Luthier's Statement
Dear Repair Customer,
Your guitar can reach a new level of playability and tone. Mass produced instruments need individual attention to perform their best. Even handmade instruments need work sometimes. An experienced and knowledgeable luthier can do things that make your instrument sound better and give you improved performance. Guitars and other string instruments are primarily made of wood, and some glue. The organic material will expand and contract with seasonal humidity and temperature changes. Musical instruments are-- by nature-- delicate and sensitive to these seasonal weather changes. Most guitars will benefit significantly from regular adjustments.
If you're tired of fighting your instrument and you want perfect playing action, give us a call.
My personal love and focus is on finely crafted steel-string and nylon-string acoustic guitars. I also have an affinity for electric modifications, and I'm highly experienced with electric guitars & basses. Fret work is a specialty and we do a lot of it here-- standard fret-leveling and minor dressing, and full re-fretting and fingerboard restoration.
Some issues can arise that are beyond our control, especially with instruments that haven't been well-cared for. I encourage clients to by picky, but practical. I will go to great extremes to assure that you are completely satisfied with our service.
~ Ryan R. Elewaut, founder & owner
Any harmonica players out there? I’m clearing out some old inventory.
1 nice Blues Harp in A
1 Old Standby harp in E
Both for $40. (that’s $10 off the Blues Harp and a free Old Standby.)
...
#harmonica #blues #bluesharp #harp
We have this awesome little @kieselguitars in the shop right now. Customer wants some @fishmanmusic #Fluence pickups installed so we had to re-rout the #angled #pickup cavities to #accommodate. This was a situation where having @lindseyguitarworks program it on the CNC was easier than cutting new custom templates on the CNC first and routing by hand. Save a step... but it’s gotta be done #perfectly with one try.
•
•
#arizona #arizonaguitar #arizonaluthier #luthier #guitar #guitarluthier #guitarrepair #guitars #custom #sound #customsound #whatsonyourbench #customshop #electric #cnc #electricguitar #customization #modification #modify #shred #loothing
Here’s something I didn’t mention. That @collingsguitars D1 in the last post has a K&K bridge plate #transducer #pickup. This made the bridge reglue a little more involved than normal. I had to make a #custom clamping caul for inside to avoid the pickup heads and to get proper clamping #pressure. #loothin
•
•
#arizona #arizonaguitar #arizonaluthier #luthier #guitar #guitarluthier #guitarrepair #guitarrestoration #acoustic #acousticguitar #restoration #guitars #wood #sound #customsound #fixit #loothing #whatsonyourbench #customshop
The longest and furthest arm of a loose x-brace requires a specialized clamping approach… and creative glue application.
•
#arizona #arizonaguitar #arizonaluthier #luthier #guitar #guitarluthier #guitarrepair #gibsonacoustic #guitarrestoration #acoustic #acousticguitar #restoration #guitars #custom #sound #customsound #fixit #whatsonyourbench #customshop #vintageguitar #vintage #clamps #luthier
Here’s the #wacky #clamping on the Martin with the tricky compression cracking. (See previous post.)
I injected glue with my needle from the inside, between the block and the top, and got the crack set at the same time.
•
•
#guitar #guitarrestoration #guitarluthier #guitarshop #custom #customsound #luthier #customshop #repair #guitarrepair #repairshop #guitars #fixit #whatsonyourbench #restoration #soondsgood #vintageguitar #vintageguitarrepair #acoustic #acousticguitar
For some reason the last post didn’t display both pics. Here’s that bridge plate.
•
#arizona #arizonaguitar #arizonaluthier #luthier #guitar #guitarluthier #guitarrepair #guitarrestoration #acoustic #acousticguitar #restoration #guitars #custom #sound #customsound #fixit #whatsonyourbench #customshop
The #two #tenors …
Strange things compound and waves of occurrence do often occur. These two instruments came in on the same day, from two different clients. Both tenors are bout 100 years old. One #banjo one #tenorguitar #occurrence #serendpity
•
#vintage #luthier #restoration #arizonaluthier #customsound #tenor #fourstrings
Hey if you’re a guitar player in the Phoenix area go check out Guitar Gallery in Scottsdale. We have a couple guitars on their wall ready to go.
They have an awesome shop, great staff and a well regarded repair department run by @guitarpickens
We’re stoked to have some instruments in their store.
•
#custom #guitar #guitarrepair #luthier #scottsdale #scottsdaleaz #custom #customtelecaster #customtele #guitarsdaily #highendguitars #customguitars
I have a story for you. And I debated sharing this because it was a weird thing to do.
This is a #charango . A pretty nice one too, made not from an #armadillo like #traditional charangos, but carved from a complete piece of South American hard wood, topped with spruce. It sounded great.
Anyway, the customer really wanted a strap button... badly, so... I had to find a way to get a properly curved block to fit back up in the right spot inside the body and glue it into place before screwing in the strap button.
I didn’t want to crack the thin bowl-carved wood. This was the only option for the little #beauty. I also had to take contour #measurements for shaping the #convex block so it would have a decent glueing surface inside.
These doodad tuning gear clamps were shown to me by an old luthier tech a long time ago. When they come in handy, they can solve some really weird puzzles.
•
•
#arizona #arizonaguitar #arizonaluthier #luthier #guitar #guitarluthier #guitarrepair #guitarrestoration #acoustic #acousticguitar #restoration #guitars #custom #sound #customsound #fixit #whatsonyourbench #customshop #southamerican
Getting a lot of things done with my new assistant @jdcurnalia !
Jeremiah was hanging out around the store 2-3 years ago while he was getting his engineering degree at @nauflagstaff … Apparently he got infected with the guitar building bug and has since completed the full course work at @robertovenn.school.of.luthiery … this was news to me!
I was completely surprised when he contacted me and said he was trying to make it back up north to #flagstaff.
I am absolutely stoked to have him around the shop now as the first person to be hired since closing down the retail store.
#efficiency #synergy #goodfit
•
#arizona #arizonaguitar #arizonaluthier #luthier #guitar #guitarrepair #guitarrestoration #electric #electricguitar #acousticguitar #customsound #fixit #customshop #guitarsetup #vintageguitar
Customer was adamant about staining the fingerboard black during the #refret. Evo Gold super jumbo frets on an original custom shop ESP @espguitars ... this guitar shipped all the way from Hong Kong. On its way back now.
I think this is the most #beautiful guitar I’ve worked on in a long time. 😍
•
•
#guitar #guitarrestoration #guitarluthier #guitarshop #custom #customsound #luthier #customshop #repair #guitarrepair #repairshop #guitars #fixit #whatsonyourbench #restoration #soondsgood #espguitars #electricguitar #purple #flamemaple
Can you over-humidify an acoustic guitar?
Check out my recent article. Link in bio.
———
excerpt
———
Northern Arizona is known for being a high desert. The dryness is a valid concern to musicians with acoustic instruments. Obviously, dryness can cause all sorts of problems for instruments made of wood, cracks, playability issues and other things. It’s a common topic I bring up with customers…
But today I want to talk about something that seems new, or at least rare. This recent level of consistent moisture and sustained humidity is unprecedented.
When it gets dry again be careful! Your guitar is going to experience a shock. I’ll tell you how to help prevent it later. But this is why it matters.
— full article at customsoundinstruments.com —
This ‘ol Guild is getting some #love. She came in needing a refret, potential bridge reglue, and daddy wants a pick up installed for performance.
All was well until I found the entire lower treble side x-brace arm fully fuc..... messed up, detached and cracked. Someone previously attempted to glue it, but there were only two glue blobs holding the brace away from the top by 1/8” or more. Like some got some glue in there and didn’t clamp the brace at all.
I was able to scrape the old glue and break it away from the brace and the top with a pallet knife. Then I had a workable glue joint to clamp this brace back to the top.
The second picture is upside down, looking at the mirror inside the guitar looking up at the top where the brace is now glued and clamped.
•
•
#glue #loothin #arizona #arizonaguitar #arizonaluthier #luthier #guitar #guitarluthier #guitarrepair #guitarrestoration #acoustic #acousticguitar #restoration #guitars #custom #sound #customsound #fixit #whatsonyourbench #customshop #vintageguitar #vintage #guild #wood
REPAIR PRICING*
OUR MINIMUM CHARGE IS $50
While many guitars need to have multiple repairs performed, some "fixes" are included in the price of others. A complete list of repair pricing is impossible but a general price-list is shown below.
*Official Quotes must be made by appointment. Consultations are always FREE.
Service Guarantee
Your satisfaction is our primary goal. We warranty our work for 30 days. Additional fine tuning is included in this period. If something isn't right or your expectations haven't been met for any reason, please let us know. Adverse reactions due to environmental issues and negligent care are not covered under this warranty. We keep our shop within proper humidity & temperature ranges. It is best to keep string instruments between 40%-45% humidity and around 60-80(f) degrees. We have no control over the the environmental conditions your instrument will experience once it leaves our shop. The stability of the environment, along with the sensitivity of the instrument and that of the player will determine how often adjustments need to be made. If you need additional tweaking please contact us.
