Any guitar shops/ techs in Essex or Kent you would recommend

adamm82

i moved and got nothing obvious nearby. I am in grays Essex and got a tele that needs a proper set up as my attempts seem to make it worse.

i don’t mind driving a bit. 

skunkwerx

adamm82 said:

i moved and got nothing obvious nearby. I am in grays Essex and got a tele that needs a proper set up as my attempts seem to make it worse.

i don’t mind driving a bit. 

I’m in Romford. ello  

Funny old world, I also have a tele that needs some attention, of which my attempts have further fucked it up. 

My go to guy packed it all in, then my second closest guy (Grizzly guitars) in H moved to the channel islands...

 Which means my closest guaranteed great guy is now Feline in Croydon. 

Been well worth the drive the two times I’ve made the trip. 

Infact Jon there at feline trumps the bunch and gets mad love here on the forum. 

I’ve been considering Zeitgeist guitars in Brentwood, but apart from their facebook theres not much info out there.

Strings Direct tech in Southend has a good resume, but I dont know anyone thats used them, and I havent so I cant recommend either way yet. 

Some Pmt stores apparantly have decent techs, but I do not know which, and if they are in the area. 

Me personally, I think Feline is my go to regardless of the drive. They’ll take care of you and above all seem honest, no work done thats not required. 

FelineGuitars

We see quite a few folks from Grays, Dartford, Brentwood , so may be an ok-ish drive to Croydon - take the Orpinton/Hayes Common /Bromley route , not the M25

adamm82

Thanks both. I definitely need to try feline. I only read good things.

I want to see if a really good set up is what I am looking for. Or it could be that actually I am really awful at playing the guitar at least I can confirm one way or another 

skunkwerx

adamm82 said:

Thanks both. I definitely need to try feline. I only read good things.

I want to see if a really good set up is what I am looking for. Or it could be that actually I am really awful at playing the guitar at least I can confirm one way or another 

Haha, well whats made you think it could be that you’re just awful at it?

if so, its just practice practice practice. Im not great at all, but I just love playing! 

A proper set up definitely makes a difference.

I bet Feline would be able to have a listen to what you find your issues are and recommend some stuff. Sometimes a higher or lower action could suit better, sometimes a different guitar altogether suits better. Different frets, scale length body shape etc. 

Grunfeld

adamm82 said:

i moved and got nothing obvious nearby. I am in grays Essex and got a tele that needs a proper set up as my attempts seem to make it worse.

i don’t mind driving a bit. 

I'm in Dagenham and also pop around to Feline in Croydon.  Journey's not too bad (mostly).

I've had good sets up locally too but crucially they can be a bit hit and miss (and I can already do "hit & miss"!)

Whereas Feline = consistently reliable and really nice set ups.  Lovely people too!

I think I'm playing Grays in a couple of weeks time; definitely played there before.

MattP

Strings Direct tech in Southend has a good resume, but I dont know anyone thats used them, and I havent so I cant recommend either way yet. 

Chris at Strings Direct is absolutely great - I've used him for years now. A little far away from Grays but certainly worth the journey. I wouldn't go to Strings Direct looking for a guitar shop though; they've abandoned retail at their premises and use it predominantly for servicing their online business. 

soma1975

S E london (Crystal Palace) but Jon Dickenson is bloody fantastic. 

Jalapeno

Is there no Tech at Peach ?

rlw

There's a bloke in Gravesend - Andy Warnock -  who is extremely good.  He had set up the PRS I bought and it was very very playable indeed - probably the best setup guitar I've ever had.. 

Doctorfunk

Had my MIJ Tele looked at recently by L.A. Guitars in Finchley. Frets looked knackered so I asked them to refret it. When I collected it they told me it didn't need refretting just recrowning thus saving me £££s. The job they did on it is superb. Highly recommended.

chris78

Jalapeno said:

Is there no Tech at Peach ?

Not a formal tech, but they check out the guitars before they go out. It’s probably the one thing missing from Peach.

DW Guitars in Maidstone is decent. Dave builds guitars as well as basic set ups.

NelsonP

Haven't used then myself but pretty sure the sevenoaks guitar centre were in the list of recommended luthiers and techs on here.

peachguitarsdotcom

chris78 said:

Jalapeno said:

Is there no Tech at Peach ?

Not a formal tech, but they check out the guitars before they go out. It’s probably the one thing missing from Peach.

DW Guitars in Maidstone is decent. Dave builds guitars as well as basic set ups.

We do have a tech. We just don't advertise the fact that we take on walk in work, purely as Tom is so busy teching the products we're sending out. We can do most things, it's just not a quick turnaround.

ESBlonde

A couple that are on the Suffolk Essex border region.

http://www.drrobertsguitarsurgery.com/

http://www.martynboothguitars.co.uk/

Both of high repute although I've only used Martyn myself, I've never heard anything bad about either (except that they can get busy - always a good sign).

skullfunkerry

I've used Leigh Music Co in (funnily enough) Leigh on Sea, they were good & Tom's  a top bloke too. He has someone who does his tech work, I'm not sure who it actually is.

I have a friend who has used Strings Direct and he was very happy with them. He's also used the Southend branch of PMT and reckons they did literally nothing to his Les Paul, so I'd give them a swerve.

chris78

peachguitarsdotcom said:

chris78 said:

Jalapeno said:

Is there no Tech at Peach ?

Not a formal tech, but they check out the guitars before they go out. It’s probably the one thing missing from Peach.

DW Guitars in Maidstone is decent. Dave builds guitars as well as basic set ups.

We do have a tech. We just don't advertise the fact that we take on walk in work, purely as Tom is so busy teching the products we're sending out. We can do most things, it's just not a quick turnaround.

Sorry! Had no idea

FelineGuitars

chris78 said:

Jalapeno said:

Is there no Tech at Peach ?

Not a formal tech, but they check out the guitars before they go out. It’s probably the one thing missing from Peach.

DW Guitars in Maidstone is decent. Dave builds guitars as well as basic set ups.

I heard that Dave had retired or was taking time away , as he's referred a few customers to us....

rlw said:

There's a bloke in Gravesend - Andy Warnock -  who is extremely good.  He had set up the PRS I bought and it was very very playable indeed - probably the best setup guitar I've ever had.. 

Andy Warnock and I were at college together at London College of Furniture back in 1986/7

drpbier

skullfunkerry said:

I've used Leigh Music Co in (funnily enough) Leigh on Sea, they were good & Tom's  a top bloke too. He has someone who does his tech work, I'm not sure who it actually is.

I've got a Tele in with them, I'll post my findings when it comes back

DannyP

skullfunkerry said:

I've used Leigh Music Co in (funnily enough) Leigh on Sea, they were good & Tom's  a top bloke too. He has someone who does his tech work, I'm not sure who it actually is.

I have a friend who has used Strings Direct and he was very happy with them. He's also used the Southend branch of PMT and reckons they did literally nothing to his Les Paul, so I'd give them a swerve.

+1 for Leigh Music Co. They just refretted my Tele - very reasonable and they did a good job correcting the crap and eye-wateringly expensive work of another forum-favourite luthier...