Guitar Setups & Repair
Your guitar should feel like an extension of your hands — not something you’re fighting against. Whether your instrument needs a seasonal tune-up, a long-overdue setup, or a repair you’ve been putting off, we offer professional guitar services right here in our studio.
Professional Guitar Setup — $45
If you’ve never had your guitar professionally set up, you might be surprised at the difference it makes. A setup isn’t a repair — it’s a complete optimization of every adjustable element on your instrument, tailored to how you play.
A factory setup is designed to be acceptable for everyone, which means it’s ideal for no one. We take a different approach. When you bring in your guitar, we’ll ask about your playing style, your preferred string gauge, what tunings you use, and what’s been bothering you. Then we dial everything in to match.
Every setup includes:
- Truss rod adjustment to set proper neck relief for your string gauge and tuning
- Action height set at the bridge and nut to match your playing style
- Intonation adjustment so your guitar plays in tune all the way up the neck
- Pickup height balancing for even output and optimal tone
- Nut slot inspection and adjustment for your string gauge
- Fretboard cleaning and conditioning
- Full string change (bring your preferred strings or we can supply them)
The result is a guitar that rings cleaner, bends easier, and stays in tune. Most players say it feels like a completely different instrument — and it shows up on recordings, too. If you’re coming in to track, getting a setup beforehand is one of the best investments you can make in your sound.
Acoustic and electric guitars welcome. Standard six-string setups are $45. Contact us about pricing for extended-range, bass, or instruments requiring additional work.
Guitar Repair — $35/hour
Beyond setups, we handle a wide range of repair and restoration work at $35 per hour.
Fret Work — Frets wear down over time, especially with heavy playing. We do fret leveling, crowning, and polishing to restore a smooth, even playing surface. This eliminates buzz, dead spots, and rough fret ends without the cost of a full refret.
Electronics & Wiring — Scratchy pots, dead pickups, intermittent output jacks, and mystery hum are all common problems with straightforward solutions. We handle pickup swaps, complete rewiring, shielding for noise reduction, switch and pot replacements, and custom wiring configurations. If you’ve been wanting to upgrade your pickups or change how your controls are laid out, we can make it happen.
Hardware & Structural — We fabricate and fit replacement nuts and saddles, repair or replace tuning machines, fix loose or stripped strap buttons, address bridge issues, and handle structural concerns like loose bracing on acoustics.
Cosmetic & General — Crack repair, binding touch-ups, hardware cleaning and restoration, and general maintenance to keep your instrument looking and playing its best.
We’ll always give you an honest assessment and a time estimate before any work begins. No surprises.
What to Expect
Drop-offs welcome — no appointment necessary for drop-offs. Turnaround depends on the work involved, but most setups are completed within a couple of days.
Honest assessments — We’ll look at your instrument, tell you what it needs, and give you a clear idea of cost before we start. If something isn’t worth fixing, we’ll tell you that too.
Built for players, by players — We’re musicians ourselves. We don’t just turn screws to hit a spec sheet — we dial in a feel. That perspective shapes everything about how we approach your instrument.
Get in Touch
Ready to bring your guitar in, or have questions about what your instrument might need? Reach out anytime.
Phone: 980-320-0616 – Yes you can text!
Email: tim@velvetcreek.net