I am an over 70, rusty guitar player, and while I performed in several bands throughout my life, guitar was never my instrument... I was always the keyboardist. That said, I plunked and strummed as a sideline, mostly to entertain myself. In recent years, I decided that hauling around a keyboard was just too much work. I wanted something that I could carry up and down stairs and toss in the back of the car. I had a 55-year-old acoustic guitar that had seen better days, but it was also an old friend that I did not want to say goodbye to, so I went to a local music store to see if there was anything they could do to it to get it in better playing condition. While it exceeded their repair department's capabilities, they did recommend Rick Reiss, and Advanced Guitar Repair. They gave me his card. I called him and an appointment. I knew when I walked into his shop that I had made the right choice. There were so many tools, all of them organized and ready to use. There were specialty tools as well. Some I did not recognize. It was obvious Rick knew what he needed to do his job. He quickly assessed my guitar and admitted that while he could restore it to a satisfactory and playable condition, the work required would be both extensive and expensive and unless I wanted to have it done for sentimental reasons, I might be better off putting the funds towards a new guitar. Which is exactly what I did. While I appreciate the famous names in guitar brands, spending thousands of dollars for a great guitar at this stage of my life did not make sense. I decided on two good quality mid-range instruments... a Taylor acoustic and an Epiphone electric. I took both to Advanced Guitar Repair. The way I looked at it, with Rick's expertise, I can have the playability of a $3000 guitar for a third of the price. Not to mention that a $3000 guitar would still need some amount of setup to play as well. Rick asked how I wanted them to play and let me sample his guitars to help me decide. Now my acoustic has the action and playability of an electric and the electric plays like butter! In case you like technical specs, he did fret leveling, replaced the nut (with bone), and did all the steps of a standard guitar setup. With my arthritis, I prefer lighter gauge strings. Rick did all his work to accommodate my choice. I was (and am) blown away by the improvements. I could not be happier with the results. If you are thinking about getting work done on your guitar, I highly recommend Advanced Guitar Repair. Just be aware that Rick is both meticulous about his craft and very, very busy... meaning don't expect overnight results. You can't rush art. read more

I had a really great and professional experience Advanced Guitar repair. Rick knowledgeably walked me through my issues, the options to repair and improve, and the costs associated with it. The end product was amazing with craftsmanship that is increasingly rare to find. read more

Just got my vintage lap-style acoustic guitar back from Advanced Guitar Repair. My guitar sounds great and functions properly. Up graded tuners, intonated the guitar. (this guitar was previously really bad) It was even polished and looked new! Extremely attentive to detail. Rick listens and is respectful of your needs. Enjoyable to work with, clearly explained the issues and then solutions to repair your instrument correctly. Highly recommended. Dennis read more

Advanced Guitar Repair - restored my vintage lap slide guitar. Rick did some mojo on this! - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

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I took my 1966 Martin 000-18 guitar to Rick for assessment and repairs earlier this year. Rick was very generous with his time and expertise both on the phone and when I brought my guitar in. He is an enormously knowledgeable luthier and very thoroughly went over my guitar and took time to explain what he saw and what he would recommend I consider doing. My guitar was in pretty good shape for it's age but had a few issues. It needed a need neck reset, and the bridge had string grooves filed into the bridge pin holes which were affecting the strings approach angle to the saddle diminishing sound transfer to the saddle. I decided to get the neck reset since the strings were too high and the fretboard was no longer straight. I also decided to have Rick fix the bridge damage as you can see done on his website. Beyond that, because this guitar is my favorite, I decided to go ahead and have the worn neck completely resurfaced and re-fretted and the factory micarta saddle and nut replaced with bone for better sound transmission. Since I'm retired now I'm going to be playing more and just decided to go for it and make everything as best as it could be. I have had my guitar back for a couple months now and it is a dream to play. Much easier to fret and sounds better and louder too. Rick is a very precise and fastidious luthier who does things right. My guitar looks like new and the work he did is so precise that you can't really see that it has been worked on. I'm glad I decided to spend the money and have Rick bring my longtime buddy back to life. It really seems better than brand new. I see that there are a couple negative reviews of Advanced Guitar Repair on Yelp but that doesn't match my experience of Rick on a personal level or the work he did for me. I am more than happy with my experience. I will definitely be back to see Rick anytime I need my guitars worked on. Thanks Rick. Dale Wotring read more

I absolutely di not recommend this guy. I specifically told him what I wanted done to my guitar. He took it upon himself to do something different without consulting with me first. Not even a call. My guitar wasn't ready when it was suppose to be. Had it 4 weeks longer. And to top it off I don't like the way it sounds now. Now he was willing to correct his mistake, as long as I paid him more. The nerve of this guy to ask for more money. This guy is just a rude jackass plain and simple. read more

Rick has repaired a couple of my guitars. The last time I used his service he did a set up, and replaced the pickups on my 40 year old Japanese Stratocaster. It came back playing like a brand new guitar. I've taken my guitars to numerous people but Rick is definitely the best in town. read more

Rick Reiss performed magic on my Fender Strat. When I brought it in, the first thing he did was a quick but thorough evaluation and estimation of the cost. Since the complete repair was more than I wanted to invest in the guitar, he was able to make adjustments that completely transformed the guitar to one that's a pleasure to play. I've worked with shops and luthiers before, but never had this kind of personal service. I would not hesitate to recommend Rick to anyone needing their acoustic or electric guitar repaired. read more

I've been putting this off for a while. I took my old beater guitar that I love, to Rick to work on. He wasn't willing to work on it even though I was will pay for it. The same thing w/ my Yamaha 12 string. Rick came off as a guitar snob. He called me after my original post and said if I would retract my post he would be able to get me a deal on another 12 string. As a life long musician I find what he did as disrespectful. We all cant afford the guitars he's willing to work on. read more

I was really impressed by Rick Reiss. I had a Seagull guitar that needed repair, as the strings were way too far from the fret board. When I got to his repair studio, I immediately noticed how knowledgeable Rick is about guitars. He knew everything about my guitar that needed fixing and gave me an opportunity to choose what aspect of the guitar I wanted enhancing. I would recommend Rick for any guitar player - advanced or beginner - who wants their guitar enhanced and sounding great. read more

Rick is interesting. He no doubt knows what he is doing. He will explain very thoroughly his process, what he expects and after you've digested this information he will ask if you understand and for your feedback. Be prepared to wear a mask in the same entirety in his home/shop. With that being said and celebrating differences, I took a Martin J40 to him that needed action, Nut, Saddle bridge nut, and truss adjustments, with some minimal fret polishing. He charged a little more than I expected. I played and told him what I was looking for. Butter. He recommended 13's. I followed his advice against my own judgement/preference. When I got the guitar back after 3 months the 1st E started to lightly buzz, mostly due to me reverting back to 12's. This is where you need to be careful. Rick is so knowledgeable that upon digesting his knowledge the best I could I decided to go 13's. I regretted that, but with a long conversation, he setup the nut for 12's and didn't charge me. That to me is how you treat customers. If you can get past his idiosyncrasies, I myself have many, you will realize he is a master at his craft, he takes pride in his work, and he will do you right. I felt he charged more than I would like to have spent at first, but he was there three months later for me and well, Good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn't good. Highly recommend Rick! read more