In the News
Luthier Harrison Phipps’ workshop is tucked inside the garage of a nondescript residential Davis neighborhood. Any musician in this space would feel like Charlie in the chocolate factory. Antique guitars line the walls; sheets of rare woods stretch to the ceiling. Every nook is crammed with materials, tools and acoustic guitars. Phipps has a passionate following with Yolo County musicians, having garnered rave reviews from Joe Craven, Dave...
Our Shop
Fretted Strings offers various instruments for sale through internet purchase. Unless noted otherwise, all instruments have been thoroughly inspected, any loose cracks have been reglued and reinforced, and for most guitars, a new nut and saddle are made. The action and intonation have been properly adjusted to maximize playability and tone. All instruments, unless marked “as is”, are guaranteed for one year to be structurally sound....
Rebuilt Fretted Instruments
For maximum tone and resonance, quality guitars are built with lightly braced solid woods. Over time, string stress, weather changes, accidents and abuse results in cracks, warped necks, high action due to incorrect neck angles, loose or cracked top and back braces, and other structural and playability problems. We purchase many guitars that have some or all of these conditions. Most of the time we remove the back, rebrace straight braced tops in...
Custom Handmade Guitars
Fretted Strings offers a variety of one of a kind hand made acoustic guitars. Our most popular guitar sizes are dreadnaught, jumbo and OO parlor sizes although any size and shape guitar can be constructed. All custom acoustic guitars are made of hand selected spruce tops that we have air dried in our shop for over 30 years. All top and back bracing is done using instrument grade spruce that has been air...
About the Luthier
Harrison Phipps built his first guitar in 1978 while apprenticing with the renowned guitar builder Arthur Overholtzer in Chico California. Mr. Overholtzer is famous not only for his guitars, but for his numerous guitar making tools. He built and sold – electric heated side benders, router bases for binding and rosette slots and fingerboard fret cutting miter boxes.
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Instrument Grade Wood
Soundboards
The top of an acoustic guitar, the soundboard, is most significant in determining the instruments overall tone and projection.
For centuries, soundboards have been made from quarter-sawn spruce – air dried until most moisture has been removed. Quality instruments use two book-matched pieces of wood
Custom Guitars
Fretted Strings offers a variety of one of a kind hand made acoustic guitars. Our most popular guitar sizes are dreadnaught, jumbo and OO parlor sizes although any size and shape guitar can be constructed.
All custom acoustic guitars are made of hand selected spruce tops that we have air dried in our shop for over 30 years.
Read more
Restore
For maximum tone and resonance, quality guitars are built with lightly braced solid woods. Over time, string stress, weather changes, accidents and abuse results in cracks, warped necks, high action due to incorrect neck angles, loose or cracked top and back braces, and other structural and playability problems.
We purchase many guitars that have some or all of these conditions.
Read more