Customer Reviews & Ratings
5/5 - by CarolynThis guy is a Master. I have taken several vintage guitars in to Harrison and each time his work was expert and honest - as well as prompt! His work made each guitar play like they should. I totally recommend him to anyone.
5/5 - by MichaelHarrison is the best, fixed the action on my guitar and made some other adjustments so that it is much easier to play. i would highly recommend him- nice man too!
5/5 - by RobertI bought a used bass that had bad pots and even worse string buzz. One day with Harrison and the pots were replaced and the buzz is gone! He is truely a master at what he does and I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs to make their guitar or bass sound its best.
5/5 - by TonyI played my guitar last night and really noticed a big difference. No buzzing and the notes are all consistent throughout the finger board. The intonation seems perfect. Thanks so much for the outstanding service yesterday.
5/5 - by BruceHarrison has set up three of my guitars. In each case the improvement in playability, intonation and stability was dramatic. His knowledge and love of fretted instruments and tone woods is inspirational!
5/5 - by Dave_NachmanoffAs a full-time touring musician I am a bit tough on guitars. Harrison did a great job of diagnosing some intonation problems on my Martin, and then did a beautiful and very prompt re-fret, built a new nut, and set it all up perfectly. Its great to discover a master craftsman right in Davis!
5/5 - by Ron_GoldbergHarrison has done a variety of different repairs and mods for me over the years. He does excellent work, is prompt and easy to work with. He loves his work and his vast experience is obvious.
5/5 - by Jason McAlisterIn addition to his consistent outstanding turn-around time (under a week, usually in a day), here is a specific example of why I give him a 5/5. - Harrison rebuilt a 1930s-40s acoustic short-scale guitar of mine (Slingerland Maybell). It was my grandfather\'s so it meant a lot to me. It had a caved-in top around the sound hole, about an inch deep. I knew this cave-in could be repaired, but I was very skeptical that the guitar would ever stay in tune because the whole top dry and cracking in several places. I thought maybe the guitar would have to be tuned down instead of standard tuning, because there was no strength in the cracked top. The bracing he built under the top was well engineered, made the cave-in perfectly flat, and made the guitar strong and, more importantly, reverberant. I now can pound my knuckes on the top with force during say a delta blues style with no worries -- it would also have no problem being pounded in a \"beatbox\" drum style of music. The guitar has stayed in tune (when I\'m not bending strings heavily) for a week, which is my test. I\'ve come back to it multiple times, still in tune. - His basic setup of a guitar is very reasonable. - He\'s been able to do anything I\'ve asked.. A lot of times when I think of specific modifications to make a guitar better fit me, he can do it.
5/5 - by Joe_CravenI have found a GREAT person for excellent luthier repair, restoration, design and building of string instruments. Finally! Harrison Phipps of \"Fretted Strings\" in Davis, CA is the man! He\'s very friendly, highly skilled, wonderfully adventurous and creative, addresses ALL manner of acoustic and electric string instruments, is timely and really passionate about his work! He enthusiastically welcomes even \"exotic\" projects - like major repair of my highly ornate Egyptian Pear Oud and the design and creation of a \"Tuna-lin\"; a fiddle from found objects including a tuna can rendered way beyond my expectations! This fellow takes on anything...and does so with years of experience. Harrison honors tradition, celebrates innovation and all with attention to detail, materials, the latest tools & technology and a smile on his face and gratitude for your business! In my 30 years in the music biz, I\'ve never found a more versatile nor more delightful and professionally dedicated luthier to work with!
5/5 - by Braden LyleMy local music store wouldn\'t reset my harmony neck because it was \"worthless\" Harrisson on the other hand is a vintage guitar man and was thrilled to work on mine... he was appalled they called my Roy Smeck worthless and that\'s when I knew I found my guy. He was more respectable, knowledgeable and much cheaper than the other store. He went above and beyond my already high expectations and my guitar came out fantastic. Very friendly and I will be taking my guitars to him in the future!
5/5 - by John LaffertyI brought an old Gibson mandolin to Fretted Strings. It had a cracked top and no strings, and I didn\'t know if it had any life left in it. Harrison did a beautiful job repairing my mandolin, giving this venerable classic a new life. I am thrilled with the quality of service and the very fair price.
5/5 - by jerry chapmanI bought an old rebuilt harmony from Harrison and i\"m glad i did. Love it. It took a lot of work to get this thing in this condition but it plays and sounds great. I would certainly recommend him for any guitar repair.
5/5 - by Stephen GAudetMy search for a good luthier is over. Harrison is the best! I brought in my old Spector bass to be set up and 30 minutes later left his shop with what sounded like a brand new instrument. My bass has never sounded better!! He tuned it perfectly, got rid of all the buzzing and even replaced a hard to find part on one of the tuning pegs. Not only did he do a fantastic job, but he also let me watch and explained everything he was doing and the science behind it. The guy lives and breaths fretted AND non fretted instruments. You should see some of the instruments he has crafted. OMG, they\'re works of art! If and when the time comes, I\'m going to have him make me custom electric bass. From now on, no one touches my guitar except Harrison. Oh..and his set-up fees are the most reasonable you\'ll ever find and well worth the drive up from San Francisco.
5/5 - by Steven KahnHarrison is truly one of the best I have worked with. He knows his stuff and goes out of his way to make things right. Meticulous. Over the years I\'ve performed, I\'ve gotten repairs from some of the best in the Bay Area, and Harrison is right up there with them. It\'s a pleasure finding Fretted Strings!
5/5 - by DirkIt was a pleasure to get to know Harrison. From his calm appearance you immediately sense his experience in the trade and his honesty. He let me drop off my resonator guitar on Sunday and replaced its cone and humbucker until Monday afternoon. He gave me a very reasonable quote by email to which he sticked even though the job was a bit more involved than expected. Whenever I need an expert to help me with one of my guitars I know where to go!
5/5 - by Tom MooreHarrison is one of the most accomplished musical instrument repair persons I have had the pleasure to work with. And I have had many skilled repair people work on my gear, including Frank Ford etc. None of them did better work than Harrison, and one thing that Harrison does better than anyone I\'ve met is LISTEN TO HIS CUSTOMERS! Getting a guitar tech to understand what I want is sometimes very difficult. Harrison is a pleasure to deal with and a pleasure to know as we have become friends as well. He has worked on my Gretsch 6120 (fret file & polish), my Martin D-41 (nut, saddle & neck adjustment), all three of my stratocasters (fret file, intonation & set ups), and finally, he made a new bone nut and installed a pickup in my ukulele. Harrison is the best.