Consultations

The first step of the process is the one-on-one Consultation with you and me and the instrument. Sometimes it's a quick run through of what you need, other times it may be a detailed study of the instrument and careful planning. In either case, we will develop a plan together, I will provide a Price Quote at that time, if approved I will schedule your instrument's service.

Setups

Cleaning, restringing and adjusting the instrument to suit your needs. I tend to every part of the instrument. Here's an overview of what's covered in most Setups.

Clean fretboard, apply lemon oil (where applicable), clean and polish frets
Check and service tuning machines
Check nut, tend to the slots as needed
Adjust truss rod.
Check bridge, saddle(s), clean and lube metal parts (where applicable)
Check electronics (where applicable)
Replace strings, tune to pitch
Various adjustments to set string height (action) and intonation (pitch accuracy)
Detailed overall cleaning. Strings stretched. Test played

For reference, here are some Setup prices, as of May 2025

Acoustic or Acoustic/Electric Guitar Setup $100
Electric Guitar or Electric Bass Setup $150
Electric Guitar with Floyd Rose-style locking tremolo Setup $200
Banjo or Mandolin Setup $100

Some instruments require additional charges.

There are so many types of repairs that I cannot list them all, but here's an overview of some of the common ones. Many times a job may include several different repairs.

Replacing Parts, worn, rusted or damaged parts, including upgrades and direct-swap instances.

Cracks. Most common are hydration-related wood cracks, however any wood part might develop a crack or can be damaged. This includes broken pegheads, necks and also structural failures or damage.

Electronics. Please, no amplifiers or things that plug into a wall outlet. My expertise is with guitar wiring only, pickups and components, as well as pickups for acoustic guitars. Dstring is happy to represent several pickup manufacturers, please see the "Stuff I Sell" section below.

Fret Replacements. I do a lot of refretting, both partial and complete Refrets. I've developed my own equipment for pressing frets and am capable of doing very close tolerance fret installations. Fret jobs require a very detailed Consultation to find the exact right solution for each situation.

Bridge replacement and regluing. Specifically acoustic guitar bridges. Many times a bridge can be saved, and just reglued. Other times you need a new bridge. I am able to manufacture precise custom bridges here in the shop.

Neck Reset. There's many types of neck resets. Some necks are simply bolted to the body and are easy resets, such as Taylor Guitars. Others, like Martin Guitars require serious surgery. Others like Guild and Gibson are lacquered over the neck joint and are not possible to do in my shop.

Routing. I have an advanced routing jig that allows me to do very precise, clean routing. I'm comfortable routing acoustic guitar saddle slots, widening Strat and Tele necks for installing Fender LSR roller nuts, and pickup/control cavity shaping is also available.

Restorations

Upgrades and
Kit Building

Restoration is an approach I use when the instrument is highly valued for personal reasons, and needs work that would be more costly than its dollar value. I staunchly defend "sentimental value" and love restoring even the "lowly" instruments that we love. Please contact me if you have one and let's talk about it.

Dstring is not a music store, it is purely a repair shop. However I do stock a few brands of strings for a variety of instruments. I also represent a few exceptional companies and can sell their products. These include:

Fishman Pickups and Amplifiers
LR Baggs acoustic pickups, pedals, and guitars
K&K Sound acoustic pickups and electronics
Emerson Custom guitar components and prewired kits
DAddario strings, accessories, everything for guitarists
Hipshot Products, tuning machines, bridges and such

Just contact me and I'll help you get what you are looking for.

Here's The Services Detail Page

Repairs

Stuff I Sell

If you want to improve and existing instrument there are several ways I can help you, aside from a good Setup you can upgrade components. I know quite a lot about how to get good tone out of an instrument and I can guide you towards certain upgrades and help make it happen.

Sometimes Clients want to construct their own custom instrument. Although I don't build instruments professionally, I can assemble parts or do some fabrication to make your dream instrument real. It's an enjoyable process for me to start with an idea then bring it to fruition.