We are located at 1651 Horizon Pkwy Suite 100 Buford, Georgia 30518. We operate the school right from our Guitar Repair Shop - Southeast Guitar Repair. http://southeastguitarrepair.com

 Absolutely. About 95% of our students in the Guitar Technician Program eventually upgrade to the Master's Program. They are able to join at the lower price now and pay the difference when they are ready to advance. 

Our online program is built around precise measurements, specs, and repeatable processes. Once you learn how to use your measuring tools properly (which we teach step by step), you’ll be able to recreate professional results right at your own bench, no matter where you're located.

Each lesson walks you through a real repair from start to finish, with Barrett narrating every decision, challenge, and solution in real time. You won’t just see the ideal textbook version - you’ll see real-world issues as they come up, and hear exactly how a seasoned expert handles them. His decades of experience come through in every lesson.

We’ve had students all over the world build real skills and thriving careers from this training - because the methods we teach are grounded in clarity, precision, and repeatability.

Absolutely! You may call the school number at 770-209-2373. Or you may call the guitar shop, Southeast Guitar Repair anytime during business hours at 770-504-6383. We welcome your questions. 

We offer both online and in-person guitar repair training. Our online courses allow you to learn from home at your own pace, while our small, hands-on in-person classes provide direct instruction at our academy. Master’s Course students also have the option to complete a one-week apprenticeship at Southeast Guitar Repair for additional real-shop experience. The apprenticeship is included with Master’s tuition but is completely optional.

No. You can access the course from a computer, laptop, tablet and even a smart phone. 

The course is designed to fit your schedule. You may take as little time as you need or if you want to go all in and put some full time hours in, you can finish as quick as you are able to within only a couple months. Remember, practice makes perfect. The more you put into your course and practicing, the better you will become. You won't do one setup and become a pro, you will need to practice on multiple instruments. But if you invest the time to practice and learn all of our techniques you can repeat them just like we do every day. We are giving you all the secrets, what you do with them is up to you. Once you complete the Core Curriculum in Section 1, you are allowed to take your final exam. Some students finish in 2 months. We prefer students that are lifetime learners & want to really learn this trade in its entirety.  Students that continue to review & learn the newly added lessons, really get the most out of their education.

Yes, we have made custom plans for students that want to be billed every 2 weeks and other custom plans which allowed a Student to pay 3 equal payments over 3 months. Just email us or call and we can customize a payment option that works for you. 

No, we won’t! We believe that our years of experience in repairs are a valuable asset to the school. There will always be new, unique repairs to teach. Since our Master's students have lifetime access, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to continue learning new material. By logging in just once a month, even after completing their education, students will gain access to fresh lessons, ensuring that the learning never stops.

We have so many options to help you out!

-We have an in house payment option. (no credit needed)

-At checkout, you can choose PayPal Credit for 6 months zero interest. 

-You can use Klarna to pay. With Klarna, you can buy now and pay monthly. Checking your loan eligibility won’t affect your credit score.

Check out this page: https://www.guitarrepairacademy.com/financing-your-tuition

-We have worked with State vocational programs that have paid for tuition for approved students.

No. Your accommodations and travel is your own responsibility. We can help coordinate a nearby hotel that is near the shop. We do have a student apartment for a weekly rate of $575 if interested.

We have a 30+ year history as a business. We have no plans to discontinue the school as it has become a success with our students and we use the course as our own training course to train our technicians that work for Southeast Guitar Repair. However, for your peace of mind, our school is bonded. Your tuition payment is protected if our school were to shut down. But that is not in our future. We love filming new lessons. The library is already so full! We grow every month. Our students are happy with their investment and their continuing education.

Click on the "Settings" tab in the top corner of the course. The course has an easy, 1 step option to update your credit card. If your payment fails, contact us and we can help you get your payment card updated. This only applies to students on a payment plan with us. If you have a finance plan with Affirm or Paypal Credit, you will need to contact them for updating your payment information.  

Yes, we have a payment plan option for those students that prefer to pay their tuition over time. There is also a great option through PayPal. At Checkout you will see an option called "Paypal Credit". This allows you to apply for credit with PayPal instantly & if approved, they will allow you 6 months of zero interest financing. This allows for full payment to us & you can chose to pay PayPal at your terms with them. We are paid in full for your tuition and you pay them directly. And check out our new option with Affirm here:https://www.guitarrepairacademy.com/financing-your-tuition

You will need to invest in tools, but keep in mind that they will pay for themselves over time. Like any new trade, there are initial startup costs for tools and supplies, but the great thing is that you don’t have to buy everything all at once. We recommend starting with the basic restringing tools, then adding setup tools, followed by bone tools, and finally fret tools as you progress.

You can save money by purchasing used tools from places like eBay or Craigslist and adding to your collection as needed. If you buy everything new and opt for our preferred items, you may spend up to $2000 on tools. However, you can spread these expenses over time, adding a tool here and there. Good quality tools last for decades, making them a solid investment.

Some repair shops provide tools for their technicians, so if you're already working in a shop, you may be able to borrow the tools you need while you're learning. Don’t forget to check with family and neighbors to see if they have any unused tools they’re willing to lend or give you.

If you're concerned about costs, remember that tool expenses can be claimed as a business deduction during tax time. And for special occasions like birthdays or Christmas, consider asking for Stewmac gift cards to help with tool purchases!

After you complete the course and pass the "Final Exam" you will receive a "Guitar Repair Technician Certificate". If you join us for the 1 week Apprenticeship, you will receive an Apprenticeship Certificate showing you apprenticed under Master Luthier Barrett Culpepper. If you are in the "Master's Guitar Repair Luthier Course", you will also receive a downloaded "Guitar Repair Luthier" certification at your 1 year mark or upon completion of the entire Weekly Lesson section, whichever occurs first.

Yes, we do! We've had graduates from schools like Gallup, Roberto-Venn, Atlanta Guitar Works, and a few others work with us in the past. Through these experiences, we realized there was a need for a more specialized, guitar repair-focused Luthier program, which is why we created our own. When we hire, our students and graduates receive priority. We understand what other schools teach, and we found it didn’t always provide the level of expertise we need for Southeast Guitar Repair. That’s why we prioritize SEGRA graduates for positions in our shop—we know the training you receive here prepares you for success with us.

Yes. Our course is more in depth than most guitar schools that meet in a classroom. In most cases, you will have more hours of repair training than you would receive at a typical Guitar Building School. And our methods and techniques are far superior than what we have seen from other Luthier graduates that have applied to our repair shop over the last 15 years. If you are wanting to focus on the repair side to a career in lutherie, this is an intense program that will help you take on client repairs confidently. If you want to focus on strictly building, you may want to research guitar building schools. 

We do offer a week long apprenticeship for our students once you have passed your Final Exam. This is included in the Master's Tuition Program. If you are in the Guitar Repair Technician Course or on the Membership Tuition Plan (we offered during our intro pricing tuition), you may add on the $799 Apprenticeship. 

We also have live in person classes. Check out this page for more information https://www.guitarrepairacademy.com/in-person-training

We encourage you to look for fixer uppers at garage sales or pawn shops if your budget allows. Craigs List & Ebay are also great places to find salvage guitars to practice on. Reverb.com has a search option to search for salvage guitars. Low end guitars need setups too! We have seen huge support from friends and family that would be more than grateful to offer a guitar for you to practice on. They get some free work on it as well. Or you can charge them a minimal fee & put that toward your tool purchases. However, starting out we encourage you to begin on less expensive models while you are learning technique and proper tool handling. Please do not practice on a family member's vintage piece just yet. Let's get used to those tools first.

No. If you are suspected of sharing an account we will cancel your Enrollment and take legal action. This is not Netflix. With your enrollment, you get one invite to our Zoom sessions & 1 group chat membership. If you share with a buddy, you are not getting the most from your tuition. Also, why risk losing access to your education for not following the rules. If you were in an in person class, you couldn't let your buddy go to class with you. This is an investment into yourself. Your buddy needs to make his own commitment. Taking that away from you is not worth saving him a few bucks. Plus the Luthier Karma Gods are real! Skimping on a shared login will haunt you later when you get that guitar from h%**. Just Saying... its not worth it. The less people that know these secrets, the more you stand out as one of the few that do. Be the expert in your town!

We launched our Business  Module to the course for this very reason. Our Business Course has you covered! The Business Course will help guide you through the steps you may need to take to get started with a storefront, obtaining business licenses if needed in your state, filing your company as an LLC or other entity, how to get started with vendor accounts (so you can buy parts & strings at cost),  starting your own website & social media marketing & ideas on how to generate business traffic for your new business. We have students that have even opened up successful repair shops in their homes. We will give you some insider tips on getting started to offer Warranty Service for the big guys like C.F. Martin, Fender, and Gibson. And share who to contact. It's not so scary when you learn the process. You could start the shop in your basement or garage. We will show you how you can get started in ways you may not have even thought about. 

We feel we have the advantage in the field of Guitar Repair education over the traditional building focused Luthier Schools. We actually see the customers face to face. We know what setup they love. We know the repair industry better than any building school ever will. We have over 25 years of interacting with clients and performing flawless Setups & repairs. A guitar building school never sees clients, they see students. We have hundreds of paying clients in our shop every month, and they have the voice to say "yes, I like this setup". They love our repairs! Check out the google reviews for Southeast Guitar Repair and you will see a shop that is loved by clients. At our shop we set the standard for excellence. We are the experts in the guitar repair industry. Now we will teach you. We also teach you interaction with clients. During live lessons, you get to see us check in and assess an actual client drop off. Other schools have their doors closed to outside visitors. This skill alone (checking in a potential repair) is so vital as a repair technician.

Not only do you get to see reviews of what students think about us, but you can research our Repair Shop and see we have a reputation of excellence. You can learn from the school that only does repairs for nearly 30 years in real life or learn from the build school that profits only from teaching students how to build a guitar.

However, our biggest perk over the In Person schools is this- When you are learning in the classroom or an in person setting, you have to retain all the information right there. You have to take good notes. Once you finish school and get home to work on your first repairs, you better hope you paid attention & took good notes. If not, you will be lost. Our course gives you lifetime access to video lessons on every repair that you can view as many times as you will ever need to. So for that rare repair you only see once every 3 years, we have you covered for a refresher at any point you need it! We launched the school in 2021. We keep growing & our grads are very pleased with the education they are receiving.

We offer a beginner restring video & an episode of our Live Weekly Lessons. While this is a more entry level lesson, it will give you the opportunity to see the teaching style and make sure we are a good fit. Once you opt in for emails you will be sent access to Audit the mini course. This will let you sample the content. We do not offer free trials of the actual course because the course gives you immediate access to our Shop Specs. We pride our Shop Specs and even our techs at Southeast Guitar Repair have to sign NDA's to keep this information private to only students and our Southeast Guitar Repair Techs.

You can opt in to emails & the Audit of the course will be emailed to you.

Absolutely! The beauty of our school is that you can access your courses at any time day or night! The course advances with you. So you may take as little or as much time as you need to complete the Core Curriculum. 

The Master's program includes a 3 - 5 day invitation to Apprentice with Southeast Guitar Repair. After you complete your certification Exam, you have the option to schedule up to a 5 day in shop Apprenticeship study at Southeast Guitar Repair. 

*You will need to secure your own accommodations if you are traveling. But check out our student apartment to save on your stay!