Dulcimer repair

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
last year
1,166 posts

Molly, I charge anywhere from $15 to $25 a fret. Replacing a fret involves pulling the old fret and putting in a new one. If you damage the fret board in pulling the old fret you need to repair it before installing the new one. Then you need to dress the fret. It can take an hour or more to do one fret. Adding new fret requires calculating where they should be placed, cutting the slots, installing the frets, leveling, and dressing. Customers should be aware that problems in doing these operations may arise and additional charges may be incurred. Since I do not do this for a living I keep my prices low, but I the pros around here charge around $50 an hour plus materials. I don't charge for the fret material as long as I have the proper size. If I have to order fretwire, well that's a separate negotiation.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Molly McCurdy
Molly McCurdy
@molly-mccurdy
last year
16 posts

Hi, Everybody.

I have a repair job of replacing two frets, adding two frets, and adjusting the action. I just don’t know how much to charge for the repairs. Any suggestions for what I should charge for the work?