Every skilled worker needs to care for their tools, and musicians are no different. From setup and pickup installation to structural repair services, GC has the team ready to keep your bass looking, playing and sounding amazing.
Guitar repair is a key aspect of our business and we specialize in everything from neck resets and fret leveling, crowing and dress to fretboard oiling, set ups, truss rod adjustments and much more.
Neck Resets
A neck reset is one of the more intensive repairs that can be performed to a guitar, involving its removal, altering its angle to its body and then gluing it back in. This alteration in angle typically serves to lower action on strings that contact with neck; otherwise playing will become impossible.
Over time, the neck of any guitar will change due to various factors. These changes could be the result of temperature or humidity fluctuations or wear and tear on its structure; warped necks can create other problems, including loose or unplayable action; so getting your neck reset when necessary can significantly enhance playability and feel.
Resets on older acoustic guitars can be common, but you can prevent the need for one with regular maintenance and care. One way is by loosening strings often and keeping it in a dry environment – this will not only keep it looking its best but will make playing it much simpler!
Another element that can impact neck resetting is how a guitar is constructed. Resetting can either be easy or challenging depending on whether its neck is bolted into place, or glued-in; bolted-neck guitars tend to be easier as their neck can be removed more easily for neck resetting whereas glued-in necks may prove more challenging to remove and reinstall successfully.
Resetting a neck generally entails measuring the gap between its heel and body of a guitar and cutting out a wedge-shaped piece of wood from its heel in order to adjust its angle. While this process can be tricky, good luthiers know exactly how to do it quickly and properly so as to balance out after reattaching.
Refrets
Even after years of owning your bass guitar, its frets will deteriorate over time and need to be dressed. This is one of the key steps in making sure it plays well; uneven frets are one of the leading causes of buzzed and dead note basses; this issue tends to arise more in cheaper import models but may occur on some American instruments as well.
Refretting is an intricate and skill-intensive process that demands experience, skill, and precision. We measure and precision level the guitar neck before using 4 courses of diamond files to recrown it with four courses. Once that process has completed, redressing to high polish can begin. In addition, old strings will be removed, oil fretboard and neck, stretch new strings to pitch as necessary, full truss rod adjustment completed and any necessary tremolo/tailpiece adjustments performed on its behalf; all prices include 6 strings!
Setups
A bass setup is a comprehensive examination of your instrument that involves adjusting its truss rod, string height/action, intonation, pickup height and nut. A proper bass setup also includes looking out for buzzing frets or hardware rattles in general; an authorized repair technician or highly competent service centers outside the official network are capable of conducting these procedures as well.
An initial bass setup involves performing a general inspection (Photo 1). An experienced technician should play the instrument while listening to its tone, feeling for how well it plays in different positions and listening for any buzzing frets. Next they will adjust the truss rod so the neck is in alignment again using a small screw to tighten or loosen it in small amounts such as 1/4 turn in either direction until alignment has been restored – typically this amount of adjustment requires just under 1/4 turn either direction! After they have achieved alignment they retune their bass before checking for gaps between strings and frets using business card thickness before continuing to adjust and tune until gaps between strings and frets have diminished further until finally alignment has been achieved or gaps become minimalized!
An additional problem that a bass guitar might encounter are intonation issues, when notes sound in tune when played open but are slightly off at 12th fret. A qualified guitar technician can easily rectify this by adjusting the saddles on the bass side of the bridge.
Change the pickups on a bass guitar for improved sound and to add new tonal possibilities with professional help from luthiers. Although this modification should be performed quickly and painlessly by skilled technicians, taking precautionary steps must be taken so as to not damage the instrument in any way.
If your bass has structural issues, it is best to have it repaired by an authorized service center. Minor adjustments can be completed without professional intervention as long as you understand the risks. Structural repairs like replacing broken braces or headstocks must be handled by professionals unless you possess adequate skills to do it yourself.
Repairs
Every skilled worker needs to take good care in maintaining their tools, and musicians are no different. A little TLC goes a long way toward keeping musical equipment looking and sounding its best for years to come. Although guitarists can perform some tasks themselves such as restringing and cleaning their instrument, more complex repairs such as fret dressing or structural repairs should be left up to professionals like Guitar Center Repairs’ team of expertly trained technicians who take great pride in maintaining instruments in excellent condition.
If your bass sounds dead or has an unusual buzz or hum, further work beyond basic setup and soundcheck may be required to correct it. A fret dress involves measuring and precision leveling frets before recrowning with four courses of diamond files for recrowning to high polish redress. This procedure removes sharp fret ends caused by normal playing and improves string vibration, acoustic response, tone and intonation.
Guitar techs will often encounter problems like patch cord issues and ground loops when connecting instruments and amplifiers, bad vacuum tubes (or other components) in tube amps or overdrive pedals, dead batteries in effect units and tuners, broken electrical connectors and speaker voice coil damage due to transportation. They must be able to troubleshoot these issues to ensure that band performances run smoothly.
Beyond regular maintenance work, a good guitar technician can also assist clients with selecting and installing upgrades or modifications for their instrument. For instance, if your bass features outdated pickups or pickguards that do not suit your taste or improve overall appearance and functionality of the instrument. A tech can easily swap them out with something much more modern or custom that meets both aesthetics and functionality expectations of their instrument.
Although musicians can often manage this maintenance themselves, most simply are not equipped to complete it as quickly or as well as a trained repair tech can. That is why so many players rely on qualified repair techs’ expertise for keeping their guitars, amps and effects looking and sounding fantastic.