Seattle Luthier and Guitar Store Reviews

Guitar Emporium is a cozy little shop with a lot of beautiful hand-made guitars, located in the heart of Ballard. Robb Eagle, your host, is highly knowledgeable and always creates a friendly relaxed atmosphere. Warning: he may wax political on you, but he won’t pressure you to buy anything, and anyone is welcome to walk in and play as long as they respect the instruments. People often hang out, jam and socialize there. A note - this is generally not a place for the first-time guitar buyer. Robb’s guitars are all pretty much high-end guitars and definitely geared towards the serious player who is looking to make an investment in a really beautiful and special guitar. 

Robb also offers basic guitar repair at very reasonable prices, so if you need something small done on your guitar (such as a set-up, action adjustment, new tuning peg etc) he will do a great job at a very good price. If you’re looking for more involved work he’ll likely refer you elsewhere - guitar repair is just a sideline for him so he does not usually do major repairs.

http://www.guitaremporium.com/ 

206 783-7607 

5349 Ballard Ave. NW , Seattle, WA 98107

There are a couple of different Luthiers who work out of Trading Musician. I’ve always had good work done there and the turnaround time is usually only a few days or a week. The only drawbacks to getting work done there is it’s kind of a cookie cutter mentality - it’s difficult to get hold of the luthier directly to communicate your wishes and you are expected to leave your guitar at the counter without ever getting to meet the luthier face to face. 

I’ve found this can be overcome by calling in and asking to speak directly to the luthier on the phone. It’s just a bit of a hassle, and also, these guys charge more than Cat Fox, my favorite luthier. However, if you’re just looking to get a basic repair and you’re in a hurry, I can vouch for the luthiers at TM having done consistently good work in the past.

Trading Musician - 5908 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle, WA 98105, 206-522-6707

http://www.tradingmusician.com

My favorite luthier in town is definitely Cat Fox at Sound Guitar Repair (located in Fremont). She is friendly, personable and always does a great job at a very reasonable rate. I recently refinished an old guitar and got some great free advice from her about how to proceed, from the beginning of the process right through to the end. After I was done, she glued the bridge back on and did a bunch of other work for me all at a very fair price. She also did a set-up for me on a different guitar at her highly competitive rate of only $60! (Many lesser luthiers charge $70 or $80). The only drawback is she usually has a waiting list of at least 2-3 weeks, but the high quality of workmanship combined with Cat’s great prices is well worth the wait! 

http://home.earthlink.net/~catherinefox/

(206)783-7317