Luthiers of good reputation in new york city

[jk245]

Every guitar shop in New York City has a few mandos, but not good ones. The only shop that I know has a better selection is Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island.
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Surely many of the NYC guitar shops have luthiers who know how to set up mandos.
Do you know any luthiers in New York City who are specialists with the mando?
Do they have their own shops or do they work for a retailer?
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What is the going price range for setup of a factory sealed mando which was not purchased from the retailer?
Assume a high price range since in NYC everything is priced on the high end.
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[mythicfish]

Yeah. I here tell there's a fella ... John Monteleone ... Islip, Long Island, I think.
He's built some pretty good mandolins over the past 25-30 years.

Curt

[Jim Garber]

Any upper end luthier should be able to work on mandolins. In fact I doubt anyone could make a living solely working on mandolins.

I don't think John Monteleone does much repair or set up work thesedays except perhaps on his own instruments. he is too busy building.

I have had direct experience working with Bob Jones in Brooklyn. He is known by many as one of the best in the city. He is rarely online but can be reached at 718-965-6786.

I have also used the Steve Uhrik (http://www.retrofret.com/) and the other repair guys at Retrofret. Steve is another excellent luthier I would not hesitate to recommend. He did some enormous restorations on some high end basket case instruments I have owned as well as some excellent fretwork and setup.

Tom Crandall works for Matt Umanov Guitars (http://www.umanovguitars.com/) on Bleecker Street in the Village. He used to work independentally in Ohio. I think if you go thru Matt's shop he can get things to you in a timely manner. I have heard from many that he is an excellent luthier.

I have heard that Carlo Greco is a good repair guy on 48th Street. I believe he works at Alex Music (http://www.alexmusical.com/repairs.html) on 48th Street, upstairs.

I would love to hear about others in the NYC area.

I use Jim DeCava (http://www.decava.com/) for many of my set up needs but he is in Stratford, CT. He turns stuff around pretty quickly tho. I live about 1 hour north of NYC.

Jim

[mythicfish]

Ahhh. I missed the crucial word : "set-up".

B. Jones did some work for me when I lived in NYC. Great work and reputation.
C. Greco I only know through work I've seen on other instruments. Also legendary.

Curt

[jk245]

Does anyone know about the setup and repair work done at Dan's Chelsea Guitars in the Chelsea Hotel on 23rd St? They seem to be very laid back.

[Jim Garber]

Does anyone know about the setup and repair work done at Dan's Chelsea Guitars in the Chelsea Hotel on 23rd St? They seem to be very laid back.
Yes, laid back. I don't know of anyone who has work doen there but they seem more slanted towards electrics in general. I recall a few years ago playing some of their older Martin guitars and none were set up particularly well.

If you know of someone who has had work done there on acoustic instruments esp mandolins, then perhaps they are worth checking out. I just don't know at all.

The folks I mentioned and Mandolin Brothers are the ones I have either experienced directly or know about. There are perhaps a few other luthiers in the 'burbs that I don't know directly but would love to hear about.

I feel that good repair folks are like doctors. Also bear in mind that a set up for an electric guitar is very different from an acoustic and worlds apart from a mandolin.

Jim

[Charley NY]

Unless I am mistaken it appears the last entry on this thread was about 16 years ago (!?). And the question seems to remain - where does one find a luthier well qualified to work on mandolins in the NYC area? I contacted several reputable guitar shops, but none seemed willing to commit to stating they were adept at working on mandolins.

[MikeEdgerton]

Contact the folks at RetroFret (https://www.retrofret.com/mandolins/)

[E.R. Villalobos]

Neal at Rudy’s Guitars in Soho was recommended to me by a local musician and he did minor setup work on my Weber. Not a mandolin in site but nice shop, cool people and service.
I bought a Canadian Calton case from Matt Umanov last summer and went to his workshop on Bleecker to pick it up. Spent a hour with him talking about his shop and the old days in the Village. He said he has an excellent luthier who works on mandolins. YMMV

[Morgan Barnicoat]

In NYC I would suggest trying Tom Crandall from TR Crandall Guitars. I have had a few routine mandolin setups there with good results. They typically have a small selection of used and vintage mandolin family instruments.