A standard electric guitar/bass setup on my workbench includes the following:

• Restring

• Action adjustment

• Setting neck relief

• Intonation (making sure the instrument plays in tune on all frets)

• Machine-polishing frets

• Fretboard condition and clean

• Nut lubrication

• Metal hardware lubrication (as needed)

• Instrument polish and clean

If your guitar is making a weird noise (or no noise at all), the root cause may not be obvious. Fortunately, I love the challenge of diagnosing what's wrong with an instrument and will do so at no charge. Contact me with a description (and ideally a video) of the issue. 

Absolutely! I charge the same rate for instrument repair/maintenance lessons as I do for my guitar lessons. See the Lessons page for rates.

Since moving to the SF Bay Area, I have found the most incredible community of musicians. I can't do all of this work for free since my time and tools cost money, but I think of undercharging as my way of paying it forward for this community. I also don't have the overhead costs associated with running a larger shop. 

I take pride in my work. However, the following repairs require special equipment or extremely specialized knowledge that I do not possess, and would therefor refer you to someone else:

• Whole-body painting

• Period-correct vintage restoration

• Routing or large woodworking repair

• Special material (e.g. carbon fiber) repair

• Pickup repair/rewinding

I will also try to talk you out of a modification if I believe it will not get you the result you are looking for. For example, if you think that installing a $45 Gibson capacitor will fix all of your tone issues, I will convince you otherwise since I hate to see people waste their hard-earned money.

A fair question! I've been working on my own guitars and friends' guitars for the past decade. I have worked on everything from vintage Martins to top-of-the-line boutique ultra-modern shredsticks. I have set up, repaired, and modified hundreds of guitars of just about every style.

I know that guitars can have a lot of sentimental value in addition to the price they command (heck, I even have a tattoo in honor of my favorite guitar). I take every precaution to ensure that a guitar leaves my workbench in better condition than when it entered.

As far as credentials, I completed the Guitar Electronics course at Cal State Long Beach in which I learned the ins-and-outs of onboard guitar electronics as well as built a small transistor amplifier. I also apprenticed under a former Santa Cruz Guitars luthier who now operates Unga Guitars.