13th Street Guitars

Almost 6 years after my last review and Hugh and the gang at 13^th Street Guitars are still the best around. I just got back my vintage Gibson EB-​2 bass after a complete set up, repair and PLEK job. Amazing work. The bass basically plays itself now. They took a 50 year old bass with significant issues and made it play great again. I can’t say enough about the reliable communication, honest prices and fast service provided by 13^th Street. It is no wonder this shop is always packed with customers and instruments — they really do top quality work. Highly recommended.

13 is a lucky number. Excellent work. My first experience was a string change. Walked in and walked out in less than 20 minutes. I am bringing all my guitars here now. Worth the 30 minute drive from my home. This is my go-​to guitar luthier.

13^th street did a wonderful job doing a full clean and re-​string (setup) on my boyfriend’s guitar. I asked the guy (I’m sorry, I can’t remember his name) to save the old strings for me, and he remembered!
The guitar looked brand new, and it seemed like a totally affordable service. I didn’t look around much for the service, because Unilocal had such good reviews. I’m glad I brought his guitar here!

I bought a Mexican made Fender Stratocaster for my first guitar last year. After restringing it myself, I realized that a full setup would probably help fix some of the problem I’d created as well as making the guitar easier to play overall.
I dropped off my guitar and requested a setup and full Plek after having a chance to play one of their in house Stratocasters. The difference in action and playability was amazing and I had hopes my guitar would be the same.
After a short week wait I picked up my Strat and was amazed at the difference. 13^th Street Guitars turned my $ 800 guitar into something that felt like it cost thousands. Friends of mine have played my guitar since and remarked that it’s the best guitar they’ve ever played.
Worth every penny.

I am very particular about how I like my basses set up. I’ve worked with multiple techs and they all seem to fall short of what I want. I had purchased a trio of Spector basses that needed to be fret leveled and set up and I was shopping for potential techs. I stumbled upon 13^th Street Guitars after seeing a post that the owner put up on Instagram where he had Stuart Spector over at his house for a BBQ. With my interest piqued, I called and spoke to Hugh and he mentioned that they do all of the set ups for Spector basses in preparation for the NAMM show. I decided if they are good enough for the Stuart Spector, they’re good enough for me.
I drove about an hour and half from Ontario to Huntington Beach and worked directly with Tim for about 10 – 15 minutes about how I wanted the basses set up (probably among the lowest action possible you will ever find on a bass). He guaranteed I’d be happy with the results and did not give the usual BS I would get from other techs who would say «I can’t do that» rather regularly.
Turn around time was about 9 days for the three instruments. I picked them up and they were beyond my expectations. Everything was perfectly low and buzzless after a leveling from the PLEK. I’ve never been happier with how my instruments are set up and will be doing all of my future setups/​repairs at 13^th street guitars. They are experts at their craft and are players as well, so they understand what players want.

Stopped by today at the recommendation of Island Bazaar Ukulele’s because I had an antique banjolele that I was told may need a custom fitted bridge. I thought this was going to be something costly and take days or even weeks to repair. Tim looked it over and said it was an easy fix and I didn’t need a new bridge. He fixed it right then and there at no charge!
I will definitely be back with any future guitar and ukulele needs.

This place is great! Very friendly and knowledgeable! I’ve had many recommendations to go to this place, i finally got to and i am very pleased! These guys know what they are doing and don’t make you feel like you are wasting their time like some other music shops! And now that i know they have pleking available, i’m definitely coming back to bring all my guitars to get them properly set up.

These guys are great! worked on 2 of my guitars. very helpful. pleck machine is state of the art. i will definitely be coming back here for my guitar needs! thanks guys!

Hugh and his team at 13^th St are top shelf! Great work! In fact, they could charge more for the level of quality and consistency they offer! Always great to work with, they stand behind their work, they’ve killed it on EVERY instrument I’ve brought in and to top it off… they’re HONEST!

Really good dudes. Took care of 2 guitars for me in 2 hours. One was a pick up swap and the other a set up.
Also was shown the PLEK machine and got a full demo. Definitely state of the art.
Thanks for the service!

Unilocal comes through! Found this place because of the great ratings. Hugh was able to take care of an issue with my jag (drilled some new holes for bridge posts) super fast and for a great fair price. I’ll be coming back for a setup with that plek machine they have.
Highly recommended.

If you want top quality work done on your instrument, look no further. The guys at 13^th Street Guitars are excellent at what they do. I’ve had guitars setup and repaired by them and my guitars have never played better. No matter what the quality of guitar you bring in they can make it play as well as it possibly can. I’ve been to shops that look down on you if you bring in a Squier or an Epiphone, but not 13^th Street. Can’t recommend this shop enough. You won’t find better work for a better price anywhere else.

These guys are great! They have always set up and repaired my guitars and basses for the last 5 years. They’re always friendly and really helpful! Hugh, the owner has a great place and staff there!

Brought my les paul to get a setup and a fretdress and they did a great job. Guitar looks great and feels great. I also brought my tele to get new pickups installed and again another wonderful job. I will keep returning here from now on and 100% recommend this place to anyone. Great staff and service!

I’ve taken my guitars to get set up there a few times in the past few years. They always do great work!!! Plays in tune. Fixed my dead fret issue no problem. Nice guys!!! I recommend them to anyone who is a guitarist or bassist. Good price on their set ups! Good shop! Nice amps to test your guitar when it’s done! Go! Set you stuff up and be in tune!!! 13^th street all the way!!! Rock on!!!

Picked up my KoAloha tenor rosette series yesterday having had the good people of 13^th Street install a MiSi pickup in it. I had not had a good experience with pickups in the past and as someone that normally likes to do things himself, was all the more hesitant to pay someone else to do this. But wow am I glad I did. I would’ve written this review sooner but I’ve just not been able to put my uke down. These guys did a bang up job. Some observations:
* CLEAN INSTALL — this was my biggest concern suffering from stage 20 black belt OCD. I’m telling you, the pickup jack itself is dead center try as I might to find unevenness anywhere. Cranking my neck to peak into the soundhole, everything is tidy — the stuff you normally can’t see. And most importantly, the sound … oh the sound. Granted, MiSi is top of the line in pickups, if your install is a joke, you will be able to tell. I’ve gone through each string and the pickup is getting everything.
* MARKET PRICE — i definitely shopped this around and these guys provide generally market price. to be clear, they are not cheaper than anyone else I found but they are also not more expensive which is a good thing considering the quality of service.
* GOOD ATTITUDE — very nice people that will talk TO you and not AT you even if you’re clearly just a music hobbyist and not a rock star like myself. At the same time, very professional. Likely because they have quite a backlog (another good sign), conversations are friendly but not too long. Don’t expect to be chillin at the shop talkin story all day long.
* STANDARD TIMING — like with the pricing, compared to other places I found, they took about the same time to do the install which was just less than a week (dropped it off on a Saturday, picked up the following Friday). Although definitely not a negative, I do consider this a positive over a neutral because despite all their backlog, they are still able to do a quality job at the same time as other places.
Thank you guys. I’d shied away from pickups on ukes but you got me hooked! I may have to try out the Baggs now on another uke.

Just picked up an 814ce and wanted them to ensure that everything was true and guitar was on perfect condition.
I called in they said no problem come on in, and we will check it out for you.
Went in, he took some time looking it over said yeah looks great.
He addressed my questions and suggested a set up. Showed me how to tell the guitar needed it.

I’ve had my gear worked on before and could NEVER find ANYONE that knew what they were doing. From the first day I met these guys I knew I had found THE PLACE! I’ve had so much custom stuff done to my guitars and Bass’s that everyone else said either «It can’t be done.» or «I wouldn’t even know where to start.» This is such a treat to have them just a few blocks from me and know that all of my gear is protected and safe. Every single employee is so incredible and knowledgeable. I just picked up my 1957 Silvertone today and it plays better than any Gretsch I’ve ever used. A giant thank you and a 10 star rating. You guys are amazing and I will bring you everything I have to make it sound better and play better.
ROCK ON!

13^th Street Guitars has 1 of 5 Plek Machines in Calififornia, so if you’re looking to get your guitar Plek’d and live in or near Orange County, see Hugh at 13^th Street!!!
Can’t say enough good things about Hugh and his team’s work at 13^th Street Guitars. Their bio definitely rings true; whether you’re bringing in a less-​expensive beginner instrument or a rare guitar, they have never let me or my friends that I’ve referred to them down.
While their Unilocal reviews and works speaks for itself, I wanted to get on here and post a few photos of their work as well as express my gratitude for their great pricing and awesome turnaround time. Depending on what you want done and whether or not they’re slammed (they are busy for a reason), you can often get in and out pretty quickly and pick your instrument up knowing the greatest care has gone into making sure it plays, looks and feels up to your specs and standards.
Follow them on Instagram to keep up with their latest work and shop news straight from the bench and as a longtime player who has worked with a good number of luthiers, guitar techs and guitar repair shops in Orange County over the decades, I can say without any reserve that 13^th Street Guitars is the best place to get your work done and Hugh and his team are by far my favorite to work with.
A 100% Guarantee on their work says it all, but for me – it’s in the feel and mojo of your instruments when you get them back from this shop — they just feel right.
Thanks A+

This time I got a Martin 015M for a set up. Now it is the most amazing instrument I ever had. So comfortable and what a beautiful sound. Very special. Thanks again to the guys. You rock.
On a side not I brought also a Hover 10 travel for a setup and now even the hover is comfortable and sounds super nice. Very happy. Good service. On time and fair. I will be back.