Had some issues with a pre-installed Fishman pickup and learned so much in the process of Mike fixing it. Thank you to Mike for installing this incredible sound hole pickup (per his recommendation). Not only does my guitar sound better than before, but again, I learned a lot about my guitar in the process. Even though the install was a bit tricky, he was still happy to help and did a phenomenal job. So happy to return and will be back for my tune up! read more

Mike at Mikaleno's Guitar Setup is amazing. He diagnosed a ski jump at the end of my Tele's neck, leveled the frets that could be addressed, and got the action perfect. The guitar plays so much better now, and he did it all within a few hours. Honest, professional, and clearly knows what musicians need. Finally have a tech I can trust. He's really nice and he's very passionate about his craft. Highly recommend!! read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - At Mikaleno's Shop - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

If you need a good setup for your guitars at a good price, then this man is the one of the job! I took in my Jazzmaster for a simple setup and not even a few hours later I was told it was ready for pickup and play, which it was! Played and sounded better than I ever could've expected. Definitely recommend this shop to anyone who needs their guitars in tiptop shape. Also worth the visit just to see meet his adorable cat. read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Fender Special Classic Player Jazzmaster - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I was considering possibly buying a new guitar till I discovered my newly broken/headless acoustic was no longer manufactured by the same company and is now somewhat of a collectible. Mikaleno (Mike) repaired, fixed up, and set-up my guitar. He even replaced an old broken strap holder on the rump. Nothing can replace the under-appreciated commodities of knowledge and experience, of which Mike has plenty. One cannot "Google it" and dial in that depth of experience. As appreciative as I was of the work, perhaps most shocking was the turn-around time. Work was completed very quickly. The guitar even sounded great over the phone when he called me to pick it up. Mike also advised on maintenance of the guitar for the future. I was very fortunate to have found Mike and his services. Highly recommended. Skip Westbrook read more

Great person to work with! Very efficient and fast--he clearly loves what he does. His prices are reasonable, and he's extremely accurate in his observations. He adjusted my bass and fixed my pickups perfectly. He really knows his stuff! read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - The Neck - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Mikaleno is a true professional. Not only did he finish my full guitar set up in less than a few hours, but he also showed great passion for what he does. When I asked about the process, he showed how detailed and careful he was in each step and also emphasized how everything he does is in service to a smooth and great playing experience. He has many years of experience and knowledge. I highly recommend him! read more

What Mike lacks in a website and digital presence, he makes up for in spades with his customer service, craftsmanship, and attention to detail. I've had my instruments setup by various shops around the city and they've never come back in the condition or playability that Mike was able to bring out of my guitars. I feel like I have a brand new set of instruments. Give Mike a call and you will not be disappointed. read more

Mikaleno is fast, friendly, funny, and quality. When someone says "I have a guy" Mikaleno is the guy you want to have. Usually day of service and a cute cat! Love tintin. read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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So glad I found this local legend of a guitar tech! Went in to get new pick ups installed and a proper standard set up. This man brought out playability from this old, mid range guitar I never knew existed. He even added some parts of missing hardware all for a great price. This is a guy that truly loves his craft, all around knowledgable and very experienced, he will not rip you off. Oh and he JAMS too! HIGHLY RECOMMEND read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Mike's service was excellent, quick and great value! Handed over 4 instruments and received them back the next day! Highly recommend

MIKALENO THE LEGEND! When it comes to having your guitar set up and maintained, no one surpasses Mikaleno's top quality service! You get more than what you pay for, you get someone who genuinely cares for your guitar/bass as much as you do! Do not, DO NOT, hesitate to bring your guitar and/or bass to Mikaleno!!! Can't forget to mention, BEST PRICES IN THE GAME! read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Full guitar set up - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I found him through google, I brought him a 27 year old strat with rust on the inside and a messed up whammy bar and tons of fretboard damage. Also brought him a 20 year old SG with loose tuners and a messed up fretboard. He fixed them both within a couple hours! As for his quality of work: I feel like I just went to the store and bought a brand new strat and SG. He includes most repairs in the setup price (mine was $10 more per guitar bc of literally decades of damage-pretty good deal) and he gets to work immediately on your stuff. Really nice guy, too. I am literally playing guitar like I never knew I could play because the guitars were so messed up before! This is not my first repair/setup experience. I have never seen a person so talented and committed before in my life! I will never take my guitars to anyone else! Mikaleno is King! P.S. Later that day, I told another guitar player I really respect about this guy and he was like oh I've been going to Mikaleno for 2 or 3 years now! read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Shiny SG! - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Michael is a pro. Every time I go see him I'm impressed with the detail and execution. I will never go anywhere else. read more

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Mike did an amazing job on Ibanez TOD10N. Before coming to shop, my guitar suffered from uneven frets and was in desperate need of a professional setup. In just a day, my guitar was ready for pickup and felt amazing. Almost as if I was playing an entirely new instrument in the best way possible. His prices are extremely affordable and the turnaround is as fast as it could possibly be. From now on I will be entrusting any new guitars I pick up into his hands. Highly recommend read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Fully setup Ibanez TOD10N - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I feel very grateful to have found Mike. I brought him a Venezuelan Cuatro ( a miniature guitar/ukelele) which is not well known by many. It was cracked all over, had issues of all kinds with the strings and the bridge . It was in my opinion not salvageable. Mike expertly and kindly gave me an assessment before any work was performed. I said I would be happy if he just restored it as much as possible to be an art piece at this point , but to my surprise within 24 hours he had fixed it to the point that it could be played again. I was so shocked and pleasantly surprised. He also changed the strings for me and he was so fair in pricing. Highly recommend him. He is an artist and a truly gifted and kind person. Thankful! read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

My 2005 AVRI '62 Jazzmaster which I hadn't picked up in over 10 years was having issues such as choking on higher bends, jack buzzing/static, etc. I called Mike on a Sunday morning and he was able to accommodate me immediately. He did an excellent job sorting out the various issues while making the action low which I prefer. Very impressed with the improved playability after he worked his magic. It only took about 4 hours too. Highly recommended! read more

Mikaleno is the man! The first time I brought him a guitar (at least years ago now) it was one I'd just bought from a guy on marketplace. Mikaleno inspected the guitar before doing a setup and told me straight up that I should try to get my money back because it was beyond repair. He didn't charge me a dime for that! Most people would have just done their best setup and sent me on my merry way, but Mikaleno was honest with me! I've since brought in several other guitars for setups and they are done with precision and love! Highly recommend! read more

Mike did a fabulous job with my two guitars. The first is an old acoustic guitar that I love but had a cracked nut and other issues. The other is a Stratocaster that had electrical problems. Both were worn and well-loved from years of playing. Mike got them both looking and playing as good as new, which is a minor miracle considering the state of my acoustic. And he did both in about 6 hours, which is a crazy efficient amount of time. My only quibble is that he adjusted my Strat's tremolo bridge so that it no longer floats, but that is a relatively easy DIY fix at home and I'll be sure to specify it next time I get it serviced. The all-inclusive $100+ price per instrument is a bit steep compared to visiting a shop and only getting a particular service, but you get a good value for your money with Mike. His two cats are really cute and sweet. read more

I've been using Mikaleno for my guitars for years. I have a 20+ guitar collection and whenever I need something done...I take it to Mikaleno. He's QUICK....like within 24 hours quick. It's not like he doesn't have enough clients but he limits them so he can spend time on each guitars. I don't know any other guitar tech that charges what he charge and includes new strings, clean/buff body and neck, polish every frets, adjust truss rod, saddles, intonation, file frets and nuts, and more....all these for one low price. Did I mention how quick he was? Most of the time...same day service. Recently I bought a guitar and wanted to make it into a project guitar....bought a metal pickup covers and a kill switch. Took the guitar and the parts to Mikaleno and he got it all installed within 24 hours. Pickup cover didn't fit right so he had to do some "McGyver" process to make them fit. As you can see on the photos....he does great job! Now he's not a miracle maker....he will do his best to make your guitar play incredible. But there is a limit...if the guitar is not manufactured properly, he can't make that guitar perfect. But he will be able to do a better job than just about any guitar techs out there. I trust his skills for all my guitars! read more

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10 out of 10 recommend. My guitar plays better now than it ever has before. Mike takes extreme pride in his work & goes the extra mile for a very fair price. He has over 20 years of professional experience & it shows with the tips he provides to properly care for your guitar. I'm excited to bring all of my stringed instruments to Mike for service. read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - after - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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MIKE IS AWESOME!!! He does really good work! For a very fair price I might add! Plus just a cool dude!! read more

10/10 service, I would definitely recommend Mike to anyone who needs work done on their guitar. He was very responsive and communicative with what was being done throughout the process, and he definitely knows what he's doing. My guitar plays great now and I'm definitely coming back. read more

I've now brought 3 of my guitars to Mikaleno for set up, and one for a new loaded pick guard installation. The quality of the service is unparalleled and an extremely good value. Mikelano is honest and really knows how to make your axe sound great. read more

I received my guitar back polished clean with incredible playability. When I turned it in , it had many problems that I didn't know it had. The neck was not sitting in the pocket properly, frets were not leveled and there were many sharp fret ends. My guitar didn't have any overtone and I was struggling with legato technique because of unleveled fret. Now my guitar plays very smoothly and has that singing high end overtone. Most importantly the service was very fast. Thanks so much. read more

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Mike is great and fast! I brought him an Ibanez Floyd Rose style guitar & a Jazzmaster and he got them done in less than 24 hours. The necks feel amazing and he cleaned up the dirty electronics on my Jazzmaster. Do call him before you show up to his shop because he mentioned he was moving from Silver Lake to Hollywood. So make sure you get the new address. For $100 for a set-up + fretwork per guitar, I think it's a STEAL because your guitar will be near perfect. read more

Super fast and knowledgeable-- my mandolin sounds better than ever. Also two cute cats assistants. Definitely going to bring my instruments here in the future! read more

Before I start this long passage, I'll give you a short version if you don't feel like reading about the whole process and my situation. Mikaleno(real name's just Mike) is a man who truly, truly loves guitars. He lives, breathes, and of course, plays guitars. His service is top notch, unsurprisingly. Decades of expertise and guitar building don't lie. If you got a guitar that needs repairs urgently, Mike's the man to go to. Don't dish out 100's of dollars, or trust that shady retailer. A seller wants your money. Mike? He'll sharpen your guitar's performance to it's absolute maximum without busting the bank. He provided at least 250$ worth of services under his one service set up. Absolutely mind-blowing. He's very punctual, works quickly and efficiently even while sending live updates. He's adept at everything related to your guitar, from soldering, electronics, frets, nuts, tuners, anything, you name it, he's got it covered under one set up service. A bit of forewarning, however. If there's one thing you should be warned before going... He's an absolutely godly guitar player as well. He will make your axe scream right in front of you and practically dare you to out-do him. What a legend. Your guitar will never have sounded better, and Mike knows just how to make it get there. Here's the long run down of this particular guitar and my visit now: I got a Gibson Les Paul Custom Classic 2012 in a wine red finish off of Reverb. Transaction went smoothly and it finally came in. Immediately as I took it outta the case, I noticed the thing was drenched in some sorta guitar cleaner that hadn't dried and was hot as hell. Must've been hot in the car, my luck that it had to be one of those days in the middle of the heatwave in California. The guitar had come straight from Tennessee, so I expected some issues, but after a quick cleaning and tune up, a major problem quickly presented itself; the guitar was buzzing on every single string. So I stressed about the thing for a while. Either I had to send the guitar back to the seller and ask for a refund, or find out what the issue was FAST. If I passed a week, there's no more refund and if there's anything majorly wrong with it like a twisted neck, or lifting frets or fretboard. I'd have to foot the price of those expensive surgeries without any support from the seller. Just for perspective, these Gibson repairs can range from 450$ for a refret to an upwards of 900$ for neck issues and fretboard repairs. From what I saw, the nut was way too low, so the buzz came from every single string on the 1st fret on open notes. That requires me to have some finish checking on that area and needs either a shimming(raising the nut) or a straight up replacement. That's still another 90$ on top of a set up, if you can find a cheap luthier that can do quality work at that price. So, I stressed about it a few days. This is an expensive guitar, who do I trust it to? I thought about trusting it to a bigger company, but those take a few days, I'd at least want some updates or info on it. Those shops tend to make for some pretty shoddy work often times too, with all the love and care of an underpaid intern. I wanted someone to give this guitar some real love and care. I happened upon Mikaleno's repairs on the last day to make or break. I gave him a quick call and I marched over there, armed with a mask, gloves and a thick set of clothes. Mike took a look at it and concluded what I suspected; a nut issue. I mentioned a few other issues the guitar had(and some I didn't even know I had after Mike pointed them out to me), and left surprisingly without having to say much. We kept in contact on the phone with live updates on what repairs he was up to. Every step of the process, he broadcast to me. Throughout the whole set up he: -Removed the Nut and Shimmed it. Final product looks very good. Practically no damage to the finish. Might just bring him a new nut to straight up replace the old thing someday. -Leveled the frets and gave it all a nice clean. -Fixed the controls pots -Replaced Tone Capacitors that fit the pick ups free of charge! -Fixed the controls that were switched for whatever reason. All of this, on top of your average bridge/neck/restring for one price. This easily would go over 400$ anywhere else. There was rewiring, nut fixing, fret issues and a whole lot of electrical problems to boot. The guitar came out an absolute beast. Every other guitar I've ever played doesn't even compare, even among the highest end of guitars. If you're still reading this, just know; Mike's got you covered. Be patient and he'll figure out what your issues are. He's a man who doesn't speak money, but speaks GUITAR. Rock on! read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - The beast in all it's glory. - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Mikaleno was awesome. Super responsive and eager to get your work done quickly. But don't let the swiftness of the job fool you - Mikaleno does impeccable work. He worked on an SG of mine that had some emg's. Last guy who did the install of the pickups (Nomadic Guitar) was lazy about it (no offense), and Mikaleno was eager to correct the work. Solid job all around. Thanks Mikaleno. I'll def be bringing more guitars back!! read more

I recently got a guitar from my dad that had a messed up input jack. I wanted to get it fixed but I wanted it done quick. I couldn't have taken it to a better place than Mikaleno's Guitar Shop. I took the guitar to his shop at 1pm and got it back by 3:30pm. That's almost unheard of when it comes to getting your guitar setup up. But Mikaleno did even more than that. I found out that there were more problems with the guitar other than the input jack. The pots were dirty and the 3-way selector was acting janky. He was able to fix all those problems. He also fixed my bridge, frets, bone nut, everything. Mike was extremely nice and he really makes it easy to understand what's actually wrong with your guitar and he guides you through the steps that he takes to fix it. I highly recommend you go to Mikaleno's over any other guitar tech. read more

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Mike is a pro all around. Good communication throughout the process and most importantly had 3 of my guitars sounding fantastic. One of them was an older acoustic and i can't believe how good it sounds now, it's like new. Thanks Mike! read more

Blazingly fast service. My 1987 Strat needed some love and so I gave Mikaleno a call. He was incredibly responsive and received my guitar at 4 PM. By 7 PM he finished a full set up including a fret dressing, fretboard polish, cleaning up all my pickups and more. He single handedly brought my Strat back to life and I'm having a blast playing it right now. I'm interested in the process and he was kind enough to take the time to explain all the idiosyncrasies of what he was doing and why he was doing it. 10/10 would recommend and I will definitely be coming back for my future guitar. read more

Mikaleno's Guitar Setups - Musical Instrument Services Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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I have had multiple guitar setups done by Mike, and he is hands down the best in LA. He makes the guitars play and sound brand new, turnaround is almost always within a day or two, and he has the best prices in the city. He runs his shop out of his apartment, so don't be alarmed. He's super nice, crazy knowledgeable about all things guitar and amp, and and overall good dude. If you need a setup, he's the only guy to go to. read more

Mike is great! Brought in my strat for a setup/pickup install and the guitar looks and sounds 1000 times better. He's worked on guitars for a long time and it definitely shows. Turnaround time was quick (1 day) and his prices were very fair. I'd definitely recommend him to anyone looking for a great guitar luthier in the LA area. read more

Took the time to go through my entire guitar, explained everything he was doing. Honest, and reliable. Would recommend.

Mike does great work at an amazing price! I'll be taking my guitar and bass to him in the future instead of Guitar Center. Very fast turnaround too! read more

I can't recommend Mikaleno enough! I brought him 4 electrics and one acoustic guitar to fix up and he had them all done within a matter of days. My guitars looked brand new and sound amazing! read more

Ok, I rarely take to Yelp to post bad or semi bad reviews but it's been 18 hours since I went in to Mikaleno's to have my bass worked on and I am still upset about what transpired, so I feel I need to warn people, First off, this shop comes up 2nd in my area for "guitar repairs". But as soon as I entered he was upfront about the fact that he does not repair guitars, yet he proceeded to dismantle mine, all the while chatting about music and things seemed great, BUT somehow his side of the conversation drifted into politics and despite every effort I made to avoid it, he persisted and eventually morphed from an unwanted, one sided discussion to tirade and finally into raised voiced rant. Now granted I was never in fear for myself but conversely I felt like I needed to be aware of my surroundings since he seems unhinged and I made sure to make as quick of an exit as possible. So I did not give him 1 star because he may well be good at what he does, but I will not return for him to finish the work he started nor will I refer anyone to him read more

I brought mike my Martin Mahogany dreadnought and he made it play like new. Ran me through everything he was going to do before he did it. He also taught me a ton about how to care for and store my acoustic properly! Could not recommend him more highly. read more

Very knowledgeable about guitars. Also a fantastic player. Trustworthy and experienced. Made my bass sing! GO! read more

Mike was a savior! I had purchased a fender guitar for my boyfriends Christmas gift but it hd a bad issue with buzzing on the frets. I was surprised because it was a pricey instrument but he told me that it just didnt feel good to play it. Instead of returning it, I decided to get a second opinion from an expert. Mike was the first luthier I called and I didnt feel the need to shop around more after speaking with him. He assured me it was a minor issue and a basic set up would fix it right up. He was very clear and professional on the phone and explained exactly what I was getting. The turnaround was really quick and my boyfriend loved it afterwards! Thanks Mike read more