Despite it being the only instrument store in the area, it was fairly priced. Burlington's shops and stores are inflated in comparison to more affluent towns and cities, but this place was surprisingly reasonable for what i needed. Excuse unedited grammar read more

I'm a professional musician in the Burlington area. I play in 6 projects in Burlington and I'm the guitar instructor at the Burlington Music Dojo. I have taught at Advance Music, Rock Camp, and many of the Youth Programs at 242 Main while I was the assistant manager there. I've also had my instruments serviced by most of the local luthiers (it's good to know who's good). On one hand, we are very lucky to have as many good options in Burlington as we do, but when students and band-mates ask me who to send their instruments to my first recommendation has always been Nowa at Randolin. Here are some of my instruments that have been repaired by Nowa: Solid Body electrics (bolt on, neck thru, 6 string, 7 string, 8 string) Steel String Acoustics (six string, 12 string) Ukulele Stand up Bass Here are some of the specific repairs he's done: Fret work Bridge resets Pickup wirings Fingerboard re-glues Acoustic instrument pickup installs Here are some talking points about my customer service experiences with Nowa: 1) When asked specifically for a quote, he's always produced one and come close to staying within said quote. 2) His breadth of knowledge and credentials allow him to do a wider range of repairs than other luthiers in the area. 3) He has always treated me and my repairs like a priority (when I've asked him to stay within a deadline). I understand this is difficult to do with a repair que as large as his. 4) He has stood by his work, sometimes beyond the 6 month warranty. Any time one of his repairs hasn't held up he's made it right. 5) Because let's face it, money matters, he has always had the most reasonable invoices of any of the luthiers I've done business with. Again, we have many good luthiers in the Burlington Area. Nowa is always my first pick. read more

Brought in my guitar TWICE for the same problem and both times I was told it was because of different things and both times came out with an unfixed switch and lost a total of $60. They never tested the guitar after fixing and just handed it back to me. Beyond frustrated and will be looking elsewhere to fix the switch. read more

Nowa repaired a very expensive custom electric guitar for me. The headstock was completely detached, but when he was done the crack line was practically invisible! Excellent job, great communication and very fair price. Highly recommended! read more

Nowa always does excellent work with my musical gear. He put a new bridge and pickup on my upright bass and it is playing and sounding fantastic. He's set up at least 8 of my guitars and basses and he's fixed a bass that multiple different repair shops said was "unfixable" by replacing truss rod and reattaching the neck. He also put together a broken necked guitar I have and it looks and plays fabulous. He is a great guy and very skilled at what he does. He is efficient and often will fix guitars for me same day on the spot. His store is fun and I've also bought great instruments from him as well. read more

Strongly don't recommend! I bought an instrument here that is worth less than half of what I had paid. After buying it I contacted the makers to find out the year it was made and turns out it was there most basic model when the owner had talked it up so much as a high level guitar. I also then found out that it was being sold other places for half of what I paid. I contacted the owner and he tried refuting what the guitar makers had told me as well as the information I had found. There is no justification for anyone to sell a product for double what it is worth and say that I should bargained for it to drop the price. Instead how about you ask a fair price for your goods. Don't make the same I did read more

I brought my baby Taylor here for a simple (finger-joint neck) repair that he said he'd done many times. when I picked it up, he charged nearly twice what he quoted, the back of the neck was stained from dripping glue and.... worst of all... the repair only lasted 2 months and is now in the same condition it was in when I brought it there. Be forewarned: The owner doesn't stand behind his work, and he's only nice when he's selling you something. read more