Repairs

One Three Guitar is Richmond’s premier destination for fretted instrument repair. We routinely handle the basics such as restrings, setups, and electronics, as well as more involved repairs such as fretwork and structural fixes.

Repair Shop Status

Updated: 11/18/2024

We’re up and running! We expect a 3 day turnaround time for setups at the moment.

Here are the types of work we currently have capacity for:

Restrings:	✓
Setups:	✓
Electronics:	✓
Structural (cracks, etc.):	✓
Fret Work:	✓
Amp Repair:	✓
Pedalboard Build:	✓

Bench Fees

Instruments: $35
Amp Repair: $65

Our bench fees are the minimum charge for labor at the shop. If a labor charge for a repair exceeds the bench fee, the bench fee is waived.

Setups

A setup is a regular maintenance activity which allows the guitar to perform the best it possibly can. As guitars are mass produced, differences in the manufacturing process result in guitars that perform differently when set up at the same measurements. This is where experience comes into play. We’ll set your guitar up to our typical parameters, and then adjust it further based on its capabilities and your feedback.

Our setups are comprehensive:

Inspection

We’ll fully inspect the instrument, record the basic specs in our system, and take a comprehensive series of photographs to capture the condition of the instrument.

Setup

Next, we clean the instrument body, polish frets, oil fretboard (for rosewood type boards), tighten hardware, replace missing hardware, replace strings, lubricate truss rod, adjust neck relief, set nut slot height, balance tremolo system (if installed), adjust saddle(s), precision set intonation with Peterson strobe tuner, inspect and clean electronics, set pickup heights / balance under saddle element output.

Report

When we return your instrument to you, we’ll provide a report on the results of your setup, as well as recommendations for improvements and upgrades.

Electric Guitar Setups	Rate
6-String Electric, hardtail	90
4 or 5 String Electric Bass	90
Bigsby's & Strats w/ floating bridges	95
6-String Electric, double locking trem (e.g. Floyd Rose)	115
12-String Electric	150
Partscaster	150

Acoustic Instrument Setups	Rate
6 String Acoustic Guitar	90
Classical Guitar	90
Mandolin, Banjo	95
Taylor with NT neck (includes neck reset)	115
12 String Acoustic	115
Resonator	115
Ovation 6 String	150

Parts and strings are not included. If the expected total will exceed this number, we’ll contact you to discuss.

Restrings

Things get busy in the shop, so we unfortunately can’t accommodate same-day requests for restrings. However, we can typically restring for you by the next day. Strings are not included in the prices below.

We carry D’addario, Ernie Ball, DR, and GHS strings in the shop, but if those aren’t what you need, please feel free to bring any strings you’d like us to install.

Instrument	Rate
6-String electric, hardtail, Strat, or Bigsby equipped	35
6-string acoustic	35
Everything else	Time / Materials

Common Add-Ons

These are commonly requested (or required, depending on circumstances) items which accompany a setup.

Item	Notes	Rate
New Nut	Remove old nut, clean old glue residue, prep nut slot, craft a new nut using a bone or TUSQ blank. Materials are typically $8 - $18, depending on material chosen.	95
New Bone Saddle	Materials are typically $6 for bone saddle blank.	90
Shim Nut	If the nut slots on the guitar are too low, and if the nut is easily removable and in good condition, we may recommend this more cost effective option of lifting the height of the nut and recutting the slots in lieu of replacing the nut entirely.	40
Shim for Bolt-On Neck	Common for Fender electric guitars, especially offsets (e.g. Jazzmaster). Required if the neck angle does not allow for setting the action properly. Includes precision fitted neck shim.	35

Electronics

We are dealers for Fralin Pickups and LR Baggs Amplification.

Electronics can be challenging to estimate, because every guitar has different wiring methods. A few notes about the estimates:

Parts are not included
If we need to loosen a tremolo (such as a Floyd Rose or Ibanez Edge) to access the electronics, a setup is required.
Estimate +50% for work on semihollow guitars, where access to the electronics is through the F holes only.

Diagnostic labor is common, as sometimes we need to research a problem to determine the root cause. This is charged at time and materials.

Item	Rate
Replace Output Jack	25
Replace Pickup (electric guitar) x1	60
Replace Pickup (electric guitar) x2	75
Replace Pickup (electric guitar) x3	85
Replace Pickup Switch	40
Replace Potentiometer	40
Install Acoustic Guitar Pickup	75
Full Rewire, Electric Guitar	150 - 275

Fretwork

When your frets aren’t healthy, your guitar may produce unwanted fret buzz, and in extreme cases you may not be able to play certain notes (fretting out). There’s a few common situations where your frets may need some attention:

Divots in frets due to wear and tear
Loose frets
Some new guitars ship with frets than aren’t level

Typical repair options for repairing frets are a level and dress, gluing and clamping loose frets, and fret replacement (refret).

Estimates below do not include setup or parts costs. For refrets, cost of fretwire is typically $20 – $50, depending on the wire selected.

Item	Rate
Level & Dress - Player	110
Level & Dress - Deluxe	225
Additional crowning due to heavy fret wear	125/hr
Glue & clamp loose frets	75
Refret (unbound ebony, rosewood, or pau ferro)	350
Full Refret (bound fretboard)	400
Full Refret (maple finished fretboard)	500

Structural

We provide an estimate for all structural fixes. These are some common fixes we perform, and the rates can be considered ball park starting points. Parts are not included.

Item	Rate
Repair Loose Brace	40
Reattach Acoustic Guitar Bridge (requires setup). This repair is typically on the low end of the cost range, but there are situations which require additional labor: If the top of the guitar has been damaged due to the bridge lifting, we may need to patch the top of the guitar with new wood. Similarly, if the bridge has been repaired before, often times additional labor is required to clean up the old repair and patch the top as well.	225 - 350
Repair Headstock Crack (no touch up, requires setup)	150

What to Expect

Bringing in your instrument to us is like bringing your car to an auto repair shop. We’ll collect your contact information and create a repair ticket for you.

We might have some questions for you about your instrument and playing style. For example:

What style of music are you playing?
What tuning do you keep your instrument in?
If we are changing strings, what gauge strings do you prefer?
Do you prefer your string action high, medium, or low?

If you are just getting started on your instrument, you might not know the answer to these questions. That’s ok, we’ll figure it all out together!

Communication

Most communication is done via text or e-mail. Our shop is automated, so when we create your repair ticket, you’ll receive a text. To contact us, just reply to the text. You can of course call the shop, though we may not be able to get to the phone right away.

Bring a Case and a Humidifier

Wood is sensitive to changes in climate, and changes in humidity can cause cracks to develop in the wood of your guitar. To combat this, we keep our shop humidity and temperature controlled as best as possible. However, we strongly recommend that you bring your instrument, especially acoustic instruments, stored in a case equipped with a functioning humidifier as protection against climate variations.

If you don’t own a case or a humidifier, we can provide one if they are available in the shop. Shameless plug, we sell both.

Repair Warranty

We do our utmost to make sure your repair is perfectly executed the first time. We have a robust quality assurance process which helps assure this is the case.

However, we’re human, and if something is not to your satisfaction, please let us know!

We provide a 30 day guarantee on fret work and setup work. If your setup has moved within that time, drop by and we’ll do a quick spot adjustment if at all possible. If you find the action too high or too low for your taste, let us know within 30 days and we’ll take care of it.

Your feedback is always important to us!