- Clean & polish guitar
- Clean and lubricate control pots, switches and jack socket
- Clean & degrease finger board
- Polish fret crowns
- Lemon Oil fingerboard
- Re-string guitar
- As above Plus ...
- Check and adjust Machine Heads as required
- Adjust truss rod tension
- Re-cut nut to optimise action - lubricate if needed
- Set pickup height
- Check and adjust/lubricate Machine Heads as required
- Fret level check. Any lifted frets (very common) will be properly seated again - lose those buzzes.
- Adjust action to discussed preferences
- Lubricate trem and adjust settings (trem guitars)
- Adjust intonation
- Service and Setup as above Plus ...
- Level frets to uniform height and radius
- Re-profile fret crowns
- Re-level - second stage - fine levelling
- Polish re-profiling
- Polish fret crowns (3 stage process)
- Fret end dressing now included.
- Worn in effect for Rosewood / Ebony necks optional - makes a new guitar feel like an old friend!
- Fingerboard Rosewood / Ebony fingerboards smooth/satin finish optional
- Satin finish (low stick) to rear of neck optional.
Less expensive guitars often have fret ends that are very sharp and uncomfortable. They also may be slightly raised allowing the top string to catch under them. Each fret end needs individually rounding and polishing, gaps need to be filled with epoxy. About 1.5 hours work.
Combine this with a full service and fret dress for £60 + strings
Always includes Service and Setup as above and of course the fret dressing process.
Usually requires a new hand-made nut as the frets are higher (only £15 with a re-fret).
- Unbound rosewood/ebony £110 + strings
- Bound fingerboard £130 + strings
- Maple fingerboard £140 + strings includes fingerboard re-finishing in Nitro Cellulose.
- Partial re-fret £80 + strings - where some new frets are required. Much less if its just a couple etc.
Please note re-fretting is required less often than you might think - often a full fret dress process will do wonders.
I always prefer to install nuts hand-made from Stewart MacDonald "Slip-Stone"
Slip-Stone nuts are made of Delrin, a synthetic self-lubricating material that helps the strings return to pitch smoothly, without binding in the slots. Great for players who bend strings a lot. The improvement in tuning stability is simply amazing.
I will make brass, bone and plastic nuts but you would never regret having a Slip-Stone nut. I have to import these from the US so they are a little more expensive.
If you require a black nut, I have a large stock of 15% graphite impregnated PTFE which is the only black material I have found that matches Slip-Stone performance.
Scalloping fingerboards is proving to be a popular modification. From the Ibanez Jem 21-24 scallop to a full neck scallop. References are to 24 fret necks but the same principle applies to 21 & 22 frets necks.
Popular options are frets 21-24, 15-24, 14-24, 12-2, 1-24
Styles: Ritchie Blackmore / Yngwie Malmsteen or whatever you want or can imagine.
Ritchie Blackmore style: frets 12-24 have a full scallop, frets 1-11 are scalloped mainly under the first 3 strings. The scalloping is deepest nearest the fret nearer to the bridge (where the fretting finger is generally placed).
Yngwie Malmsteen style: has a full scallop on every fret.
Scalloping generally requires the inlays to be replaced and the new ones to be cut to the shape of the scalloping. Thus it's economic to do this for dot inlays. Block or more complex inlays are very difficult to replace in scalloped shape and generally this is an uneconomic modification.
If you need the scalloped feel, on a Les Paul for example, then a re-fret with Dunlop 6000 fretwire may be the way to go. This is the tallest fretwire available and gets quite close to a scalloped feel. Makes sting bending far easier of course.
A recent job. Beautiful through neck Ibanez superstrat (thanks Alan). It now has a Yngwie Malmsteen style scallop from frets 1-24 and large 7mm Mother of Pearl dots installed. The big dots are wonderful on stage!
Scalloping prices: From around £10-12 per fret depending on the guitar. A fret dress / pro setup / service will also be required. £50 with scalloping (£20 discount here). A heavily discounted re-fret is also an option. Changing the frets to Dunlop 6100 or 6000 high and wide frets makes the scalloping even more effective.
Many guitarists find that their favourite guitar has dots that are too small or too dark to see on stage. Many Ibanez guitars have this problem. I can replace the dots with larger white Mother of Pearl dots for visibility. See above picture. Larger Abalone dots can also be used. Larger black dots are available for maple neck guitars.
A very popular modification this. I buy in 100's of dots at a time these days. Best to combine it with a full service and fret dress as the guitar has to be stripped down anyway.
Discounted with full service/fret dress and setup the extra cost is £50 plus dots (usually about £8-10) This includes smoothing and polishing the rosewood/ebony fingerboard to give a very smooth feel.
Without the full service/fret dress and setup aspect the cost is £70 plus dots (usually about £8) + strings
Changing cheap plastic dots for pretty MOP or exotic Abalone is an attractive option too.
There is a similar discount on this service with a re-fret too.
- New Saddle(s): £25 + cost of parts & strings
- New Bridge: £25 + cost of parts & strings - Schaller hardware preferred
- Modify bridge saddles to prevent string breakages £15 + strings (not always needed)
- Fit new Machine heads £15 plus parts - for example locking machine heads as an upgrade. Cost may be higher if headstock drilling is required.
- Re-fixing if they are loose / falling out £10 + parts if replacements needed.
- Strap lock fitting (e.g. Schaller) £10 + parts
Some guitars will require new strings fitted as they have to be removed to access the electronics.
- Fit new jack socket £10 + parts (I may be able to fix the existing one)
- New Pot (volume or tone) £15 + parts
- Rewiring: All guitars from £20 (charged hourly)
- Internal screening from £20 (charged hourly)
- Pickup installation: £25 for 1 pickup, £35 for 2, £40 for 3 + cost of parts & strings
- Selector switch £10 + parts
- Custom pickup circuits available - please email me for a list.
If you have nice sounding pickups on your guitar already but they squeal and shriek with high gain then I can pot them for you with my proprietary mix of wax - very effective and totally safe, The wax penetrates the coils and, when set, prevents the wire coils from vibrating.
Pickup potting: £25 for 1 pickup, £35 for 2, £40 for 3 + strings
If you want some pickups re-potting and want to do the removal and replacement yourself then you can post them to me, £25 a pair inc postage - each extra pickup £6. (£37 for 4 etc.)
Potting with a wax mixture which is mostly Beeswax has an effect on the tone of many pickups. It tends to warm up the sound of Gibson humbuckers is a very sweet and musical way. Works well with other makes too. No guarantee on this aspect but I've seen some pretty remarkable improvements on many guitars. Others it just stops the squeal.
If your guitar has had a very bad day then bring it to me and I'll quote you for a repair.
- Failed electronics in a guitar is generally straightforward to repair.
- Neck / headstock breaks can usually be repaired so the guitar is stronger than before.
- Broken truss rods are a real pain but can be repaired.
- Damaged frets such as nicks and scratches are often caused by a guitar bumping into something hard - it's the strings that sometimes do the damage. Generally straightforward to repair. Often a fret dressing will sort the problem and give you a guitar that plays far better too. Replacing a single fret whilst fret dressing is not expensive.
- Etc. etc.
I quote for repairs rather than offering a list because proper assessment is required.
Note: When you combine services such as a full service and pickup potting etc., then the overall time is less, so I'll agreed a discounted price with you.
If you have other requirements then please contact me directly.
|
