Musical Instrument Repairs and Modifications
I offer professional repair and setup services for acoustic, electric and bass guitars. Services include setups, fret dressing, refrets, crack and brace repairs, bridge reglues, nut and saddle replacement, pickup installation, hardware repairs, and anything else your guitar might need.
Based in Glasgow, I provide guitar repairs and servicing for players throughout the city and surrounding areas. If you need acoustic guitar repairs, electric guitar setups or professional fretwork in Glasgow, get in touch to discuss your instrument. Please note: Repairs are by appointment only.
Setup - £65
A setup is an optimisation and service of your instrument to get it playing as well as it can. This includes adjustments to the nut, saddle and truss rod to make the instrument feel nice to play, as well as making sure it plays in tune.
The price includes a basic set of D'Addario strings, but other strings can be provided at cost
Acoustic Pickup Installation
I usually recommend either the L.R. Baggs Element or Anthem pickups. These pickups are among the most popular used by gigging musicians these days. I can supply and fit an Element pickup for £300, or an Anthem pickup for £400. If you bring your own pickup, the cost will be £115, which also includes a setup
Fret Dress - £140
As you play your guitar, you will inevitably cause wear in the frets, which looks like little notches under the strings.
If the wear isn't too deep and the frets are still high enough, the frets can be levelled to the lowest point, re-profiled, polished. The instrument also receives a full setup once the fretwork has been completed
Headstock Break - From £150
Headstock breaks can vary in severity, so how badly the headstock is damaged will determine the final cost.
Sometimes headstock breaks need to be reinforced with a backstrap. The cost of these is £400
Refret - £320
If the frets are too worn, then it's time for a refret. The frets are removed, the fingerboard is levelled, new frets are installed, dressed, profiled and polished and then the guitar is given a setup.
Electronic Work
This includes any issues you may have with your electric guitar, such as crackly/ dead pots, or issues with pickups and output jacks. Anything from swapping out one component to fully rewiring your instrument can be undertaken
These are just a few of the repairs that I offer. For a no-obligation quote, click the button below to get in touch
Guitar Repair Gallery
This is a selection of a few of the repairs I've done over the years, which includes everything from completely severed headstocks, to full restorations.
Gibson Headstock Break
Gibson headstocks are famous for breaking due to the way they are built. The necks and headstocks are made from a single billet of wood, but this means that the grain is very weak where the neck transitions into the headstock.
In this example, I glued the neck and headstock back together, and then filled in any missing areas with fresh Mahogany. I then skimmed a couple of millimetres of wood off of the back of the headstock, and glued a 'backstrap,' which does a great job strengthening the neck to make sure such a break doesn't happen again. The neck was then re-finished at Stephen Devine's workshop in Shawlands
Sigma Neck Reset
There's ~70kg of tension in a full set of guitar strings. This means that over the years, the strings are constantly trying to pull the neck forward. Some guitar necks move more than others, but after around 35 years, sometimes the neck has come forward so much that it needs to be removed from the body and put back on with the proper angles worked into it.
This sigma from the 70s not only needed it's neck reset, but also a new bridge and a refret.
Fender Fingerboard Replacement
The owner of this guitar loved the way the neck felt, but was never keen on the Rosewood fingerboard.
The old fingerboard was planed off, and I cut a new Maple one on the CNC machine. I then turned some Ebony fret markers on the lathe to give a nice contrast against the pale Maple.
This neck was sent off to Stephen Devine for the finishing work before completing all the fretwork and setup work.
Rubber Bridge Conversion
I've done a couple of these rubber bridge conversions, and they're always a good time. The best way that I've found to do these is to add a tailpiece to the guitar, plane down the bridge and replace it with a rubbery substance, and then install a K&K Pure Mini and an Iron Gear pickup with a hot wind on it. The flatwound strings add to the 'dead' sound of the instrument, but when you plug both outputs into the amp, the guitar really comes into its own.
These are becoming more and more popular, and I can see why!
Zither Banjo Restoration
This 100 year old Zither Banjo came across my bench in a sorry state. The head was punctured, the frets were worn, and there was lots of wood missing on the front and back of the pot.
I made a new vellum out of goat skin, which is done by soaking and stretching the (let's call it) material.
It was quite tricky to fit a new veneer to the back of the pot due to its shape, but after it was attached it got bound in Maple and French Polished.
After levelling the fingerboard, I then had to re-engrave the inlays, install the new frets and set it up. With any luck, that should do it for the next 100 years!
Floyd Rose to Hardtail Conversion
A fairly uncommon request to convert a Floyd Rose floating bridge to a hardtail bridge on this Charvel guitar. It sounds more straightforward than it actually was.
All the chambers had to be filled with hardwoods, and then the Ebony pieces on the front and back had to be taken flush with the finish without going through, as this would lead to a full body respray which would have added to the total substantially.
The mission was a success, and the Floyd Rose was put where it belongs (see last photo.)
Restoration Videos
From time to time, I get some incredibly fun and challenging restorations. They are usually completed over the course of several months to help keep costs down. Unless your guitar is broken to the point that it's a bag of ash, the chances are that I can fix it
Contact
Do you have a guitar that needs a repair?
Get in touch for a no-obligation quote.
I aim to respond within 2 working days, so check your junk folder if you don't hear back