Careful work done with attention to detail — by appointment only.

The minimum charge is $110 ($160 if expedited). In most cases this is a deposit toward the final balance, collected by credit card on an online invoice due on receipt. It holds your spot on the calendar and is refundable if you cancel before drop-off — but it becomes non-refundable once the instrument enters the shop.

This fee serves as the final bill when:

• You want an assessment only, with no work completed (if you proceed with a work order afterward, the fee becomes a credit toward the final balance)
• You get an assessment intending to have work done, then change your mind after the estimate
• The job is small and falls outside the shop's regular list of services

Every job — standard or expedited — follows the same three-step flow: confirm and pay the deposit on an initial invoice, schedule a drop-off once the deposit clears, then bring the instrument in on the chosen day. Your drop-off day is not your start day; turnaround varies, so flag any deadline early.

• The invoice stays a working document — totals may change, but never without you being notified and approving further work by text or email first
• Invoices are paid online by credit or debit card (debit can take up to 7 days to clear); cash is discussed case-by-case
• All invoices must be paid in full before pickup

If you have multiple guitars, you can choose a different queue for each one.

Standard queue — no additional fee, since no overtime is required. Typical wait for a drop-off appointment is 2–3 months; turnaround afterward varies.

Expedited queue — work usually starts within a week or sooner, billed at the overtime rate. This queue offers the option of a guaranteed turnaround time. That timeframe gets discussed prior to the invoice being sent.

If neither queue suits your timeline, Al is happy to point you toward:

• Union Street Guitars — Occoquan
• Metro Guitars — Falls Church

Every customer can request an in-person visual inspection when the instrument enters the shop, documenting any existing imperfections with photos, taken with you present. Skipping this inspection means acknowledging that the shop will take excellent care of your instrument and notify you of any harm — but it also means that damage claims can't be pursued because there would be no initial photographic record of the condition when it arrived.

Gig bags offer very little protection, so finish damage can't be guaranteed against while an instrument is stored here in one — even though no damage from an inadequately-protected gig bag has ever occurred in the shop.

Every job includes 30 minutes of consultation, by phone, email, or in person — typically plenty. Additional time is billed at the pro-rated hourly rate. Calls that last more than 10 minutes and are professional in nature and unrelated to a current job are also billed at an hourly rate. I always tell people when they have crossed over the allotted time — I would never send an unannounced bill.

Email is used to track job details; if a thread outgrows its usefulness, further discussion moves to a billed phone consult. Texts are best for appointment logistics, progress photos, and quick questions — texts sent after 4pm may not get a reply until the next day.

The wait exists because there are far fewer qualified guitar techs in the area than there used to be. When the shop opened over a decade ago, five other full-time repair businesses operated nearby — all now retired, closed, or relocated. Remaining shops and stores often refer their bigger jobs here, and some specialties aren't handled by most other shops, which adds to the bottleneck. Expanding or hiring more techs would create more problems than it solves.

Any instrument not picked up within 12 months of completed work is considered abandoned, becomes shop property, and will likely be sold or donated to a worthy charity.