DESIGN. ALIGN. REFINE.
WE DO IT ALL.
For over 60 years, Lay’s Guitar Shop has provided world-class restoration, iconic custom builds, and expert repair services.
GENERAL REPAIRS
Neck Alignment: Adjust truss rod, hone frets into alignment, recrown and polish frets, set action at finger nut and bridge, set intonation, balance pickups, adjust keys, restring, and tune.
Complete and Partial Re-fret: Adjust truss rod, remove worn frets, level fingerboard, clean fret slots, install new frets, complete neck alignment, refinish fingerboard where applicable.
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset: Neck reset on set neck instruments. Includes neck alignment. Headstock and Neck Heel Repairs: Repair damages to headstock and neck heel (usually includes touch up), neck alignment.
Neck Replacement: Neck replacement may be necessary when headstock or neck heel damage is extensive and beyond repair (includes refinishing).
Acoustical Repairs: Structural repairs such as cracks, binding, bracing, bridge repair, and top, back and side repairs.
Electrical Repairs: Repair or replacement of potentiometers, switches, jacks, pick-ups, and wiring.
REFINISH & RESTORATION
Our vintage finishes and restorations are recognized throughout the world as the finest and most authentic available today. the phrase, “Finished by Lay’s Guitar Shop” is used as a selling point for dealers advertising in such international magazines as Vintage Guitar and 20th Century Guitar. These instruments continue to bring a premium price due to the high quality of our finish and restoration work.
Fender 50s and 60s: solid body guitars and basses, butterscotch, blonde, 2- and 3-tone sunburst, and custom colors (includes yellow base coat, white primer and DuPont® color and nitro clear coat).
Gibsons/Les Pauls: Gold tops, all types of vintage sunbursts, and Gibson custom colors.
Gretsch, Rickenbacker, etc:
Relic and aged finishes and parts: Includes aged tinting of finishes and plastic parts, aging of metal parts, and lacquer checking.
LES PAUL CONVERSIONS
These guitars started out as an early 1950s Gibson Les Paul Junior or Les Paul Special, but why convert them? There are only around 1500 Bursts but there are over 10,000 Juniors and Specials from the same era. Many of these Juniors and Specials were not treated well, and even more were abused. We buy guitars that, as they are, are not worth restoring. They’ve been modified with screwdrivers substituting for chisels and are often painted hideous colors, like Signal Orange. To restore them to what they were is just not feasible. We’ve worked on numerous real Bursts since 1962, for example Jimmy Page’s Les Paul #1 was modified in our shop before it was sold to Led Zeppelin’s guitar player. We are very exacting with our process. The routes and cavities are as exact as possible to original 1958-60 Gibson Les Paul Standards. Each guitar is shaded with vintage color dyes and finished in vintage nitro cellulose lacquer. Why do we go through all this work?? It fills a niche for the discerning Vintage Guitar Connoisseur who appreciates the vibe of the aged, old wood. In all honesty, the 1958-60 Standards are the modern day equivalent of Stradivarius violins. Very few of us can afford to purchase an original Les Paul Standard Flame Top. Too many are no longer in the hands of musicians but reside in collections and museums. This is as close as you can get without a $150,000 and up price tag.
Typically, each conversion has:
-Lightweight stop tail and non-wire ABR-1 bridge
-1950s deep studs
-Vintage .022 Bumblebee caps installed into a new, vintage wired CTS 500K wiring harness
-Medium jumbo frets
-Royalite binding
-Royalite pickguard -50s vintage inlay material
-CREAMTONE pickup frames, truss rod cover, switch tip, stitch ring
-Kluson tuners
-The pickups are interesting, as well. In some instances, we are able to convert
-1950s P-90s into PAFs. This includes the coil wire, magnets and pole screws. Bobbins are made of the original 50s material, also. Again, this is as close as you can get to a vintage PAF without the heavy price. We know, because we’ve bought a few sets for customers over the years.
The Loft at Lay’s is a brick and mortar store in Akron, Ohio. We are located at 974 Kenmore Blvd., Akron, Ohio, on the second floor. We are “The Loft” of historic Lay’s Guitar shop, one of a dying breed of small guitar shops left in America.
We specialize in the finest quality, hand-made acoustic guitars, custom made Lay’s electric, and acoustic guitars, Les Paul conversions, vintage guitars, amplifiers, and more. Some of our current lines are Huss & Dalton, Santa Cruz, Bourgeois, and Tone Nation. We can custom build, or custom order, almost anything you can imagine.
SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
We have made it super easy for you to set an appointment with us to either drop off or pick up your instrument. Choose either of the options below this information. Once scheduled and you arrive at our shop…please ring the door bell at the front door and we will meet you there.