Official Luthiers Forum!

How long has it been since there has been a post about repair pricing? If recently, then pardon my question. (But still, consider indulging me? ) If long ago, could we revisit this?

I would welcome any answers, but would love to hear from the repair guys. So--what are your basic charges?
Refret?
Spot dressing of frets?
New nut?
New saddle, and or action adjust?
Neck reset? (Loaded question, I know...)
Pickup install?
Even something simple like string change and cleaning?
Anything I failed to mention that you want to?

I plan on getting back into this part of the craft, and would welcome any financial advice that would help ground me in reality.

Thanks, mucho, in advance...

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Oh, and disregard my signature line!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Hi Steve,
I actually just raised my prices in January, business also went up 30% since I did (go figure)
My basic setup is $50 (I do kids under 10 and school guitars at no charge)
refrets start at $200 and go to about $350
Leveling and recrowning is $100
nuts are between $50 and $80 depending on if I use an almond or one of those fancy salted cashews
Electronics start at $20 and go up to $150 for thinline hollow body harness rewires and custom jobs ( I generally time this stuff)
As far as neck resets I stopped doing them last year due to a persistent bad shoulder. I still do Taylors though as they are much easier on the shoulder. Actually starting physical therapy tomorrow so I am slowing down on fretwork for a month or so
Hope this helps and let me know if you need anymore info.
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Evan, thanks for your reply...I was hoping to hear from you. Yes, that's just the info I'm looking for. I realize that prices will vary between N.Y.C. and East Texas, but not much if I can help it!
Do you have a printed price list that customers can view before they start trying to talk you down?

Steve

Oh yes--what about an acoustic p/up?
I'm guessing one price for a Highlander, and then another for something simple like a Fishman? (I'm thinking of the Martin Goldline, et al)

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Steve:

I don't do any of these repairs, but I have fairly extensive experience "paying" for them in my area, which is the central/western North Carolina. In fact, not being able to find a repairman (or one who knew what the heck they were doing) is one of the primary reasons I got into building. So, that said, here's prices in my area:

Refret? 250 - 400, and closer to 325 for the average.
Spot dressing of frets? 100, at least.
New nut/saddle combo? 80-150, depending on who does it.
Neck reset? 250+
Pickup install? 150+
Even something simple like string change and cleaning? 25 (strings included however. not Elixers)

Again, a decent repairperson is AT LEAST an hour's drive away from me...and they're not cheap, and practically ALL of them have a 3-4 week backlog of work. It's incredible. For example, the local music store in my hometown (Shelby, NC) takes their work to Charleston, SC...a 4 hour drive, one way. Incredible, ain't it?

Bill

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Actually Steve my website http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com has a basic price list.
For a Fishman I charge between $60 and $70, I have yet to do a Highlander but I do alot of K&K Pure Westerns which I charge $60 to install. I stock the Fishman thinline and Powerjack and the K&K stuff too. As far as talking me down, I am so busy that my stock response is "Ok at what point in the repair do you want me not to be paying my full attention?" Ends the conversation everytime
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Evan--Forgot to say: So sorry to hear about your shoulder! What is it with lutherie, lately, that's wrecking all these shoulders??

Bill--thanks, mate! That's all valuable info. By the way, I happen to know that there is a fine luthier who lives up in the hills of N.C. You should check out KBEast!

Evan again--I'll check out out site, thanks again! I love your rejoinder...I'm going to try that when the situation demands.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Actually wasn't luthiery, but it aggravated it to the point where I had to seek help with it. Turns out it is a combo of tendonitis in the rotator cuff area and something they are still trying to figure out that caused the tendonitis.
if you ever steamed the neck off a Gibson or Guild you know why I stopped doing neck resets with a bad shoulder
BTW one day I will post clients reasons for discounts and my responses. They are pretty funny. My favorite reason a customer asked me for a discount was "Cause I have a band and we suck" Now he got a discount!!!
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

YUP! Gotta reward chutzpa (khutspa), don't you?

I think we'd all love to see those.
Bet they're funny.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Steve, you might also factor in the knowledge that Evan is pretty efficient in performing certain tasks like setups. If I am not misquoting, I believe Evan told me he can do a set up in about 20 minutes!

Hope the PT puts you back to right, Evan!

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Steve,

    These are my start point prices for particular services, but they are
subject to change as I have a chance to see the guitar in question and can
determine whether it may need more or less time and attention.


Refret
   Bound finberboard $225.00
   Unbound fingerboard $175.00
   
Spot dressing of frets
   Full level, crown and polish $65.00
   Level, crown and polish specific frets approx. $10.00 per

New nut
   Bone nut from blank $50.00
   Corian nut from blank $40.00

New saddle
    Bone saddle from blank $50.00
    Micarta saddle from blank $40.00

Acoustic action change $20.00

Neck reset $500.00
   If a reset goes exceptionally well and needs little finsh touchup..less

Pickup install
   Undersaddle/No preamp with endpin jack install $35.00
   Undersaddle/Preamp/Battery clip with endpin jack install $60.00
   Soundboard transducer/No preamp with jack install $50.00
   Soundboard transducer/Preamp with jack install $70.00

Electric Pickup Installation
   Surface mount (Les Paul style) $35.00
   Pickguard mount (Strat style) $45.00
   Humbucker replacement with coil tap $$80.00
   Add coil tap to existing $45.00
   Volume or tone pot replacement $35.00
   Push/pull pot replacement $50.00
   Mini toggle phase switch $35.00
   Mini toggle coil tap $45.00
   Input jack replacement $25.00
   Add pickup with routing (single coil, double coil, P-90) $125.00

String change
   Cost of strings plus $10.00
   Complimentary clean and polish of neck, body and fingerboard

Full set up/action, neck relief, intonation - electric $40.00
    Neck relief, string height - acoustic $25.00
    Neck relief, string height, ontonate saddle - acoustic $45.00


    I have a long list of prices for loads of specific operations and alwayd
leave the option open fpr me to adjust prices if I come across any
surptizes when I get the guitar open on my bench.

    You never know what kind of work has been attempted by the guitar
owner or untrained and unskilled repairpeople before it was brought to
you.

     If i open up a guitar, find that the work is going to take more time
than is normal due to problems presented by poor work done before, I
will always call the customer to get approval before doing ANY work.

    If they choose to not have the initial repair done because the price had
to be adjusted to cover the surprizes, there is a standing fee of $25.00
for the time that I spent disassembling the guitars to inspect the parts in
question.

    Remember, once you've removed covers or pickguards in order to get
to electronics and then have the customer opt away from having the work
done, you'll need to put everything back together and pull the stings bacl
to pitch so there is some time spent that you need to be compansated
for.

    I always look for ways to minimize the cost of any work for the owner
of the guitar and also recommend whatever alternatives are available that
can cut costs for them.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Great to read your views Kevin, as for the 20 minute thing Steve it depends on the guitar, but after working on 8 or 10,000 guitars in the last 20 years you start to get suprised less and less. This means your speed and efficiency goes up. Thats when you raise your prices Mwa Ha Ha Ha!!!! Just kidding, I think I am one of the less expensive folks in NYC doing this. When I raised my prices most of my clients told me it was about time.
Would love to have a repair guy dinner at one of the Symposiums or something.
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

my prices are so inline with kevins that it would be pointless to reiterate as there are so few deviations.

the only item where there is a significant difference is the neck reset. so long as there are no complications my standard fee is $375. wish i could get kevin's $500 but no way in this area.

Hey guys, many thanks!

Just the kind of stuff I was after.

Like you Michael, I envy that $500 that Kevin gets.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Michael,

    That $500.00 price point for a neck reset is a start point for me. If the
neck reset is a smooth one with little to no trouble, I'm alwys happy to
surprize a customer with a lower price which falls at about your $375.00.

     If you can do a repair in less time than you'd expected whether you're
just having a great day or there was little resistence presented by the
guitar and previous work done, this a good practice to get used to using
and wil so wonders for your reputation as an honest and conscientious
craftsman.

    Pricing surprizes typically come in the other direction with the price
increasing as trouble shows itself, but I know I'd like this kind much
better...from anyone...in any business.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

it would seem then that we are not so far apart afterall.

it is not pleasant when you run into surprises. the worst i can recall was a martin on which some idiot had done a totally botched job of aligning a reset. come to find after the neck refused to budge, and with great difficulty, that he had reset it with epoxy. there's just no way to overestimate the stupidity of some folks!!!

My prices are close to those of Kevin and Michael. I will sometimes give the customer a discount if there are multiple repairs on the same instrument or if they bring in several guitars at a time.

Steve, or anybody for that matter, I recently searched the web and found lots of price lists on various repair shops' sites. I cut and pasted about a dozen of these these into a word document that I have on my computer and use as a reference. If you'd like me to email that to you as an attachment (MS Word file), PM me with your email address and I'd be happy to.

I'll be adding Kevin's list to that document (I've got Evan's already). Thanks, Kevin!

When I have more time, I'll be back to add some observations and questions about repair pricing and related stuff onto this thread, but I gotta go now...

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Its funny, what I realized recently is that there are so many jobs that I just don't do anymore which I used to do alot of eg. finish work, inlay, large scale routing etc... and things that don't really interest me so much. The best part about NYC is if I don't feel like doing something I can refer the customer to a few people I feel comfortable with. In this way I can focus on the jobs I enjoy and can keep my shop clean and efficient. It must be harder if you are in a smaller town and you are the only repair person for miles and miles around. It almost forces you to take in jobs that have potential nightmare qualities. I still every now and then take in one of those listed jobs just to keep my chops up.
But it is comforting to be able to say no sometimes.
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Evan,
    Where is your shop in the city. My wife and I lived at 79th & 5th for almost
ten years before we moved to the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. My
parents pastored a church at 3rd & 7th on the lower east side for year, too.

     I miss alot about the city and really love to visit but get few chances
anymore. I'd love to pop in to visit your shop next time I make it in, though.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Kevin,
I am on 106th and West End ave and you and yours are most welcome anytime, just give me a ring whenever you feel like visiting,
best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Prices are a bit higher here than in some other places. A standard rate for
car repair is about a hundred bucks an hour, for example. And, we carry
quite a load of "overhead" expenses at our shop.

Some basics:

Neck reset (includes refret, saddle, setup, etc.) $695.00
Refret (binding or no, takes about the same time) $445.00
New bone nut (a nice one, like Martin)     $120.00
New bone saddle (minor setup included) $90.00
General check-out and setup         & nbsp;       $65.00
UnderSaddle pickup install        $75.00

These prices are starting points, and have been in effect for several
years, so a reevaluation is due soon. Also, we have a discount on labor
for any instruments purchased at our shop.

Cheers,

Frank Ford
FRETS.COM
Gryphon

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

frank, given what you include, your reset price is on line with mine, since i don't incluse a new nut, saddle, or a refret unless they are needed/asked for and then at appropriate extra charges. but the balance of your rates are approximately 150 to 200% of mine. those california overheads must be killer!!! i can only dream....

I’ve been following this discussion. I’ve been building for 4 or 5 years now and people ((mainly friends) are starting to ask me to do repairs, refret, new nuts and saddles. I haven’t charged any where near as much as you pros do. I warranty all of my work, if you don’t like it bring it back. I got to thinking that I may be undercutting a local pro and I don’t want to do that, but on the other hand I’m know I’m not as fast as a pro and my quality will never be the same as Mr. Fords. Is it fair for me to charge less as I’m gaining my chops?

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Say what you do, Do what you say.