Taking care of all guitar repairs at The Music Den is none other than Jerry Scognamiglio. Most of our customers will know Jerry since he and his brother Tom are also the owners of The Music Den. Jerry has over 30 years of experience in the music industry including 12 years as an Instrumental and Chorus Instructor at Stanhope Elementary, Kinnelon High, and Becton Regional Schools. He also has 10 years experience in repairs and sales at Victor's House of Music and worked at the original Guitar Center in California back in the '70s.

Jerry has been repairing instruments at The Music Den since he and his brother opened its doors in 1984. He has repaired just about every instrument you could think of, from strings to guitars to woodwinds to accordians.

Important Things to know about Guitar Repair

Common repairs needed to be done to guitars are:

Restringing- The most frequent repair. String life varies depending on how much you play them. If your strings start to sound dull, begin to unravel, or look dirty it's probably time for a change. All aspiring musicians should learn how to change strings on their own, but until you do, the Repair Dept is here to help.

Nut Replacement- The nut is the small piece of plastic or bone that the strings rest on near the top of the neck. Nut replacement is not an easy task since each nut has to be carved to the perfect width, radius, and height for each guitar. If the nut is cut too large, it will be too difficult to play. Cut it too short and it may sound like your playing a sitar instead of a guitar.

Action and Intonation Adjustment- Action is how close the strings are to the fingerboard and intonation refers to the accuracy of the pitch as you play different notes on the fretboard. Action that is too high is difficult to play and poor intonation can make a guitar sound dreadful. Problems with action and intonation can be caused by all sorts of things: warped necks, bad frets, bad nuts, mis-adjusted bridges, and bad strings.

Truss Rod Adjustment- This is a common repair for guitars whose necks have become warped. The tross rod is a metal rod extending through the neck of the guitar that controls the amount of bow allowed in the neck. An over adjusted truss rod can break and result in a ruined instrument, so adjusting one should only be attempted by a skilled technician.

Electronic Repair- The electronics of guitars are prone to hum, pop, and cutout with age. Our repair dept will assess the cause of the problem, resolder and rewire where needed, and replace any faulty parts.

Customizing- Customizing is one of the greatest things about electric guitars. Nearly everypart of an electric guitar can be upgraded or altered to your liking. At The Music Den, we can special order all kinds of new pickups, tuners, pickguards, bridges, and necks for your guitar and our repair dept can install them for you.

How to bring your instrument to the Music Den for Repair

1.Simply bring your instrument to our any of our store locations which are open Monday - Saturday, 10AM-9PM, Sunday 12PM-5PM. There is no need to call ahead. At the store, the saleperson will take your instrument and forward it to our Repair Department and will give you a receipt showing that you dropped it off.

2. Once at the repair shop, our staff will check your instrument and will call you personally with an estimate of how much it will cost to repair it and any other suggestions they may have. All woodwind instrument repair estimates at The Music Den are free! No repairs will begin and no charges will be applied until the repair dept has received your 'OK' to begin.

3. Once the repair is completed, the instrument will be returned to the store location where you originally dropped it off and you will be promptly notified that your instrument is ready for pickup. Please note, no instrument may be picked up until all charges are paid in full.

For any questions regarding placing repairs please call (800) 479-1189.
For questions regarding repairs that are already in process, please call (800) 479-1184 x 203.