In addition to building I also offer a variety of repair services by appointment. Major or minor repair of acoustic guitars. Electric guitars, banjos, mandolins, violins and the like are welcome as well. The exact cost of repairs is very case specific, and I will always want you to bring the instrument by for me to look over and for us to discuss what exactly needs to be done before I give you an estimate, but for a basic idea of the base prices of some common guitar repairs...
restring - $25 (strings extra, bring them along if you have a brand preference! - including light fretboard cleaning and conditioning if needed)
Set up - $60+ (strings extra) adjusting the truss rod, tweaking the action, checking intonation. Basic set up is limited to adjusting existing parts to improve the play-ability of the guitar. All guitars will benefit from a set up now and then to keep them in tip top form.
New Bone Nut - $65 New Bone Saddle- $55
fret level and re-crown (19 fret acoustic) - $180+ (includes tweaking the set up) Sometimes referred to as a fret dress. As the frets wear (those scallops in the frets under the unwound strings) they can create playing problems. They wear unevenly potentially causing buzzing and shortening fret life. We tend not to notice until they get real bad because they wear so slow…
Refret - $300+ pulling worn frets, leveling your fretboard, installing new frets, final leveling of new frets and re-crowning. This includes basic set up adjustments, but because the new frets will be taller than the old frets it is very possible that a new nut and/or saddle will also be needed…
Other repairs are estimated at a rate of $50/hour + parts/materials.
I work with conservation of the instrument in mind as I repair, and as such I work with hot hide glue whenever possible (which is generally always). Hide glue is time tested (over millennia), reversible and rerepairable . I use hide glue first and foremost because all repair work is done with an eye towards the longevity and preservation of the instrument.
I work in a small shop and so I try and get every repair done in a timely manner, but some repairs require more patience than others. When you bring in an instrument we will discuss what the guitar needs, what the expected cost of the repair is and what the time line looks like. I will contact you if I run across anything that changes those parameters.
Please contact me at aaron@queencityguitars.com or (303)885-7971 if you would like to schedule an appointment for repair work.