Your guitar should be an inspiring joy to play, not an excruciating battle!

If you think the latter applies to you and your instrument feels out of shape here are a few tell tale signs to look out for that might indicate it’s time you brought your guitar in for a free assessment at ARRA Guitarworks.

Is it feeling uncomfortable to play?

A sure sign that something’s amiss. It might be the string gauge, string condition or that the action has crept up due to a slackening truss rod. It might just need some standard setup work or there might be deeper issues to address. It could also just be the wrong guitar and string combo for your playing style. 

Whatever the cause, when you book it in for an appointment with me at the workshop we’ll soon get to the bottom of it so I can recommend a solution that suits your needs and budget.

Does it buzz, zing, grate or hum?

Unless you’re battering your guitar with a heavy pick attack, you shouldn’t be getting any buzzes, rattles or zingy noises. If you haven’t changed your strings in a while I’d advise you to change them first. If that annoying buzz/zing/rattle still persists it’s probably time to bring it in for an assessment. You might need some fretwork or the nut slots might be too low, I always check both during an assessment.

Does it hummmmmmmmmm?

If it’s an electric guitar and you’re having issues like excessive mains hum check what pickup types your guitar has. Are they single coil or humbuckers? Is your output jack loose or maybe your pickup selector switch is cutting out? This can indicate a wiring fault and helps narrow down the source quickly.

You might also be nearby a noise inducing source of electromagnetic interference (power transformers, computer screens, power lines, substations etc.) or you might have a grounding issue that needs remedied.

Are all the notes in tune?

Again, it's worth having a go at changing your strings first to see if that clears the issue up. 

In general if the 12th fret harmonic and the fretted note at the 12th fret are out of tune with each other you may need the instrument’s intonation adjusted via a setup. 

This is easy enough to do on electric guitars with adjustable bridge saddles but is more involved on acoustic guitars with solid saddles. 

Sometimes these need to be replaced to adjust the intonation correctly; I can fabricate and install correctly intonated acoustic saddles as an add on cost to Standard or Pro setups so I’ve got you covered.

Does your guitar go out of tune a lot?

You might need new strings or new machine heads. Poorly cut nut slots, maladjusted tremolo systems and worn saddles can also be a source of tuning woes so it’s best to get it checked out by a pro to identify the source of the problem.

Yes. For things like broken output jacks, snapped wires, bad solder joints etc. I offer an electronics diagnostics and repair service starting from £20. 

If I can’t fix the existing pots or switches causing the trouble I’ll order in replacement parts and charge for what is needed as an add-on cost (scroll down for info & prices).

No. Although restringing an instrument usually improves playability it is seldom the only thing that needs adjusted to make your instrument play at its best. 

I like to make instruments play at their best which I’ve found takes more thorough, careful work than just changing the strings so it isn’t a service I offer on its own. 

Restrings are always included with Standard & Pro Setups as well as Lux refrets. 

If your guitar is setup to play nicely with 10s in standard tuning it’s unlikely to excel with 13s in drop C!

So before you embark on your next sonic adventure in Guitarworld feel free to run your ideas past me and I can advise you on what might work best for you.

No. I have a limited stock of replacement strings for setups only.

If you have a particular brand and gauge preference you can either provide them yourself or I can order them in for you.