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Good Luthiers in central, New Jersey

srh

srh

saahweet
Dec 8, 2006
433
1
New Jersey
#1
Im looking for a good luthier in the Central New Jersey area... I want just a really good setup, frets leveled if needed, I like super low action, like the lowest possible withought fret buzz. Ive been to a local luthier and the action didnt get any lower, and the only other place I know about is guitar center and I doubt they would do a good job...


So anyone in the Central Jersey area know any good luthiers?
 
#5
wow, I take a class for audio recording at the lakehurst navy base and I always see a sticker say The Guitar Guy with a phone number next to it, but i never knew what It was, thats awesome info thanks.

edit:
do you happen to know a price for like a basic set up, im sure its more for a fretjob too but do you know any prices off hand?
 
#7
srh said:
Oh cool, do you know the shop he works out of so I can search it up or something?
Click to expand...

He works out of his home, located on Herbert Avenue off of Route 35. Phil and his son David are very old school guys. He builds guitars for Bruce Springsteen, and builds basses for Wilbur Bascomb (listen to any of Jeff Beck's early fusion work to hear Wilbur.) He also does restoration work for the smithsonian institute. Phil holds 17 different patents as well. He can be reached at 732-531-6338. His work is impeccable.
 
#9
srh said:
Im looking for a good luthier in the Central New Jersey area... I want just a really good setup, frets leveled if needed, I like super low action, like the lowest possible withought fret buzz. Ive been to a local luthier and the action didnt get any lower, and the only other place I know about is guitar center and I doubt they would do a good job...


So anyone in the Central Jersey area know any good luthiers?
Click to expand...
Be aware!
I had a ridiculous situation I’ve been through visiting “Mark Simon Guitars, TERRAPLANE Resonator Guitar Co.” at 807 US Highway 202/206, Bridgewater, NJ 08807.

First of all, this is Residential Area which is not designed for Customer’s Visits. I entered into Attic Space with very narrow Stairs and my Head hit the Attic Celling during Door entrance. After this, I heard from Mark Simon: “Be careful!” Additionally, the Attic Room where his Business is located stacked with Equipment, Amplifiers and etc. so it is not easy to walk through or even to move back and forward.

Most importantly, I brought him 2 Guitars for just setup. First Guitar was setup decently so I even wrote him Appreciation letter - this was too early. Second Guitar was setup and Fret work done terribly, but I didn’t figure this out immediately, but leaving his Attic Business Space, I asked him "What if I'll have some issues with your Repair" and he answered "I won't pick up the Phone!"

I thought it was a Joke, but when I tried to contact him leaving the Message regarding issues and why he put cheap Nut on my Gibson which is even smaller than Fingerboard and OPEN 3rd String is buzzing", he didn’t return my call and lied in email saying "that's the Nut which came with your Guitar" making fun of me and playing a Fool.

I understood that he doesn’t want to fix what he did wrong on my Guitar and I requested a Partial Refund which I never received. Now, I have to use another Professional to fix what Mark Simon did wrong and pay additional $200.

If Mark Simon is running Business, he has to respond to Phone calls and I should be able to just walk in his Business Space to speak. However, it is impossible without an appointment and his Residence is highly guarded.
 
#10
Not sure if I should start a new thread or revive this... So, I'll revive this and see if someone yells at me... :)

I'm looking for someone that will install a new preamp and pickups into one of my basses and someone that can install a brand new neck on another bass - including tuners and string nut & string tree. I'll be just doing the first bass, now, but I'll be doing the other one sometime this year.

Is "The Guitar Guy" still working? Is there someone else, at this point, that anyone would recommend for this kind of work?

While I know I could do a decent job on these tasks, I really want a professional job for these basses, as they aren't cheap basses/parts.

Thank you!!
 
#12
A friend of mine in Tinton falls has been having Billy Penn set up his instruments and amps for the past few years and his work is outstanding. I played his bass a few weeks ago and the fret work was outstanding, really low action with no buzzing. I don't have Billy's contact info but I'm sure he's not hard to find.
 
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