made your own templates using your guitar....would have saved you a chunk of change, and a bunch of hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 Wow, for consistent templates, it must be pretty bad luck to ship a guy out two bad templates in a row, eh? I didn't see a public apology or an admittance of being wrong either? Good thing Alex showed up to straigthen everything out, otherwise I have the feeling that Helge would be out of luck. Helge, I'm curious as to the offer? I hope he's going to pay for the wood that was ruined because of the template. ← Sounds to me like you need to give Ronny a chance. Obviously when there was a problem he sent a new set of templates and covered shipping. If this is an honest mistake (or a possible manufacturing error, that was not noticed) well these things can happen. He has a good reputation for building nice templates, and even Heige said he is very happy with his Strat templates. I really don't think Ronny owes any public appology or admittance of anything. How he works this out with his customer is really between he and Heige. If Heige is satisfied with the arrangement thats all that matters. Peace,Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 In my opinion, it is pretty rotten to use a public forum to try and solve this problem. It's none of my business, but it appears that there were steps being made to resolve the issue. No reason to send the "don"t do business with this guy" message that a thread like this implies. It's nice that you were satisfied with the resolution, but if I were Ronny I would be upset that you brought your story here for the group to see. Bad press like this can KILL a business. I used to sell a HOW TO RELIC CD ROM guide. I stopped because a customer like this couldn't read the CD ROM. I couldn't understand WHY, because I tested all of them before I shipped them out. I sent not one but 2 replacement disks......After "don't do business with this guy" thread I got, I was able to determine that he was putting the CD in UPSIDE DOWN!!! Lesson: If you give a seller a chance to solve a problem, they usually exceed your expectations! People don't go into business to disapoint customers & don't STAY in business if they do Just my 2 cents........ 5, 12:28 AM] Wow, for consistent templates, it must be pretty bad luck to ship a guy out two bad templates in a row, eh? I didn't see a public apology or an admittance of being wrong either? Good thing Alex showed up to straigthen everything out, otherwise I have the feeling that Helge would be out of luck. Helge, I'm curious as to the offer? I hope he's going to pay for the wood that was ruined because of the template. ← Sounds to me like you need to give Ronny a chance. Obviously when there was a problem he sent a new set of templates and covered shipping. If this is an honest mistake (or a possible manufacturing error, that was not noticed) well these things can happen. He has a good reputation for building nice templates, and even Heige said he is very happy with his Strat templates. I really don't think Ronny owes any public appology or admittance of anything. How he works this out with his customer is really between he and Heige. If Heige is satisfied with the arrangement thats all that matters. Peace,Rich ← Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaFeeVerte Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 I dunno.. I drew them ← Could someone commision your talent? I ordered Tele templates from GuitarBuildingTemplates.com (before they were big enough to get hate threads) and had very, very good luck. I tried to hand design a Gibson NON-Reverse Firebird w/HH configuration.. but failed miserably. These just aren't popular guitars, are they? hmm.. they look so awesome though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 In my opinion, it is pretty rotten to use a public forum to try and solve this problem. It's none of my business, but it appears that there were steps being made to resolve the issue. No reason to send the "don"t do business with this guy" message that a thread like this implies. It's nice that you were satisfied with the resolution, but if I were Ronny I would be upset that you brought your story here for the group to see. Bad press like this can KILL a business. I used to sell a HOW TO RELIC CD ROM guide. I stopped because a customer like this couldn't read the CD ROM. I couldn't understand WHY, because I tested all of them before I shipped them out. I sent not one but 2 replacement disks......After "don't do business with this guy" thread I got, I was able to determine that he was putting the CD in UPSIDE DOWN!!! Lesson: If you give a seller a chance to solve a problem, they usually exceed your expectations! People don't go into business to disapoint customers & don't STAY in business if they do Just my 2 cents........ 5, 12:28 AM] Wow, for consistent templates, it must be pretty bad luck to ship a guy out two bad templates in a row, eh? I didn't see a public apology or an admittance of being wrong either? Good thing Alex showed up to straigthen everything out, otherwise I have the feeling that Helge would be out of luck. Helge, I'm curious as to the offer? I hope he's going to pay for the wood that was ruined because of the template. ← Sounds to me like you need to give Ronny a chance. Obviously when there was a problem he sent a new set of templates and covered shipping. If this is an honest mistake (or a possible manufacturing error, that was not noticed) well these things can happen. He has a good reputation for building nice templates, and even Heige said he is very happy with his Strat templates. I really don't think Ronny owes any public appology or admittance of anything. How he works this out with his customer is really between he and Heige. If Heige is satisfied with the arrangement thats all that matters. Peace,Rich ← ← Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helge Posted October 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 @fryovanni: i wouldn't have brought it up here, if i had gotten any response to the mails, where i complained about the not existing accuracy. i love the stratocaster templates i have and i will sure love the telecaster templates that i will receive. i just had bad luck and probably got the only 2 messed up templates ever. ronny and i will clear things up per mail now and then hopefully we'll find a way, where everybody is satisfied. that he has to pay for my wood isn't ok. i must have checked the templates before cutting and routing. thats my fault right here. i didn't make my own templates, because i always mess something up, thats only really small on the template, but comes out really big on the actual guitar. thats why i wanted those laser cut templates. it just saves a lot of time and money. i also own a stratocaster and bought the templates. i would never get an such accurate pickuproutingtemplate, if i would do it myself. finally, please don't take this as a "dont buy from him" thread and keep on supporting him. these are great templates for a fair price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 Helge....the best practice you can ever get for building a guitar is to build templates. And you probably don't want to use the laser-cut originals on your guitar; save them as "masters" that you use to make the working man's templates out of 1/2" MDF or high-quality birch ply, and use those on your axe. That way, if you mess up the template somehow (router digs in, whatever) you haven't messed up your only one. I personally bought mine specifically to see how the 70s Strat temp compares with my 90s Strat, and the 50s LP temp compares with my 80s LP. As for Ronny, I have nothing but praise for the guy. One of my neck templates broke during shipping (some Gomer dropped the box) and Ronny shipped me out a new one at his expense the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 No reason to send the "don"t do business with this guy" message that a thread like this implies. ← That's why I came in and tried to help... I know Ronny's templates are all ok because I drew most of them (in this case I did not draw the tele). There can be 2 reasons for a bad template... the drawing is not right or the material moved when it was being cut with the laser. In this case I don't know what happened, because there are people who do use the tele templates and they are happy with it. So just to be sure I redrew the tele, I added the strat neck pocket but with a squared end. So the neck pocket is now wider, and it should be slightly wider then a standard Fender neck. But don't forget, most MIM and modern necks are wider then the old vintage necks, especially the real 50's fender necks. This could also be one of the reasons the neck did not fit properly. It's also recommended that you check first if your exsisting neck fits the template. Otherwise use the neck template which comes with the body. Those are made to fit perfectly. Next time something like this happens and Ronny's mails don't get thru, don't hesitate to e-mail me. Mods, please lock this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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