Support your local guitar tech...

[fleetfootmike]

...is a thing you'll find me saying a lot.

Mine is Jon Haire, handily halfway between me and bardling on the way into Peterborough. He's being doing it for nearly two decades, and IIRC the first repair/setup he actually did for me or friends was the neck repair on demomeyes' classical after it fell over and broke.

Since then he's been my first port of call with any problem, as well as any new guitar - I pretty much budget an extra 50-80 quid on the price (depending on what it needs) for any instrument I buy.

Last week, he got my new (to me) 12 string. Very nice Fender smallish-bodied cutaway electro-acoustic, but I broke the first bridge pin trying to restring it, so I figured I may as well let Jon have it. Got it back on Saturday and... wow.

I didn't think a £210 12-string could HAVE an action that low and playable, or sound so rich (it's got a set of Elixir 12's on it, tuned down to D, and through Jon's (really rather tiny) rig in the workshop it just sounds IMMENSE. He's put well more than I paid him (£86 for full setup, fret dress, and some quite serious work on the bridge and saddle) on the value of the guitar to me - in fact, it plays and sounds better than the £600 Breedlove I tried a few months ago.

The man is amazing :D The things I particularly like - he's an engineer as well as a guitarist, so your problems are dealt with without bull and hearsay, but with common sense. He's always willing to natter (which is why he won't deal with customers Mon-Wed so he can get work done!), and he's a thoroughly nice guy who enjoys his work. It's been a pleasure watching him /improve/ too - he was never bad to start with, but lately the stuff he hands back to me is just masterful.

My Gazuki and the_magician's electric 'zouk are in with him now, and I can't wait till Jan 5th when I get 'em back :D I'm seriously tempted to blow another £200 quid on getting him to do my three LAG six string acoustics as well.

[As an aside, I have to say I'm rather spoilt, since if I lived nearer Northampton, I'd just take stuff into Paul Creedy instead :D]

Comments

[bardling.livejournal.com]

I don't doubt Jon Haire at all, he's pretty amazing & kind at that. You will have to demoplay the 12 string for me soon.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Next time I'm up in the area (band rehearsal, or working on Cosmic Trifle CD perhaps?) I'll throw a couple of things in the car and see if Jon can do some magic on them! (My Ovation jazz semi-acoustic, and the Ovation Elite 12 string spring to mind)