Portland Fret Works

Todd and his staff are expert and caring.
Todd designed and built my Wilder Guitar and my 7-​string banjo. They are wonderful instruments that perform, sound great and elicit compliments wherever I go. Todd’s ongoing care of these incredible axes has been loving and made their use and ownership enjoyable beyond what I could have imagined.
Todd has also corrected faulty repairs done by other shops on other instruments.
His vision, execution and flexibility are stellar.
Reasonable pricing is another plus.
Turnaround time is always sooner than one would expect.
I recommend Portland Fretworks without any reservation for all string instrument care and construction needs.
Larry Wilder
Portland, OR

I’ve taken 3 of my guitars to Portland Fretworks, a strat, a Martin, and a Breedlove. My strat needed a set up, I took the Martin in for a set up and a bone saddle, and the Breedlove went in for a set up and a bone saddle.
All the jobs were done very well and during the intake process it was determined that the Martin and Breedlove didn’t need a set up so they just did the saddle installations and I paid much less than I thought I was going to.
They are honest and do a good job. I highly recommend them.

I’ve had great experiences here. They’ve set up an acoustic guitar and also did more involved work on some of my electrics. I also love that they’re in my neighborhood. They seem fairly priced and are friendly.

These guys are fantastic. I was going to get a Roland GK-​3 Pickup installed on my Tele until my luthier, Todd, recommended I go with the Graph Tech Ghost system. When I brought my guitar in for the mods, he walked me through the placement of the various knobs and switches, what it would do, and listened to all of my design concerns. I got it back about 3 days ago, and I couldn’t be happier!
Prior to going to PFW, I had almost given up on making this project a reality when another luthier in town had quoted me an astroniomical $ 550 and basically said the whole guitar would be changed. Thankfully I brought it into PFW for a second opinion, and they quoted me $ 200 less than the other guy. The tele looks factory, and retained all of its original character. I won’t use anyone else for guitar work now!

A+. Read on for more.
Me: Past semi-​pro musician and sound engineer, worked in a music shop for years.
Work: Lowered the action on a Martin JC-​16RE Aura (it’s one of seven guitars I own). It now plays exactly the way I wanted it.
Staff: Friendly, timely.
Value: Stunned. Very reasonable price and would have been happy if they’d charged me more.
Future: Will go back. Have more guitars that need the love they give.

I brought a Gibson Les Paul to the shop for refretting and to fix a previous unsightly repair of a wanton drill hole.
The shop called after a few days to let me know a refret wasn’t needed.
They found a flat spot, which was was fixable without the expense of a refret.
This saved me some bucks.
The guitar was returned with a nearly undetectable drill hole… I knew where it was, and could see a faint line if I angled it just right in the light, and in eminently playable condition.
I went ahead and brought in a couple other guitars for miscellaneous work.
They did well.

Quality work. I’ve taken guitars and amps into many other shops in Portland over the years, and the work I’ve been the most happy with is from Fret Works. I dropped off a new Recording King RD-​327 that needed some minor fret work and a new saddle due to poor intonation. While they did go slightly over their estimate for time, the overall cost was reasonable, and the work was of high quality. The guitar plays in tune up and down the neck, and with nice action. Much better than before. Friendly people, fair prices, good work. I will be bringing my guitars here from now on. Only things I wish would change: cash only, limited hours.

I took my Strat in to have a set up done recently and am frankly blown away by the quality of the work. I didnt think a Strat could play with an action this low. Intonation is perfect as well. Carrie (hope I’m spelling her name correctly) did the work and I’m really pleased with the result, she’s definitely a pro.
The shop itself is very nice, on a very cool section of Alberta St. From the looks of the place I think they can probably do any type of work on a guitar. True luthiers rather than just ‘techs’. Great place.

Took my brand new Gibson Les Paul Studio 60’s Tribute to them for some fret filing since the Gibson Company were in a hurry to ship these last few guitars off the line. Excellent work. Taking my Fender Stratocaster to them this week for some nut work.

Installed a k&k pickup on my national style n improperly. Had to bring it back 3 times.
They never fixed it. Told me I was imagining the extremely obvious distortion and buzzing coming from the pickup wire vibrating against something inside my guitar. I asked them to put the jack on the end pin, instead they drilled it straight through it’s nickel plated brass body. Did I mention the pickup never worked either? I’m out 300 $ with a guitar that has been rendered unusable due to the annoying buzzing produced by their shoddy labor, with permanent body damage and a ruined resale value on a 3,000 $ guitar. Do not give these novice luthiers your money. If I had an ounce of trust in their skill I’d have them remove the pickup and ask for my money back, but I don’t want them laying a finger on what’s left of my once beautiful national guitar. Go see charley Longstreth at mckenzie river music in eugene if you are looking for quality work. Don’t give these bozos a dime. This guitar shop is for beginners only. Serious musicians look elsewhere. Check the reviews, the only people giving this place props are noobs.

I don’t know a thing about guitars however when you find one abandoned and needing a home, you can’t help but want to love it and take care of it. This guitar needed new strings, to be cleaned and to have the bridge fixed badly. We first called and then proceeded to go to this not to far out of the way location to have it looked at. They offered a free look and estimate but it wasn’t needed, they took great care of this sad guitar. In only 20 minutes or less it was fixed and ready for strumming. The guys at Portland Fret Works were kind, knew what they were doing, quick and super friendly. I was very happy with this first time visit and I will continue to bring any future business their way. Thanks Mike!!!
P. S. be warned they only take cash.

These guys are great. Ugh — long story, but I had bought this electric guitar brand new only to discover it had a bad pot inside. I quickly turned it into the music store where I bought it only to have them sit on it for a week.
I took it back and was told I could bring it under warranty to Portland Fret Works. They were made aware I was coming and though I showed up an hour before they closed on a Saturday, they were so gracious, and put aside the work on their table to give it a look.
They determined they could fix it in 10 minutes! I took a walk around the block, found a garage sale and picked up a few items, returned and had my baby singing in no time.
Due to it being under warranty, all I had to do was provide my receipt and they photocopied it and it was all they needed-didn’t cost me a dime.
Still, I was so happy, I scheduled a complete set-​up to give them some business and to continue our relationship. I’ll definitely recommend these guys to anyone and left feeling 100% satisfied. Thanks!

Replaced the tuning machines on my flamenco with exactly what i was looking for! Super cool people here. Curious why they only take cash?

This is a great local music shop. I took my electric guitar in to be repaired recently and they did a really great job and I spent less than I expected to pay. There was a really nice guy working there too. It is nice to support a small local place rather than have to go to some place like the Guitar Center… bluhh!