1) "How much will it cost to get this done on my guitar?"

The answer to this question unfortunately is not the easiest one to answer. The simplest answer that I can give you is our hourly labor rate for major jobs: $60.00/hr. The question then becomes an estimate of how much time and materials the job will take. If you just need and new nut and a setup, well that takes about one hour plus the price of the nut blank and strings. It ends up being roughly a $70.00 job. If however you e-mail us or call us with a question like: "I've got this old acoustic and the action's kinda high, but I'm still getting some fret buzz, there seems to be a crack in the top but I'm not sure how bad it is, how much to fix this and make it play good?" This question is not so easy to answer. Sadly enough the majority of the "how much is it?" questions fall into this category.

The reason I can't answer questions like this with any sort of accuracy is because when I get asked a question like the one above it raises a lot of questions in my mind that need to be answered before I can tell a customer how much it will cost. So before I can tell you what it costs, I really need to see the guitar. This can be done by coming into my shop, if you live close enough. Click on the "Contact Us" graphic to get our address, phone etc. I'd be glad to E-mail you directions. If you live too far away then I'd suggest E-mailing me (info@superiorguitar.com) some really good pics of the guitar that feature the problem areas. This should at least give me an idea. The third option is to just ship us the guitar we'll look it over, and send you a written estimate. Be sure to ship it UPS, because they are the only ones that I know of that will actually be able to insure your instrument for its full replacement value, and pay a legitimate claim on a timely basis.

2) "Is my instrument worth restoring?"

This is another question that doesn't have a cut and dry answer. It really depends on what type of instrument you have, and what it is actually worth to you. We have done restorations on instruments when the value of the restoration will meet or exceed the current market value of the instrument. The customer was aware of this going into it. Sometimes the instrument is a family heirloom, or the customer just really loves the guitar. Sometimes the instrument is so valuable, or unique that there is no reason not to do the work.

So again it really depends on what you've got, and what your intentions are. If you're looking to sell the instrument, then obviously you'll want to do just what's needed to get the maximum value out of the instrument in its basic current condition. If you want to keep it for a while and want a really nice vintage instrument in great looking and playing condition, then that is a different story. If you've got an old 50's or 60's Fender that's just destroyed, or an old Gibson Super 400 then it's a "No brainer" that you'll want to save it.

So the best answer that I can give is "It depends."

These are two of the most frequently asked questions that we receive. If you have other questions that you'd like to see up here, or have one of your own please e-mail us at: info@superiorguitar.com. Once again Thank You for taking the time to visit our site.