The downright best luthier/repair artist I've ever had. He's usually got a bit of a backlog (I…read moremean, the secret is out at this point) but it's worth every week you need to wait. Other's have already said it, I'm just here to concur. Jon always goes above and beyond. Had an 80's explorer that needed an overhaul on the neck and a refret job, as well as wiring replaced for some new pickups. He did it all and threw in some new switches and tuners for free b/c he noticed the old ones were jank. Next time I took my new 7 string to get the guts removed and install some BareKnuckles, which he needed to carve some space in the body in order for them to fit (you'd never know, it looks like it was built for them) and then custom rigged the pickups to make use of the push/pull tone knob to use the previous pickup's passive battery as a gain boost, a la tubescreamer, but built right into the guitar itself! Cannot recommend Jon enough.

Just completed my 15th job or so with Dr. Jon over the last several years. I've been playing for…read moredecades, and Dr. Jon is without a the top guy in the Austin area. Deeply skilled, creative when needed, and frankly a down to earth guy. My highest recommendation.

Not what I expected. Seems like a rush job setting up my guitar…read more I think I'll do the next set up myself. Seems expensive for what I got.

I bought a scrapper Les Paul on eBay that had all of the wiring ripped out except the pickups. I…read morehad no idea what this guitar would sound or play like, so I gave Andrew a call (he answered and I got a quote and appointment set up within 5 minutes) I got there and asked him if I needed a setup, and instead of being un-transparent like other repair places, he tested the intonation and sound right in front of me so that I could hear if it was sounding right. He seemed pretty busy this week and told me it would be about a week's wait for my work to be done. Well, Andrew called me in HALF the time he said it would take to finish the job. He let me play it in his home to make sure everything worked okay. Well, holy cow, this guitar sounds and plays better than the Gibson Les Paul classic I hawked a year ago! His prices are really great too. Definitely going back to Andrew in the future. Thanks!

I have a 1980 Mesa Boogie MKIIB that was serviced and retubed by Adrian. It has never sounded…read morebetter. I added an extension cab with an EV speaker that he also loaded for me. My band mates were blown away. Adrian also did consignment work for a number of guitars and amps. He does a first rate job and I am very happy with his results.

Adrian is a great tech. He is also a very reliable and drama-free. Highly recommended!read more

My dad gave me his old custom guitar he hadn't touched in 20 years. I called ahead and, I think his…read morename was Alex, answered the phone and helped me when I got there. I got some strings changed and got the tuning serviced all same day and when I went back to check it there was a problem with the jack. Alex helped me once again, ordered a new jack and replaced it all within 3 days. Everyone at the shop was super kind and my guitar sounds great. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Big Promises failed with completion and complained and kind of just were asses about the whole…read moreproject Probably a company that lies and isn't what they claim

I came to this spot yesterday to buy yet another instrument for Thing One. This is now his third…read moreinstrument. He plays the guitar, tuba and now the doublebass. If he doesn't turn out to be some type of someone in the music industry when he's older, lawd help me..he's gonna be disowned! However, I have been communicating with this business via text for about a month now to get a doublebass ready for Thing One. In the communications, we have discussed the required height, type of bow, and type of use this instrument would get to determine which base would be the right fit. When we arrived to pick up the bass, we were greeted warmly and given a quick lesson on the proper care of the instrument. This process took no longer than 30 minutes from arrival to signing the paperwork. I am looking forward to hearing the tones of this beautiful instrument in my home.

I came here to get a violin restrung and bow rehaired after my parents found my old childhood…read moreviolin. I had no idea what to expect since I stopped playing a long time ago, but Russell and Derek were so helpful! I was completely out of my element, but they explained everything patiently and I felt so welcomed and at ease after talking to them. When I said that a friend was going to use the violin to help her little sister practice, Russell mentioned that they have bright colors for bow hair! I chose purple hair and was so excited even though I'm not even the one playing the violin. I wish it had been an option back when I played!

My daughter and I came in looking for a case for an acoustic guitar. We interacted with several of…read morethe staff and they were all helpful and great people, but they noticed that the acoustic we had was very large for my daughter and showed us some smaller options. We came in looking for a case, but Rodrigo recommended the South store that had a better selection of smaller acoustics and we bought one the next day. Good call, Rodrigo! She is having a much easier time playing now.

This was one of the most frustrating customer experiences I've had. My credit was not the issue,…read moreyet this company still acted like I was unworthy of basic service and tried to force a $600 deposit on top of monthly rental charges. I had already been a customer for a year, paid every bill on time, paid a deposit at the very beginning of my account with them although my credit was GOOD. Not fair, not poor, GOOD, and still got a nonsense explanation that made it clear they either don't value repeat customers or don't know how to apply their own policies consistently. I walked away and found another company (Blackerby) with far better service, better rates, a $125 deposit, and no credit check. The difference was night and day. This company's deposit policy feels arbitrary, their pricing is excessive, and their treatment of customers is flat-out poor. I would not recommend them to anyone. By the way I paid for an entire year of rental upfront with the other company and still paid less than the $600 deposit fee that Strait Music tried to play in my face with.

Howard was friendly, knowledgeable, and refreshingly honest. I brought him my 1982 Les Paul for a…read morecracked headstock. He did a comprehensive inspection of the guitar and gave me a clear estimate upfront with no suprises later -- headstock repair, fret level and setup with new strings. And he sent a mid-project update as a courtesy to let me know how things were going. Communication like that is rare. Two weeks out, my guitar played like new. Action was perfect, fretwork clean, yet it still had it soul. Small shop, big talent. If you're north of Austin and your guitar needs love, Howard is the man.

i'm always a little apprehensive dropping off a guitar to get work done, especially one i care…read moreabout. in this case it was a 15-year-old Taylor acoustic that was passed down to me by a friend, so i didn't want to hand it over to just anyone. booking was easy, and when i showed up Howard greeted me warmly and we talked shop for a few minutes while i checked out the studio. the room is full of instruments and art, and i felt comfortable pretty much immediately. about an hour after i dropped it off, Howard sent over a detailed PDF diagnostic and an email explaining what he found, what he recommended doing now, and what could wait until later. i appreciated that there was no pressure to do extra work. i even brought my own strings and he adjusted the price accordingly, which i thought was a nice touch. turnaround was quick too. i dropped it off and picked it up the next day. when i came back, Howard spent some time with me making a final truss rod adjustment so the setup matched how i actually like to play. i prefer the strings a little closer to the frets, and while i probably wouldn't have noticed some of the finer details myself, having him explain what he was doing and why gave me a lot of confidence in the decisions we made. overall, i felt like i got way more than a standard setup. the work was great, communication was great, and the attention to detail was obvious the whole way through. i'll definitely be bringing my other instruments to him in the future and wouldn't hesitate to trust him with any guitar i own.

Looked them up recently and found out they are permanently closed, no surprise there. Sometimes…read morepeople who work at music stores forget why they are there in the first place. It's to sell gear, not pretend you are super-cool. I was in there once looking at Rickenbacker basses and the guys working there kept going on about how embarrassingly awful Chris Squire of Yes was...Chris Squire? The guy was a god on bass...rest in peace, Guitar Res, there will be no resurrection of this failed business.

I'm giving Rez 5 stars here in 2015. I've been going to Rez for years, since they were on…read moreGuadalupe. I guess I understand some of the low ratings a few years back, as I saw the attitude myself. I didn't take it quite so personal, but I'm sure they all had their perspective. For me, in a guitar store I like friendly salespeople who really know their shit. And a good selection. They have some quality gear if you want a PRS you need to make a stop here Fritz is one of those guys. If you want a good customer experience, ask for him. Jim is also highly knowledgable about guitars. He will not steer you wrong. Ive never got the deals on great guitars like I got from Ray at Heart of Texas, but that's a part of Austin's past now . I would check out Rez.