Frequently Asked Questions:

Do you handle appraisals?
No. We're really a lot better at fixing guitars than we are at selling them. And the key to appraising a guitar, whether it's for selling to your neighbor or submitting to an insurance company, is market value. We'd be happy to give you a free evaluation of the condition your instrument is in, however the perceived value is better cooked up by someone with thier finger on the pulse of the retail scene.

Do you build guitars?
We don't have anyone in the shop building guitars from the ground up right now. But we do plenty of parts-guitars, and one-shot customizations. Check out Saul Koll's work (he used to build out of the shop). And this guitar by Bob Steinneger was made right upstairs!!!

Do you restore guitars?
Yes! We have 3 master luthiers working 5-6 days a week on projects like this. Cases such as this may require extended time to evaluate.

Can you partially refret a guitar?
In some situations a partial refret is practical, but more often than not it is as much work to replace and file down new, higher fret material to the size of everything existing around that fret, that pulling everything and starting from scratch is only slightly more expensive. And higher frets give your guitar more life and better tone.

Can I make an appointment for work?
Yes! If you have one guitar and one night to be without it we'll try to work something out with you. If you'd like us to evaluate your guitar for work you do not need an appointment. We have three people working the front: evaluating and writing up jobs so our fine luthiers  can keep the work flow moving.

Do you repair amplifiers?
We do not work on amplifiers. Be thankful, however, that we live in a wonderful city with many great craftsmen and technicians. If you'd like a referral to a shop that suits your needs our staff know plenty.

What about repairing banjos? Mandolins? How about upright basses?
We primarily work on guitars and basses. However the eclectic crowd find their way down here by referral pretty often. So as a rule we don't NOT work on anything, but again, if we don't feel comfortable working on an instrument we have plenty of referrals.

Do you sell parts?
We stock our store with common components needed to complete the every-day sort of job. As well we have stuff that found its way here somehow from the ol' days of yonder and most of that is out in plain sight for your perusal.

Do you sell tools?
We do not sell tools. The majority of our tools can be purchased at a hardware store. Anything "luthier-specific" should be available from various mail-order outfits, such as Stewart MacDonald.

What are your cross streets?
We are located on South East Belmont street. If 24th intersected with Belmont we'd be right on the corner.  Click here for a map.