Instrument Repair at Five Star Guitars
Our luthiers have over thirty years combined experience in all aspects of building and repairing both acoustic and electric fretted stringed instruments. Our full service repair shop is the only Plek-equipped shop in the state of Oregon, and is equipped to handle any job, from basic restrings and strap button installs, to larger jobs such as neck resets, refrets and other major structural repairs and restorations.
You may drop off an instrument for setup or repair at the front desk any day during our normal business hours of 11 am - 7 pm Pacific Time. If you have questions regarding a repair, the best way to contact our repair staff is by email at repairs@fivestarguitars.com, or via the contact form at the bottom of the page.
The below listed prices are for labor only and do not include cost of strings or materials. Instruments are worked on in the order that they are received. If you're in need of a quicker turnaround, we offer expedited service for an additional 50% of the total labor cost. Please note that on some of the more complex jobs, such as refrets and neck resets, we are unable to offer same day service.
Restrings
Standard - $30
Classical - $35
12 String/Mandolin - $35
Floyd Rose/Floating Tremolo - $40
Ukulele - $25
Setups
All setups include a restring, light cleaning, fret polishing, fingerboard conditioning, truss rod adjustment, nut optimization, action adjustment at saddle, including radius and intonation adjustments, and a thorough inspection for structural or electrical issues. Our setups are not one-size-fits-all; our luthiers will optimize your instrument for your play style and preferences.
Additional cleaning fees may be required for heavily soiled instruments. All setups are guaranteed free of defect for 30 days after pick-up date; if your instrument settles out during that time window, feel free to bring it back in for a free adjustment.
Standard - $100
All setups include a restring, light cleaning, fret polishing, fingerboard conditioning, truss rod adjustment, nut optimization, action adjustment at saddle, including radius and intonation adjustments, and a thorough inspection for structural or electrical issues. Our setups are not one-size-fits-all; our luthiers will optimize your instrument for your play style and preferences.
Additional cleaning fees may be required for heavily soiled instruments. All setups are guaranteed free of defect for 30 days after pick-up date; if your instrument settles out during that time window, feel free to bring it back in for a free adjustment.
Standard - $100
12 String/Mandolin - $120
Floyd Rose/Floating Tremolo - $130
Ukulele - $60
Fretwork (w/ Plek machine)
As the only Plek-equipped shop in the state of Oregon, our repair department is capable of performing the most precise fretwork possible. Accurate to within ± .0002", a fret dress in our Plek machine can take even a brand new guitar to the next level in terms of playability, allowing us to set up your guitar to play lower and faster than on a guitar with factory fret work.
Fret Dress (w/ Plek) - $250+
As the only Plek-equipped shop in the state of Oregon, our repair department is capable of performing the most precise fretwork possible. Accurate to within ± .0002", a fret dress in our Plek machine can take even a brand new guitar to the next level in terms of playability, allowing us to set up your guitar to play lower and faster than on a guitar with factory fret work.
Fret Dress (w/ Plek) - $250+
Refret (w/ Plek) - $600+
Electrical Repairs
Our repair department is capable of performing a wide range of electrical repairs and modifications, including but not limited to replacing output jacks, pots, or other defective components, pickup swaps (including routing when required), rewinding vintage pickups, as well as winding custom pickups, installing active circuitry, installing push/pull pots, treble bleed circuits or other custom modifications. All electrical repairs are billed at our bench rate of $100/hr.
Our repair department is capable of performing a wide range of electrical repairs and modifications, including but not limited to replacing output jacks, pots, or other defective components, pickup swaps (including routing when required), rewinding vintage pickups, as well as winding custom pickups, installing active circuitry, installing push/pull pots, treble bleed circuits or other custom modifications. All electrical repairs are billed at our bench rate of $100/hr.
Structural Repairs
From loose braces and bridges, crack repairs and headstock breaks to neck resets, fabricating replacement bridges, or full rebuilds and restoration of vintage instruments, if it's got strings, we can fix it. Structural repairs are billed at our bench rate of $100/hr.
From loose braces and bridges, crack repairs and headstock breaks to neck resets, fabricating replacement bridges, or full rebuilds and restoration of vintage instruments, if it's got strings, we can fix it. Structural repairs are billed at our bench rate of $100/hr.
And much more....
Custom inlays, custom wound pickups, fabrication of entire replacement components (such as necks, bass finger rests, etc), custom instruments built from scratch... our luthiers have done it all. If you have a specific question about a repair or modification on your instrument, hit us up at repairs@fivestarguitars.com, or contact us using the repairs form below.
Ian Pender - Luthier
Ian is our head Luthier and Instrument Repair department manager, and has been running our repair department since 2012. He has performed setups and repairs on thousands of instruments, including pickup rewinds, major structural repairs such as headstock repairs, bridge reglues/replacements, crack repairs, and neck resets, fret levels and refrets, including a number of microtonal conversions, and even custom building a few instruments from scratch for our customers over the years.
After years of modding and tinkering with his own instruments, Ian built his first electric guitar from scratch when he was 17. In 2007, Ian attended Vermont Instruments, in Post Mills, Vermont, where he designed and built his first acoustic guitar. Wanting to further his education in lutherie, Ian traveled to Big Rapids, Michigan, to attend the Galloup School of Lutherie. where he built four more instruments and received extensive training in instrument construction, musical acoustics, and guitar repair and restoration. After graduating from Galloup, Ian worked as a luthier at Saratoga Guitar, in Saratoga Springs, New York, doing minor repair and store stock setups, before relocating to the West Coast in 2011. When he's not working on customer repairs, Ian also designs and builds his line of acoustic guitars and custom wound pickups. Ian is a Fender Certified Gold Level Technician, Taylor Silver Level Warranty Certified, Certified Buzz Feiten Tuning System Installer, and is a member of the Guild of American Luthiers.
Gabe is the second luthier at Five Star Guitars and has been with the company since September of 2023. He is also a graduate of the Galloup School of Lutherie and has over 10 years of experience working as a salesman and guitar tech at several guitar shops. Originally from Cleveland Ohio, he moved to Portland in 2015 and found his home here at Five Star. If you've bought a new or used guitar from Five Star guitars, it was set up and inspected by Gabe before it hit the floor. Gabe also performs setups and repairs on a wide range of customer instruments. He is a Fender certified repair technician and has extensive experience working on nearly every mainstream manufacturer as well as other boutique builders. He is skilled at general guitar maintenance, problem diagnosis, setups, pickup swaps, general electronic repairs/replacements, fret dresses, re-frets, mounting & assembling hardware. When not working on inspecting inventory or working on customer repairs, Gabe has his own personal guitar builds and projects in the works.