Recommended Luthiers & Techs

John_A · November 2018

+1 for @FelineGuitars refret on my favorite Les Paul The work is perfect and Jonathan was great to deal with

DB1 · November 2018

+1 for Jamie Davey near Wolverhampton. Just picked up my Gibson L-5 Signature from him - it was rattling like a couple of skeletons in heat, but is now beautiful again. Plus, he's a great bloke, which always helps.

prlgmnr · December 2018

horsehead said:

Can anyone recommend a good person to use for a refret of a strat near York & Leeds please?

Did you find anyone for a refret in the North Yorkshire sort of area?

chickenchaser · December 2018

prlgmnr said:

horsehead said:

Can anyone recommend a good person to use for a refret of a strat near York & Leeds please?

Did you find anyone for a refret in the North Yorkshire sort of area?

I take mine to Nigel Stockbridge in Richmond. It's about 40 mins from mine but worth the trip. He does a great job.

jacklawtey · December 2018

Any ideas for a refret in Paris?

camgibsonplayer · December 2018

I’m looking to put a Bigsby on my Gibson SG HP 2017 to fix neck dive. Any recommendations for someone who can do this without damaging the guitar in or near Cambridge UK?

Boromedic · December 2018

chickenchaser said:

prlgmnr said:

horsehead said:

Can anyone recommend a good person to use for a refret of a strat near York & Leeds please?

Did you find anyone for a refret in the North Yorkshire sort of area?

I take mine to Nigel Stockbridge in Richmond. It's about 40 mins from mine but worth the trip. He does a great job.

My best mate uses Nigel, he is very good.

Another +1 for Leicestershire Guitar Luthier, Danny did some work for me on a less than sterling Lag I bought from here. Amazing job, plays like a dream now and they turned it around really quickly too.

chrisoldroyd · December 2018

I have used Nigel Stockbridge in Richmond and John Wesley in Barnard Castle, both did great work for me. John recently did my Epiphone G400 Pro and it stays in tune like nothing else I know.

https://wesleyguitars.co.uk/ ;

GTC · January 2019

Dino at The Guitar Klinic near Shepton Mallet, Somerset. I have used him for around eleven guitars and he's done a great job on all (electric, steel strung acoustic and classical). email: contact@theguitarklinic.co.uk , tel: 07957 802263

horsehead · February 2019

prlgmnr said:

horsehead said:

Can anyone recommend a good person to use for a refret of a strat near York & Leeds please?

Did you find anyone for a refret in the North Yorkshire sort of area?

No never found anyone and was considering using Jonathan at Feline. Though I had considered using a guy by the name of Melvyn Hiscock who i have had recommended to me

Jonathangus · February 2019

horsehead said:

No never found anyone and was considering using Jonathan at Feline. Though I had considered using a guy by the name of Melvyn Hiscock who i have had recommended to me

I reckon it's a pretty safe bet that most folks on here who build or repair guitars started out with Melvyn's book.

FelineGuitars · February 2019

Jonathangus said:

horsehead said:

No never found anyone and was considering using Jonathan at Feline. Though I had considered using a guy by the name of Melvyn Hiscock who i have had recommended to me

I reckon it's a pretty safe bet that most folks on here who build or repair guitars started out with Melvyn's book.

That is very true . I had a copy of the first edition when I was at London College of Furniture doing my guitar making course.

However often the apprentice can exceed the master if they get way more practice.

We get to do a LOT of refret work and it keeps us on top of our game. It was 3-4 a week during January, which was a good start to the year.

prlgmnr · February 2019

I forgot to check back in here, I've been to Nigel in Richmond with a couple of jobs before, bit of a trek from here but a nice day out with the kids in summer.

Danielsguitars · February 2019

Jonathangus said:
I reckon it's a pretty safe bet that most folks on here who build or repair guitars started out with Melvyn's book.

No not me i went back to college for 4vyrs to learn acoustic guitar making at merton and made electrics near the end, the head teacher Mike Hobbs has unreal hand skills which was very inspiring

I did meet Melvyn at kempton guitar show last year and he was a really nice guy to talk too

Flame_Guitars · February 2019

customkits said:

Jonathangus said:
I reckon it's a pretty safe bet that most folks on here who build or repair guitars started out with Melvyn's book.

No not me i went back to college for 4vyrs to learn acoustic guitar making at merton and made electrics near the end, the head teacher Mike Hobbs has unreal hand skills which was very inspiring

I did meet Melvyn at kempton guitar show last year and he was a really nice guy to talk too

Mike Hobbs has been an inspirational for hundreds of guitar builders. My guitar building journey started with Mike back in the mid-eighties. I had no wood-working skills but Mike always offered gently encouragement. It was good to catch up with him at last years Kempton show.
When I started building guitars there was no such thing as the internet (yes, there was such an age!) So aspiring guitar makers relied on books, including Melvyn Hiscock's book on electric guitar making.

Benjamino22 · March 2019

I just got back my vintage Jazzmaster from Charlie Chandlers in Hampton Wick after a refret. Fabulous job, guitar plays so much better I am kicking myself for hesitating for so long.

Cheers
Ben

PonchoGreg · March 2019

Another shout out for @FelineGuitars - just picked up my SG after a proper fret dress and setup, and what a difference that's made. Went from playing nicely to the best-playing guitar I have. Effortless up and down the neck and more importantly it now rings much clearer in the upper frets, allowing me to really appreciate the fine pickups from Oil City in there...

Not cheap, but 100% worth it on an instrument that deserves it. Jon and the boys were also super approachable and thorough as always, and turnaround was fast.

SouthpawMark · March 2019

Can anyone recommend a decent tech in Oxfordshire (ideally Abingdon/Oxford area)?

I’ve seen a website for a chap in Abingdon (RP Guitars) but there are no testimonials. Any first hand experience of his work?

Thanks.

drofluf · March 2019

By coincidence RP did a setup for me last week. I'm fairly new to this so perhaps not the best judge but it seems to have made a real difference. Communicative, easy deal to with and knowledgeable. When I mentioned that I was planning to put a slightly heavier gauge on he offered to give the guitar another once over as part of the service. A bit further South there's also Steve Kendall in Hanney. I haven't used him but he seems to be well recommended.

Barnezy · March 2019

Just want to recommend Authur for anyone near the A3/SW London. Did a great job on my Tele. Is very detailed with his work.

www.aubertguitars.com

HandwrittenHero · April 2019

http://www.ozzyowl.co.uk/

Popping up a recommendation for Ozzy in Sheffield. Excellent service, responds promptly to messages and does the work for when he says it’ll be done. Fully intending to keep using him

EzraPoundland · April 2019

In the Milton Keynes area, I can recommend Andy Viccars. He used to be head of quality control for Yamaha guitars for all their high end guitars and has decades of experience. His charges are very reasonable and gives honest advice and opinions including when work isn't advisable or cost effective.

http://www.andyviccarscustom.co.uk/

tbc · April 2019

There's no praise in here yet for Stairway to Kevin (what a name) now based upstairs above one of the Denmark Street shops (formerly operating out of Regent Sounds. His work is mentioned elsewhere on the forum, though.

I was really impressed with his work on my Breezysound a few weeks ago, and I'll be taking another guitar to him soon. Good prices, very approachable and communicative, and good attention to detail.

uberscott · May 2019

I can't comment on the quality of Kevin's work (yet) but I've just been to see him about putting a push/pull tone put in my Suhr to switch the bridge to parallel. He talked me through it and explained that I'd lose the coil tap in the second switch position, which I hadn't considered and was a dealbreaker for me. He could have just as easily taken my money and done the work as requested - so I can certainly vouch for him as an honest fella.

ToneControl · May 2019

Does anyone know an acoustic guitar expert in the North west?

SteveRobinson · May 2019

ToneControl said:

Does anyone know an acoustic guitar expert in the North west?

I think that since Ged Green effectively retired there is a bit of a gap in that market.

skitzigol · May 2019

@ToneControl - give Andy Tatlock a call... based in Bolton:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-tatlock-2a80491b?originalSubdomain=uk

ToneControl · May 2019

skitzigol said:

@ToneControl - give Andy Tatlock a call... based in Bolton:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-tatlock-2a80491b?originalSubdomain=uk

thanks
Sadly, so far all the recommendations I have are an hour or more away, and the nearest is not open Saturdays, and is near central Manchester, which is not where I work.

Kebabkid · May 2019

uberscott said:

I can't comment on the quality of Kevin's work (yet) but I've just been to see him about putting a push/pull tone put in my Suhr to switch the bridge to parallel. He talked me through it and explained that I'd lose the coil tap in the second switch position, which I hadn't considered and was a dealbreaker for me. He could have just as easily taken my money and done the work as requested - so I can certainly vouch for him as an honest fella.

@uberscott why not go for the Pete Thorn switching? I believe what you want should be possible

His signature model utilises 2 Thornbuckers, albeit it's the Plus model in the bridge position.

1 Bridge Push pull for series parallel
2 Inside two single coils
3 Both Full
4 Neck humbucker
5 Neck single coil

Gomers · June 2019

SteveRobinson said:

ToneControl said:

Does anyone know an acoustic guitar expert in the North west?

I think that since Ged Green effectively retired there is a bit of a gap in that market.

Jim Fleeting in Stockport is my go-to now that Ged has retired, he was working on some of Ged's usual clients' guitars the first time I met him.

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