C. A. House Music — Local services in Parkersburg

Upgrading from 4 to 5 stars! I have had an Ibanez RG370DX since I was 15, a 20 year old guitar now. It developed a twist and a bend in the neck, the trem and, well everything was off and the PUps were needing attention. I had taken it to The Pied Piper in Charleston, another different store in Elkins and to Showtime Music in the Meadowbrook Mall in Clarksburg. Everyone said they couldn't repair it. It was no good anymore, that I had to buy a new neck and headstock. C. A. House Music looked at it and accepted the challenge. Heck, they only charged a standard setup fee. THEY FIXED EVERYTHING! AND it shreds metal again just like it did over a decade ago. They even got the intonation and action super tight for soloing metal! Polished it, sanded the edges and leveled the frets, balanced the trem, cleaned the fretboard and just overall made my jaw hit the ground! For, I think the cost was $45? (Chime in here C.A.) I was so happy to have one of my original guitars working again that, while I research things like amps and accessories online, I go there to buy if they have it. I'm getting ready to buy a new amp here in the next 2 weeks. EXPECT ME GUYS! Last thing, when I was needing to try out some studio monitor headsets, they had what I was wanting to check out (but only in white, sorry guys I got this one online, packaged deal and a discount with the Antlion ModMic 5) and they opened up the box and let me listen and compare them for as long as I needed. I can only speak to about the guitar side, but everyone is nice, courteous and knowledgeable about everything and even know the current inventory/stock they have there. If you are serious about making an instrument purchase......

3 tries to get a guitar setup. Did a good job. Fixed what was wrong but the PR person can suck it. There is no reason I shouldn't bring a guitar back that wasn't done correctly. Don't worry I won't bring anything else to work on like you asked. Ryan is a good guy, Shawn did good work. PR is out of touch. The first setup was not done correctly. The guitar was not intonated correctly and the nut was not done properly. The nut slots were cut way too deep and there were strings hitting and buzzing frets. I then brought it back after having time to really check it out (new baby 3 days old. Just wanted to get home). The second time, instead of replacing the nut like was discussed, it was then shimmed up and the slots cut even deeper. Making the nut setup still not correct and still with issues with intonation and playability. This was a 3 day old guitar. I wanted it to look right and be done right. I was made to feel bad because the repair tech "has never had a problem before". I of course brought it back to have the nut fixed and showed the paperwork from "the book" of how it's supposed to be. The nut slots were finally done correctly and the intonation was correct. The nut does however have a gap under it on one side that is not proper. Will it effect how it plays, probably not, is it the way it really should be, no. I paid $70 for a setup and a nut. I guess you get what...

CA House Parkersburg does decent work in the Luthier Department. I brought my guitar in for a bridge re-glue and to have some glue put into the neck pocket that was separating all for under 100 bucks. The staff in the store in person are very nice and helpful.

However, there has been very little communication every time I have brought my guitar in. I was told several times that I would be given updates on my guitar, but 2 weeks would go by and I would hear nothing until I initiated a phone call. I was given an estimated completion date of 3 days for an LR Baggs Anthem install, and did not receive my guitar for over 4 weeks, and was never contacted by CA House once. When I contacted them to ask about the status of my guitar a week after the estimated completion date, the response I got was, “Why, do you need it ?”. Not a great response in my opinion.

Not to mention that during the pickup install, there was no sanding or cleaning with Naptha or Alcohol on the areas where adhesive was being stuck, and none of the adhesive for the microphone or clips for cable management stayed stuck inside of the guitar. I contacted LR Baggs support and they came to the same conclusion, even offering to send me new adhesive for no charge.

TLDR: Staff is nice in store, luthier department does decent work, but fails on communication big time. I will not bring my guitar back for...