Bench work
10 jobs, each with the hours attached.
Every figure below is a starting point that gets confirmed in writing once the instrument is in front of me. Nothing begins before you have replied to that.
| Job | Bench hours | From | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | 1.5 | $95 | Truss rod, action, intonation, and a fret-level check. Strings on top. |
| Fret level, crown, polish | 3 | $220 | Where the buzz usually is. Includes a setup afterwards, because it needs one. |
| Refret | 8 | $520 | Bound boards and lacquered boards cost more. Quoted after the fingerboard is seen. |
| Nut, cut from bone | 1.5 | $110 | Slotted to the strings you actually use, not to a chart. |
| Saddle, cut from bone | 1 | $85 | Usually with a setup. Rarely worth doing alone. |
| Neck reset | 12 | From $780 | The big one. Two to three weeks of that time is drying and cannot be shortened. |
| Crack repair | 3 – 10 | From $180 | Depends entirely on the crack. Cleats, cleat plus fill, or a full seam. |
| Finish touch-up | 2 – 8 | From $150 | Old finishes are their own problem. Sometimes the honest answer is to leave it. |
| Bridge reglue | 4 | $290 | Includes clearing the old glue properly, which is most of the four hours. |
| Pickup fit and rewire | 2 – 4 | From $140 | Parts on top, and you choose them rather than us. |
Work I will talk you out of
Refinishing an original finish
Honest wear is worth more than a tidy respray, and the respray is not reversible.
A refret on a nearly-new instrument
Usually it is a level and crown, which is a third of the money and two-thirds less of your instrument gone.
Replacing working electronics
Cleaning old pots is cheaper and, on anything with age, better.
A neck reset on a laminate student guitar
The reset costs more than the instrument. I will say so and set it up as well as it can be instead.