I took my older Ibanez acoustic/electric to Dana to get some work done on it. What I received in return was priceless. Dana is one of a kind. He is a master at what he does - meticulous, clean, knowledgeable, and a craftsman. He not only did phenomenal work on my guitar, but it was one of the best "customer service" experiences I ever had. He took care of me - my guitar felt brand new when I gt it back. Dana is the best at what he does in my area. Highly recommended.

I M P E C C A B L E work from this fellow. Flawless, careful, conscientious and meticulous. Dana completely restored a vintage Gibson acoustic, rebuit a gibson ChetSAtkins with new saddle pickup, worked on my vintage L5, and L5s, and Martin.... even rebuilt my Mesa Lonestar....Very, very capable and a TRUE gentleman.

Quality will tell. As soon as I walked into his workshop, the professional layout, the welcoming smile and the general vibe of craftsmen at the very top of their game was palpable. This was in magnified contrast to some guitar techs I had spoken to on the phone (and one supposedly good guitar tech in philly who had tried setting up my guitar prior). Dana was ultra responsive, both on the phone and in person. He spent time explaining and talking about various issues without any feeling of hurry/pressure, responded to my texts about status updates instantly and on the whole, it felt like I was interacting with someone far above the level of most other people, both personally and professionally/technically. Which...it turns out is actually the case, since Dana is a master luthier, with (apparently) thousands of guitars constructed from scratch, and thousands others repaired. I was able to ship parts to his workshop directly and he came in under budget, with a setup/work charge that was 150-200 dollars less than I was expecting to be charged. He also gave me an intemized, descriptive charge sheet, did fret work as necessary (and these are stainless steel frets, very time consuming) and had all previous parts nicely packaged and sitting in the guitar case, along with the fixed guitar. He also fixed a subtle problem with tuning heads (which I had not talked to him about at all), replaced pickups and got the intonation as right as possible on this strat. I'm in Philly and the 30 min drive down is 100% worth it. It is probably worth it from NYC or even Baltimore. Very highly recommended...I'm very happy!

It is well-known among musicians in this area that Dana is an expert in guitar and mandolin repair. He has worked on two nice acoustic guitars of mine, plus a mandolin. But he also is great with more obscure things – my Turkish Baglama and Afghan rubâb have also received high-quality care from him. It is very hard to find qualified people to work on these instruments, and Dana does them all. He is also well-connected in the business, and recently helped facilitate a major overhaul of one my amplifiers, free of charge by the manufacturer. This is not something I could have made happen on my own. Perhaps just as important as his expertise is his consistent professionalism. Dana always picks up the phone when I call and is always cheerful and punctual with jobs. The follow-up tweakings he does are much appreciated. His price estimates are always accurate. He picks up my instruments and delivers them back to me at my home. That’s certainly a nice perk! It has been very good working with him.

Dana did major repair work, refretting, reshaping of the neck, etc. to a 1917 Gibson A-4 Mandolin that I inherited from my uncle. The thing is a total antique, and Dana made it completely playable, while maintaining it’s original integrity. He’s incredibly knowledgeable, timely and responsible, a true lover of the music that these instruments can make. I never hesitate to call him with a question or concern. For a while now, I’ve been looking for an excellent and affordable mandolin mic, and Dana will routinely send me web pages unveiling the newest mics and info. I couldn’t recommend Dana Sutcliffe more highly for his professionalism, care, and attention to detail. You will not be disappointed.

My Aunt had recently given me my grandfather's mandolin. It was a Martin Mandolin from about 1923. It had big cracks along the length of the bowl and several other issues. I thought nothing could be done for it. I met with Dana who was friendly and very knowlegeable. I felt very confident that I found the right man. Dana was able to clean up an earlier home attempt at glueing up some damage, re-hydrated it. and put a thin rosewood insert to finish the bowl. I know this is just a portion of what Dana did, but the result is a wonderful sounding Mandolin. I played a few strums for my Aunt over the phone and she was completely delighted. I can't believe I was so blessed to have such a skilled Luthier living in my area. I can't recommend Dana enough! :)

IF YOU LOVE YOUR GUITAR,TAKE IT TO DANA

Dana first worked on my Takamine 12-String and did an amazing job bringing it back from the dead. It now sounds and plays better than it ever has in the 20+years I've had it! When I recently purchased a Rickenbacker 4003 bass I took it directly to Dana. It now plays better than any bass I've ever had! Unbelievable what a difference he made. I would definitely recommend Dana to anyone near and far. Would certainly be worth a trip to get this high quality of work!

My vintage guitars prefer Dana's magic touch. For the best in restoration work, Dana is the man. Thanks.