John Boulding — Mount Airy, NC, USA

More About Me

My father Wallace Boulding was a well established instrument repairman in western North Carolina and I literally grew up in his shop. I have many great memories of seeing musicians come over to get their instruments repaired, and being in many great jam sessions. He also built many instruments over the years of his life. He has since passed away but I owe him a huge debt of gratitude as I would not be working on instruments today if not for him. Thanks Dad.
My apprenticeship under him lasted into my late teens, early twenties. Eventually I ventured out and studied with other prominent builders and repairmen and started some heavy reading about them. I 'officially' put out the shingle of my business name, "Note-Able Repair", about 25 or so years ago. It now resides in Mt Airy North Carolina, along with my lovely wife Robin and our dogs Buddy and Sissy.
Also being a touring/professional player for the past 30 years gives me really useful and practical insights into the set-up needs of players. I feel its a bonus, when dealing with repair and restoration of their instruments. Building is also something i do occasionally, mostly bluegrass banjos. But repair and restoration is the 'meat and potatoes' of my business.
My experience with instruments is broad, working on everything from electric guitars, to auto harps,zithers,accordions,upright basses and others. I 'specialize' in the 'bluegrass/oldtime' instruments. The value ranges of the various instruments I repair spans 100 dollar imports to six figure prewar collectables. The total number of repairs I've done in my life most likely exceed two thousand, and counting (dang, no wonder I'm nuts-haha).
I cover a wide area in my business, being a repairman for many regional music stores, and also for bigger name- profile stores. Instruments are shipped to me from all over the country, Canada and occasionally from overseas.
My dad also advised me to treat every customer the same, and "work on their stuff like it was mine". He also advised me to price things fairly and to do 'pro-bono' work for those in need. But also to charge everyone the same and to charge a fair rate. Number one on his list was stand behind you work. My dad was not only a talented player, singer and luthier, but a wise man.
Please contact me through my homepage here on the BHO, or email me or call, if you are interested in inquiring about repairs or restorations of your instruments. Thanks for reading this page. God bless!
Oh-thanks to everyone for any and all reviews-much appreciated. Here's a link to more reviews, should you want to 'check up on me':

http://www.banjohangout.org/reviews/search.asp?m=m&v=7857&redir=true

And here's a link to my simple business site:

www.note-ablerepair.com