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NAME:
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Zach Duran
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ORIGINALLY FROM:
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South – Side of Chicago
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HOW YOU GOT STARTED IN GUITAR REPAIR:
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Reading a few books and finally by attending Galloup School of Lutherie
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HOW / WHEN YOU CAME TO WORK FOR 3CGS / BOBS:
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Was surfing the web and came across this fine website. I turned in my resume in Jan. of 2006 and was working a week later.
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FREQUENT REPAIRS / SPECIALTY:
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All aspects of Setup/Electronics and now High End Repair (head stock re-glues, finish touchups, structural repairs)
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BEFORE YOU BECAME A TECH, WHAT OTHER WORK DID YOU DO:
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unloaded trucks on the docks
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ANY BANDS:
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RECOMMENDED LISTENING:
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Atkins to Zappa and everything in between.
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FAVORITE GUITAR:
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Fender Strat…WAIT… Gibson Les Paul,.. Ok I like em all.
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FAVORITE FOOD:
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Italian
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FAVORITE ALCOHOL:
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Jameson Whisky, on the rocks
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LINKS:
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Hey Chris, I just wanted to tell you that Martin (lead singer and guitar player for Boys Like Girls) got his guitar and was absolutely in love with it! He wanted me to extend he gratitude and to tell Zach that he is quite the bad ass. In saying that we have another Delonge that we will be sending to do the same thing… Thanks again Zach!
Josh
Guitar Tech, Boys Like Girls
Send it in and we will be glad to get another one going on for him!
Zach is the best guitar tech & smokin’ too !
Ohhh that hair!
hope your taking photos for the site, cause we got more coming your way. Keep it up Homie. ill be buying u a few beers after work some night!
Greatly appreciate the fabulous job Zack did on my 1999 Guild Starfire (nut, pickups and setup). Plays like butter and sounds terrific!
Bill (Simply Regressing)
Thanks Bill! We appreciate your business, as always. Do the pickups sound like you hoped they would??
i received your contact info from a fellow craigslister and he HIGHLY recommended your work. i need some things done to my 65′ Gretsch Country Club….they include:
1. re-fret (frets aren’t terrible i just don’t like em…too small for my style of playing…i’m very comfortable with the medium jumbo’s on my tele’s but i’m not sure if i should go with those or something different for the Gretsch…whatever i go with, they need to be ‘meatier’ than the ones on there now as i have a bit more ‘aggressive’ style of playing blues…nothin heavy, i just can’t bend as easily or play as fast with the gretsch as i can with my telecasters).
2. new saddle (tuneomatic would be preferred or something other than the roller saddle i have now…whatever i go with i want to make sure it keeps the guitar intonated well and in tune as good as possible…guitar does also have a Bigsby) and possibly new bridge if needed to accommodate the new saddle.
3. excessive noise removed (coming from somewhere on/in the body, though i haven’t been able to figure out from where)
4. good setup (including intonation)…also maybe just a good “check up/once over” to address any other problems the guitar may have.
5. this is last on the list and i’m not 100% sure i wanna change anything but the bridge pickup is pretty unusable for me…the neck pickup is sublime but the bridge pickup is just too trebly/thin for my ear. i understand that it sounds like what it’s supposed to sound like, but if there’s any way to “beef it up” a bit without any permanent mods then i’d love to do it. also might wanna add a ‘treble bleed’ to the master volume knob…i like to lower my guitar volume for rhythm but not lose any of the treble (same tone, just quieter)…then when i’m ready to solo i can crank the volume…same tone, just louder. i use these on my other electric guitars and really like them.
i actually live in bloomington (2 hours south of the city) but wouldn’t dare let anyone around here touch this guitar. it’s too sweet. i’m coming to Chicago to see a couple shows at the end of the month (will be in town 9/29-10/1) and was hoping to bring the Gretsch with me.
so, if you could give me a rough estimate of what you think all those things would cost and if you could perform the work when i’m up that way i’d greatly appreciate it! it would be ideal to drop the guitar off on 9/29 and then pick it up on 9/30 or 10/01 (so as to avoid any shipping) but if you needed it longer then i could just have you ship it to me i spose.
thanks and i look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience!
Clint,
All this work is very do-able. I understand about the fret wire on the Gretsch guitars, it is way too small. The bridge shouldn’t be an issue either, we could even use some graphite saddles to help the Bigsby stay in tune. As far as the pickups, have you looked into TV Jones pickups? They are very well made and have more than a few options. Gretsch actually uses those pickups in some of their higher end and Signature models. A refret, replace bridge, add treble bleed cap and pickup replacement (if you go with that) would run about $375-400. The materials would be about $12 and parts would be determined by what kind of bridge and pickup you would like to use. Look to spend around $55-100 for a bridge and the TV Jones pickups run about $130. As far as time frame, you are welcome to drop it off that weekend, but this kind of work can’t get done overnight. We would need the guitar for at least 3 business days and if you want to order bridge and pickup, it can take longer. You should look to be without the guitar for a few weeks (that would be our normal turn around time). Let me know if all this made sense!!!