Cremer Guitarworks

My wife and I have known Rick for a number of years (like 15 or more) and consider him a friend. He and his staff (Juel Ulwen) do all the work on our instruments (and we have a lot of them). I have a 110 year old Gibson rose pickguard mandolin that was missing the tuning grommets. They found brass stock of the correct size and manufactured them to suit! My wife got a 1930’s era Gibson Century of Progress Expo guitar last year, and Rick spent about 10 solid hours of work getting it back into playing condition. Fantastic — she loves it!

I’ve purchased a couple guitars from Rick. Never heard of the brand before and he recommended both highly. He is right. They are very nice guitars and not expensive.
Rick’s main business isn’t selling instruments, it’s repairing them, and that’s why he knows so much about them. He gets into the internals of instruments and really knows how they work.
Rick has some nice used /​vintage instruments from time to time, so it’s very worthwhile to check out what he has if you are in the market.
Before letting me take the guitar he changed the strings, dressed the frets, polished the frets, re-​oiled the fingerboard and bridge, verified the neck was OK and checked the action at the 12^th fret to verify it met specification.
He did all of this beginning at 4:45P because I live an hour away and he didn’t want to inconvenience me by having to come back.
You just don’t find this kind of personal service in most places.

I am a bit of a perfectionist so when it came to my Martian D35 I don’t let anyone mess with it
I had picked up some PBE Pins and some stock to make a saddle and hared good things Cremer guitar works so I brought my D35 to him to have the pins fitted and the saddle made
As well I wanted the action lowered a bit, well I thought My D35 was good and this one was handpicked at the Martin factory
Well I left it with Rick OMG when I got this guitar back I had to check the SN# this dam thing was so good I thought he swapped with some special guitar
At one point I was thinking of getting rid of the D35 guitar and I even bought a Guild D55 before I had Rick work on it now it is killer I have now setup an appointment to take the Guild D55 in for him to work his magic on it cant wate to see what he can do with this one
Any of my friends that pickup my d35 says it feels like the best Taylor and plays /​sounds like the wonderful martin that it is
These days it is hard to find anyone that has this kind of passion and capability to excellence as Rick Cremer
This guy is awesome and a 5 star plus in my book
Thank You Russ

Cremer is a god of Guitar Tech!
He is amazing. I take my guitars to him to set up.
His waiting list says everything you need to know about him. He has enough business to create a 6 week waiting list for set ups. But he’s amazing!
I had him set up one of my guitars and then a year or so later I wasn’t really digging it. He re-​set it up for me. And, I had to force him to take money. It was not at all his fault, just my style changed a little and that set up wasn’t perfect.
He is honest too.
I played a 1930’s Gibson Acoustic there, and he saw me and asked what I though… I said I didn’t like it. He said «neither did I». We talked about just because it being vintage does not mean it’s good. But he wanted to sell it to a collector. Which makes sense. They don’t always play.
All the guitars that he sells though have gone through his set up process. And he sells just as many used as news.
It’s a tiny shop so getting around is not always easy, but it’s always worth it.

Rick knows a lot about everything.
I bought a used late 80’s Ibanez RG750 which needed a bit of work, so I brought it to Rick. Rick replaced the bad frets, level, crown, polish, fixed a stress crack in the headstock (a common occurrence in this model), repaired the tone pot wiring, and the guitar was set up with super low action, exactly how I wanted it. Rick understands the needs and demands of people who play heavy metal music and is able to set up guitars to meet those needs. Don’t misunderstand; he can set it up however you want. He’s not a metal only guy, but he’s a great resource if that’s what you need.
And he can scallop fingerboards. It’s hard to even find someone who will do that!
My father has an old Gibson acoustic. Rick made a repair to the bridge over 20 years ago that is still holding up today.
The only negative is that he sometimes has a long waiting list, but that’s actually sort of a positive because it means he’s in demand, and he’s in demand because he’s awesome. Note: email or call him if you need work done to get an idea of his schedule. If you just show up with your instrument he might not even be able to work on it soon. I’m just mentioning this in case you haven’t been here before.
He also has some amps and guitars for sale. It’s a small shop but there’s some cool stuff there.
I drive over an hour to get to his shop when I need guitar work done. It’s a bit of a drive but I know I’m getting the best quality work available.

Possibly the best place to get guitar work done in the state of Illinois. One of the most knowledgeable guitar luthiers I’ve ever spoken to. This is where those that play for money make sure their money making tools are good to go.

The best place to have any work done on your guitar. Rick is fantastic to deal with, have trusted my Kramer EEpro with him since 1991, for set ups that play like fire after, to a re wire and pick up change, fret work and more. never a disappointment.
My only regret is I moved out of state and have yet to find a luithier in Augusta Georgia I trust with my guitars
if you need a vintage guitar worked on this is your guy, if you need that cheap guitar center Jackson or japan strat re worked to actually play like a decent guitar they can do that too!

Just a great guitar shop. Rick has done a great job on every guitar I brought in for repair, and has an enthusiasm and passion that is seldom matched. The only downside of going to his store is that I always find out that the guitar I just purchased (which I thought was vintage USA) was actually made in Japan in 2005 or something like that. The guy knows too much.
Trust him with your prized possessions he won’t disappoint!

By far my most favorite guitar shop in the world. The selection is a pittance and the store front is tiny, but I’ll be damned if I’ve ever been to a better shop. They do guitar and amp repair, customization and sell a select number of great instruments. If you’re looking for a variety of faceless strat clones and Squiers, by all means: go to guitar center. Rick prides himself on a selection of vintage guitars and amps and high quality guitars. The guitars that he does carry new are some of the best you can get your hands on, especially the Blueridge line he carries.
The repair work they do is also top notch. They reset the bridge on my old Martin, refretted my old Stratocaster and Les Paul and also customized another Stratocaster with a custom cut pickguard and pickups, they’ve also done work on my vintage Kustom Amp, Marshall JCM and Vox AC-​30 and I was more than pleased with the results.
The atmosphere is great and the shop has the best staff I’ve ever met in a guitar shop. It’s the perfect place for seasoned veterans, amateur guitarists and novice players. Any guitar set up by these guys plays like butter and I can’t say enough good things about their work. The turn around times are a little long, but it’s worth the wait.