Guitar techs/shop in SF North Bay (Napa, Sonoma, Marin)?

[pjroberts]

Recently moved permanently back to Bay Area, and my previous main Go-to was Gyphon in Palo Alto. Looking first for a good guitar tech, but a shop attached helps. I don't expect Gyphon North, but would love to get some advice on shops and people in North Bay.

Appreciate any advice or pointers. Thx!

[M19]

Schoenberg in Tiburon.

[Parlorman]

+1 on Schoenberg. Eric is a good guy and has some wonderful instruments.

[oliverkollar]

Eric's shop does exceptional work.

A little closer to you in Napa is Robert Sherman. Does great work on guitars and mandolins.

[M Sarad]

Alan Perlman in San Francisco is my guy.

[dukebrot]

Originally Posted by Parlorman

+1 on Schoenberg. Eric is a good guy and has some wonderful instruments.

+1 on Schoenberg being the best place. I'd recommend James specifically in that shop for any repair or adjustment work.

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by dukebrot

+1 on Schoenberg being the best place. I'd recommend James specifically in that shop for any repair or adjustment work.

+1 on Schoenberg AND James, the luthier there. James did all my setups (and repairs) for years, and was difficult to replace when I moved to the northwest.

[cliff_the_stiff]

All those guys are good. I like SF guitar works too. They have a Petaluma shop too I think.

[Lake Sagatagan]

Eric and James are great. They have a strong reputation and they want to keep it! I also had terrific luck at Guitarworks; they pleked a trouble-maker into compliance.

But next time I think I'll see what Hugo Mermet of Terra Linda can do. I know he's French and everything, but I enjoyed talking to him, his shop is close to me, just of Highway 101, and I gained an intuitive confidence in him: www.mermetguitars.com.

[seannx]

James at Schoenbergs is a total pro, and set up a few of my acoustics when I lived in Marin.

Emmett Ohara - Santa Rosa, CA
707-538-5494
[email protected]
http://www.oharaguitars.com
Emmett has set up 5 or so of my guitars since I've moved to Sebastopol. Really nice guy, great work, and has a very cool workshop to see.

Larry Cragg
Address: San Anselmo, CA 94979
Phone: (415) 453-3336
Guitar tech for Neil Young & Carlos Santana, also has done work for Bob Dylan, Steve Miller, Bruce Springsteen...
https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/larry-cragg
Larry has done a great job on at least 4 of my son's electric guitars. Really knows his craft on all levels.

[justonwo]

Depends on the kind of work. Schoenberg sends their guitars out for repair work. I don’t think James does much in-house except for setup. I have had mixed results with their repair people and stopped using them for repair work. Lewis Santer does a good job, but he’s in Oakland. Alan Perlman in SF is also great.

[pjroberts]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Initially I’ll be getting a few guitars in for rotating checkup/setups. This will give me an opportunity to check 2-3 of the recommendations. I will probably try Robert Sherman in Napa (I live near town) and combine another set up with a shop day at Schoenberg — the recommendations have been endless here and in real life) I will also keep the Santa Rosa contact ... as for Larry Cragg, I think it’s only appropriate to see if I can get the doctor to look at my D28 ‘37A and throw in some good fairy dust from the legends.

I will share experiences down the road(s). Thanks all!

[Sunil]

Geoff Luttrell and SF Guitarworks does excellent work. Rather than travel to SF, you can make an appointment with him at his home/workshop in Petaluma: http://sfguitarworks.com/locations/

If you are willing to travel to SF, Gary Brawer is the best: http://brawer.com/

[packmule]

Lewis Santer also works a couple of days a week out of SF Guitarworks so he has a presence in both Oakland and SF - he does all the work on my instruments.

[M Hayden]

I wonder if Bruce Sexauer in Petaluma does a lot of repairs? He refretted one of my guitars and OMG it is beyond good.