🎓 Course Outlines

Effective Date: November 13, 2024
Updated regularly with newly filmed lessons.

At Southeast Guitar Repair Academy, we provide one of the most comprehensive online guitar repair education experiences available today. Our Master’s Guitar Repair Luthier Course is made up of three powerful curriculum modules, designed to take you from foundational skills to advanced professional techniques - with real-world applications every step of the way.

✅ Note: Students enrolled in the Guitar Repair Technician Course receive Modules 1 & 2. Module 3 is exclusive to the Master’s Course.

🔧 MODULE 1: Core Curriculum

Your Foundation in Professional Guitar Repair

This module focuses on the essential repairs you’ll encounter every day in a professional shop. These lessons are the building blocks for everything you'll do in the field - from setups to advanced restorations.

We believe that you can’t execute flawless advanced repairs unless your foundational work is solid. This module ensures your setups, fretwork, and component installations are clean, consistent, and professional.

Lessons Included:

🎒 Preschool Level – Introduction to Inspection & Tools

Sighting Necks
Checking Braces
Using Feeler Gauges
Inspecting Electronics
Barrett's "Ballpark Intonation"
Scale Length & Contact Point
Accurate Measuring
DIY Cheater Box
DIY Shop Bag

🎸 Elementary – Professional Restringing & Basic Mods

Acoustic Restring
Electric (Stratocaster) Restring
Classical Restring
Strap Button Installation

🔧 Middle School - Setup Techniques Across Instruments

Acoustic Guitar Setup
Electric (Stratocaster) Setup
Gretsch Electric Setup
Bass Guitar Setup
Classical Guitar Setup
Ukulele Setup
Banjo Setup
Floyd Rose Style Setup
Locking Tuners
Blocking a Trem
Floyd Rose Parts Explained
Live Floyd Rose Setup

🪚 High School - Nut & Saddle Work

Hand-Carved Bone Nut: Electric, Bass & Acoustic
Acoustic Bone Saddle
Compensated Bone Saddle
12-String Bone Nut

🎓 University - Advanced Fret Level, Recrown & Polish Prep

Fret Dressing
Fret Soften
Fall-Off Fret Dress

💼 MODULE 2: Business Course (Included in all programs)

The Most Overlooked Piece of a Luthier’s Success

Most luthier schools skip the business side of the craft - but we don’t. This optional module is packed with real-world business lessons to help you go beyond the bench and build a thriving repair business.

Whether you're opening a storefront or setting up a professional home workshop, you'll learn exactly how to:

Form a legal business (LLC or sole proprietorship, etc. )
Obtain resale licenses and vendor accounts for wholesale parts
Set up business banking, taxes, and liability insurance
Market your services and attract your ideal clients
Plan pricing, workflows, and systems for long-term success

Note: Completion of Module 2 is not required for certification—but we highly recommend it if you're serious about turning your skills into a business.

🛠 MODULE 3: Live Lessons (Exclusive to Master’s Course)

Real-Time, Unedited Repairs with New Lessons Added Year After Year

Module 3 is where you go beyond theory. We film real repairs in our active shop - unedited and in real-time - so you can experience exactly how professional techs troubleshoot, problem-solve, and manage shop workflow.

These aren’t polished classroom demos. You’ll see:

How long repairs actually take
What to do when something goes wrong
How to adjust, pivot, and finish the job professionally

What’s Included:

Live Repairs: Watch full-length restorations, refrets, neck resets, brace repairs, and more - updated periodically with new lessons.
Q&A Sessions: Get your questions answered directly by your instructor. We host 2 per month.
Unlimited Access: All live lessons are added to your student portal the next day. Watch anytime, as often as you like - even lessons filmed before you enrolled.
Hundreds of videos already in the archive - with more added every year.

🧑‍🏭 Exclusive to Master’s Students: 1-Week In-Person Apprenticeship

Take your skills beyond the screen with a 5-day in-person apprenticeship at our world-class workshop in Georgia.

During this week, you’ll:

Work directly with our repair staff
Get hands-on experience on your guitars with our experts
Practice advanced techniques under expert supervision
Build confidence and clarity in your repair workflow
Ask questions, refine your technique, and observe a high-volume repair shop in action

This apprenticeship experience is a rare opportunity to apply everything you’ve learned - side-by-side with industry professionals.

🔓 Lifetime Access. No Expiration.

Once enrolled, you’ll have lifetime access to all your lessons - including every new update we add. Whether you want to sharpen your skills years down the line or revisit a tricky technique, your course is always here for you.

Ready to dive in?
Our program is designed for aspiring professionals, DIY musicians, and seasoned techs alike.

Current Lessons:

6-3-21 - Acoustic Pickguard Removal & Replacement

6-10-21- Using Your Measuring Tools

6-17-21- Brace Repair Acoustic Guitar

6-23-21- Testing Pickups

7-1-21- Hand Carved Bone Nut Fender Telecaster

7-8-21 - Level Sand, Buff & Polish Finish (Headstock)

7-15-21 - Martin Binding Repair (Satin Finish guitar)

7-22-21 - Martin Refret Step 1 Removing Frets

7-26-21 - Martin Refret Step 2

8-4-21 - Martin Refret Step 3 Prepping Fret Wire

8-14-21 Hand Carved Heel Cap Martin Guitar

8-21-21 - Refret Step 4 Installing New Frets Part 1

8-21-21- Refret Step 4 Installing New Frets Part 2

8-26-21 Martin Refret Step 5 Fret Dress Part 1

8-26-21 Martin Refret Step 5 Fret Dress Part 2

9-2-21 Bridge Reset Step 1 Remove Bridge Part 1

9-2-21 Bridge Reset Step 1 Remove Bridge Part 2

9-3-21 Refret Martin Step 6 Bone Nut & Setup Part 1

9-3-21 Refret Martin Step 6 Bone Nut & Setup Part 2.

9-17-21 Q & A Session- Assessing A Guitar

9-23-21 Bound Refret Step 1 Removing The Frets

9-29-21 Bound Refret Step 2 Plane Fingerboard & Cut/ Clean Fret Slots

10-8-21 Bound Refret Step 3 Nip The Tang/ Prep The Frets

10-8-21 Bound Refret Step 4 Installing New Frets

10-9-21 Bound Refret Step 5 Nip & Bevel The Frets

10-14-21 Humidification For Severe Structural Repair

10-21-21 Acoustic Pickup Install LR Baggs Anthem SL

10-28-21 Neck Heel Separation on a Martin Guitar.

11-3-21 Neck Break Completely Separated Step 1

11-11-21 Maple Unbound Refret Step 1 Removing Frets

11-18-21 Maple Unbound Refret Step 2 Level the fingerboard, Raise the grain, stain for finish prep.

11-23-21 Maple Refret Step 3 Prepping & Pre- Finishing

12-3-21 Bridge Doctor Install

12-9-21 Maple Refret Step 4 Cutting & prepping fret slots

12-16-21 Maple Refret Step 5 Installing the frets Ruberband Technique

12-17-21 Martin Binding Wood Glue Technique

12-21-21 Martin Binding Splicing in Missing Piece of Binding

12-30-21 Repotting Vintage Pickups

1-6-22 Headstock Break- Touchup Crack Prep

1-14-22 Bridge Reset- Clean & Prep for Bridge Attachment

1-21-22 Bridge Reset- Dry Clamp & Final Glue Attachment

1-27-22 Maple Refret Step 6- Nip & Bevel the Edges

2-3-22 Prepping Touched Up Headstock Crack for finish Work

2-11-22 Headstock Break Staining & Color Spray

2-18-22 Pickup Install Electric Guitar

2-24-22 Crack Repair Acoustic Guitar Step 1

3-4-22 Crack Repair Acoustic Guitar Step 2 Installing Cleat

3-11-22 Bridge Shave

3-17-22 Heat Treat Part 1

3-17-22 Heat Treat Part 2

3-24-22 Maple Refret Step 7 Level Sanding Finish

3-31-22 Bridge Reset Standard Bridge

4-8-22 Maple Refret Step Step 9 Leveling & Buffing Lacquer Edge

4-14-22 Shielding A Cavity

4-21-22 Maple Refret Step 10 Final Touches

4-21-22 Make Your Own Shop Bags

4-28-22 Lifting Inlay Repair

5-3-22 Pickup Leads Explained

5-5-22 Checking in a Client's Acoustic Guitar

5-12-22 Fret Soften / Fret Sprouts

5-20-22 Safety

5-27-22 Tele Bridge Options

5-27-22 Checking in an Electric or Bass Guitar

6-1-22 Pickup Leads

6-3-22 Soldering Techniques

6-15-22 Neck Heel Seperation Technique

6-17-22 Rewrap Banjo Head Part 1

6-22-22 Locking Tuners

6-24-22 Rewrap Banjo Head Part 2

7-1-22 Headstock Break Martin Step 1

7-1-22 Luthier Tip- Tuners

7-13-22 Neck Pitch/ Shims

7-14-22 Neck Reset Part 1

7-22-22 Testing Pot Values with Multimeter

7-27-22 Martin Binding Super Glue Technique Part 1

7-27-22 Martin Binding Technique Part 2

7-27-22 Neck Reset Step 2 Part 1

7-27-2 Neck Reset Step 2 Part 2

8-2-22 Plate Saver Install F Hole Guitar

8-5-22 Super Glue Cleanup Buff & Polish (Not for Satin / Matte guitars)

8-9-2 Headstock Break Martin Part 2

8-12-22 Neck Reset Step 3

8-18-22 Martin Serial Number Plate

8-31-22 Trus Rod Washer & Plug Replacement

9-6-22 Dowel Holes under bridge

9-13-22 Martin Badge Plate Reinstall

9-20-22 Neck Reset Step 4

9-22-22 Fall Off Fret Dress

9-22-22 Check Electric, Fender Warranty Replace Pot & Volume Pot

9-25-22 Block the Trem

9-27-22 Brace Repair Using Properly sized Dowel

9-30-22 Acoustic Center Back Strip Re-Install

10-7-22 Acoustic Belly Ache

10-7-22 Inner workings of a Potentiometer

10-13-22 Brush On Lacquer Touch-Up

10-14-22 Removing Bridge Studs with Leverage

10-22-22 Extreme Fingerboard Cleanup

10-29-22 Acoustic Broken Bridge Repair

11-2-22 Mindy shares the POS System we use

11-10-22 3 Corner File Tip

11-12-22 GluBost Touchup Repair

11-17-22 K&K Pickup Install on a Guitarlele

11-23-22 Ukulele Setup & Loose Battery Secured

12-2-22 Martin Headstock Break Step 3

12-10-22 Re-securing an End Pin Jack

12-17-22 Acoustic Pickup Install Fishman Matrix Infinity Style

12-22-22 Floyd Rose Explained

12-28-22 Finished Martin Headstock Break Play Test

12-30-22 Scuff Sanding the Back of the Neck for Speed

1-6-23 Full EMG Rewire

1-17-23 Floyd Rose Setup Part 1

1-19-23 Floyd Rose Setup Part 2

1-19-23 Floyd Rose Setup Part 3

1-27-23 Banjo Setup

2-1-23 Repairing an Acoustic Bass Bridge Crack Part 1

2-9-23 Repairing an Acoustic Bass Bridge Crack Part 2

2-21-23 Polishing Frets

2-22-23 Acoustic Bass Setup

2-28-23 Modifying your Crowning File

3-4-23 Checking in and assessing 2 client guitars

3-10-23 Martin Refret Step 1 Scoring & removing the nut & removing the frets

3-18-23 Martin Refret Step 2 Planing fingerboard & cutting fret slots

3-23-23 A tip on wire for rewires

3-24-23 Martin Refret Step 3 Prepping the fretwire & installing the frets

3-30-23 Martin Refret Step 4 Nip & Bevel the edges

3-30-23 What is the education & Career path for a luthier

3-30-23 Soldering jack & techniques

4-6-23 Closer Look at Classical Strings

4-13-23 Refret Step 5

4-22-23 Telecaster Full Rewire

4-28-23 Stratocaster Full Rewire

5-5-23 Using the Fret Kisser Tool

5-5-23 Binding Tip

5-13-23 Drilling Out A Neck Heel For Bolt On Neck

5-17-23 Ripped Off Bridge Reset

5-24-34 Heat Treatment Acoustic Bridge

5-31-23 Fingerboard Binding Repair

6-10-23 Dot Inlay Installation

6-15-23 Battery Terminal Rewire

6-21-23 Tuner Repair

6-29-23 Installation & Removal of a Humbucker Cover

7-6-23 String Tree Installation

7-8-23 Magnet Trick Tracing Cavity

7-13-23 Classical Bone Saddle when you have no existing saddle to use

7-22-23 Doweling Holes

7-28-23 Soldering in Pickups to 3 way toggle switch

8-3-23 High Speed buff on electric guitar

8-11-23 3 Way Switch Replacement

8-17-23 String Spacing for a 12 String guitar nut

8-18-23 Steaming out Divots in raw wood

8-24-23 Neck Reset Final Step

9-1-23 Deepen a Pickup Route

9-7-23 Ovation Crack Reverse Clamp

9-14-23 Bass Thumbrest Install

9-15-23 Using a Centering Rule

9-21-23 Routing Templates & Placement

9-28-23 Route for a Pickup

10-5-23 Rewire Volume Pot on a Grounding Plate (Les Paul)

10-12-23 Wiring in a Push Pull for a Coil Tap

10-18-23 Modify Martin Pickguard (New model, warranty issue)

10-28-23 Pattern Sanding

11-2-23 Neck Relief Tip

11-11-23 Side Dot Install

11-16-23 Abrasive Chord

11-21-23 Brace Repair F Hole Guitar

11-28-23 String Tree Bar Install

12-9-23 Advanced Refret Technique

12-15-23 Double Check Setup System

12-28-23 Refinish Tips Headstock Break

12-30-23 Fret Dress Technique Slow Motion

1-2-24 Slotting a Tunematic Bridge

1-9-24 Gibson Trus Rod Rescue

1-23-24 Creating Your Own Shop Tools

1-26-24 End Pin Jack / End Pin Strap Button Install Ream

1-30-24 Dowel Tuner Screw Holes

2-8-24 Checking In A Guitar Shipped To Us & Calling Client

2-15-24 Martin SC13 Setup Tips

2-23-24 Soldering Tips- Phase

2-24-24 Soldering Tips- Switch Middle Dead

2-27-24 Lifting Frets

3-8-24 Hollowbody Output Jack Rewire

3-16-24 Mandolin Setup

3-29-24 Deepen Bridge Saddle Slot

4-12-24 Les Paul Pickguard & Bracket Install

4-19-24 Tool Maintenance- Band Saw

4-27-24 Fender Tremelo System

5-3-24 Martin Binding Technique

5-14-24 Cutting Compensation Into Saddle

5-15-24 Run Bridge Ground In Hollowbody Guitar

5-16-24 Bigsby Install

5-22-24 Banjo 5th String Nut

5-29-24 Tool Modification Fret Puller

6-7-24 Wiring Diagnostics Check Electric On A Bad Wiring Job

6-12-24 Dropped Guitar Side Sheet Crack

6-18-24 Trus Rod Warning

6-28-24 Broken Trus Rod Replacement Step 1 Remove Fingerboard

7-12-24 Broken Trus Rod Replacement Step 2

7-13-24 Scale Length Measuring

7-17-24 Vintage Pot Covers Seized

8-2-24 String Options Discussed & A New Online Tool

8-14-24 Tuner & Ferule Tips

8-31-24 Measuring For Banjo Head

9-3-24 Headstock Break Finish Tips

9-12-24 Make Your Own Humidifiers

9-20-24 Broken Trus Rod Replacement Step 3

10-4-24 Tooling Up Your Shop Q & A

10-28-24 Dowel Bridge Studs to Install New Tunematic bridge / bridge ground

11-6-24 Placement / Position of Tunematic bridge step 2

11-6-26 Drill for bridge studs

11-12-24 Install Banjo Spikes

Future Lessons will be updated to this Outline List as we advance.

We will cover:

-Bridge Resets

-Refrets

-Neck Resets

-Electronics Diagnostics

-Rewires (pickup installs, custom wiring jobs, etc)

-Heat Treatments

-Neck Breaks

-Binding Repairs

-Cracks

-Brace Repairs

-Routing

-Rebuilding A Fretboard