Edinburgh Guitar Services

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Hello!

I have recently been working through the many guitars that I own and a few customers and friends guitars through the door this year. I have been learning how to set them up correctly. I have been acquiring certain tools and knowledge to complete the jobs required to have your guitar in tune all over the neck, no buzz and good action.

The thought came to mind that perhaps I could provide, not as much as a professional guitar technician, but a decent service in setting up your guitar. Perhaps pass on some knowledge in the process. Perhaps your new to guitar and have an instrument that requires a little attention. Or indeed you never knew a setup is something that could be done and are keen to understand why it is done. If you simply don't have the time you to do it yourself. Well, that is where I step in.

Firstly I would expect the guitar to be delivered to me, as I am working from home, I want you to know where I live, whilst your guitar is in my possession. Ideally your guitar would be insure, however I do have contents insurance. So in the unlikely event of a fire or theft we should be covered. I am based on Chalmers Street in Edinburgh, in a modern building that is secure as it can be… CCTV monitored, entry system etc. I look after my kid through the week so I am at home for most of it.

Below is what I can help you with and what I would do when setting up your instrument. Bass and electric are my “go to” at the moment, acoustic is a slightly different job….

What I can offer.
Neck and fret clean
Body polish and hardware clean - non essential!
Restring, if this is something you are doing for the first time, I would do it and include all other services
Intonation, string length, saddle adjustment, nut filing etc.
Action, saddle height
String heights relative to fretboard radius
Truss rod adjustment - for higher or lower gauge of strings or if your guitars neck has warped
Pickup heights
Tremolo /Floyed Rose setup. I have got to grips with the art of keeping your, for example, Stratocaster tremolo in tune. There are a few factors at play so please discuss with me.
Tremolo blocking
Nut replacement - this we would have to discuss, some are easier than others. Anything that sits in a channel like a Stratocaster’s is a surgical procedure.
Neck alignment, sometimes this can be simple, sometimes its not, if the problem is beyond me, Its unlikely I will be able to help, again, we can discuss this and maybe we can reach a compromise. It is still possible to set intonation etc with a slightly out of place neck.

As I am providing this service at a flat rate of £15. 00 rather than charging an hourly rate, there are a few requests I would make of you. As I do not have the luxury of a stores worth of hardware, strings and parts etc.
Your guitar hopefully arrives in a guitar case or gig bag for safe keeping, I do have a spare gig bag and would make case free if this is an issue for you.
A new set of strings, wither changing gauge or for having a setup done. I will work on old strings if that is what you want me too, to keep costs down. However some jobs are really going to want fresh strings.
If you want a nut replacement then I would expect you to provide the new nut.

What I CANNOT offer and when you should take your guitar to a more experienced tech.
Fret levelling, fret polishing, crowning, replacement
Hardware installation, such as a new bridge or tremolo. Anything that involves routing or drilling I will not do.
Fitting nuts that involve drilling into the neck to install. If it cannot be glued I do not want to take the risk.

From some guitars that I have worked on already I have realised that sometimes compromise is key. I helped someone recently who I was optimistic I could help, however, we concluded that he needed fret replacement in one area or fret levelling all over the neck.

We reached a compromise by increasing his guitars action and this allowed notes to be bent high up on his high E string, however, due to fret wear the bends suffered, in that the note would not sustain for very long. It left in a slightly better condition than it arrived.

If you have a similar problem, you may be best saving your money and getting a job like fret replacement /filing done. However run it by me and we will see what we can do.

What I am open to discussing
Pickup instillation
Jack replacement
Killswitch, gain boost instillation
Potentiometer replacement
Other wiring jobs.


How long will the work take?

I would probably only take one guitar at a time and that includes coming from an individual or multiple individuals. Unless its easier for you to drop more than one off at once. We can discuss this.

I may need your guitar for at least two to three days to complete the work. This is because if I make some adjustment to your truss rod, I have found that leaving the neck at least 24 hours. Allows me to have the confidence that the change has settled and improved what it was meant to. If the truss rod does not settle, I then redo the work I have done. I would then leave it ideally another 24 hours. I would have a reasonable idea of where it has gotten to in less time than this, however, it is best to let it rest. Truss rod adjustment is most likely to happen when you change string gauges.

When you arrive with the guitar, I will likely spend a little time with you to look over it. If I think it is something that is beyond me then I will point you in the right direction, no charge for that part of the service.

I would not expect any money until you have collected the guitar and your happy with whats been done. I will not charge you if I am for whatever reason unable to do what I set out to do.

I will provide, likely via email, any updates that come to mind. If I encounter an issue and have an alternative idea, then I would seek your permission. Again, if its something you do not want, then we cancel the setup and you take your guitar back, no payment, no problem!

Certain situations -

Perhaps you’ve got a brand new guitar out of the box and are using the same gauge strings or whats already on there. I would be open to discussing, as I have done this before, providing a short lesson in setting up your instrument. We could spend approx - an hour or two together and I would work on the guitar in front of you and would tell you what I am doing and why I am doing it, so hopefully you could achieve the same thing again on your own. I would ask to be payed for this service.

This depends on the guitar, some take longer than others.

As I mentioned at the beginning if you are new to guitar and have been wondering why that one fret buzzes or that other string sounds a bit dead. Then you probably need your guitar set up. If its a new instrument, no matter how much it cost, it should be possible to fix any issues.

I am happy to work on any guitar that comes to me, expensive, cheap, fake or kit built. As I mentioned previously, I will decide upon inspection if I can help or not. Hopefully I will not waste your time, at the very least, any issues will be identified and you will be able to get an idea of how much it could cost you to have fixed by a luthier.

To begin a conversation please email me, or indeed text on the number provided.

Thanks for reading

Chris

Guitars I have worked on.

Jackson RR24 with Floyd Rose Tremolo
LTD - MH-350FR - Floyd Rose Tremolo
Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster with tremolo set to float
Fender Strat - block tremolo
Jim Root Telecaster
Squier Mustang - set to hardtail bridge
Fender American 5 string Jazz Bass
Harley Benton Les Paul
Squier Affinity Stratocaster
Squier Telecaster
Kitbuiltguitar Flying V
Fake Chinese Stratocaster
Epiphone Les Paul
Epiphone SG

Fender American Deluxe 5 string bass
Fender Geddy Lee signature bass