Looking for a good tech in Pittsburgh, PA

[CrackedPepper]

Does anyone know of a good tech in the Pittsburgh area?

 

[Steve_Karl]

Yes. Mike Caldwell who works out of Pianos 'n' Stuff has done some very nice work for me in the past.
He's a very detailed and precise artist and master craftsman.
He did a very fine fret leveling - crowning - polishing for me and also a very good job on a bridge replacement on my Warmoth mahogany strat.
He also re fretted an early 70s Les Paul Custom for me with 6105 frets and did an amazing job.
My only problem with him now is that it's not easy to find him to talk with him since he's always in the shop ( downstairs at PnS )
working or he's not in the building. He also ( or they (the store) didn't let him know he got an email ) didn't answer my email asking about
a rough estimate of a cost for some work.
They're good people over there and PnS. I've known them since the mid 80s. It's just really busy there now and I like to be able to talk about what I need done.

So .........
I've seen some good reviews about Manella Guitars 412-795-5400
5238 Verona Road - Pgh. PA 15147
http://www.mannellaguitars.com/
...and I gave them a call a few weeks back and they answer the phone and they like to talk about things.
I got a really good feeling form the phone talk. I think there are only 2 people that work there.
I'll be taking my Les Paul up there soon to get a new nut put on it.

Scott at Pittsburgh Guitars ( South Side ) did a fret job for me once ( over 10 yrs ago ) and a tail piece replacement.
He did excellent and perfect work on the tail piece replacement.
However the specifics of the fret job ... I was generally unhappy with.

Let me explain:
I told him ( probably not in these exact words but the message was clear )
use 6100 wire ( I probably said tallest you can find ) ... just put the frets in and don't level them.
That would be .112 x .055 - I wanted to play it first and then determine if I wanted any leveling.
My thoughts were I was using a very high action and probably wouldn't need any leveling. Point was ... let ME determine if it needs done.
Also, I already had a clone of that same guitar with very tall frets on it and I wanted to get the one I'm talking about playing the same way.

When I got it back the frets had been leveled and were .112 x .041 to .038 ... so that ended up being a disappointment,
( he said ... exact quote "I had to do it" )
... but the guitar played and felt good, and still does, even though I didn't get what I asked for.

Also, he either made a bad cut on 2 frets or intentionally cut into 2 frets with a small saw so that when the frets get
played down to a certain point they will have to be replaced. No leveling possible for those 2 frets.
Now that is either just sloppy work or an intentional way of forcing an other fret job after a certain amount of wear.
Even so ... the guitar still plays well ... 10 or more years later ... but I really haven't used it very much.

I know there are others around town. I just have no useful experience with them.

 

[old_metal_head]

Does anyone know of a good tech in the Pittsburgh area?

What do you need done?

 

[CrackedPepper]

Steve_Karl addressed most of the issues I had in mind - thanks Steve

 

[Steve_Karl]

You're welcome.

It's nice to know there are some Pittsburgh people here.  :headbang1:

 

[dmraco]

+1 one the paino's and stuff.  

There is also a decent guy (THE GUITAR DOCTOR) in McKees Rocks.  Hollowood Music and Sound.

 I moved away from the burgh 8 years ago.  He actually wired and dressed my 1st warmoth.  I am now daring enough to do it myself.

 

[Steve_Karl]

UPDATE
Sorry for the necro-post but I'm updating some info. about Nstuffmusic.com - formerly called Pianos 'n' Stuff.
Mike Caldwell is no longer there.
There are now 2 in house luthiers - https://www.nstuffmusic.com/t-0-template-guitar-service-pittsburgh.aspx

I spoke with Elliot today wanting to get an SS fretjob on my 1981 G&L -F-100 II Maple/Maple neck.
He was immediately all bent out of shape about working with stainless steel.
He doesn't like to do SS. "It hurts my hands" (exact quote) and of course that was followed by the general it ruins my tools rant.
He said it would be well upwards of $600.00 even if he would do it - - - but he won't.
He then quoted me upwards of $400.00 for a nickel fret job.

He also wasn't a good listener
as I told him I'd like him to run a piece of 400 Grit sand paper up / down the neck after the frets were pulled just to get the dirt off that is under the sides of the old frets.
He then said something to the effect that (loose quote)
"Ohh it's gonna be a LOT MORE money if you need the neck planed. "
I had to reign him back in and explain it again - just get the dirt off and don't worry about taking any finish off.

The other in house Tech. - Tom Krebs - well - I have to assume Elliot was speaking for the whole store about SS frets . . .

But previously Tom replaced a nut for me - black graphtech tusq - and did a fine job.
He was very detailed about the slot spacing and measuring - and took the time to discover exactly what would be good for me.
The neck was off the guitar at the time so Tom said he'd just cut the slots a bit high and I told him I could fine tune the slot depth.
That nut came out great after some slow tweaking by me.

If anyone has any more info abut Pittsburgh PA or close - please let us know.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Rick]

Sorry , don't have one there but the good news is your pretty close to the the pathh of the total eclipse

 

[NedRyerson]

I spoke with Elliot today wanting to get an SS fretjob on my 1981 G&L -F-100 II Maple/Maple neck.
He was immediately all bent out of shape about working with stainless steel.
He doesn't like to do SS. "It hurts my hands" (exact quote) and of course that was followed by the general it ruins my tools rant.
He said it would be well upwards of $600.00 even if he would do it - - - but he won't.
He then quoted me upwards of $400.00 for a nickel fret job.

He also wasn't a good listener
as I told him I'd like him to run a piece of 400 Grit sand paper up / down the neck after the frets were pulled just to get the dirt off that is under the sides of the old frets.
He then said something to the effect that (loose quote)
"Ohh it's gonna be a LOT MORE money if you need the neck planed. "
I had to reign him back in and explain it again - just get the dirt off and don't worry about taking any finish off.

**taking notes on how not to behave when people ask me to work on their gear**

 

[Rick]

Yeah, I'd be looking for someone else. I've never been to Pittsburgh, but I found Parkway Music and Kokotele Guitars, by asking my musician friends after I moved up to God's Country. Short of that I'd go to some Mom and Pop stores within 15 miles of your house, and see what / who they recommend. They must use somebody ... right?

 

[Steve_Karl]

RIck - Yea. I've been asking around.

 

[Rick]

I know ... finding a good Guitar Tech is hard. My favorite is a guy named Gary Fried, of Fried Guitars. I think he's out in Glendale, or LA. He was great. After he left, I left Brooklyn too. Our neighborhood became a place for the trust fund kids.

 

[Steve_Karl]

+1 one the paino's and stuff.

There is also a decent guy (THE GUITAR DOCTOR) in McKees Rocks. Hollowood Music and Sound.

I moved away from the burgh 8 years ago. He actually wired and dressed my 1st warmoth. I am now daring enough to do it myself.

The Doctor's name was Jack Cuda. I'n pretty sure he died quite a while ago.
He was a good guy. I learned some tricks from him.