Stairway to Kevin - Musical Instrument Repairs

Stairway to Kevin - Musical Instrument Repairs London's top musical instrument repair service! Drop by the Denmark Street workshop for friendly service from a knowledgeable and experienced professional.

Yes, things are on their way! Build it mr Bourque šŸ˜‚ After the anticipated surprises, I hope to have the new workshop rea...
10/08/2026

Yes, things are on their way! Build it mr Bourque šŸ˜‚

After the anticipated surprises, I hope to have the new workshop ready pretty soon now,

-Kevin

Well, this was nuts.If youā€™re wondering just whatā€™s going on here, itā€™s a Roland GK-5 kit which is not designed for this...
20/06/2026

Well, this was nuts.

If youā€™re wondering just whatā€™s going on here, itā€™s a Roland GK-5 kit which is not designed for this sort of guitar, being fit into a guitar that does not want to have this kind of equipment installed on it šŸ¤£

Why would you do this Kev?? I hear you ask. Itā€™s because I have no marbles left, all of my marbles are gone, rolled away into some concoction of sawdust and glue, where they remain. I did it anyways, because clearly I love discovering new ways to challenge/torture myself with ridiculously wild ideas.

Lol, no no Iā€™m only kidding. Everything you see here was very carefully mapped and measured out beforehand to assure proper clearance and pinpoint accurate response before anything was installed. Gotta pay particular attention to where things are moving inside the guitar. And itā€™s critical that there be enough space up front of the adjustable bridge for the sensors before taking the plunge of fitting.

Itā€™s not for the faint of heart, with the GK-5 unit plus installation costing more than the whole guitar, but hey they wanted it there so here we are!

Tell you what was amazing fun, fitting that LED and bezel waaaay down the bottom of the guitar ooof šŸ˜…šŸ¤£

The new workshop is still on the way, itā€™s looking like Iā€™ll be back in there probably mid July now, and I can begin building the new, updated place where I hope to be able to offer even more options than before! Excited to get going now, stay cool out there in the heat folks šŸ˜Ž

Just posted another breakdown on my websiteā€™s blog about a fairly complicated repair that happened just before the tempo...
29/05/2026

Just posted another breakdown on my websiteā€™s blog about a fairly complicated repair that happened just before the temporary close. Hey, not everything does according to plan, and with the clock literally ticking towards the time when Iā€™d be without a workshop for a while, it needed doing ASAP!

Parker Flyā€™s are pretty cool guitars, that were certainly ahead of their time 30 years ago, but that can throw some pretty big curves knelt he mix when trying to repair them. This Deluxe model, came in for a Jack replacement (not easy on its own!) but revealed much more in terms of issues down the line šŸ˜¬

It was ok, took a lot longer to sort it, but I wonā€™t leave anyone hanging on, and it not only got repaired, but gave me a chance to improve/update things for the future of the instrument as well, so should issues ever occur again, it will be easier to maintain šŸ¤˜

Follow the link if you can:

http://www.stairwaytokevin.com/journal/2026/4/1/1998-parker-fly-deluxe-repair-what-a-mission-nsezy

And if itā€™s simpler, just head on over to ā€˜strings & murmuringsā€™ at www.stairwaytokevin.com

Hope to see you all again soon, the fixit part of my brain is getting restless šŸ˜‚

Have a great weekend,

-Kevin

Lovely Paul Reed Smith Modern Eagle V, in Blue Jean Fade, that came through here for a little work on the setup and trem...
26/05/2026

Lovely Paul Reed Smith Modern Eagle V, in Blue Jean Fade, that came through here for a little work on the setup and tremolo a short while ago, pretty snazzzzzy šŸ˜œ

Hope everyoneā€™s staying cool and hydrated in this heat, and Iā€™m really hoping to have an update on the new workshop for ya soon!

Until then, go outside, as much as youā€™re able. Maybe see you in the beer garden šŸ˜œāœŒļø

Iā€™m really looking forward to getting back onto what I do, helping you get your gear the best it can be, and hell, even ...
18/05/2026

Iā€™m really looking forward to getting back onto what I do, helping you get your gear the best it can be, and hell, even just having a workshop. Honestly, Iā€™ve had tools around me my whole life, so not having a place to work on things, repair stuff (even beyond musical instruments šŸ˜‚) is a very strange, alien feeling to me!

Just because I often post fantastical things, odd gear, rarities, and so on, doesnā€™t mean that I wonā€™t help out! If someone comes to me and wants to do the work right, Iā€™ll get on it, and make it the best it can possibly be šŸ˜Ž Ya donā€™t need to have some crazy vintage/high end gear to climb the stairway.

Case in point, this Squier Bullet Mustang; owner loves it, but needs more! Dropped on some:

381 tuning heads
Vintage Blues humbuckers
Upgraded Brass saddles (wayyy nicer, and hard to find!)
A re-wiring & a setup later, and itā€™s good to hit the stage now, soo much more stable too šŸ«”šŸ¤˜

Iā€™m still hoping to be able to get back into my building soon (fingers crossed for June!) where there will be a newly designed space, some new tools and equipment, and a fresh start. Job slots will be limited, but Iā€™ll post em up as soon as I know šŸ˜‰

Hope youā€™re making as much music as possible, and no more tube strike this week, hooray šŸŽ‰

18/05/2026

Day & night out with the wayback gang, and my cat because she is very cute and I miss her šŸ˜

Anyone else try a Northfield mandolin? Whoooooo wow theyā€™re nice! I know you get a lot of guitar and bass content from m...
13/05/2026

Anyone else try a Northfield mandolin? Whoooooo wow theyā€™re nice! I know you get a lot of guitar and bass content from me (which to be fair, is the majority of stuff I see here too!) but I do look after a whole range of fretted stringed instruments, and even some of the funky ones with no frets either. Anyone here remember the busted autoharp, that also needed a pickup?? šŸ™ˆ

Well this was the first I had come through, think it was an F5S, and d@mn it sounded great. This oneā€™s out on tour pretty regularly, and if you zoom in really close you can just about make out the crack it had running from the lower side F-hole, which is all gone now and stabilised šŸ˜Ž

Back out on the road again!

Another rare find that made its way through the shop earlier tips year; a 1966 Rickenbacker Rose Morris 1997 model šŸ˜®Vint...
10/05/2026

Another rare find that made its way through the shop earlier tips year; a 1966 Rickenbacker Rose Morris 1997 model šŸ˜®

Vintage Ricā€™s are pretty thin on the ground, especially ones this far back! Plus itā€™s got that tremolo on there, with the arm long gone of course šŸ˜†

Like nearly all rhe ones Iā€™ve seen over the years, it needed a lot of help here and there to get it smooth and in tune, but got it there in the end. Bits of wiring almost always need sorting, and I keep it looking as vintage as I can (got a million pieces of old wire from over the years). Pickups didnā€™t quite match up for output, and the neck one was so close, it was basically riding the strings like a skateboard šŸ˜¬ One thing to be sure on these, and if youā€™ve owned one it worked on one, you know, those neck joints are VERY fragile. Gotta go easy on them senior champs, maybe a bit lighter on the strings šŸ˜¬ Still got plenty of jangle šŸŽ¶šŸŽ¶

Until next time, hope everyoneā€™s had a great weekend šŸ˜ŽšŸ¤˜

So this was really fun; a Players Series Fender Jazzmaster that came through for a whole host of upgrades! Pretty much e...
08/05/2026

So this was really fun; a Players Series Fender Jazzmaster that came through for a whole host of upgrades! Pretty much everything except for the body & neck got swapped out šŸ˜

- New Fender Bridge & Tailpiece (plus some little mods to ā€˜em)
- Custom cut Mint 3 ply pick guard
- All new upgraded wiring harness, courtesy of yours truly
- (A few hidden mods under the hood for better response, like proper cap selection!)
- A pair of the awesome CuNiFe Wide Range pickups (in PAF size) went in there
- Set of good olā€™ Fender Locking tuners up top as well

Once that was all up and running smooth (thereā€™s always a curve ball or two when the mods are this heavy) It was time to put it all together, smooth out them frets, and get it all set up and playing like the breeze.

Was well happy with the tone of this one when it was ready to hand back šŸ˜ŽšŸ™Œ

Well this sure was a mission, and Iā€™ll bet very few of you out there have seen one before. I know I had not! This is a 1...
06/05/2026

Well this sure was a mission, and Iā€™ll bet very few of you out there have seen one before. I know I had not!

This is a 1970 Jennings Wi******er guitar, filled with vintage Jennings effects, that came to me all the way from Switzerland to get restored (Thank you for trusting me with this and journeying so far with it ā˜ŗļø)

Itā€™s been in the family since new, but over the decades, has slowly been degrading, to the point where now a lot of the effects and components werenā€™t working properly anymore.

I spent quite a bit of time on this one, working it all out, and replacing or upgrading pieces only where necessary.

There was obviously a real big focus on the electronics in this one and if youā€™d like a proper in-depth look - including the first ever online schematic for repeater/tremolo function (I had to do it, thatā€™s how I know ) - check out the post in Strings & Murmurings on my website:

www.stairwaytokevin.com/journal/2026/4/1/1970-jennings-vox-rifle-guitar-the-winchester-2e5ad

Thereā€™s a lot more detail over there, but if ya just wanna enjoy the vids of me messing around with it, including a song you can easily guess šŸ¤£, then scroll on through!

The fuzz sounded unreal too!! šŸ¤˜

Have a brilliant week,

-Kevin

Address

5 Denmark Street, Second Floor
London
WC2H8LP

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 6pm
Wednesday 11am - 6pm
Thursday 11am - 6pm
Friday 11am - 6pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+447913686692

Website

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