Repairs & Modifications

Luthier Dave Johnson also offers professional guitar repairs though his shop in Nashville, TN. With over twenty years of experience, Dave has an extensive customer base that includes many musicians and bands in the independent music community.

The following is a price guide that includes the most common repairs and routine maintenance. These prices are intended to provide a basic guide, and should not be considered an actual quote. Estimates are always free of charge, and an accurate quote will be given before any work is performed.

Repairs Price Guide

Basic Setup - $75 (plus cost of strings if not provided)

Fret level, crown/dress - $125.00

Electronics diagnosis and repair - $75/hr

Fabricate new bone nut or saddle - $125 (includes cost of bone blank)

Acoustic bridge re-glue - $150

Complete refret (The House Specialty) - $300.00

($350.00 for necks with binding or maple fretboards)

Replace old, worn frets or change to a different fret gauge. Like having a new guitar. Includes: removal of old frets, fretboard leveling, fret installation, level/crown/polish. Price includes StewMac fretwire, however Dunlop or Jescar wire is also available for additional cost. Nickel/silver or EVO only, we do not do Stainless Steel fretjobs. Partial refrets on estimate basis. Fretboard finish touchup work is not included and quoted on a case by case basis.

Acoustic neck reset - $500.00 to $700.00

(vintage Martin and Gibson flattop and archtop guitars only, price does not include the refret)

Recommended repair for vintage archtop and acoustic flat top guitars that have developed a low neck angle. Includes: removal of neck, clean and prepare dovetail/neck pocket at block, increase neck angle at heel, shim dovetail and/or fingerboard extension, re-attach with hide glue for improved tone and lasting results. Neck resets are quoted on a case-by-case basis, inspection of the guitar is necessary in order to give an accurate quote. Finish touchup is not included in price.

**All other repair and modification work billed at $75.00/hour plus cost of materials

We also repair broken headstocks, rewind vintage pickups, replace or repair frozen truss rods, binding and crack repair, replace or reattach braces, replace or repair acoustic bridge plates, repair inferior fretwork...basically any imaginable guitar repair.

To refret or not to refret? Dave is also highly skilled in vintage repair, and can help you make decisions that protect the value of your investment.

Do you have a modification, or custom inlay pattern in mind? We can make it happen.

The focus of this shop is on guitar repairs, modifications, and vintage restorations. We will be building out a finish spray booth soon but do not currently have the capacity to do refinishes. We also do not work on resonator guitars, banjos, upright basses, violins/fiddles, or world instruments. We do work on electric and acoustic guitars, electric basses, and mandolins. This is the high end treatment for these instruments.

Projects are completed in order of arrival (no standbys) and an accurate estimate and realistic turnaround time will be given after the project is accepted and the quote is approved. Since the focus of this shop is on repair and mod work, this means that jobs that would be considered "quick and easy" (basic setups, pickup swaps, etc) might be sitting in line behind a handful of refrets and project work. High end work demands not just experience, but also focus in order to attain clean results..good focus does not occur at 80mph, it occurs at 5mph. Point being, if you need a couple of setups turned around quickly then this might not be the shop that can meet that expectation. However, if your project is one that demands clean results then we would love to hear from you.

Please contact us for scheduling and estimates.

For a detailed and comprehensive list of local guitar and amp repair shops in the greater Nashville area, please visit the Nashville Guitar Repair Masterlist.