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

Dusty Strings, a truly grassroots Seattle entity, is a major fixture in the folk music scene. In addition to great instruments ranging from entry level to very high-end, a friendly and knowledgeable sales staff, an in-store luthier, an in-store school with private lessons and workshops, and a separate facility where they actually build many of their own instruments, Dusty Strings has a stage where they host concerts throughout the year. They also have a teacher directory for any kind of music lessons they don’t personally offer in their own school. Of course, I am biased, because I teach there part-time myself, but I think Dusty Strings is one of the greatest institutions in Seattle. My only critique would be that their instruments can sometimes be priced a little higher than what you  might find if you hunted around for a bargain. However, you definitely get what you pay for - and part of what you are paying for is the highly trained staff. Dusty Strings is the only music store I know of where you actually have to pass an extensive test on your knowledge of musical instruments before they will allow you to work there. So any questions you have as a customer will be fully answered, and you are sure to walk out of there with a quality instrument that is well-suited to your needs. I recommend all first time guitar buyers to go to Dusty Strings, as I am confident they will always be well-cared for.

http://www.dustystrings.com/

3406  Fremont Ave N., Seattle, WA, 98103

(206) 634-1662

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