Strings Attached

Bexx and Zach are the best. Friendly, helpful and they do great work. I just picked up my strat and C-1 and they sound amazing.

I picked up my 1964 Martin OO-21NY from Strings Attached in Columbia today and must say that the work done by Zack Toman far exceeded my expectations! Unfortunately I had taken this Martin to another luthier in Columbia last year whose work was, to put it mildly, HORRIFIC! Zack had a major challenge in order to repair the finish on the neck and entire top of this guitar which he did in a way that I thought could never have been done and I'm very happy with the finished product. Zack and Bexx Merck were extremely diligent in making sure that I was completely satisfied and they did exactly what they said with a highly professional and compassionate spirit.

I just moved to the Columbia area and was nervous about finding someone I could trust to work on my guitars. I was so thankful to find Zac and the folks at Strings Attached. I'm very happy with their work and would highly recommend them.

Zach was communicative and honest about what expect through the whole process. His guidance and responsiveness were invaluable. I'd recommend him to anyone, and I'll be back for any future work I need as well.

Zack took my hand-built acoustic and turned it into a sonic work of art. I thought it sounded okay before and all I asked for was some improvement on the action and a saddle reset. After a closer look, the instrument needed a good bit more work (new frets and new bridge along with the saddle repair). I also authorized a new nut. He turned the instrument around very quickly.

Holy cow! I don't know what he did, but it plays like a dream and the sound is beyond description. It reminds me of a pre-war Martin D-28 that has been properly set up, but it is better than that. If you make it to his shop, ask him about the "Wickstom" (the luthier misspelled his name on the head stock). He can describe it better than me.

I recently brought my Thunderbird in with an idea to shave some weight from it. Zach embraced the idea and went to work on it. He was successful in lightening as well as improving the balance of the bass. He also leveled the frets and did some additional work that I am very pleased with. I would trust these folks with any of my instruments and will use them again in the future.

Zack at Strings Attached recently work on my 1964 Gibson LG1 I had just purchased. I recently moved to Lexington from around Nashville and the quality of work was what I was use to from the shops in Nashville. Thank you Zack for the excellent worked you performed on my Gibson.

I walked in to fix my guitar a couple years ago and Jeff gave me some great advice on the repairs needed as well as the cost vs. value. I appreciated his honesty and sound advice. I have been a loyal customer ever since. Awesome place!

Jeff was very helpful as I selected a pickup for my guitar by phone, and he did a great job installing it and setting the guitar up. The work was done quickly and at a fair price. This is a cool place with a great team, and I will definitely be back.

I received a brand new Gibson guitar that I had in my possession long enough to inspect, assess repairs, and provide to this guy to fix. Guitar needed exactly two minor repairs: re-glue pick guard to bracket, and remount pickup selector switch in its grommet. Two superficial shipping repairs that I could have performed, but asked him to do since I wanted it set up with different strings anyway. Picked up guitar over two weeks later and found numerous finish scratches mostly around where he performed repairs that were NOT there when I brought guitar in (despite his objections). Additionally, a significant dent in the neck heel area was noticed that was also NOT there previously.

When challenged on the damage, he denied any culpability and suggested they were already there. Let me say that I received this guitar on a Friday afternoon, inspected it meticulously for damage (per my allowed inspection provision), and put back in case to bring to this guy for aforementioned repairs and setup Saturday morning (made appointment to drop off with his "trainee").

Less than 8 waken hours I possessed this guitar; I didn't even bother tuning the guitar to play it. The guitar was flawless with respect to its finish...it was, after all, brand new. These scratches and dent were NOT present when I dropped it off. He denied any wrongdoing, but "would be happy to try and buff out scratches and fix dent while I waited, even though I don't know how they got there." He still charged me for the "repair" work.

In hindsight, I should have paid attention to my first impressions of STRINGSATTACHEDONLINE. The shop is a complete mess...inside and out (notice the pics posted by other reviewer don't show floor/counter, etc.). Guitars in various states of fix strewn about (I realize this is what he does, but they should be stored for glue setting and forming in a safe place, not on the reception counter, floor, etc.), customer reception area littered with trash, unplaced inventory in boxes on the floor, guitar cables plugged into amps running across floor...ALL TRIP HAZARDS.

Counter covered with in-fix guitars, disheveled papers containing customer information and his own business bank account number on top of a check stamp in plain sight for anyone to jot down! Guy has his buffing wheel in a separate room from his work bench forcing him to carry guitars through a half-open steel bar door (security?) that is an obvious guitar finish hazard...he even put duct tape over SOME of the most likely contact points, but nowhere near enough.

Why a security door in the middle of the building??? How many guitars have been dented/scratched this way? Take it down??? His work bench is NOT where you would want your expensive guitar being worked on. MINIMAL consideration for protection of your guitar's finish! Vice, tools, not padded to avoid accidental contact, bench and neck support were minimally padded...I couldn't believe it...damage didn't happen on his watch???

Watching this guy work while he tried to repair the mystery finish damages to my guitar convinced me of my mistake...I should have gone elsewhere.

My impression of this guy as a luthier is that he is a complete klutz with no regard for his customers' prized possessions. It is obvious his disorganized and unprofessional business practices create an atmosphere in which he cannot provide the attention to detail that customers expect when handling their instruments. It appears that the other reviewer had a good experience with this guy; this reviewer did not. My advice: if you have a yard sale junk guitar that you want fixed...I am sure he can do it. BUT, if you care about your guitar at all...TAKE IT ELSEWHERE!!!