Mass Street Music...one of the best for Martin repairs?
 

I bought a 2004 Martin D-18V recently that had a known crack or two on the face and some other minor damage from being setting in the back of a mom & pop music store in Illinois for 10-years without being played, humidified or tended to at all. I have tried and tried to find a credible luthier in or around my Springfield, MO homebase to do all the repair/restoration work and can find none that I feel good about. So...next week, I'm taking the 4-hour drive to Lawrence, KS to Mass Street Music and putting it in their hands for some big time TLC.

Can I have some personal reviews about repairs done to Martin guitars in particular by Mass Street Music? I know that they are the guys Martin factory sends a bunch of their repair work to. I don't mind spending the extra money to have my new guitar fixed right and restored to like-new shape since it's gonna be my keeper.

They are 100% great in that department. Jim Baggett and company are 1000% trustworthy and very highly-regarded. So +1 for Mass Street. :)

Probably should call before driving 4 hiurs.

Don't know anything about Mass Street Music and their repair shop but if Jon Garon says they're great that's plenty good enough for me!

If Martin sends a lot of work to them for repairs, that pretty much says what they can do as far as I'm concerned. They reset the neck on my 50 year old D-28 a few years back and did a great job. They also did a neck reset on my buddy's '65 D-12-20 - and my '88 Guild J 12 string. Same story - no regrets!

Indeed....An endorsement from Jon Garon is no joke. That man knows his guitars.

Mass Street is the place to go. Also in KC you could use Keith George, actually in Smithville. He has been around forever and does Martin repair. Both have a great reputation

The guys at Mass St are available and easy to talk to, in person or by phone. Mike or Matt would probably do the repair. I usually talk to Matt when I go in
https://massstreetmusic.com/pages/repairs

Saw Matt today and got some help. Great shop all around. Matt fixed a delamination by an end pin for me and it came out great.

They’ve done two neck resets on my old Martins and I highly recommend them. When you’re there, make sure you ask Matt if you can see his new dog, Gilly.

I no longer live in the area, but still get to KC once or twice a year. Mass Street Music is definitely the best acoustic-oriented music store in the region, and the best place to get your guitar worked on.


Wade Hampton Miller

Short answer is yes.

Longer answer: I live in KC and spent my 4+ years in Lawrence. My wife is from Lawrence and her parents still reside in Lawrence. I have found Mass Street to be world class. Admittedly, I have gotten cheap and used another well known Kansas City luthier recently....and I learned my lesson big time. I will only be using Mass Street for repairs from now on. Jim Baggett (owner) is a super guy with a whole lot of integrity and know how. They are quite expensive imo for repairs. That said, if you have an instrument that you feel is more than simply your tool to play music....I would only entrust that type of instrument to Mass Street (in this geographic area) for repairs. Those guys really do know what they are doing and you don't end up with irreversible surprises. You should know...typically they do not have a fast turnaround in their repair department as they are very busy. I understand that they have expanded a bit to allow for speedy set-ups and minor tweaks or adjustments....but repairs may take some time to complete. I'd suggest that you call them and book a slot with them so that you don't drop your instrument off and have it unavailable for a month.

Also....it is my understanding that Bradford and Franzke (West Plaza area in Kansas City, MO) are doing high quality repairs. I recently visited the shop for the first time. It is a small-ish place that had a bustling repair business going. I recognized one of the repair techs from spending time at Mass Street. I asked him if he was from Lawrence and used to work at Mass Street and was delighted to find out that yes....he had. I haven't used this shop yet....but depending on the repair and/or instrument that I need worked on....I think I am willing to give them a try.

Another vote for Mass Street! I live about 45 min away but had them do a proper set up on my Martin and it came out wonderfully.

Neat back story about it, I wasn't all that enthralled with it (I've since sold it) but was thinking about just selling it. Both Eric and Matt (I believe) said well, have you ever had a proper set up done to it since you bought it new? I said no, and they told me to hold off on selling it and to let them do a set up first.

When it was finished it felt like a completely different guitar.

Everyone there is TOP NOTCH and I'd trust them with anything guitar related.

Well, I’m actually making the drive from Springfield, MO to Lawrence, KS tomorrow morning to drop the D-18V in their hands for however long it takes to do things right...and to get a proper setup done on my OM-21 if they can do it right away before I head back home. I plan on having them ship the guitar back to me if they will, and to keep it as long as it needs to be. I’m in no major hurry.

I’m hoping I can report back with glowing reports.

As an alum of the University of Kansas... I'll echo the other responses here. Go there and enjoy the experience!

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU!!

I drove from Bakersfield to Lawrence,Kansas on my way to Vinton, Iowa. Jim Bagget and I sat upstairs and talked about Martins, Collings, and Merrills. By the end of our two hours, I was convinced he was tuned in to vintage Martins and knew how to fix them as well as anyone, from George Youngblood in Connecticut, Joe Konkoly at Elderly, to Alan Perlman in San Francisco and many others in between.