About Us
We are a small family operation with a simple desire - to put a great sounding, great playing guitar back into your hands. Whatever your needs, we'll try our best to help you reach your goal whenever it's possible. We are committed to helping you make your instrument the best that it can be, because we firmly believe everyone should be able to own and play a fabulous guitar.
Our owner and technician is Graham Drew, a British guitarist with more than 25 years playing experience. He also played bass guitar full-time for three years in the early 1990's and has over 15 years experience in setting up and maintaining electric and acoustic guitars and basses. Born and raised in London, England, he relocated to the USA in 1999 and lived in Orlando, FL for five years where he played lead guitar with the band
Jade Fox and ran his first US-based guitar repair shop. After then spending four years in Gainesville, FL he and his family moved to Northern Virginia in March 2008. He has a wide range of live and studio experience as a guitar player, and is currently the lead guitarist and main vocalist with the band
Echoes. Since the early 1990's he has continually practiced and honed his skills as a guitar technician and repairman, and he has achieved full certification from several leading musical instrument manufacturers as a Service Technician.
A large percentage of our business comes from repeat customers and referrals. We can usually have your guitar back to you within a few days (sometimes faster if it's really urgent), and we work on all kinds of instruments - electric and acoustic guitars, basses, lap steel guitars, mandolins and banjos. We welcome the opportunity to earn your trust and deliver the best service we can.
We provide guitar maintenance and repair services to local music stores and instrument makers. These include:
J. Warwick Guitars of Herndon, VA.
A renowned craftsman and builder of bespoke and custom handcrafted acoustic guitars of the highest order, James Warwick utilizes our repair services for electric guitars and basses.
Melodee Music of Sterling, VA.
Located in the Lake Center Plaza in Sterling this great store features three levels and includes sales, rentals, lessons, and an instruction & performance center, located on the bottom floor, which features private lesson studios and a 130-seat auditorium.
Music & Arts of Oakton, VA.
Located at the corner of Chain Bridge Road and Hunter Mill Road in Oakton, this store stocks a variety of guitars, basses and amps, as well as a wide range of accessories.
Chantilly Music of Chantilly, VA.
Reston Music of Reston, VA.
Just a stone's throw from Sully Road (Rt 28) on Lee Jackson Memorial Highway (Rt 50), Chantilly Music specializes in band rentals, lessons, guitars, drums and accessories. Reston Music is situated in the John Milton Shopping Center close to Reston Parkway.
Contemporary Music Center of Chantilly, VA.
With two locations (Chantilly and Haymarket) Contemporary Music offers lessons, guitars/basses, amps, accessories, sheet music and drums.
Minton's Music of Ashburn, VA.
Established in 2002, Minton's Academy of Music inspires and educates over 250 students a week. They also offer equipment rentals and professional rehearsal space.
JADE GUITARS, LLC.
Hours of Operation:
Mon-Fri: 9am-6pm
Sat: 11am-5pm
Sun: CLOSED
Location:
Herndon, Virginia.
We are:
Approx. 5 mins from Fairfax County Parkway, Route 7100
Approx. 10 mins from Sully Road, Route 28
Approx. 10 mins North of Route 50
We are also located within 10 minutes driving distance from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
Drop-off and pick-up by appointment only.
Telephone: (703) 939 5551
Fax: (703) 261 6365
Where it all started:
1983 FENDER STRATOCASTER GUITAR
Our No. 1 guitar, this black Stratocaster was purchased new in England in 1983. From the beginning, this guitar has been used as a test-bed for all sorts of modifications and experiments, and over the last 25 years Graham has used it to practice and hone his repair and set-up techniques. As a guitarist he is always looking for improvements in tone and sound; as a result this guitar has been through numerous changes over the years - several necks, many sets of pickups, five different tremolos and lots of wiring options. Despite owning several Stratocasters this one remains his Strat of choice for gigs and studio work and it features:
Wizard 'TweedTone' Stratocaster pickups
Callaham Vintage 'S' tremolo bridge
Callaham aluminium pickguard shield
Callaham steel base plate on the bridge pickup
Fender '57 Stratocaster reissue neck
Fully shielded electrical cavities
Wiring options to allow seven pickup combinations
Single ply black acrylic pickguard
Some have noted that this Strat looks more than a little like someone else's guitar - was this intentional? Maybe.... but given the
band that Graham plays in right now, it's not really that surprising....
Below are two shots of No. 1 having its new Wizard 'TweedTone' pickups installed.
A further two shots show the shielded cavities, Callaham pickguard shield and Callaham steel base plate installed on the bridge pickup.
A large part of what we do is influenced by our love of guitars, no matter what shape, size or style. Our tech Graham writes:
"I've always loved guitars, ever since I was a young boy growing up in England. My first guitar was a small, thin-bodied Vox electric guitar made of plywood that was given to me by a family friend. The first thing I did was strip it down and figure out what made it work. I learned early on that no matter how much a guitar cost, it was still a guitar, and it needed to be played. I get as excited about a guitar that cost $50 as I do about a guitar costing $1,000. No matter what it cost, where it was made or what it's made from, it's a guitar and someone somewhere will play it, love it and cherish it."
