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Getting my bass 'luthiered' - what should I pay?


Chrisbassboy5
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5 hours ago, Monkey Steve said:

To the OP - take notice of any recommendation of good service like this one.  I've been to good luthiers, and I've been to a few bad ones, and I now only use one that I completely trust.  The price isn't necessarily a very good indication of the quality of the work, so it's more about getting a good job done within your budget, not assuming that it's a one size fits all service and that you should pick based on price.

Like a lot of the others on the thread I do most stuff myself and wouldn't use my guy just for a set up, but in fact he throws in a set up for free whenever he does any work on my instruments (on the basis that his professional pride won't let him send an instrument out out of his workshop with a bad set up) and the first thing I usually have to do is put the action back up to the height I had it previously (only on basses - his "lowest action possible" mantra is excellent for guitars).  Not an issue for me, but it does highlight that when you pick a luthier it is worth having a good chat with them before handing over the bass to make sure that you are clear on what they are going to do, and that they are going to set the bass up to your tastes, not to theirs.

Exactly. I bumbled around for years trying to get my instruments set up starting with guitar/bass techs from various bands who had invariably picked up their ‘skills’ from other ill informed techs, disasters ensued. Then I tried music shops, disasters ensued. I tried a few amateur instrument enthusiasts (years and years before Basschat obviously, disasters ensued. Usually the instrument would be returned with, at best, the same problem I left it there with, sometimes with the same problem but worse and in a couple of cases significant extra problems too. One ‘expert’ would contradict every other and I’d be left with less money and a badly set up bass or guitar. Had I been younger I think I would learn how to maintain my own instruments but a) I’m an old dog with no inclination towards such work and b) how do I know that the information one person gives me is correct over what another person says or does? (Again this is where the ‘hive-mind’ of Basschat comes in so useful with its consensus replies.) I could never understand why so-called ‘luthiers’ or ‘guitar tech’ couldn’t just treat instruments like the physics/engineering problems that they are. This is one of the reasons I go to Peter at Guitar Technical Services, he explains everything he is doing in terms of the physics and/or engineering and in many cases you can stand in his workshop with him and watch what he’s doing. He does a Pro Setup, asks to see the instrument to tweak after a six month ‘settling in’ period which he doesn’t charge for. I take all my instruments to him every six months and he has never charged me for tweaks, only if I want modifications. I have received invaluable advice and have built up a really good relationship with him over the years. It took me almost forty years to find someone who actually knows what they are doing rather than saying they do and then messing it up!

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