Luthier in Austin

[Judge Roybeanbag 11860]

I have a couple of guitars that need a little TLC, one needs a fret reglued, the other just needs tending to, but I’m not sure who to trust, these are expensive guitars. Would appreciate any reviews or recs on where I could get them looked at.  

[Deej 77804]

If you don't mind spending some coin and a bit of a slow turnaround, Mark Erlewine, Willie's luthier. He's great. 

https://www.erlewineguitars.com/

I had him set up an Epi Les Paul that I took to him for a warranty repair. Thing played like butter when I got it back. I think it cost about $175.

Fun guy to talk to.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Deej

[Judge Roybeanbag 11860]

I’ve considered that, thanks Deej.  One of the guitars is a 1952 Gibson ES175 sunburst that has a loose fret but nothing else wrong with it.  Maybe hooking it up with him would increase the value, but I’m not looking to sell it.  

[Celery Man 21094]

Straight Fret. Not sure if Julio is still there but either him or Danny are great. Jess Baker at Strait as well, although I don’t know if she does big projects.

 

 

 

Erlewine would be cool as hell, too.

 One thing for Straight Fret - one of his big things is he has a plek machine and is the only person who does in central Texas. You may or may not need or want the guitar plek’d and I’m not even sure how it works exactly but it does mean he does a lot of fretwork.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Celery Man

[Deej 77804]

3 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I’ve considered that, thanks Deej.  One of the guitars is a 1952 Gibson ES175 sunburst that has a loose fret but nothing else wrong with it.  Maybe hooking it up with him would increase the value, but I’m not looking to sell it.  

I took my Epiphone 62 Reissue Sorrento to him to fix a pickup that was cutting out. When I went to pick it up, he spent 30 minutes explaining to me what a great job Epi did building that thing and showing me all the things that made it a spot on copy of the originals. 

It's worth going to him at least once to bask in his knowledge.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11860]

10 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Straight Fret. Not sure if Julio is still there but either him or Danny are great. Jess Baker at Strait as well, although I don’t know if she does big projects.

 

 

 

Erlewine would be cool as hell, too.

 One thing for Straight Fret - one of his big things is he has a plek machine and is the only person who does in central Texas. You may or may not need or want the guitar plek’d and I’m not even sure how it works exactly but it does mean he does a lot of fretwork.

Danny used to have his own shop down on Oltorf, if it’s the same Danny I know.  I bought my first real guitar from there.  

[Celery Man 21094]

Shoemaker is the last name- I don’t remember his place on Oltorf. I do know.. he was maybe going to be opening up a storefront on South Congress near Ben White but I moved and don’t know if that happened.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11860]

3 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Shoemaker is the last name- I don’t remember his place on Oltorf. I do know.. he was maybe going to be opening up a storefront on South Congress near Ben White but I moved and don’t know if that happened.

This was back in around the 1981 timeframe, I’m pretty sure it was him. 

[BrickHorn 18447]

Not sure if Lauren is still working at Strait Music, but she does great setup work. Pretty sure she works on Van Wilks’s and Eric Johnson’s guitars.

[Deej 77804]

I want to say she no longer works there, but I'm sure I'm wrong. Only 75 bucks for a set up there.