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.

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

Just posted another breakdown on my website’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 I’d be without a workshop for a while, it needed doing ASAP!

Parker Fly’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 😬

It was ok, took a lot longer to sort it, but I won’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 🤘

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 it’s simpler, just head on over to ‘strings & murmurings’ at www.stairwaytokevin.com

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

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 😜

Hope everyone’s staying cool and hydrated in this heat, and I’m really hoping to have an update on the new workshop for ya soon!

Until then, go outside, as much as you’re able. Maybe see you in the beer garden 😜✌️

I’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

I’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, I’ve had tools around me my whole life, so not having a place to work on things, repair stuff (even beyond musical instruments 😂) is a very strange, alien feeling to me!

Just because I often post fantastical things, odd gear, rarities, and so on, doesn’t mean that I won’t help out! If someone comes to me and wants to do the work right, I’ll get on it, and make it the best it can possibly be 😎 Ya don’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 it’s good to hit the stage now, soo much more stable too 🫡🤘

I’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 I’ll post em up as soon as I know 😉

Hope you’re making as much music as possible, and no more tube strike this week, hooray 🎉

18/05/2026

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

Anyone else try a Northfield mandolin? Whoooooo wow they’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 they’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?? 🙈

Well this was the first I had come through, think it was an F5S, and d@mn it sounded great. This one’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 😎

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 😮Vint...
10/05/2026

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

Vintage Ric’s are pretty thin on the ground, especially ones this far back! Plus it’s got that tremolo on there, with the arm long gone of course 😆

Like nearly all rhe ones I’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 didn’t quite match up for output, and the neck one was so close, it was basically riding the strings like a skateboard 😬 One thing to be sure on these, and if you’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 😬 Still got plenty of jangle 🎶🎶

Until next time, hope everyone’s had a great weekend 😎🤘

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 😝

- New Fender Bridge & Tailpiece (plus some little mods to ‘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 ol’ Fender Locking tuners up top as well

Once that was all up and running smooth (there’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 😎🙌

Well this sure was a mission, and I’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 I’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 ☺️)

It’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 weren’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 you’d like a proper in-depth look - including the first ever online schematic for repeater/tremolo function (I had to do it, that’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

There’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 🤣, then scroll on through!

The fuzz sounded unreal too!! 🤘

Have a brilliant week,

-Kevin

Gonna be diggin through the archive a little while the workshops still closed, starting with this one 😉If you know me, y...
02/05/2026

Gonna be diggin through the archive a little while the workshops still closed, starting with this one 😉

If you know me, you know I LOVE pickups, and use loads of them in my own gear.

This lovely fella came through the shop looking to drop these in for a little bit of a different flavour in his Les Paul, and I was certainly happy to help.

Gotta pay attention to those little details though, as you know I always do, and ya just gotta get those correct surrounds to go with the pickups, and spend a good little while curving the bottoms to the specific arch on the top of each guitar, to look just right.

I’ve seen too many half jobs where the pickups just go onto the guitar and the surrounds are bent and rammed on there 🙄No thanks, not in my shop! 😆

I think you’ll agree that the results are absolutely worth the effort! This fine LP is now wired up, set up, and out there singin 🤘

Not guitar related - that’s still awaiting a new workshop! Been moving around a bit 😁 lots of new places, and lots of ne...
29/04/2026

Not guitar related - that’s still awaiting a new workshop!

Been moving around a bit 😁 lots of new places, and lots of new faces, as well as my friends in there too. It’s been a great month! 🤘

Well that’s officially a wrap then folks; everything is packed up, taken down, wrapped up, listed & accounted for, and r...
02/04/2026

Well that’s officially a wrap then folks; everything is packed up, taken down, wrapped up, listed & accounted for, and ready by go.

It’s a little sad to see this room, my home, my centre for the last 5 years looking this blank and empty, but ya know, it’s because there’s new cool ideas on the horizon!

It’ll be nice to have a little re-set, and it will also give me a chance to think about what new directions the workshop’s going to head in the future!

Thank you for all the support you’ve shown my little shop over the years, it means a lot, and it’s appreciated that you support the local business small guy 🤘

To be clear, this is not a goodbye, just a see you later, and I should be able to get back in here come sometime in June, and begin repairing all your goodies (and baddies 😂) once more.

Between now and then, I’ll still be posting some interesting things, and perhaps be adding some of the more complicated recent projects to my very much underutilised blog on my website 😎 feel free to get in touch, or email me!

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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