They've taken care of most of my amps and guitars, they got me a new pick guard for my Flying V and Tim really fixed up my amps well, my VT 22 and my 5150, he really did a great job with that even built the foot switch into my old vox Royal guardsman pedal. He even fixed a floorboard for my Pod Pro. Right now they are setting up my Kit built Tbird bass, and they had fixed Truss rod issues on as 46 year old 4003. Whatever it is, they'll get it done. read more

Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop - 5150 serviced by Tim with an ancient Vox Royal Guardsman pedal "adapted" as a channel switcher and effects loop on/off... still works great! - Guitar Stores Near Me - La Mesa, California

Truly amazing and professional repair shop. These guys are friendly, always faster than they say and extremely fair. I've taken all my vintage fender amps here and they know their stuff, always come back playing perfect. read more

Been a customer for 20+ years, great guys great service! Everything from guitar set ups, custom work and amp service! read more

Great Shop, I have entrusted my guitars and Amp to Mike and Tim for many years. Too years many to count. I have had quite a number of setups and mods over that time, always an excellent job. My fender mid 70s Vibrolux Reverb always sound great after Tim does his wizardry. read more

I recently had the opportunity to use the amp repair service at the Top Gear Pro Shop, and I'm thoroughly impressed. After my amp started showing signs of malfunction, I wasn't sure where to turn, but Top Gear's reputation for quality service gave me confidence to give them a try--and I'm so glad I did. The repair itself was done efficiently, and I was pleased with how quickly they turned it around. If you need amp repairs done, I highly recommend trusting them with your gear--they definitely know what they're doing! Ask for Tim for amp repair or Mike for guitar set up. read more

Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop - Fender Deluxe Amp - Guitar Stores Near Me - La Mesa, California

I can only echo all the other 5 star reviews... Mike has set-up, repaired and even built from scratch my entire collection. Tim has taken care of a few "lektrik gremlins" in old Amps I brought him. My gear performs top notch thanks to these guys. read more

Absolutely the best. I brought in a relic; a Garnet Pro 200 Super. Early 70's, 1x15 bass amp. I got this used in 1978 and used it until about 1998. Spent the next 25 years in my garage by the beach corroding. I was almost embarrassed to bring it in, but it had so much sentimental value I took a shot. It came back way better than I ever remember it being, going all the way back to 1978. These guys must have a time machine. They clearly love what they do and are full on Jedi's. They should charge more for their services because I got more than I paid for. Thanks so much for bringing my rig back! read more

I had Tim modify my Ampeg V4 amp like 25 or more years ago . Amp still works and plays awesome . He has fixed p.a. amplifiers for me . He is a very talented electronics wizard . I am really happy to hear that he is still at it . read more

These guys continue to rock. I dumped off a bag of fender parts and they put them all together into a top notch partscaster build (the white and black Strat). Cannot stress how good their work is and for extremely fair prices. Definitely give them a shot before going to the big box guitar store. read more

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I have taken gear and guitars to them over the years. 1976 Strat refin and an Fender amp which they were unable to get to act up in there presence. They gave it back and didn't charge me "unexpected". That was years ago and it finally has become a consistent noise so I'm taking it back to them. A business has to ride the line between profit and customer service. I think they enjoy what they do so the fact that they're experienced and professional puts me at ease, especially if I'm dropping off a piece of history. Thanks Top Gear see you later today read more

I would leave 10 stars if I could. This is my 2nd time working with Tim @ Top Gear and there is a reason he (+ Top Gear) is so highly regarded. His quality of work is among the best I've seen and he has always been true to his word on lead times. First project was a D-Style head that needed a new ground switch plus some overall scanning for any issues prior to a sale... all excellent. Second project just finished was upgrading (2) footswitches in a tube OD pedal and diagnosing an issue with a volume pot ducking out... everything was done meticulously, quickly, and for a fee that was extremely fair, especially given the intricacy of the work; he also went out of his way to get it shipped to me asap. Top Gear is my go-to repair shop and we are very fortunate to have them here in San Diego. read more

Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop - Guitar Stores Near Me - La Mesa, California

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This is not a fancy hi tech looking business. But, they did a great job on a couple amplifiers I brought in they work was reasonably priced and they deliver this promised. Can ask anymore than that. read more

Tim and team are the best in SoCal. I don't trust anyone else with my gear. Whether it's just a tube replacement or a total repair, they have always been fair and reliable. read more

I've been taking my gear here for the last five years. Along with setup and maintenance of my guitars and basses, they fixed my Peavey Bandit 75 amp and restored my Yamaha BB300 bass. They can tune, straighten, install pickups, etc.; really every service you need. The guys always have some great stories to share, if no customers are waiting. I can't think of any other place I'd rather take my gear to be maintained and repaired. read more

Just got my SG and Marshall dialed in by the guys and was blown away when I plugged in and turned it on! Got to get my ac/dc on with that, so fun! thanks Tim and Mike. Stoked you had that thing cranked! Miss you Dan! I'm be been a customer for almost 35 years. They've done so much work for me over the years, all top quality max pro stuff from them! read more

Tim recently repaired a broken guitar pedal for me. I called ahead to ask if I could bring in my broken Uni-Vibe style pedal since I know they mainly fix amps and guitars. Luckily, Tim said he was willing to try to fix it and he came through! Uni-Vibe style pedal works great now! The guys were always courteous and professional in my interactions with them. Thank you! read more

Tim is an amp repair wizard! I take my fender to him for maintenance before every tour. He's the most reliable amp repair engineer I have found in San Diego!! Check out Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop. I highly recommend them. read more

I've been going to Top Gear for many years, and they've always done the best work imaginable. Shop owner Dan has forgotten more about guitars than I'll ever know, Tim is widely known as The Tube Guru and Mike is among the best guitar techs in the business. They've done it all for me: refrets, wiring issues, neck issues, fret issues, return to glory of a 150 year old family heirloom guitar and building me a custom one-off that makes Gibson blush. But perhaps the most impressive thing they've done for me is the most recent. I took them a brand new $3000 Martin and asked them to cut a hole in it! When it was all over, I was handed my Martin Jumbo with a Takamine Tube pre amp, an L.R. Baggs piezo and the stock Fishman sound hole pickup that all worked together to make this guitar the best sounding one I've yet used, and all set up just the way I like it. I'm not a great player and I'm not even a full timer anymore, but the only shop I take my repairs and oddball requests to is Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop. Period. read more

I took my Les Paul to have a Floyd Rose installed. This is not a job for the faint of heart. Please don't tell me I shouldn't have done this to a Les Paul. Dan, Mike and Tim have given me back an entirely new guitar. The wiring was completely redone correcting years of shoddy work that I had done myself. The Floyd Rose was expertly installed and has taken the guitar to an entirely new level. Before the job, Dan helped me plan out the project via email and phone. Would go back 1000x! Thanks guys!!! read more

Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop - Guitar - Guitar Stores Near Me - La Mesa, California

Been taking my guitars (at least a dozen) to Mike for at least 4 years now. There is a reason it takes a couple of weeks to get a guitar set up there and that's because they are so darn busy providing the best care for so many devoted patrons. Never had even the most minute problem with the set ups or customer service - do yourself a favor and take your axes here for the best service in San Diego! read more

These guys are the best! They helped me out of a real jam. Needed my amp repaired to play at my Sister-in-Law's wedding, and these guys came through! It was a rush job and I didn't have much time. They were great, communicative and did too notch work. 5 stars, wish I could give 6! read more

These guys are absolutely phenomenal and the best in San Diego. Dan and Mike went above and beyond to make sure the work they did on my guitar was perfect. Anytime I am off tour I will be dropping my gear off at Top Gear. I am very particular with who I trust with my guitars. I trust both of them with my most prized possessions. If you need any guitar work done. Look no further. read more

Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop - They had a hard deadline and delivered the guitar as promised. Perfect timing for my show at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. - Guitar Stores Near Me - La Mesa, California

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I was having a problem with my new Fender Princeton Reverb reissue amp, and I was told that these guys are wizards of tube amps (by other guitar shops), so I decided to go here and bring along my '98 American Standard Start and '89 Les Paul Studio to be set up, since it had been many years since either had enjoyed a professional setup. It is a small shop in a brick building in La Mesa that can be easily missed. Parking is sparse, so if you have a lot of gear, you might want to unload it and then go park. You walk in and see tube amps and circuitry stacked pretty much ceiling to floor. You are greeted by Dan, the owner and nicest guy I've ever dealt with in the 30+ years I've been playing music and going to music shops of all kinds. He takes time to talk to each of his customers and get to know them and understand their needs - for instance, if you request a set up he will want to know some details about your playing style. Now, this means that if people are in front of you, you might be waiting awhile, so do not go here if you're in a hurry. Go here when you have some time and can wait to have a more personalized experience. Additionally, be prepared not to have whatever you need repaired for awhile. This is a small shop that a LOT of musicians obviously rely on, so they are always busy. With that said, I got back my 2 guitars and amp in about 2 1/2 weeks, which is perfectly reasonable for me - I'm just saying don't expect overnight service. The amp has performed perfectly since I got it back, and my guitars have never played or looked so good. They spruced up all of the beach-corroded hardware as much as possible and cleaned up the frets. The action was set perfectly with just enough distance from the fretboard to avoid buzz, which is the way I like it. The intonation was also perfect from the first to last fret. I had a couple of corroded electrical components that were replaced. In short, I couldn't be happier with the setup. I was so pleased with their work on my guitars that I have now trusted them with my Ernie Ball MusicMan Stringray 5-string bass, which I've had for 25 years and has endured countless hours of playing in hot, sweaty beach bars. I'm confident they will return my bass in better condition than it's been in many years. In conclusion, these guys are masters of their craft and have obvious passion and love of what they do. They are not the fastest or cheapest - just the best. I'll be going to this shop for the rest of my years. It's worth noting that they claim they can work on pretty much any string instrument. I saw some guys bring in some pretty obscure stuff - something that looked like a mini pedal steel ukelele or guitar, and they happily took it on. read more

Love these guys! A professional musician recommended them to me. They really know how to work with offsets, have passion for what they do, and are very professional. They installed a mastery bridge on my Squier VM jaguar and it's never played better. I found prices very reasonable. They're very good, popular, and therefore very busy, so might take a while. They're very up front about service ETA, so if you're concerned about that, call ahead. read more

Every experience with them has been fantastic, and they are musician price friendly too! I took my SG in as a pickup was cutting out (that I installed), and they found nothing wrong with it after cleaning up the pots (I must have left a piece of solder in there). They did not charge me at all, and the guitar is totally solid now! I can flick that switch like Pete Townsend now! 25 years ago, they installed my 79 Strat neck on a warmoth body, and this guitar plays fantastic. I can do some work, but I did not want to drill the body and screw it up - he got it perfect! 2 or 3 years ago I was going to have them paint it, but they said, no it looks cool! So I will keep the body I painted flat blue.. It's funky, but that is what i wanted! It almost looks like a lake placid blue. So while the strat was there they noticed my frets were completely worn, and they did a fret job that is just so fantastic it plays better than when I had it refretted (with very large frets) and flattened radius 30 years ago! I thought the frets were toast, but for a very low price they are now like new. They set the intonation as well - spot on. They also made a nice nut for my 12 string to get a more comfortable string spacing. Another inexpensive mod that now makes that guitar actually playable. If all this is not good enough, they also do amps! They biased my old Marshall and brought it to life. Also put a kill switch to put it from 100 to 50 watts as well as a cool master volume so I can get distortion at lower volumes. Overall, excellent work for very reasonable price! read more

Excellent technician working here, took one look at my guitar and instantly knew what it needed. Top notch alignment

Tim recently helped tremendously with a 5e3 Deluxe style amp, one made by Chill Boy "Don" Raffesberger. He took time and care to repair the amp, which was riddled with problems. He didnt rush, kept me updated on its progress, and put far more time into the job than what was reflected in the price. Good people here. Couldn't recommend more! read more

Tim fixed my Fender Vibrolux and it sounds great! Going here for all my amp repair needs!

The best of the best!! Dan and Mike and Tim absolutely know what they're doing! Everything they touch comes out better than you thought it would when you get it back. Great service, friendly folks, hilarious stories, solid work, all around best shop for instrument/amp repair, custom builds and more! I am the guitar player for Navy Band Southwest and not only have I been to this shop to service the instruments I use professionally, I also use them for my personal gear as well! They have excellent customer service and their knowledge and craftsmanship is second to none! I've been to a lot of repair shops around the country, and in many other countries, and these guys are the best! I would bring them anything from Fender and Gibson to Ibanez, Jackson, PRS, custom jobs, new, vintage, they handle everything with top notch service and professionalism! In addition to their great service they are all just the best people! They've been around and seen it all! They have great stories and interesting anecdotes, I could spend all day just hanging out with these guys and listening. Recommend them as the unequivocal and unmatched best service shop in SD! Hands down I've been here many times and maybe next time I'll see you there read more

These guys are great. Helped me out in a bind with a part I needed. I called the store, picked up the part 20 minutes later, and I'm back on my way, even with some free advice thrown in. Knowledgeable, helpful, friendly. Thanks, I'll be back! read more

I have a 1978 Fender Twin that blew two fuses within a two weeks. I thought that I had a big problem with power supply and might have to spend a lot to resuscitate this prized vintage amp. Mike and Tim were fantastic and charged a very fair price to get me rocking again. Once I entered their shop and saw the Fender amp boneyard, I knew I was in good hands. I will be back soon with another amp and guitar for them yo assess and fix. Many thanks, Mike and Tim! read more

This is the best guitar shop in San Diego by far. The head luthier Dan custom created my beautiful flame maple top and semi hollow mahogany beauty, "the Blue Lagoon" years ago and it sounds more and more beautiful every time I play it. Mike is a master at guitar work as well and Tim can fix any amp just to the way you want it. They all have been pivotal in my guitar playing and band's success. I love this shop! Please go there and learn from the best. read more

Well, going by most of the other reviews I guess it's obvious that this is a great repair shop for professional guitarist. I took in my old (purchased in 1976) Yamaha G-100 guitar amp in last week which had quit working and Tim -the repair engineer- not only got it working again but also went over it completely and gave it a tune up. Wow! It now sounds like the day I bought it. I should also mention he fixed it very quickly because he understood that I needed it for a last minute gig. He's a friendly guy who obviously enjoys and takes pride in what he does because he did more than what he really needed to do. Thanks Tim! read more

These guys are the best!! I took my tired Epiphone Les Paul Studio guitar to get some new pickups and get a setup done and they transformed my guitar into almost a new instrument. Mike Boone, the guitar tech who worked on my guitar, was very personable and very informitive and told me it would take a couple of weeks since they were very busy (I wonder why :)) and it took less time than that and he responded to some last minute extra mods I requested. Great price too. I expected to pay much more and not only was I happy with the price, he threw in a few freebies as well. I highly recommend Top Gear for their excellent work and the supurb value they give and the great service they provide. read more

After hearing great reviews, my husband took two of his instruments to Dan at Top Gear: a Rickenbacker bass that needed new strings and some electronic work, as well as a 1972 Telecaster Deluxe that had a buzz and needed a setup. Dan was very personable and honest about how busy they were and how long it would take to complete. Both instruments came back fixed and perfect, and my husband is taking another guitar out there today. Highly recommend Dan and the crew at Top Gear! read more

Though I haven't had a recent experience here (gigging less with lower-maintenance gear), I've taken amps here for repairs twice and have been nothing but impressed. Both times I've received telephone updates on what they were going to do, when they would get to it, etc. and it was always accurate. Simply put, Top Gear delivers 100%. They put in a good amount of time testing and re-testing my amp before getting it back to me...running it through the wringer to make sure that nothing was left uncovered. You simply can't ask for better attention to detail and personal care. These guys are true pros, more so that any other guitar amp shop I've ever been to. And they have less gear-elitist attitude. Don't get me wrong, the dudes have very fine taste in amps...but they're not going to scoff at you for having a run-of-the-mill new production amp either. (But please, for the love of God, play a tube amp.) They're musicians at heart, and very obviously care about getting your gear in better working condition than it's ever been. The best! read more

Fender recommended Top Guitar for Custom Shop Fender services in San Diego. I must say DAN is a great guy, professional, experienced.... I just brought my Custom Shop Classic Custom Telecaster and from this point on, no one will touch my guitar but Top Gear Guitar Pro Shop. Thank you Dan, a pleasure to meet you. Manuel read more

Listen I don't even write Yelp reviews, but I had to let y'all know this shop's customer service is phenomenal. I've come into this shop twice with issues with my guitar & bass and they handled it within a matter of minutes and were so kind/ helpful. I really appreciate these guys and would recommend this shop to all musicians in the San Diego area! They are legit. read more

Just had my Fender Super Reverb all tuned up... Tim and the rest of the guys were awesome. Real good people. Everyone was nice and the work Tim did exceeded my expectations. I told Tim I wasn't concerned about the small cosmetic issues with the amp covering and he still re-glued a couple small rips for me. That shows real pride in your work. Brought the amp in with shorting problems, noise problems and micro phonic tube problems that I couldn't fix by replacing the tubes (which baffled me). Tim fixed it all and even fixed a bent potentiometer... The price was fair to me for the peace of mind I now have using my favorite older amp. Overall I had the best possible experience a person could hope for from a small business. Highly recommended. read more

GO TO THESE GUYS!!!! THEY ARE AWESOME. I gave them my 1981 Fender 75 I got in a trade. It had a series of pops and cracks in the sound. The lead channel didnt work consistently. Scratchy pots and sudden cut out of sound. A total wreck but I knew this amp was worth it. I brought it in 8/14/2018 got it back 9/14/2018. I was patient because I heard they do good work and boy it was true. Dont bring it in if you got a gig next week. They are a very busy shop but they truly are Top Gear techs. I kind of bugged them every other week but they were totally cool. Now my amp is dead silent. It can go from totally quiet to screeching banshee on a Harley in one stroke of the pick. Not sure why it wont let me change my rating from 4 to 6 STARS!!!!I'm incredibly impressed. Total cost $181 after taxes. read more