Freddy's Frets

Over the past year and a half, the only guy I have taken any of my guitars to has been Freddy.
Whether it was replacing/upgrading hardware like a new tremolo system with locking tuners or what I would call major surgery" such as reshaping a standard-block bolt on neck area to be a more contoured one you won't find better service in the Niagara Region at any price point, than Freddy's frets.

When this major surgery" was done Freddy basically made my guitar body into a far more comfortable, work horse of a guitar which was exactly what I wanted it to be. He was very honest, patient and detailed when going about what it would require in terms of the labor and wood working, it really felt like he treated the job as if he was making a custom guitar from scratch with 27 frets, extra LED lights and a kitchen sink on top!

In other words if you can dream it (realistically) then he is always willing to explain over email, phone or in person with a straight forward answer regarding your request vs. the total cost, time and work involved.
Now this may seem like something people might "expect" in a custom guitar builder or guitar store - however I've had another experience with a very popular one that will go unnamed who showcased promising results on their site and social media until I asked them basic and "expected" questions about my modifications for the guitar body. I received a brief message along the lines of we cannot tell you anything about how we do our work at this time". Not a very promising answer for most people and the moral of the story there is not all other custom shops, big or small names and the services they offer, are automatically alike.
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In the end I'm glad I took my interests elsewhere and got *exactly* what I wanted from Freddy - more comfort-cutaways on my strat style body compared to what was previously stock. The result completely surpassed my expectations, and so far any wait time always returned in spades with the quality of the finished product. A well deserved 5 stars - custom builder, musician/guitar player himself and an audio engineer the guy really does it all. You can even watch a good chunk of the different work he's done over the years on the "Freddys frets" Youtube channel before you decide to pull the trigger!

If i had to think of one thing that could lead to someone getting a lesser overall experience than my own, it would be coming into this custom shop with a guitar project, setup/ repair or whatever instrument you have without knowing EXACTLY what you want out of it.

Fred turned an acoustic guitar of mine that was basically unplayable into an instrument that I now love. The guitar was a mess that needed the neck shimmed and a crack fixed in the front side of the body. The price he charged was reasonable and the guitar was returned to me perfectly set up. I would absolutely use him again for future repairs or modifications.

I visited Freddy at his place on Niagara on the Lake to have some reshaping and sanding down of my Stratocaster neck. This is a beautiful tone-full neck made of hard roasted maple with an ebony fingerboard, but I was finding it too chunky and a struggle to play. Freddy sanded it down to a medium thickness and shaved some of the shoulders (side of the neck), creating an incredibly smooth and comfortable neck. The quality of Freddy's craftsmanship and skill is superb and I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking for an excellent Luthier and would trust him with my most prized instruments.. He's also a very professional and pleasant person to deal with.

Was referred to Freddy by Thorold Music and very happy that they did. We needed work done on the back of a bass guitar that was badly cracked. He is very personable, professional and honest. Extremely pleased with the repairs he completed for us. Much better than we'd hoped and very reasonably priced. Would definitely recommend.

I wish there was the option to give him 10 stars. We took a guitar into him for repairs, and he was extremely honest with us on the value of the guitar versus the price of fixing it. He explained what he could do for a lower price point, and explained it would be fixed but noticeable. When I picked the guitar up, I couldn't see any signs of repair, nor could I see any signs of the epic hole that was in this guitar when I brought it in. It looked like a brand new instrument. He blended his work so well that nobody would ever know a repair was done. This was a very valuable guitar as far as sentimental value, and Freddy understood the situation and went above and beyond. A true genius he is!! I called numerous stores to repair this guitar, and they all said Freddy was the one for the job. I couldn't agree more.