Take it to a Luthier!

I've been playing for 30 years on and off and while I've made adjustments to my guitars in the past I've never really felt the need to take a guitar to a professional luthier. Boy, was I wrong. I had a problem with my Flying V where the Gibson plastic nut shed the high E string rendering my baby a Metal Banjo.

I'm fortunate to live near Milwaukee so a friend recommended Denny Rauen. He turned my guitar into a speed machine. He manufactured a nut from bone and worked the V from stem to stern. I never knew what a difference setup could make. So take a lesson from a long time dumbass and get that rig adjusted by a pro. You will not regret the one time cost.

And, if you are anywhere near Milwaukee go see Denny.

https://rauenguitars.com/

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πŸ‘€︎ u/MightyShep
πŸ“…︎ Jan 06 2022
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Trying to fix intonation on this old Harmony but I can't rotate the truss rod. Seems a previous fix had glued the neck to the body. I am not a luthier but I'd like to be able to fix what I can - if this is the wrong place for this please delete reddit.com/gallery/s1k3ym
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πŸ‘€︎ u/stickysalad
πŸ“…︎ Jan 11 2022
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Headless offset concept. I'm not a luthier (nor an artist), but I enjoy drawing up weird builds.
πŸ‘︎ 117
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πŸ‘€︎ u/Teion
πŸ“…︎ Jan 11 2022
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Built a new guitar from an old beat up 1970's Tiesco body. (Not a luthier but loved building this!) reddit.com/gallery/rz0lhw
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πŸ‘€︎ u/gm83666
πŸ“…︎ Jan 08 2022
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My 17 year old dads Squire doesn’t play right. Who is the best Luthier?
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πŸ“…︎ Dec 31 2021
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Recently built a new guitar from an old 1970's Teisco body. The good folks of r/luthier liked it so thought I would share here too. reddit.com/gallery/rz0lhw
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πŸ‘€︎ u/gm83666
πŸ“…︎ Jan 10 2022
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My new gretsch sitting next to a β€˜67 One that needs a trip to a luthier reddit.com/gallery/rqi023
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πŸ‘€︎ u/ladydej
πŸ“…︎ Dec 28 2021
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Anyone know a decent luthier with availability near Rutland to work on my violin?
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πŸ‘€︎ u/KITTYONFYRE
πŸ“…︎ Jan 10 2022
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[QUESTION] Pro luthier made my cherished guitar worse - what should I do?

So, I have a 1940s-era J45 that is very special to me (family connection) needed the pick guard and bridge reglued and the B string buzzed a bit as well so that was asked to be fixed. As this person is highly reputable with a long wait time I decided to have the frets replaced as well as there was some wear.

After the work was completed, I picked up the instrument but the guitar had lots of buzzing on the frets and the luthier had me take it back and made more adjustment was made on the spot which was just raising action.

So I took it home again and, unfortunately, even after these adjustments the guitar was returned with higher action (very stiff) and it still buzzes in new places but luthier saying it's my fault for playing too hard. He says all he can do is raise the action more but it's a way higher action than it was already before my original repair job.

The guitar is totally different then it was before taking it in and I've played a 1000 guitars before so it's not like I don't know how a guitar should play. He said he put on slight bigger frets, could that effect the warping of the neck?

Any other thoughts why the action is all messed up after taking it in?

How would you deal with this? I feel awful my treasured baby now sounds and plays worse then when I brought it in (also I'm not rich and the work was not cheap! This person charges a premium compared to others.)

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πŸ‘€︎ u/Sd_card_costs
πŸ“…︎ Jan 03 2022
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Do I need a Luthier to play in C major????
πŸ‘︎ 128
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πŸ‘€︎ u/MichaelHo22
πŸ“…︎ Dec 23 2021
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2 week rental violin by one of Kim's (main luthier of this shop) students. Beautiful and easy to play! Feeling hopeful and confident about finding my forever violin (wayyyyt later in life) in Korea :) reddit.com/gallery/rvj413
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πŸ‘€︎ u/Gaori_
πŸ“…︎ Jan 04 2022
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I finally got him! My custom Luthier dakimakura! ❀ (+the pillow pics) reddit.com/gallery/rw7yaa
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πŸ‘€︎ u/dorkyautisticgirl
πŸ“…︎ Jan 04 2022
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Part 1 of 5 - Acoustic Guitar Build With Master Luthier Jonny Kinkead [57:11] youtube.com/watch?v=aAV9U…
πŸ‘︎ 94
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πŸ‘€︎ u/tinker72
πŸ“…︎ Jan 07 2022
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Out here feeling like a luthier
πŸ‘︎ 883
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πŸ‘€︎ u/LG-SpaceCowboy
πŸ“…︎ Nov 25 2021
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Celebrating me gaining my first client as a luthier company :D reddit.com/rpan/r/RedditS…
πŸ‘︎ 25
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πŸ‘€︎ u/IM_Ogden
πŸ“…︎ Dec 29 2021
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As a former luthier, this hurts my heart
πŸ‘︎ 336
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πŸ‘€︎ u/autosdafe
πŸ“…︎ Dec 16 2021
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Sad honks. Do I need to replace the whole thing or can I just the part that snapped off? Also can I do it myself or is it Luthier O'clock?
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πŸ‘€︎ u/gnar_burgers
πŸ“…︎ Jan 09 2022
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why is the gear of my 6th string STILL breaking? This has happened four times now in about 1 year. I’ve seen two luthiers and both supposedly repaired it and it keeps happening! any ideas? thank you
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πŸ“…︎ Dec 27 2021
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This is why you get a Luthier, not your parents πŸ€¦πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
πŸ‘︎ 2k
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πŸ‘€︎ u/nugget_44_
πŸ“…︎ Oct 22 2021
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[PLAY] Looking for a good panty-melter to have some fun with Sandra while Roberta's at the luthier
πŸ‘︎ 57
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πŸ‘€︎ u/randoburgherchick
πŸ“…︎ Jan 07 2022
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Guitar luthiers

Hi everyone

I'm looking for an experience luthier in Philly, or close by in the burbs at least. The last guy I took my bass to stripped a brand new neck that I bought, so I'll never go back to him. And the guy I went to before him moved out of town. I'm running out of luthiers to service my instruments. Any recommendations? Electronics I can do myself, but any wood or fret work I'd rather have a pro do it. Thanks.

Edit: thanks for all the replies. Seems I have a good amount to choose from now!

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πŸ“…︎ Dec 15 2021
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my 1/2 size violin doesn't have a soundpost and luthiers and violin repair shops are kinda rare to find in malaysia, i'm just a stupid 10 year-old who knows nothing about measurements an' stuff so how do i fix this without going anywhere????
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πŸ‘€︎ u/malaykidNuh
πŸ“…︎ Dec 22 2021
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I started a luthier company. Sold one custom LP and added a repair shop to my company. Ngl, I’m going to miss this pair. This is the hard part of running a company - not stealing amazing guitars. 2022 is looking like my year, CARPE DIEM!!!!
πŸ‘︎ 35
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πŸ‘€︎ u/IM_Ogden
πŸ“…︎ Jan 04 2022
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Since our anniversary's on Friday, I thought I'd give Luthier some beautiful red roses as an early gift.
πŸ‘︎ 66
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πŸ‘€︎ u/dorkyautisticgirl
πŸ“…︎ Dec 15 2021
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My violin lost that ornament from a peg and want to replace them, is that easy as just to buy new pegs and replace them or better take it to a luthier?
πŸ‘︎ 9
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πŸ‘€︎ u/TMCamilo
πŸ“…︎ Jan 10 2022
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Necesito un Luthier.

Β‘Buenas noches a todos/as!

Estoy en busca de un luthier para realizar el cambio de corcho de mi clarinete. ΒΏConsejos de lugares confiables?

Estaba viendo a β€œFlute Service” ubicado en Santiago Centro ΒΏalguna opiniΓ³n sobre esta tienda? Desde ya muchas gracias. :)!

πŸ‘︎ 9
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πŸ‘€︎ u/Mr_Purplee
πŸ“…︎ Jan 11 2022
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Luthier looking for a bad/broken Gurdy or HGSO so I can reverse engineer them and design my own good one

The title pretty much says it all.

I am interested in developing my own design for a Hurdy Gurdy. I've looked over many plans. But I'd like to lay hands on one (cheaply) so I can really understand empirically what's going on with these lovely things.

If you've got one that's busted or just miserably poor quality that's fine. Message me and let me know what you've got and what you want for it.

Thanks.

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πŸ‘€︎ u/RhinocerWasser
πŸ“…︎ Jan 04 2022
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[gear] Has anyone bought a custom guitar from a boutique luthier/company?

I’m contemplating going the small builder route for my next guitar so I can get something more custom than the standard stuff you get at guitar center

Was wondering what experiences ppl have had in this realm.

How custom was custom in ppls experience? Could you choose every last detail, do a custom body shape, etc?

What are some of the pros and cons of going this route?

Has anyone does high end (eg PRS) custom shop? If so, what was that like.

I’m in the early stages of exploring this so haven’t really set a budget or done much inquiry. Interested to hear peoples experiences.

πŸ‘︎ 10
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πŸ‘€︎ u/pinheadcamera
πŸ“…︎ Dec 30 2021
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My luthier says he's been fixing guitars since decades.
πŸ‘︎ 73
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πŸ‘€︎ u/PhilterKapi
πŸ“…︎ Dec 19 2021
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My friend from high school became a luthier and I bought this violin from her reddit.com/gallery/qxl6o0
πŸ‘︎ 187
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πŸ‘€︎ u/memilygiraffily
πŸ“…︎ Nov 19 2021
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Look at this beaut! My custom Luthier dakimakura arrived! ❀ reddit.com/gallery/rw8d4k
πŸ‘︎ 16
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πŸ‘€︎ u/dorkyautisticgirl
πŸ“…︎ Jan 04 2022
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New guitar day! I decided to go with a custom from Meinzinger, a local luthier based around Toronto. Best decision I ever made. reddit.com/gallery/qo0zec
πŸ‘︎ 573
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πŸ‘€︎ u/ephaisus
πŸ“…︎ Nov 06 2021
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At the luthier

My violin had an open seam and is in for repair until Friday. Sad. At least it was still at the easy fix stage rather than major/expensive repair

πŸ‘︎ 11
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πŸ‘€︎ u/guppy89
πŸ“…︎ Dec 14 2021
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Help identifying maker. Got back from luthier, was dated to 1840 but the label had fallen off. Luthier couldn’t tell who made it. Repaired by V.c squire in 1902. reddit.com/gallery/rifqsc
πŸ‘︎ 37
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πŸ‘€︎ u/khronos127
πŸ“…︎ Dec 17 2021
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Hand-Build by a local luthier reddit.com/gallery/rljjy1
πŸ‘︎ 52
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πŸ‘€︎ u/xweto
πŸ“…︎ Dec 21 2021
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How can one be efficient as a luthier?

Hi all, I am an aspiring luthier who is a bit cautious of diving straight into the industry due to the difficulty of making a profitable career out of it. From what I have gathered, being profitable takes quite a bit of a tact and after watching hours of videos and scrolling through many forums and threads, it seems as though efficiency is one of the key components to being a successful luthier from a profitability standpoint. This is a fundamental concept of business and production of any kind, but I have found it hard to nail down specifics in regard to lutherie because of the multitude of steps and variety of techniques. I am specifically interested in learning how to be cost effective and cognizant of time throughout each step of the process whether I am performing repair/ maintenance work or a building custom instruments.

A great example of efficiency in guitar building can be found in this video by Chris from Highline Guitars: Luthier Quick Tip 3: How to Decide On A Guitar Finish - YouTube

In this video he goes over the finishing products that he has found work best for him depending on the situation he is in. Many of his awesome videos, like this one, highlight efficiency and really valuable concepts like understanding what type of skills you have/ work you should accept and what projects/ customers you should turn down. As someone with a background in business and agriculture I greatly appreciate his pragmatic approach and his understanding of the importance of balancing expectations and sensibility in order to be a profitable business

Sourcing wood and materials that are accessible to your location and wallet is another fairly obvious, but important strategy that is mentioned frequently.

I am wondering if luthiers here have any input on this topic? Cheers!

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πŸ‘€︎ u/fret_me_nought
πŸ“…︎ Dec 14 2021
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For the luthiers out there, are vegan alternatives to animal parts possible?

Things like nuts and other products that may be made of commercially farmed animals. Not things like shellac which is just made from bugs.

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πŸ“…︎ Dec 26 2021
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Might have had my guitar stolen or lost by a luthier :(

I posted on here 127 days ago about a messed up nut on a used guitar I was given on my birthday. The guitar was a Gibson Les Paul copy made in 1993 and tbh it was really nice and the fact it was a copy gave it a kinda mojo idk how to describe it. The subreddit suggested I gave it to a luthier so I handed it to someone I know personally who then said they would hand it to their bands guitarist who works as a luthier when he’s not doing band stuff. I gave it to him on September 4th and he got it to the luthier around September 20th. I’ve still not seen the guitar come back to me and I’ve contacted both my friend and the luthier involved. My friend replied saying he’d ask the luthier and the luthier ignored my message. It seems fishy as I gave it to him over 3 months ago and all the guitar needed was a nut replacement. Any ideas on what I should do?

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πŸ‘€︎ u/Fruitgrenade78
πŸ“…︎ Dec 14 2021
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So I've got this slab of Sitka Spruce from the sawmill in my back yard... I'm interested in supplying you folks on r/Luthier how do we do it?
πŸ‘︎ 174
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πŸ‘€︎ u/AkJunkshow
πŸ“…︎ Nov 07 2021
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Got my antique violin back from the luthier! I only had an electric to play so I’m very excited! reddit.com/gallery/rdyej1
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πŸ‘€︎ u/khronos127
πŸ“…︎ Dec 11 2021
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Anybody know any good luthiers or guitar technicians?
πŸ‘︎ 4
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πŸ‘€︎ u/ProtonRhys
πŸ“…︎ Jan 09 2022
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Need a Luthier/electric guitar tech.

Good Morning! I put together a Guitar from sourcing parts. It’s put together and now I’d like a pro to set it up properly. I can do a basic setup on an existing guitar, but this requires tools I do not own: fret files, nut files, strobe tuner, etc. Any recommendations? Thank you.

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πŸ‘€︎ u/Hendrix1967
πŸ“…︎ Jan 08 2022
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[Discussion] Swap a neck on a Squier Jazzmaster, take it to a luthier, or shop for a new guitar?

Hello fellow guitarists!

TLDR: is it a good idea to swap a neck that is buzzy in several spots on a Squier Jazzmaster (which is my second guitar)? Or does it make more sense to take it to a luthier first? Or shop for a new guitar?

So I have a Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster on which I love the tone. It has MIJ Jazzmaster pickups, the original bridge that is quirky and awesome, and is completely shielded (very quiet). I also modded the Lead circuit to include Treble Bleed. This results in a fun and rowdy second guitar that I love for making noise and experimenting (my primary instrument is a Reverend Double Agent W).

My issue: its doesn’t quite function at 100% despite my best setup efforts. Overall intonation and action are great, but there are several spots where the notes don’t have the full sustain or even cut out if I bend far enough. It’s definitely not terrible, but fairly noticeable compared to the Reverend which plays perfectly.

The logical thing to do is to take the guitar to a luthier and see if there is a leveling or a refretting that can be done to solve the issue. My worry here is that these options in my area are $200 and $400 respectively, and to my knowledge aren’t 100% guaranteed to solve the buzzing if the neck is bad enough.

Seeing how Fender sells Jazzmaster necks for $300, I’m not sure how valid the luthier path would be. Does anyone have experience with necks bought from Fender, are they more or less β€œplug and play”, or do they require work aside from the basic setup?

Finally, I’m wondering when is a good time to cut my losses and start shopping for a new Jazzmaster? Can you recommend a good model that would have the original style electronics and hardware allowing behind-the-bridge shenanigans, but built in a way that it’s a good guitar right out of the box? Are MIM Fenders good these days? Any alternative brands that make something true to the Jazzmaster spirit? Shopping for Jazzmasters is frustrating because nobody seems to have any in stock, otherwise I wouldn’t have the last couple of questions :)

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πŸ‘€︎ u/kexbo
πŸ“…︎ Dec 28 2021
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Gretsch style guitar custom-built for Lindy Fralin by luthier Tommy Rodriguez. imgur.com/a/PjHZRNY/
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πŸ‘€︎ u/chichunks
πŸ“…︎ Jan 10 2022
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How do I go about finding a luthier that can build me my dream guitar?

I’m sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I’ve always wanted an Archtop guitar, yet I also learned guitar on a nylon string, and after searching I found many luthiers around the world who have made a nylon string Archtop, and they sound just as beautiful as I thought they would.

I currently have a Yamaha C40 which is a good guitar that I have started to outgrow. And soon I’m going to want to change guitars, and I want a luthier to build me a similar guitar.

I live in Spain, so I have a wealth of good luthiers around me, but how do I know that the luthier can build the guitar I am picturing in my mind? And do you guys have any experience with such things?

I thought I’d ask on this sub since I would love your opinion as luthiers on how to best approach the subject.

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πŸ‘€︎ u/cyphr0s
πŸ“…︎ Jan 12 2022
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Looking for a reputable luthier

My electric bass needs her bridge pickup and/or the pickup's pot repaired and I'm not clever enough to fix it myself. :(

I took her to Melody Music and though they didn't charge me because the repair was "so quick," they didn't actually fix whatever is wrong.

Anyway, I'm just hoping someone knows of a trustworthy luthier around town and would appreciate any recommendations!

πŸ‘︎ 12
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πŸ‘€︎ u/minas_luna
πŸ“…︎ Dec 28 2021
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Resources for locating local luthiers for repairs?

Other than google/maps etc, do you guys use anything to find local luthiers/repair-people for classical guitars? I resurrected an old guitar that needs a bit of work. I found a few places via word of mouth from other people, guitar teacher etc but is there any kind resource specific to classical guitars other than what shows up on google? I'm in the CT, NY area if there is a specific one for there.

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πŸ‘€︎ u/mating_toe_nail
πŸ“…︎ Jan 04 2022
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Anyone know a good luthier locally?

Looking to get my electric guitar set up by a good Luthier/show locally. Wasn’t so impressed with where I went last time I had my acoustic worked on and am looking to avoid repeating the same experience.

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πŸ‘€︎ u/shwayshwayshway
πŸ“…︎ Jan 06 2022
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Any beginner friendly trio pieces out there? I was thinking of networking with my old teacher and luthier to find some fellow piano and cello beginners (or other instruments) to play/practice with as a group. Any other suggestions are welcome.
πŸ‘︎ 4
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πŸ‘€︎ u/ApocalypticShovel
πŸ“…︎ Jan 10 2022
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Needing a good luthier reddit.com/gallery/r7aoxp
πŸ‘︎ 18
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πŸ‘€︎ u/Ryanw1730
πŸ“…︎ Dec 02 2021
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