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SYXQORA

Repairs and setups, Halifax bench

The repair bench

Around 380 acoustic and classical guitars cross this bench every year. Every one starts with a free bench assessment: about fifteen minutes, a written note on what it needs, and a price before I touch anything. The list below is in Canadian dollars, so you can work out the cost before you write.

Assessment
Free, about 15 min
Deposit
None on repairs
Parts over $150
Paid when ordered
Rush fees
None, for anyone
Reply
Within 2 working days

The price list

Twelve jobs, priced before you write

Each card gives the price, how long it sits on the bench, and what I actually do to it. If the assessment finds something the card does not cover, you hear about it and the cost before I start, never after.

Setups

Acoustic, steel string

Steel-string setup

Truss rod, nut slots, saddle height, intonation, a clean and humidity check, and new strings.

  1. Sight the neck against a straightedge and turn the truss rod until there is just a breath of relief.
  2. Take the nut slots down so the first fret plays as easily as the fifth.
  3. Set the saddle for the action you actually play at, and compensate it so the octaves land true.
  4. Clean the board, check the top and braces for dry-room damage, and tell you if the case needs a humidifier.
  5. Fresh strings, tuned up, and I play it for ten minutes before I call it done.
$95CAD
3-5 working days
Setups

Classical, nylon string

Classical setup

Most classicals have no truss rod, so the nut and saddle do all the work.

  1. Measure the action at the twelfth fret and check the neck has not moved forward.
  2. Lower or shim the saddle, and dress the nut slots so the strings sit in them rather than on them.
  3. Check the tie block for wear and the soundboard for lifting around the bridge.
  4. New nylon strings, tied properly at the bridge and stretched in over two days before you collect.
$85CAD
3-5 working days
Frets

Worn or buzzing frets

Fret level, crown and polish

For grooved frets and the odd buzz that a setup alone will not cure.

  1. Set the neck dead straight with the truss rod and check it again under string tension.
  2. Level the fret tops with a long beam until every one has been touched, and no more.
  3. Recrown each fret by hand so the string meets a narrow line again instead of a flat.
  4. Polish through fine grits to a mirror, then string up and set the action to the new frets.
$180CAD
1-2 weeks
Frets

Frets too low to level

Full refret

A bound fingerboard costs more because every fret end is fitted over the binding by hand.

  1. Warm each fret and lift it out slowly, so the edges of the slots do not chip.
  2. Clean the slots, true the fingerboard, and fill any old chips with matching dust and glue.
  3. Press in new fretwire; on a bound board, nip the tangs back and fit each end over the binding.
  4. Level, crown and round over the ends so your hand slides without catching.
  5. Full setup, then I check it again two days later once the neck has settled.
$480Unbound or $620Bound
2-3 weeks
Structural

Dovetail or bolt-on

Neck reset

For a guitar whose action has crept up past what the saddle can fix. The price depends on the joint and the finish.

  1. Steam the joint loose through the 15th fret slot, a little at a time, until the neck lifts out.
  2. Reshape the heel cheeks with a chisel to the new angle, checking with a straightedge along the frets to the bridge.
  3. Shim the dovetail with maple so it seats tight with no glue doing the holding.
  4. Glue and clamp overnight. On a bolt-on, step one is a spanner and some patience instead.
  5. Full setup, new strings and a proper play before it goes home.
$550-750CAD
4-6 weeks
Structural

That buzz you cannot find

Loose brace reglue

The price depends on how far inside the brace sits and how hard it is to reach.

  1. Strings off, then tap along every brace and listen for the rattle; a mirror and a light through the soundhole confirm it.
  2. Clean the old glue out of the gap with a thin blade so the new glue meets bare wood.
  3. Glue and clamp through the soundhole with long-reach clamps and a shaped caul.
  4. Leave it a full day, tap the whole top again, then string it up.
$140-260CAD
Time on the quote
Cracks and bridges

Bridge lifting at the back edge

Bridge reglue

If you can slide a sheet of paper under the back of the bridge, it is time.

  1. Warm the bridge and work a heated palette knife underneath until it comes away whole.
  2. Scrape both faces back to bare wood; old glue and any finish under the footprint come off.
  3. Glue with hot hide glue and clamp through the soundhole, with a caul against the bridge plate.
  4. Twenty-four hours in the clamps, then a setup and new strings.
$160CAD
1-2 weeks
Cracks and bridges

Cracked or badly shaved bridge

Bridge replacement

A new bridge in rosewood or ebony from a traceable source, shaped here from a blank.

  1. Record the old bridge's exact position and saddle compensation before it comes off.
  2. Shape the new bridge from a blank so its underside follows the curve of your top.
  3. Drill the pin holes, rout the saddle slot, and glue it on with hot hide glue.
  4. Set the saddle height and check the intonation string by string.
$340CAD
Time on the quote
Cracks and bridges

Top or side

Crack, glued and cleated

Priced per crack. Colour touch-up over the line is $60 more, and only if you want it.

  1. Find out why it cracked. If the room was too dry, I humidify it closed before anything else.
  2. Work glue right into the crack and clamp it flush so you cannot catch a nail on it.
  3. Fit small spruce cleats across it on the inside, grain crossed, so it cannot travel.
  4. Level the line and leave it clean, or touched up if you asked for that.
From$90Per crack
Time on the quote
Nuts, saddles and pickups

Made from a blank

Bone nut

Replaces a plastic nut or one cut too low. Nut and saddle together are $140.

  1. Cut the blank and fit it to the slot so it sits flat with no gap under it.
  2. Mark the string spacing so the outer strings sit the same distance from the board edge.
  3. File each slot to height, angled back toward the headstock so the string breaks cleanly at the front.
  4. Shape the top, polish it, and string up.
$85CAD
3-5 working days
Nuts, saddles and pickups

Made from a blank

Bone saddle

Saddle on its own, or $140 with a new bone nut at the same time.

  1. Shape the blank so it sits flat on the bottom of the slot and stands up without leaning.
  2. Take the height down to the action you play at, a little at a time.
  3. File the compensation into the crown so every string plays in tune at the twelfth.
$75CAD
3-5 working days
Nuts, saddles and pickups

Undersaddle pickup and endpin jack

Pickup fitted

Passive undersaddle pickups only. If the part costs over $150, it is paid for when I order it.

  1. Ream the endpin hole for the jack and fit it snug to the end block.
  2. Drill the saddle slot for the lead and true the slot bottom so all six strings read evenly.
  3. Seat the pickup and take the saddle down to make up for its thickness.
  4. Plug in and check the balance string to string before it goes home.
$120Plus the part
Time on the quote

From first message to first chord

How a repair goes

The bench is booked so it is clear when you arrive. Nobody waits in a queue at the door, and nobody's guitar gets moved aside for yours.

Step 01

Write first

Send the type of guitar in plain words, what is wrong, and two or three photos to hello@syxqora.com.

Reply in 2 working days
Step 02

Book a drop-off

Tuesday to Friday 10:00-17:30 or Saturday 10:00-14:00. It is a home workshop, so the address comes with the booking. Closed 4-24 August, and from Christmas Eve until 2 January.

Address sent on booking
Step 03

Assessment and quote

About fifteen minutes on the bench while you wait, then a written note of what it needs and what it costs. You decide there and then, with no charge either way.

Free, about 15 min
Step 04

The work

It goes into the queue in the order it arrived. No deposit, except for parts over $150, which are paid when ordered.

No rush fees
Step 05

Collection and a play-through

You play it at the bench before you pay. If something is not right, it goes straight back on. After 60 days uncollected and one reminder, storage is $5 a week.

Play it before you pay

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador

Shipping in from the rest of Atlantic Canada

You do not need to live within driving distance. Write first with photos so we both know what is coming, then send it once I have replied.

Packing it to travel

Most shipping damage happens inside the case

The guitar slides, the headstock takes the knock. These five steps stop that.

  1. Slacken the strings until they are loose but still sitting in the nut and saddle, so the bridge is not under load.
  2. Pack the headstock. Wrap it in a soft cloth and fill the space between it and the end of the case so the neck cannot move.
  3. Fill the case. Close it, shake it gently, and add padding until nothing shifts.
  4. Box the case with about two inches of padding all round. A gig bag alone is not enough.
  5. Put a note in the case pocket with your name, how to reach you and what is wrong, then ship it with full-value transit cover.
Getting it home

Return shipping, charged at cost

What it usually costs

Shipping in
You arrange it
Return
At cost, with transit cover
Provinces
NS, NB, PEI, NL
$45-70Typical return

Said plainly, before you send anything

Work I turn down

None of this is about being difficult. It is the list of jobs where I would be taking your money for something that does not serve the guitar.

Won't do
  • Full refinishes of any guitar, and never on an old instrument where the original finish is most of what it is worth.
  • Electric guitars: no builds, no rewiring, no active electronics. A passive acoustic pickup is as far as I go.
  • Rush jobs promised in under 48 hours, or anything squeezed in ahead of the queue.
  • Neck resets on guitars worth less than the repair, without telling you so first and offering a cheaper saddle and setup fix.
  • Copies of another maker's body shape, headstock outline or inlay.
  • Woods without a clear, traceable source, however good the figure looks.

If the honest answer is that a $95 setup will get you most of the way, that is the answer you will get.

Callum

Not sure yet

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Not sure what it needs?

Describe it, send a couple of photos, and I will tell you which card it sounds like and whether it is worth doing. The assessment at the bench is free either way.

Write to Callum Hours and closures