| . |
Dave - The Guitar Man
Fast,
affordable Guitar Repairs, Bass Repairs & Amp Repairs
(602)
315-6821
Email Dave
Hours Mon-Fri: 10am - 5pm, Sat: 10am - 2pm |
|
5TESTIMONIALS PAGE |
| . |
Dave - The Guitar Man
Fast,
affordable Guitar Repairs, Bass Repairs & Amp Repairs
(602)
315-6821
Email Dave
Hours Mon-Fri: 10am - 5pm, Sat: 10am - 2pm |
We offer
Repairs
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
| Original Condition | Phase One Start |
 |
 |
| Coil Tapping Switches & wired 5 way switch | Coil Tapping Switch Layout Front |
 |
 |
| Switch Installation | Switch and Rewiring Installation Complete |
| This Hamer now has 27 different Coil/Pickup Selections for dialing in the exact tone desired! | |
Thanks David,
I finally got the Hamer Eclipse re-strung and the new bridge installed. I just checked it out through my rig (a Fryette Sig-X into a Universal Audio 6176 mic pre/ comp) and it sounds fantastic. It's exactly what I wanted and all the sounds are very very good, especially the single coil ones. I've never been a big fan of coil taps on humbucking type guitars. I've always had Fenders around, so it makes more sense to just grab one of those for those sounds, but this Hamer now does a really convincing Strat impersonation!
Anyway, just wanted to say thanks again....well done!
John Davis
Email John
----------------------------------------------
Date: April 6, 2010
Client: John Davis
Thanks David,
I couldn't check out the pictures until this morning because I couldn't
unzip the file on my iphone while I was at work. The guitar looks great! I
will let you know when it arrives and give you my 2 cents. I'm sure it will
be fantastic.
Thanks again,
John Davis
Email John
Date: April 9, 2010
Client: Scott Donald
Photos: pending
I can’t tell you how much I love what you have done with my guitars. Despite playing for decades I had never had a really decent set up done: I always took care of them myself and “tinkered” to the best of my limited ability. Comparing my results with yours, that’s why I’m a lawyer and not a guitar tech. The PRS and Michael Kelly set ups are outstanding: intonated to the 24th and 22nd frets respectively for my ridiculously light 8 gauges, with necks that feel like quicksilver. The modification, set up, and repair to the Ibanez, however, are what have really blown me away. You took a guitar that I loved but had fairly given up on and modified the switching to give me incredible sounds, oiled the neck, intonated, adjusted, fiddled, and made the damn thing… well… perfect, as far as I’m concerned. And you also replaced a part to fix an output issue that evidently had roots before I even owned the guitar.
And now she sings.
Or at least she hums convincingly: Jeff Beck could get her to sing, but then the key component is Jeff Beck… In other words: after having you work on my guitars, the only possible problem with the sound is the technical limitation of the player.
Hmmm… on second thought, perhaps I shouldn’t have you do any more work for me. I won’t be able to blame the equipment anymore.
I also have to say what a pleasure it is to work with a guitar man who truly is a guitar man and not a corporation. When I call I either get you directly or an answering machine with your voice on the message, I get a call or text back from you personally, and you always know exactly what you’re talking about, which is nice in this day and age. You’re a laid back, fun to talk to, interesting, guitar obsessed perfectionist, and the only person to whom I would simply hand a new instrument without getting a receipt. Best, though, is talking with you about customs and getting ideas for what is possible. Having met you, I now know that far greater flexibility and playability than I previously imagined are possible: the customs you designed and built and let me play had more settings and sounds than George Martin would know what to do with.
I’m pretty damn glad I ran across your website, and look forward to having more work done in the future and building a custom from the ground up. I also look forward to jamming, talking, smoking, and just plain enjoying knowing someone who is an eminently likeable “compulsive guitar craftsman” in the best sense of the phrase.
Sincerely,
Scott Donald
PS: I’ll send pics of the guitars for your website as soon as I can find and unpack my camera…
Scott Donald,
Phoenix, AZ
Email Scott
Date: December 31, 2009
Client: Randy Gonzalez
Photos: pending
"O.K., get ready for a long winded tale. But I couldn't give you the scope of Dave's work without it. I have to preface all of this with one thing that is a seller to me: When your gear is with Dave, your babies become HIS babies. Pro from the word go and he'll take care of your instruments as if they were his own."
"I have had two guitars and one 4X12 cabinet worked on by Dave. ALL work was done with the finest attention to detail."
Project #1: The Jackson- Ah the old trusty Jackson. My workhorse, my go-to, and also affectionately known as "the wife". Now, I have to start the story by telling you that, sometimes like our real wives, this girl had been taken for granted. It was time to give her a "spa day". The spa happened to be Dave's. I took her in for a general set up and action adjustment. She came out looking like she just had plastic surgery in all the right places (if ya know what I mean). Seriously, Dave paid attention to every detail imaginable on this guitar. Every speck of dust in every possible crevice was cleaned and polished. From the Floyd Rose to the tuners everything was immaculate. This guitar hadn't looked so good since the day I bought her! Now, I like my action LOOOOWW. I mean, I want to fret a note, blow on the string and have it sing. The challenge proved to be no match for Dave. Beautiful work! To top it off Dave had tightened the nut on a loose knob and re-soldered a loose tone wire. As a TRUE "musician's friend", he never asked for additional money for the extra work. He just knew that it needed done and took care of it in the course of "setting it up".
Project #2: The Carvin Ultra V- Yes the dirty little bird. This is my get down and get dirty guitar. This thing begs to be ridden hard and put away wet. She's affectionately known, quite simply as, "the whore". To shorten a long story, this guitar was left in the care of someone I used to call "a friend" when I moved to Arizona from Wyoming. The guitar used to be the most singing, sustaining instrument in my small arsenal. When I got her from Wyoming, she was anything but. She had a fret buzz that would not go away. I don't know how many hours Dave invested in this guitar, but I KNOW it would have cost me a small fortune if I would have been charged by the hour. Dave took this project on as his personal "I'm gonna get you sucka" challenge. As it stood, Dave was working with a guitar who's truss rod had decided it didn't want any part of the action (i.e. it was screwed!). I've been told by another "guitar repair shop" that a guitar like this is one that you "retire". I'm not sure what Dave did to this guitar. I don't even want to know, but it's certainly no where NEAR retirement. I got the guitar back and she sings like she did in the old days. Dave, you are (to put it bluntly) MY FRICKEN HERO!
Project #3: The Hughes and Kettner 4X12 cabinet- This is where Dave was worth his weight in gold. I bought this cabinet off of eBay, paid $200.00 shipped. Now, I knew when I bought this thing that there was going to be an issue. Nobody sells an H&K for $200.00. Especially one loaded with Celestion Greenbacks. However, I'm a gambling man and made the purchase after confirming with the seller that the cab itself was, in fact, "loaded". After it arrived, I understood why the poor fool who owned this thing wanted to get rid of it. It crackled and fizzed and did everything but smoke. After consulting with Dave, I took it down for him to "look it over". Dave had this thing diagnosed in literally minutes. The fool who owned this thing before had it wired completely wrong. In the process he blew one of the Greenbacks. Dave re-wired the entire cabinet and replaced the now departed Greenback (R.I.P. ya little rock and roll soldier). In the process he had noticed that the cabinet, itself had some "custom work" previously done (i.e. a sloppy job of painting the grill and break down + re-assembly of the cabinet itself). Dave purchased the materials to "tighten the cab up" and re-assembled the whole works. All he asked for in return was the cost of materials. Needless to say, Dave's been added to the will. For the price of the original deal + the cost of Dave's work, I got a cabinet that at one time retailed for over $1100.00. The biggest steal I've ever come across. Bad economies and even dumber people make for great acquisitions with a guy like Dave in your corner.
I have one more deal ready to head Dave's way in the short weeks. I happened to land a Zakk Wylde Les Paul that I know will sing like no other once I get it down to Dave. BTW, she's been deemed "the girlfriend" (noticing a trend, here?).
"To let you know how impressed I am with Dave and his work, I'll let you in on a little something. I don't live anywhere near Dave. I don't live anywhere near "The Valley". I'm from Show Low, Arizona (almost 180 miles from my door is Dave's door). I drive my guitars personally down to Dave so that we can sit face to face and discuss EXACTLY what I want out of a particular project. This is a practice that Dave is VERY comfortable with. Dave has many guitars lying around set up to many different action preferences. He'll let you play and give him feedback on how similar or different you want YOUR action set to. He hasn't disappointed yet. You might ask "why I would drive so far to get a guitar worked on?". The answer is simple. It's worth it. Now, don't get me wrong, I typically don't schedule a trip to Dave's just for guitar work (there's sometimes a barbecue or jam session worked in there). Actually, I try to hit him up while I'm in town anyway, but the fact remains: Dave is my guitar guy. Period. There's word around town of a guy here in Show Low that does some decent guitar work. I wish him all the best and hope he has more work than he can shake a stick at. But MY work travels with me to Dave's place. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
"Oh, and Dave, fire up the grill and warm up the tubes on that Marshall stack. I'll be headed down with the ZW Les Paul shortly."
Sincerely,
Randy Gonzalez,
Show Low, AZ
Email Randy
Date: December 31, 2009
Client: John Perry
Photos: Courtesy of Callie Van Kleeck
This is one place I take my Basses and Guitars for honest work and prices! Dave may be a bit "retentive", but that's what makes his services so detailed! I took my Tele in for a simple restring & setup and got it back cleaned, polished, jack wires re-soldered and every screw tightened!
John Perry,
Peoria, AZ
Email John
Date:
Client: Shannon Leach
Photos: pending
I brought my LANEY Combo Amp to Dave to see what could be done to bring it back to life. It had been put through the ringer - water damage, incorrect tubes, blown speaker, bad solder joints and all kinds of stuff wrong with it! Not only did Dave find and repair most all of what he found, he also allowed me to stop the repair project based on his advice regarding the extent of damage and the value of the amp so I didn't end up spending more money than was realistic to toss at it! He's patient, informative and honest and very easy to work with!
Shannon Leach,
Phoenix, AZ
(602) 327-4635
Date:
Client: Danny Rogers
Photos: Courtesy of Dave Van Kleeck
This guy knows how to build a guitar to whatever you want in whatever style you play! I should know, I played almost his entire collection of customized Strats and almost all the Prototype Strats from PPCS-Custom Guitars, where he is the lead designer and builder! I have to put some cash away as soon as possible because I absolutely want that customized 2002 blue Fender Stratocaster and the "ARCTIC STORM" Prototype I saw under construction while visiting him over February and March of 2009. Dave plays great guitar, piano and drums and we had a blast jamming a number of times. If you want quality and reliability in your instrument repairs or custom built instruments, Dave is the guy to see!
That's me, playing his 2006 Black American Fender Strat
(setup identical to Robin Trower's action and strings)
thru the JCM-800 M/N 1959 he bought from Robin Trower in 2004!
Danny 'Guitar' Rogers,
Chicago, IL
Email Danny
Date:
Client: Mark Weber
Photos: Courtesy of Dave Van Kleeck
Dave repainted my Ibanez P540 II to the exact color match from the original finish. Then, due to a small glitch in the finish, he refused to take full payment and discounted the balance due! He's honest and does very fine work, and certainly the guy I'll be coming back to!
Mark Weber, Chandler, AZ
Email Mark
Date: December 31, 2009
Client: Davey Pattison
Photos: Courtesy of Angie Brockman and Dave Van Kleeck
Davey Pattison - Photo Credit: Angie Brockman
"Dave brought me his Prototype PPCS-Custom Guitars IAKONA Series Hard-Tail Stratocaster to a ROBIN TROWER Concert in Las Vegas back in 2008, which I promptly fell in love with! It was a dream to play, easy to chord and had more pickup configurations than I would ever need. Couldn't get him to part with it so I asked him to build me my own Stratocaster. It took awhile to get the guitar but when it arrived December 24, 2009, it was worth the wait! As I recall, my first words were that it was quite an incredible site to set eyes on for the first time - a totally CUSTOM instrument in every way! In a word, STUNNING! I believe I also said it was the perfect day to receive such an incredible gift and work of art!"
Davey Pattison, Novato, CA
Davey Pattison Website
Date:
Client: Pete Thompson
Photos: Courtesy of Dave Van Kleeck
"After playing a few of his guitars in studio, I decided to order a Custom Telecaster from David Van Kleeck at PPCS-Custom Guitars. It is being built to my exact specs, with custom personalized headstock decals and a LIFETIME WARRANTY! I finally received this powerhouse sounding guitar and LOVE IT! Only complaint I have is it took longer to complete than promised and the instrument jack lost a wire connection after playing her for about two weeks. BUT, Dave reassurred me that the Lifetime Warranty would cover everything! Excellent, beautiful, incredible tone and power - unlike ANY Telecaster I've played before!"
Pete Thompson, Ft. Worth, TX
Pete Thompson Website
Some original songs written by Dave Van Kleeck, recorded at Jasongs Recording Studio in Glendale Arizona featuring Davey Pattison on Vocals and Pete Thompson on Drums & Synth, along with Dave Van Kleeck on Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboard/Synth & Drums; John Perry on Bass; Bob Herder on Drums; and Mark Robertson on Hammond B3!
|
|
