Recommended Luthier in York?

[Biscuit_Bass]

Hi all,

 

Can anyone recommend a luthier in York? I've spotted a couple about a 45 minute drive away but wondered if there's any in/around town that other members have used.

 

Cheers

[Guest]

This has all been pretty basic stuff, but Chris at Wintaura set up three basses for me over the last 18 months, and I've been very happy with the results. The neck on a older bass needed a new nut shaping and fitting, to bypass an S bend which had developed around the first fret. 

 

Young, friendly, conscientious guy. He's on Campleshon Road, between the Bishy Road and the racecourse.

[visog]

Crikey - they're a rare breed so a bit of travel is to be expected. With that in mind, I suggest Shuker about 1:30 hrs away from you in the Peak District.

[ped]

20 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

This has all been pretty basic stuff, but Chris at Wintaura set up three basses for me over the last 18 months, and I've been very happy with the results. The neck on a older bass needed a new nut shaping and fitting, to bypass an S bend which had developed around the first fret. 

 

Young, friendly, conscientious guy. He's on Campleshon Road, between the Bishy Road and the racecourse.

I second this, Chris is a good guy. I’ve used Mor Music in Fishergate too who I believe now do a collect and drop service. Both were for fairly straightforward jobs mind. 

[Biscuit_Bass]

28 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

This has all been pretty basic stuff, but Chris at Wintaura set up three basses for me over the last 18 months, and I've been very happy with the results. The neck on a older bass needed a new nut shaping and fitting, to bypass an S bend which had developed around the first fret. 

 

Young, friendly, conscientious guy. He's on Campleshon Road, between the Bishy Road and the racecourse.

It would just be for an initial check/set up on a brand new guitar (my first bass) and that's only a 5 minute drive from me so sounds perfect!

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Biscuit_Bass said:

It would just be for an initial check/set up on a brand new guitar (my first bass) and that's only a 5 minute drive from me so sounds perfect!

 

He does like to have an instrument with him for a few days for a set up, so that he can respond to how it settles in to his adjustments. 

[howdenspur]

1 hour ago, ped said:

I second this, Chris is a good guy. I’ve used Mor Music in Fishergate too who I believe now do a collect and drop service. Both were for fairly straightforward jobs mind. 

I've used Mor Music too and they're good for set ups. They're on Fossgate, tucked away behind Ambiente.

[ped]

1 minute ago, howdenspur said:

I've used Mor Music too and they're good for set ups. They're on Fossgate, tucked away behind Ambiente.

That’s it - I keep calling it fishergate for some reason (was there a fish restaurant there at some stage?!)

[Guest]

2 hours ago, howdenspur said:

I've used Mor Music too and they're good for set ups. They're on Fossgate, tucked away behind Ambiente.

 

I knew Chris was the guy for me when I saw the Mor Music website bothering to make the effort to attempt to shove the boot into him. That made me very happy to go past Fossgate and walk a mile further to the south.

 

Something I have been wondering: when after a few days I found the action on my Squier was still a tiny bit too hard work for my fretting hand, Chris lowered it further for me, at no charge — is that standard practice for techs?

 

(I was amused to have walked 4 miles for a 0.3mm adjustment  )

[Clarky]

Great song by Sting

[Guest]

Over the weekend, the strap button on the bottom of my Squier dropped out of the body, just from the weight of the strap. The wood surrounding the hole is completely gone.

 

At the end of this year I'll be selling this bass, so I thought I should get it repaired properly. I decided to take the opportunity to investigate Mor Music in the centre of town. 

 

On Monday morning I emailed them and got a very prompt reply from a lady called Lynne, and we arranged that I would drop the bass off today, Wednesday. In her emails she wrote "Just in case it's of interest - if you wanted it setting up at the same time while it's on the workbench (recommended every 6 months or so if played regularly, or after storage/temperature changes etc), prices start from £48" and "Once the work is completed in around 7-10 working days we'll send you a text & email which will include all the details you'll need to make payment online prior to arranging collection."

 

The Squier is now with them, Lynne was very friendly when taking receipt of the bass. Acknowledging that they won't know exactly what needs to be done until they've had a chance to investigate, I asked for a very rough figure for how much this would cost me. The answer was very approximately £30, perhaps less, perhaps more. 

 

I'll report back when I've the bass with me once again.

[Guest]

So....

 

Mon morning: email contact

Wed morning: dropped off

Thu teatime, an email saying

 

.... I've dowelled the existing hole, redrilled and refitted the button for you and its all secure again for you. Total for the repair is:- £25 ....

 

and I've arranged to pick it up now, Friday morning. Quickly done. Phil met me, nice smiles. 

 

This all done socially distanced so I won't have a chance to inspect until I get it home.

[Guest]

Note to self: always keep a set of old strings to hand to pop onto your bass if it needs to go into a workshop for physical repairs — this new set of Pro Steels skipped from box fresh to de-zinged while away. Fortunately these are the one strings I prefer broken in

[Guest]

I wanted a recent arrival setting up with a 49–69–89–109 set of La Bellas, and Chris felt the only choice. I left it with him for 48 hours.

 

As well as doing the necessary trussrod adjustment, he re-did the action, getting it low in the pattern I'm used to now ...

 

G 1.9mm

D 1.8mm

A 1.7mm

E 1.6mm

 

... and re-did the intonation. He also got the heights of the split pickup balanced for a warm, even tone, oiled the fretboard, and fitted a Dunlop straplock.

 

Both when dropping off and picking up, he gave me 10-15 mins of his time, talking through what was wanted / how things went. The bass now plays just how I want it, and he charged me £40.