Guitar tech, Swindon area

[LikesBikes]

Recently dug my guitar out, my New Years resolution being to take more time to play it.

Removed the dust, changed the strings etc and had a little strum but not entirely happy with it so thought I'd get a professional setup. It's never had one since I bought it (a good 12 or 15 years ago so it's probably due one).

Anyway cutting to the chase I'm looking for any recommendations in Swindon or surrounding area. I know of Kempsters and Holmes music, are either of these any good or is there a lesser known bloke in a small workshop somewhere that is worth a look?

Cheers gang.


edited 'cos I can't spell "Swindon"...

Edited by LikesBikes on Saturday 9th January 19:55

[OldSkoolRS]

Probably too far away for you, but I know of a good Guitar tech in Reading. He was recommended by some other guitarists I know and I got him to reduce the fret height on a Gibson Studio I bought online as I couldn't get on with the high frets. Did a lovely job, all the frets were left nicely polished and perfectly level and smooth at the edges, he also sorted out the nut as it needed cutting deeper to account for the fret height reduction.

This is his website: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/julian.mullen/

There are prices on there somewhere/download PDF, but for reference he charged me £85 for my fret job as I supplied my own strings.

[LikesBikes]

Reading would be OK if they did it there and then, but the couple of places I've spoken suggested leaving it for a few days - is that the norm?

[singlecoil]

LikesBikes said:

Reading would be OK if they did it there and then, but the couple of places I've spoken suggested leaving it for a few days - is that the norm?

When I used to repair guitars I always used to send the customers away because I didn't want them to see how quickly I was going to do it, otherwise they might not have been so happy to pay the fee.

I used to reckon to service a guitar- remove the strings, clean the fretboard, dress the frets, adjust or replace the nut, check the wiring, clean the pots, clean the bridge (frequently necessary to change the bridge pieces on Strats due to corrosion and the adjustment screws' allen sockets being filled with bits of rust and sweaty skin) fit new strings adjust truss rod and action/intonation in about 25 minutes. £45 plus strings and parts and that was over 20 years ago.

I was tuned up though, I was doing several guitars a day, and had all the gear and parts at my elbow.

[LikesBikes]

singlecoil said:

When I used to repair guitars I always used to send the customers away because I didn't want them to see how quickly I was going to do it, otherwise they might not have been so happy to pay the fee...

I did wonder something like that, a 'how long can it take?' kind of thing. But I figured that you're not just paying for the time, there's the expertise too.

Speaking of changing the nut, will this make any difference to me as a very amateur guitarist? Mine has the original plastic one, what difference could I expect from bone or whatever?

[singlecoil]

LikesBikes said:

singlecoil said:

When I used to repair guitars I always used to send the customers away because I didn't want them to see how quickly I was going to do it, otherwise they might not have been so happy to pay the fee...

I did wonder something like that, a 'how long can it take?' kind of thing. But I figured that you're not just paying for the time, there's the expertise too.

Speaking of changing the nut, will this make any difference to me as a very amateur guitarist? Mine has the original plastic one, what difference could I expect from bone or whatever?

Decent plastic can be just as good as bone. More important than the material is the quality and position of the slots, you will want them to be evenly spaced and set so that the string height over the first fret is as low as possible without buzzing audibly on the fret.