professional Setup (guitar)

[ChanMin]

Hello guys sorry for the flurry of postings...

anyone knows where i can get my guitars professionally set up?. like a REEAAALLL good one done. ive been doing it myself for about 3-4yrs now.. and i think its time for me to treat my 2 babies for a nice " spa " retreat. Anyone knows anyone? ... preferably if you know how much he charges will be cool.

thanks in advance for all info!!!

cheers,
min.

 

[Enigma]

Professional Guitar Setup

Hi Min,

Adrian from Guitar Workshop here. We do professional setups for guitars. Depending on the condition of your guitar. The minimum we would charge for an entire servicing package would be about $80+.

We'd only be able to give you a proper estimated quotation if you take your guitars down for us to take a look at.

We're located at Bras Basah Complex #03-09. (Near Swee Lee)

 

[ChanMin]

Wow ... thats actually pretty expensive.. zack from musicfactory once quoted me $40 bucks for a full setup inclusive of a pack of strings.
Beez is a standard 20 - 30bucks
im no expert but mind telling me what other additional stuff you guys are doing .. or what stuff you guys are doing better?. i have a 3mth old strat with some minor fret buzz and a prs ce which actually has perfect action come to think of it. so i dun need to fix anything on that. so just the strat. need to get the" PERFECT " low action with " NO " string buzz. And needless to say it must stay in tune. thanks man! do reply!

 

[mikemann]

Actually 50% of the time, fretbuzz is not due to an improper setup. It could be due to a problematic neck, or seating. Which reqires repair works instead. Get it looked into first by an experienced git tech first. Local guys skills can vary a lot, some just touch water, some with decades of experience. I can reccomend you to guitar connection besides davis guitar at penisular. Very experienced, fair pricing, you want i can even put in a word for you to get slightly better price.

I'd ask, what would you expect from $20 or $40, or $80 or if even $300 repair needed?? Most important get your git proper done and good relations with the tech is more important than comparing price.

An ah beng won't mind paying double or triple the price to soup up his car if he knows the garage is of good reputation, produces the result he wants. Thats most important.

There is a lot of ways to cover up a job.

Just sms me 97337161 if you need a referral. Good luck

Regards,
Mike
Mikemann Music Studio

 

[BF109E]

Wow ... thats actually pretty expensive.. zack from musicfactory once quoted me $40 bucks for a full setup inclusive of a pack of strings.
Beez is a standard 20 - 30bucks
im no expert but mind telling me what other additional stuff you guys are doing .. or what stuff you guys are doing better?. i have a 3mth old strat with some minor fret buzz and a prs ce which actually has perfect action come to think of it. so i dun need to fix anything on that. so just the strat. need to get the" PERFECT " low action with " NO " string buzz. And needless to say it must stay in tune. thanks man! do reply!

Nice whitey dude!

Anyway, fret buzz could be due to a number of things and what the tech does is to determine the source of that problem through a process of elimination. The buzz could be due to the nut, the neck, the fret, the set up or a combination of one or more of these factors. Isuppose you can bring your guitar down to the tech and let him take a look, diagnose it and give you a more precise quote for the job needed.

Guitar Workshop, Guitar Connection, Music Factory, Wakemeup music, Yamaha, Sinamex and even Swee Lee are some of the places that does these jobs. But their prices will vary from $40 to $80 if there are any change of parts. As for their skills, you will have to rely on testimonials from other people who have done work with them.

8)

 

[ChanMin]

eh thanks man this whitey is my new MIJ strat... its from ishibashi.. a st80-spl .. its like " super chio " with gold hardware and all that bling bling stuff.
problem is there is .10s on at the moment and there is minor string buzz... I'd reckon its not a big problem just probably the bridge not being set properly. next to davis? .. cool mikeman i really need a referral from you la.. PLEASE HELP ME. probably go down tmrw. i have your number now mike man i smsing you now. thanks in advance!!

cheers,
min.

 

[BF109E]

eh thanks man this whitey is my new MIJ strat... its from ishibashi.. a st80-spl .. its like " super chio " with gold hardware and all that bling bling stuff.
problem is there is .10s on at the moment and there is minor string buzz... I'd reckon its not a big problem just probably the bridge not being set properly. next to davis? .. cool mikeman i really need a referral from you la.. PLEASE HELP ME. probably go down tmrw. i have your number now mike man i smsing you now. thanks in advance!!

cheers,
min.

Hi MIn

How much did the shipping and handling costs? And how long did it take? Yeah, been to the ishibashi website before. Nice stuff.

At Guitar Connection, you can speak to Kelvin. Helpful guy.

8)

 

[ChanMin]

well its 3mths old i bought it second hand 3 days ago from daniel a friend of mine. i was just about to order from ishibashi when he decided to sell his cus he didnt like it ( WTF?~?~?!? ) so i bought it with lace holy grails installed already. well its going for about 1.2k? approx incl shipping. We actually pay the lower price becus locals there actually have to pay a certain tax. in my opinion its cheap and damn solid. As i always say everybody needs a STRAT some point in their lives.

 

[Enigma]

Guitar Workshop Setup

Hello again,

$80 includes adjustment of truss rod, polishing of guitar, frets, fretboard, levelling of nut / fretboard, changing of strings, etc. Full refurnishing.

Depending on what you want, we'll charge according to what you ask us to do. Bring your guitar down, and we'll give you a quotation. No obligations.

Adrian.

 

[ChanMin]

well sorry lah adrian , im going down to peninsular today to pickup probably a nice strap from davis..and gonna scoot over to guitar connection to give my baby a checkup... thanks for the offer !

cheers,
chan.

 

[Enigma]

No problem

No problem. Anyway, do take the time to visit us if you're free.
Brash Basah Complex
#03-09

Take care then and see you.

Adrian

 

[darrenang]

Hi Adrian,

My friend have paid for either for the repair or setup service at Guitar Workshop, and obviously found that the money was not well spent. I cannot confirm what he did though.

There are only a countable number of trustworthy and experienced guitar repair guys in Singapore, Kelvin was good, but he's left. Wonder if its justifiable for you guys to charge a premium when many others out there seems more relaible and experienced.

PS: just saw a message where you said you were passing by Guitar Workshop and saw some guitars there and then the next moment you became some employee?

 

[Enigma]

Guitar Workshop

Hi Darren,

Firstly, I would like to apologise for whatever bad repair work our former staff have done for your friend. I would like to invite him bring his guitar back to us and we'll rectify the problem for free.

As for all other repairs, we do provide a one-month warranty.

Francis Poh is the owner of Guitar Workshop and has always been. Its just that he is out most of the time on external projects (We do sound and lighting for pubs, discos and events also). and entrusts the management of the Workshop to the staff.

He's been repairing guitars for 15 years (ever since GW opened). From now on, all the repair work will be done by him personally until he trains up a new person and feels that he is ready to do it. For all repairs done by the new staff if he allows them to do it, he will personally supervise them every step of the repairs.

About Kelvin, I won't go into too much details but let's just say that we're happy that he's left us. When we first opened, it was just Francis and then Francis and Kelvin a while later before he left us.

I quoted ChanMin $80 for a full setup cus' to quote him -
anyone knows where i can get my guitars professionally set up?. like a REEAAALLL good one done. ive been doing it myself for about 3-4yrs now.. and i think its time for me to treat my 2 babies for a nice " spa " retreat

I assumed (My mistake) that he needed a full setup and therefore quoted him the entire package.

If it is just for action and minor adjustments, we charge between $30 to $35 depending on the condition of the guitar. All our prices are open to our customers, we will show you the list of charges before the repair work starts.

We will call you if there are any changes and ask you for permission before we commence. If you do not agree, we will restore the guitar back to its original state (guranteed no scratches unless those which are already there) and no charges.

As for how I got the job at GW, I got it based on my qualifications. I help Francis out in stuff like moving into new areas of business and Research & Development in Guitars and Music Technology. And of course, I help out with the sales. My resume is at http://www.geocities.com/wapresearch/resume.htm

I don't do repairs save for some re-stringing and really really minor work such as sanding of old guitars (not those that belong to people but our own for restoration). The only other guitar stuff I do is polishing of frets and fingerboard, and body after all repairs have been completed.

Adrian

 

[darrenang]

thanks adrian for your efforts in explaining. appreciate that.

:evil: asitm, :twisted: sigh.

 

[penta-tonic]

hey adrian. how much do u charge for intonation n adjustment of truss rod? cos i dun mind doing de setup there since u made a point of de guitar being safe frm scratches.

 

[StevenTong]

Dear Adrian of ‘Guitar Workshop’,
First of all, I would like to tell you that your contradiction has tickled me to hysterics! :lol: First of all, how can Francis Poh be repairing guitars if he is out most of the time? :roll: From what I and a lot of people know, Kelvin has always the one doing the repairs for 15 over years. Every time I go to Guitar Workshop(which was quite often), Francis was never around and when he was, in rare times, he was always in the office typing away and doing things that are SO NOT repairs. If you want to say that Francis has been repairing guitars for 15 years, then yes, I agree with you but with one added sentence “with a HUGE gap in between”! (No offense Francis, but you know I’m speaking the truth..) :twisted:

Secondly Adrian, how long have you been with Guitar Workshop? From what I know, Kelvin left before you even came into the picture so how can you say that ‘we are glad that he has left us??’ Don’t you mean Francis is the one that’s glad Kelvin has left for how can you be glad that the guy has left when you haven’t even worked with him before?? Unless it is because he has left and there’s a vacancy for you that’s why you are glad??? For I really can’t think of any other reasons you might be glad since you haven’t worked with him before… 8)

I have always sent my guitars to Kelvin for repair and will always do so for I really trust his skills as he has always given me very good results. Once when I asked him about how many guitars he has repaired to date and he calculated mentally for a while and replied,” about 10,000 over”. I was shocked of course but then when I calculated the 15 years of repairing guitars with an average of 3 or sometimes more guitars, I realised that it’s more than 10,000. His vast knowledge and experience of this instrument has made many go to him again and again which is why I refuse to go to anyone else!!

For those of you who don’t know this, Kelvin now has a new shop which I highly recommend that people go and have a look at. Here’s the address and contact details from his name card:

Guitar Connection Pte Ltd
5 Coleman Street
Excelsior Hotel
#B1-02/03
Singapore 179805
Tel: 63390606
Fax: 68370128
Email: guitar_connection@yahoo.com.sg

Steven

 

[ChanMin]

yup i would like to add that i personally was also looking for a place to set up my recently aquired strat. Initially kelvin told me i needed a file down of the frets and stuff... i was abit skeptical... but trust me after he did it my action was great. Really great.

only problem was that the circuitry of my strat has a little problem being the tone knob decides when it wants to function and when it wants to just relax and and watch t.v

the other guy working in guitar connection helped me check it out for free. And told me it was fine?.... i was actually fine for awhile... but the problemcame back after awhile... i will bring it down to them again to inquire why. all in all filling the frets , action setting , truss rod adjustments... helping me restring my guitar

(my own strings)

and opening up the pickguard to check the wiring was done for me within 2 hrs because kelvin knew i was in a rush. He even let me try his vintage strats to kill time... He even let this young punk dude play with his gibson lespauls in another room because he had to finish my guitar first and the other younger dudes guitar could wait *grin*

i went from skeptical to comfortable in a short time. and i sure hope one day the other music stores in singapore will be able to provide the same quality of service he has catered to me.

he charged me $80 bucks for something i would have paid easily $100+ for.

R-e-s-p-e-c-t.

 

[marshall_law]

Yeah, i also went to guitar connection for a simple set up. I'm happy with it and they provide really good services. But i'm not sure who's kelvin, is he the plumper guy with specs? Or the little bit coloured hair guy?

 

[ChanMin]

he is the one with blue/purple/blond ....etc hair... hahahah
i also asked him how come still so happening... hahaha

 

[mikemann]

That's because he still perform in clubs regularly. He has a band called "The Puzzle Band". So have to 'dress up' mah.