 Double Stop Guitars is a guitar repair and maintenance company in the North East of England (Whitley Bay, near Newcastle upon Tyne) started by ex-schoolteacher Martyn Ellison (pictured). The fretted instruments Double Stop Guitars most commonly deal with are electric and acoustic guitars and basses. Services are comprehensive going from basic set-up and adjustment, through fret dressing and refretting, to deeper repairs of structure, finish and electronics, upgrades and modifications of all sorts. Martyn is a fully qualified guitar technician and repairman (see below); you can depend on a professional job.
Services*
- full set ups: all key adjustments inc. strobe set compensation / intonation
- fret dressing (stoning): levelling, recrowning, partial or full refret, fretboard repair
- electric repairs and upgrades: basic repairs, pickup replacement, rewiring, switching, preamp fitting, acoustic conversions etc
- nut, bridge, saddle: basic repair and replacement or upgrades such as string-locking equipment and so on
- hardware repairs and upgrades: strap pins, pickguards, tremelos, tuners, some types of string bender
- body, neck and finish repairs: headstock damage, truss-rods, inlay and side dots, loose binding, cracks, braces, chips etc
- every customer request: all considered and honestly advised upon
* not exhaustive; we try to satisfy any request on any fretted instrument and provide appropriate advice.
Quality Standard
His relationship with guitars goes back a long way. As a toddler, he got his first guitar, a little plastic one, and learned to sing the chorus of Last Train to San Fernando, a Johnny Duncan family favourite of the time. He's been compulsive about guitars ever since.
"You need a kind of sympathy with playing and guitar players to do the job right," he says and the sentiment shows in the pride and attention to detail applied to every job.
 I n between other, more routine jobs, he likes restorations and rebuilds. He has a couple of 50s Hofners and a Maton Supreme ('62) in the shop at the moment but, as he also says,
"There are extensive and absorbing jobs like these and also set-ups, fret jobs, soldering and suchlike, but they all deserve the same top level of attention. Customer satisfaction is very important to me."
He uses the best materials, supplies only high quality parts and operates
from a workshop fitted with specialist tools and equipment such as a neck jig to ensure the most accurate fretwork and strobe tuning for perfect intonation.
 Professional Qualifications
On top of the years of accumulated knowledge, Martyn has completed his formal technical training both here in the UK and in Michigan, USA. He spent a short period at the Heritage factory in Kalamazoo (ex-Gibson) learning from veteran guitar man Rendell Wall and then later undertook a longer period of training, graduating successfully from the Galloup School of Lutherie (GSL) in Big Rapids.
"It's our job to return to you a guitar that sounds, feels and looks just like you want it," says Martyn. "The factory specs, for even the top manufacturers, rarely show off the guitar to its true potential. You want it suiting your style, your preferences and maybe your image and they don't come out of the box like that."
You'll get a free estimate and full evaluation of your instrument. Once agreed, there is no price increase without full consultation with you, the customer, and all workmanship is guaranteed. If you're a gigging musician you'll probably want your guitar back swiftly so, bearing in mind the extent of the work requested, Double Stop Guitars takes care of this without compromising quality for speed.
Whereabouts
The workshop can be found in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear but customers from further afield are most welcome and can benefit from pick-up and drop-off (free within a reasonable radius) or a postal service (usually built into the price).
Thanks for visiting Double Stop Guitars. The rest of our site is being redeveloped at the moment but please bookmark this page and for further enquiries about services and pricing go to
Contact Us.
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