$40 for a tune up??

[southadc]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

Man, u so lucky, i payed £45 ($85) for mine (i knew the place was a rip off) and they took a whole week! But they are the only place in my local area! Luckily the parents decided to pay for this as i had payed for the guitar!

Yeah, I got quite a good deal. They originally estimated 30 quid, but they said 'call it 20'.

Maybe 'cos I usually buy all my stuff in there - I picked up my amp there, for example. A mate of mine whp plays bass goes in there now too, since I've steered him that way. I don't think I'll get a commision though

 

[FenderBender03]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I usually go to a local shop here and leave my guitar to a guy they call Casper. He's an older guy with years of playing and actual guitar repair experience, instead of the random pimple faced kid in high school whose only changed strings about 5 times in his life. And whats better, he only charges $30 USD an hour for all of his work, which i find pretty resonable considering how good his work actually is.


FenderBender

 

[Dooogz]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

Yeah, I got quite a good deal. They originally estimated 30 quid, but they said 'call it 20'.

Maybe 'cos I usually buy all my stuff in there - I picked up my amp there, for example. A mate of mine whp plays bass goes in there now too, since I've steered him that way. I don't think I'll get a commision though

Oh, right, im not known 2 well at my local as i buy my stuff second hand or online, and generally find the local too expensive and unfriendly to bother to be part of!

 

[Bludave]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I agree with learning to setup your own guitar. I usually have to raise the action on all the guitars I have had set up. (I use heavy strings & like them up like an acoustic guitar) most guys try to set up a guitar with the action as low as they can get it and play well. Not that its bad to set up a guitar that way, it's just bad for me!!

 

[McLaughysSN]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

d*** , you guys have it bad, i go to a guy in dover delaware that charges maybe around $20 max for a decent setup by a good tech bring your own strings and tell what tuning to intonate it to and he'll do it right with at the store

 

[Lu_B]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

A good setup is worth its weight in gold....

I take my guitars to a really good guy in Birmingham. He's nice and friendly, does an excellent job and only charges £40.

What I like most about him is he's honest - if he can't make your guitar play any better, he won't take it in for a setup.

My hubby recently brought a Washburn J6 Wes Montgomery and took it to this guy to have a pair of 59's put in and a setup. The guy put the pups in but wouldn't do the setup as he said the improvement would be so miniscule that he would feel he was ripping us off by taking money for a setup. There are still some honest people left in the world!

 

[Zerberus]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

What is there to a setup that's woth $50+? Do you people who pay for setups and are satisfied get anything besides truss rod adjustment, intonation, a polishing and a new set of strings?

An hour of highly qualified work, rent for the shop, Income taxes on the paycheck, VAT on the Work itself, at some point in time the 350$ Strobe tuner has to "break even",....... Those 40 dollars turn into 15-20 REAL fast for a Pro luthier

If you´d rather have Wal-Mart set it up for 7$, be my guest

Competition is also important. More luthiers in the area will lower the price. I for example was/ am the only one in a 100 KM radius. If I charged less I´d have a turnaround time higher than 3 days and would likely never build a custom axe again

 

[UCSDBoy]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I've used Dan's book to help me set up one of my guitars. For me I just didn't trust myself. Whenever I'd make an adjustment and play it, every little thing started to sound wrong to me. I agree with the guy who said a good set up is worth its weight in gold - just cause it helps us more inexperienced players identify what is really good sonically. That said, I don't think it's that hard to set up a hardtail. Here's another good reason to do your own setups - I think if you're careful you'll take better care of your guitar than a guy doing 10 guitars a day every day, yada yada.

I took my SZ in for a setup in January. In the interim I bought dan's book and a Esquire GT for $200 bucks, had that thing set up and was playing in no time. The SZ on the other hand, got a huge dent put in it by the repair guy and he's had my guitar ever since, fussing with it. I'm a busy guy so I let it slide for a month (plus I had a new guitar, right? =)), but I finally called the manager to get him off his ass. After another three weeks of fussing they've finally decided it's better just to buy me a new SZ and throw my pickups in rather than try to repair the cheap photo finish again. You can bet after this nightmare I'll be doing my own setups for a little while. =)

 

[Infinite Dreams]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

good news- i got it back overnight and they did a great job. polished the whole deal (this was the first time it had been done on this guitar), oiled my fretboard, no more buzzes or funny noises. pretty satisfied- now if i can get that book and learn how to do all this myself....

 

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

stop complaining, i sent my guitar to have a fret dressing, and whole setup to see if anything's messed up... it has a flopyd by the way.


it cost me $120

 

[Joshiexo]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

That's not bad - in San Diego you won't find a place that'll setup a hardtail for less than 50-60 + strings. Floyds 75+... I think service charges are always affected by cost of living, and SD and NYC are expensive... Where are you from?

You ever try Moze in La Mesa?

 

[UCSDBoy]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

You ever try Moze in La Mesa?

I've been to Moze once - but I usually end up dropping it off at a place close enough where I can pick it up at lunch... Moze I've heard is pretty awesome...

 

[southadc]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

A good setup is worth its weight in gold....

I take my guitars to a really good guy in Birmingham. He's nice and friendly, does an excellent job and only charges £40.

What I like most about him is he's honest - if he can't make your guitar play any better, he won't take it in for a setup.

My hubby recently brought a Washburn J6 Wes Montgomery and took it to this guy to have a pair of 59's put in and a setup. The guy put the pups in but wouldn't do the setup as he said the improvement would be so miniscule that he would feel he was ripping us off by taking money for a setup. There are still some honest people left in the world!

Whereabouts in Brum is that if you don'tmind me asking? Birmingham is quite local for me.

 

[Joshiexo]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I've been to Moze once - but I usually end up dropping it off at a place close enough where I can pick it up at lunch... Moze I've heard is pretty awesome...

Moze is the only place in SD I'd ever take it. I don't know how much it would cost but I'd pay pretty much anything they asked. The've helped me out so many countless times I kinda owe it to them. They've even built custom guitars in the past, pretty much a full service shop.

 

[UCSDBoy]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

Moze is the only place in SD I'd ever take it. I don't know how much it would cost but I'd pay pretty much anything they asked. The've helped me out so many countless times I kinda owe it to them. They've even built custom guitars in the past, pretty much a full service shop.

sweet! Next time it's Moze then, definitely.

 

[edi_87]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

My tech charges 30 AUD + strings.

So thats like $18 US + strings

Almost the same here

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I bought Erlewines book after I changed the strings on my I-BEEN-HAD S470 & I could never get the d@mned thing in tune due to that piece of cr@p trem. I eventually sh!tcanned that guitar, but the book has been very helpful with all my other NON-TREM guitars!!!

 

[Wattage]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

Having several friends with shops, running real businesses (overhead, payrolls, insurance,etc.) I don't see how anyone doing it for a living could charge less than $45 for a setup, it can't be worth doing it for less. You are paying for a professional's time to do a professional job, if that isn't worth it to you then you take your chances. There is always someone who will do it for less.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

There is always someone who will do it for less.

IF EVER THERE WERE WORDS TO LIVE BY.......

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: $40 for a tune up??

I think anybody REALLY GOOD is going to charge at least $35 or 40 or 50 an hour. And if they're REALLY GOOD it'll be money well spent. Lew