Goez Instrument Repair

I purchased a Fender American Special Stratocaster three years ago and after finally deciding to take it in to have a few issues fixed, I am blown away by the difference. It’s a whole new guitar now, and has never sounded or played this well, even when it was brand new! Well worth every penny and I truly appreciate the care that they took with my guitar and worked with me to make sure it was set up to the way I like to play.
The best part is that now I can have it setup again for free to make sure everything is properly intonated after the season changes and I replace the strings.
I plan to take my other guitar in very soon to make sure it plays just as well now, and I will urge everyone guitar player I know to do the same

Skip and John are the very best at what they do. My 66 Fender Jaguar needed some TLC and they provided it and then some. I am the original owner, and this guitar had never been serviced in any way since I recieved it for my 13^th. birthday in 1966. It plays better now than it did almost 50 years ago. I will admit I got a little teary eyed when I heard it again for the first time in years. They not only restored my old Jaguar, but also brought back memories of my youth when I played it everday as a teenager. 4 weeks wasn’t to long a wait at all, with all the repair work they had ahead of me, I actually expected longer. They are really good guys to. Thanks Skip and John. James Sutton, St. Louis

I feel I have touched greatness after my guitar was set up at this shop! Skip Goez is a living legend and I feel very fortunate fate brought me to visit him.
Long story short, I purchased a brand new guitar off the internet from Texas. (Ya ya, I know, I know). It is a Fender guitar. It has a known issue, the guys in Texas said it was fine, it however was not. After Skip checked it out it was apparent it was not worth fixing. Communication was had with Fender and a new guitar was sent to Skip.
Skip called me as soon as the guitar came in, and he said he would set it up for me. I went to the shop and the level of detail and care he put into that MIM guitar you would think it was a one of a kind guitar built by Fender himself! It was incredible how much time and care he put into my guitar. I felt honored.
He told me amazing stories about Roy Orbison, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and other famous people he has met and worked for.
He went so above and beyond to help me out it blew my mind. He even called me the next day to make sure everything was okay with the guitar!
I now know, all my guitars are set up like garbage and I will try to get them into Skip as soon as I can. It is worth it to get your guitar set up by a professional so that you can actually play it the way it should be played. It makes all the difference in the world. I had no idea honestly. I was used to tinkering on my guitars myself, growing up I didn’t even know people did this for a living. Insane.
In short, if you are pretty serious about your gear and you want it to perform at it’s peak level take your guitar to Skip Goez. You have no idea how great the instrument will sound when he is done with it!
UPDATE: This new guitar’s neck adjusted a bit once it started warming up. Skip worked on it some more, and I do believe it is even better now. Once he sets up your guitar he will adjust it for free, for life!

I’ve been a loyal customer of Skip Goez and Jon Ferber since I was a kid in 1985. I have built many guitars — all with the help of Skip and Jon. As Mike T said in his review «You get what you pay for.» And if you want nothing less than the best service you can get for you guitars basses, or other stringed instruments, you have no other choice.
I currently live in Nashville, TN. As you can imagine, not only do some of the best guitarists on the planet live here, so do some of the best guitar techs. I still take my guitar up to St Louis, MO and have Skip and Jon do the work — that is ALWAYS my first choice. If I could take them with me on the road, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Skip also helped me restore my most beloved Dagocaster (I built her in 1985, painted her like the italian flag & played her in every electric gig for 21 years). It was a complete «ground-​up» rebuild because I had been so damn hard on that guitar. When it was finished, it was even better than before.
Just go there, you’ll thank me, you’ll thank yourself, and you’ll name your first kid after Skip or Jon (maybe me for hippin’ you to ‘em). I didn’t name my kid after ‘em, but you know how it is… ;-P

While it is definitely hip to say that you take your guitar to a guy who used to tech for Eric Clapton, that is definitely not the ONLY reason to take your guitars to Skip Goez. Goez Instrument Repair is by far the best guitar shop in St. Louis and I have trusted them with my instruments for nearly 10 years.
I have seen many posts online calling their services «pricey». The best response to this would be «You get what you pay for.» I have brought 4 guitars and about 4 or 5 basses to Skip, and his partner-​in-​crime John Ferber, for their Lifetime Setups Package. For approx. $ 150 they do a complete instrument setup (truss-​rod adjustment, fret leveling, pole-​piece adjustment, intonation, polishing, etc.) and will do lifetime free re-​checks. This is a completely unbeatable deal. Think of it like when you get braces. You pay them a bunch of money up front, but you keep going back for adjustments to maintain and improve the straightness of your teeth. This is what Skip and John do with guitars and having played around 100 shows a year for the past few years, my guitars would never have made it out alive without them.
Aside from their incredible setup service, I have also used them for customizations and major repairs. They recently installed a pickup in my Martin D-​15 and it only cost me about $ 25, plus I took advantage of the appointment to get a full, free, re-​check. Also, my 1974(ish) Univox Hi-​Flyer, which has seen many rounds on their workbenches, underwent a complete pickup rewinding a few years back. This is no small project and would send most folks to their catalogs in search of new-​old-​stock parts instead of taking on the task. Skip is the only guitar tech in the Midwest who will rewind a pickup and he did this for me for about $ 50. I could not have purchased a NOS pickup for this much and in the end I think I ended up with a better than new guitar.
All in all, you can go wrong working with Goez Instrument Repair. I will warn you that they are anything but fast and if you venture in you will see why, with the stacks and stacks of backlogged guitars to be worked on. The wait is definitely worth it though and you will save a little bit of money if you remember to bring cash, instead of paying with credit.