The Guitar Workshop, Dublin - Any experiences?

meenmore

From big projects to intonation, anything at all would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

fret_wimp2

If im right, this is the guy who also works in xMusic.

I left a guitar in to be rewired and have the 5 way selector replaced. after a week i went back to get the guitar and he put in a 3 way selector as he couldnt find a 5 way!

He looked shocked when i wouldnt accept it. He kept it for another week, got a 5 way switch ,rewired it and charged me much more than it should have cost, preseumably trying to work in the cost of labour for the 3 way switch installation.

I wont be having him do more work on my guitars.

Kenny_D

Yup same guy, used to be based in Musician Inc. Wouldnt recommend. Have used before and found expensive and slow. Try JimisMusicStore or there's a repair guy in Monastery Music in clondalkin (never used before though). Thumbs up for Jimi though. Wired in some pickups/switches in a hollowbody electric and did a great job for a great price

meenmore

Cheers, lads.

It was pretty much a toss-up between himself and Derrick Nelson.

Any experience with him, btw? He sounds like the ultimate go-to luthier in Dublin.

68 lost souls

Eugene used to have a workshop in xmusic but that was about 2 years ago. He now works out of his own place on South Circular road. I have seen a lot of his work from refinishes to setups and he does do good work. Both him and Derek are good but have waits and can be expensive. Eugene wont have as long a wait.

I wouldnt hesitate recommending either, there a re a few other people around as well like archtop.ie who are based near UCD and I cant think of the other 2 I have heard good things from but when I remember Ill post it.

population

Eugene did quite a complicated job on a gretsch silverjet I had. Basically I wanted to put powertron pups in instead of the stock ones, but they were a fair bit larger so he had to the the router blade out and cut out the cavities. He did take a while but the work to my eyes was excellent.

Ravelleman

He replaced a faulty tone pot for me once. Charged a bit too much I reckoned.

I've heard good stuff about archtop.ie

Bod1

I was charged 90 quid for a set up, which was steep although the job was a good un !

punchdrunk

I wouldn't use anyone for the big stuff other than John at Archtop.ie now
did a fantastic fret level & bone nut installation on my Strat a while back and fast turn around too

I had a Martin setup by derrick and wasn't that impressed,wasn't to keen on having to deal with Mrs Doyle as a go between either...the place was like waiting for the Vet to come out and tell me that sparky hadn't made it

use jimi's for little stuff,archtop for major work and you'll be sorted

Glassheart

http://www.archtop.ie/

I had three guitars set up by John including a Rickenbacker 12-string and he did a great job on all of them.

He is €60 for a full setup which is €30 cheaper than the guitarworkshop and he is a bit faster too.He also builds his own guitars which are really good.

Glassheart

punchdrunk wrote: »

I wouldn't use anyone for the big stuff other than John at Archtop.ie now
did a fantastic fret level & bone nut installation on my Strat a while back and fast turn around too

Me too.

theshaft

ive had many wiring jobs done on all my electrics in jimis music store now and wouldnt go near anyone else. the jobs have been untouchable.
they dont do the cosmetic kind of stuff so for that iv sat in doctor derek's waiting room coz he's amazing on the refinishing etc.
those are the only two places i use and trust.

Miklos

Jimi's work is good if you want wiring etc. done, they're pretty handy with that.

Archtop.ie is the best for any major repair/mods/setup work though, for a lot less money and quicker than Derrick Nelson.

meenmore

Cheers for all the comments and pointers.

In the end, I went with Derrick. I'll post back and let yis know how it went.

I got the impression that he understood exactly what I wanted, and so he worked out how best to get there, but only with my stamp of approval first for each individual job.

Such an easy-going gent.

posiedon_regs

I have to second the opinions mentioned here regarding Derrick Nelson. He really knows his business and will give you an upfront verdict on any instrument. Whilst he's not particularly cheap, you can trust that you are getting value for money.

Unfortunately I can safely say the same is NOT true of the GUITAR WORKSHOP. Having left in a stratocaster for the once over I ended up being charged 100euros for changing the strings and setting the intonation! It was a complete rip-off and, as a result, I would strongly advise anyone to avoid the Guitar Workshop.

benob

Over priced,just picks out figures out of the air crasy what he charges.