Guitar Repair in Tompkins County, N.Y.

Are you asking yourself “Is there a luthier near me who can fix my guitar?” If so, you’ve come to the right place. My name is David Ross and I am a guitar repairman and guitar pedal manufacturer. I am located in Binghamton, N.Y. and I started the journey of being a luthier back in 2008 when I did my first guitar modification. I wanted a guitar with a scalloped fretboard like Yngwie Malmsteen and I tried it on my Behringer Stratocaster copy. Since that time I’ve dedicated myself to learning all I could about building guitars, repairing guitars, and modifying guitars. In addition, I have a connection with Tompkins County, particularly Ithaca, N.Y. having been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time there. I’ve enjoyed visiting and listening to live music at The Haunt in Ithaca. My father Eric Ross has seen a number of concerts and has performed at The Haunt in its previous location. My mother Mary Ross has had art exhibits at Ithaca College and both of my parents have performed at Cornell University with their multimedia performance show.

If you’re a guitar player in Tompkins County, N.Y. and are looking for a professional guitar repairman and luthier, or if you’re interested in achieving new sounds from my line of guitar effects pedals, I hope you’ll consider me. You can call or email me on the Contact page. My business is open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm. Thank you!

General:

  • Assessment – I give a complete assessment of your guitar while I work on it. This typically covers the problems the owner is having with their guitar, and anything that I notice that needs further repairs.
  • Cleaning – An underrated part of guitar repair, I thoroughly clean each guitar from top to bottom. A dirty guitar negatively affects the playabillity of the guitar is a significant way.
  • Intonation – I adjust the bridge saddles to have the open string notes correspond to the octave notes.
  • String height – Based on player preference, this is where I set the guitar strings at a comfortable distance off the frets and fretboard. The focus here is to have a guitar setup with good playabillity.
  • Truss rod – I adjust the truss rod and make sure it works smoothly and that the neck is straight/has a comfortable amount of relief based on the guitar players preference.
  • Strings – When a customer brings me a guitar for repair, I typically change the old guitar strings and installing new ones. I also wind them correctly around the tuning posts.
  • Cosmetics – This is where I touch up dings, scratches, or damage in the guitar finish.

Fret work:

Most of the guitars that come in for guitar repairs need some type of fretwork, even new guitars. This is due to a variety of reasons including play wear, changes in temperature and humidity, and a lack of proper fretwork from the manufacturer. Older guitars especially need fretwork due to the amount of wear they experience in their lifetimes. I have tools and experience to do it correctly.

  • The common option for fretwork involves levelling, crowning, dressing, and polishing the frets in that order. If the guitars frets are particularly low or worn, the other option is refretting the guitar. For both jobs I use my Erlewine Neck Jig which enables control when doing this type of work.

Modifications:

  • I can replace, repair, or upgrade parts such as tuners, bridges, pickguards, screws, or other miscellaneous guitar parts. I can also do guitar modifications like creating a scalloped fretboard or routing a Stratocaster for humbuckers. Whatever you like! 

Nut:

  • I can replace, repair, or create nuts from bone, brass, or composite materials.

Damage:

  • I can repair damage and structural issues for you guitar depending on the type. This can include repairing a Gibson broken headstock, stripped screw holes, regluing acoustic guitar braces, and fixing cracks in acoustic guitar tops.

Electronics:

  • I can modify your guitar electronics in a number of ways. This includes coil splitting, series/parallel switching, rewinding or installing new guitar pickups, guitar pickup repair, or replacing components such as potentiometers and capacitors.

*Feel free to call me at 607-232-9994 or message me on the Contact page.