Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. Are you an employee of Martin Music?
A. Technically no. I would be considered a contractor for Martin Music. I do not draw a salary and get paid per-job. I rent my space on-site from Martin Music. I am there about 5 hours a day, the rest of my time is spent at my shop, which houses my heavier tooling, planers, bandsaws, jointers etc, which are too big for the Martin shop.
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Q. What services do you offer?
A. Just about everything to do with guitars, basses, mandolins, banjos, or anything with strings and frets on it. The main core of what I deal with is structural repairs, fretwork and electronics.
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Q. Do you do refinishing.
A. More NO than YES. I'll explain... I do Nitro and Acrylic finish "repair", but not "Custom" refinishing.
If a headstock break (or equally small) repair needs color and clearcoat to make it look seamless, then I do it everyday. If you want your Les Paul changed from burgundy to a gold-top, then no. Can I do it?, yes, I've done it many times before, but it becomes a cost issue because I do not have the space to do it properly.
To meet OSHA and EPA std's (read-stay business-legal), that kind of volume requires thousands of dollars in booth equipment and hours of handling and disposal paperwork as well as regular MFD inspections. Small repair volumes do not require this level of hassle.
I will not work illegally.
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Q. How do I get my instrument to you?
A. Simply drop it off at Martin Music. The front counter guys are the best in the business and will write up all of your repair requests. If I am there, I will talk you through the repair process myself.
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Q. How long will it costs?
A. The shop's rate is $72.00 per hour. I have an extensive price list that is based on that rate-per type of job. For instance, a "Full Pro Electric Guitar Setup" takes on average about an 1.5 hours, and runs $85.00. Keep in mind that that is assuming that the instrument is in average-but-correct working condition. If there are other factors preventing me from performing the task, the additional labor time to get it into a proper condition to do the setup, will be added to the bill.
I can usually anticipate any additional work needed to the task when inspecting the guitar during the drop-off. If I run into any issues during the task, I will inform you, and we can go from there.
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Q. How long will it take?
A. It depends on what work is needed.
The shop's policy is; Emergency's (RUSH) work takes precident. This would be gigging musicians that need their instrument for income. This will be approved by me. Next in line will be setups and finally, any heavy structural work (since those instruments are down anyway.)
Rush (emergency) work goes straight to the bench.
I can usually get most setups done withing a week, based on backlog.
Structural repairs (take as long as they take). I do not rush structural repairs. I routinely repair instruments that were previously "repaired" by another shop that was obviously more concerned with their profit margin than the quality of work.
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Q. Do you do Warranty work for manufacturers?
A. No-My experiences from 30 years of trying to get reimbursed from the big-boys have been "painful" to say the least. I've heard from my friends who run shops in other cities that times have changed and manufacturers are much easier to deal with these days, but I have been burned too often to open those communication lines again.
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