The Guitar Lounge — Attraction in Galveston

My first experience with Guitar Lounge in 2024 was great, not so my second (2025). Just the opposite -- lousy with a definite slack in professional attention and lack in bass guitar maintenance skill. I needed adjustment to the precision pickup at the neck of my beautiful Fender Jaguar J/P bass. The neck pickup volume had suddenly diminished to only somewhere about 90% less than the Jazz pickup at the bridge. Trusting I would have the same great service with them that I had last year with my new Fender Jazz bass, I took it to Guitar Lounge. After explaining the issue, the owner placed the bass on the counter, made four turns on the four pickup mounting screws and said he had raised/lowered them as much as he could, but that it was much better now. I asked how much, thinking 5 minutes of effort on surface screws would be minimal cost, if not complimentary, to a loyal local customer (you know, customer retention). Instead, it was $32 bucks. I took my bass home, plugged it in -- nada. Nothing had changed. I didn't want a $32 tweak, I wanted a solution no matter what it cost. So, I brought it back to Guitar Lounge within 15 minutes and explained to the owner that there wasn't any fix at all. He then went on to explain to me in what could only be described as patronizing mumbo jumbo how P pickups at the neck will always be quieter (90% quieter?!) than J pickups at the bridge (which, of course, the opposite is true) and the only thing I could do would be to replace the pickups -- for $250. Of course, up-selling. Good customer relations would have offered a refund of the $32 bucks (even just a partial one) for the five minute ineffective tinkering called a repair. Oddly, he didn't offer to take in my bass in for a real repair. I was a super friendly, loyal local repeat customer, so why not just take it in and fix it right? So, that was that. I drove straight over to Guitar Center where I personally met the repair person (I'm a regular customer there, too), explained the issue, and he took it to the back where he worked on it while I browsed for 30 minutes. Found out it needed cleaning under the pick guard and only a lead resoldered. He brought it back out and played it like Flea -- both pickups blasting away with perfectly balanced volume via the pots as they should be. The cost for a loyal customer? $20 (and he really didn't want to charge me that). I always prefer to patronize local businesses, and certainly gave every chance with this one. But, a guitar shop not knowing the volumetric relationship between P and J pickups on a Fender, and not repairing a simple problem correctly, was disconcerting, as was being -- and I hate to use the word -- gouged for what was essentially a tweaking of four screws that had nothing to do with the problem. So, I very reluctantly changed my review...

I purchased a guitar from Falcon Eddy at The Guitar Lounge in Galveston, trusting his claim as an expert luthier. I asked him to cut and install a custom pickguard, fit locking tuners, and install a bone nut and saddle. Because I live two hours away, my stepdad picked up the instrument once the work was complete.

The pickguard (quoted at a very high $150) was not centered on the body and the edges around the pickguard were rough, with visible abrasions on the guitar finish.

I discovered an inch-long cracks and several smaller splinters—running from the nut into the headstock. Eddy tried to color-match the damage with wood filler without disclosing the fault beforehand and didn't mention it until I did.

I requested a full refund because the work damaged a guitar I had bought from him and trusted him to handle. Eddy refused to refund my money, offering only to reimburse me his labor and I keep the damaged guitar. After I sent high-resolution photos of the damage, he offered to trade me a guitar of similar value.

I accepted and made another five-hour round trip to complete the exchange. The replacement instrument was solid, though it lacked the locking tuners, the originally reason I left it with him for upgrade.

As I was leaving with the replacement guitar, Eddy said that if I hadn’t been grieving my late mother’s passing that week, “he’d have beat my ass” for insulting him. A professional craftsman has no place making physical threats toward a customer, especially over a dispute rooted in substandard workmanship.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend The Guitar Lounge or Falcon Eddy for luthier services. Subpar craftsmanship, refusal to honor a refund, and an inappropriate threat make this shop a risk for anyone seeking reliable guitar repair or customization.

Edit to add Photos and full conversation.

Eddy it was a bad joke, do I really have to explain why? Did I really deserve to hear that. And the work was GOOD!? you still stand behind it.... wow. Like I said. Ill let the conversation we had the the...

my boyfriend and i were on the hunt for a great local guitar shop and we absolutely found it! amazing house, and even more incredible guitars. they had everything, including one of the most unique guitar selections i’ve come across. don’t forget to take a look at their bass guitars, and make sure to ask glenn about the ones he’s built. beautiful craftsmanship! they had a huge selection of strings, peddles, straps, capos, etc. the owner, glenn, was incredible as well, and treated us as if he’d known us 50 years when we first walked in. we live in houston, but will definitely be making the trip back to get our hands on one of those basses. thank you so much glenn and the guitar lounge for an awesome experience! can’t wait to see...