Lutherie Shop

Amazing work done on Floyd Baker’s my great-great uncle Harmony Sovereign guitar. Floyd was a guitar maker for Sears Roebuck in Chicago making Harmony guitars. This guitar was made by co-workers for his retirement. He passed in 1955 so this guitar was made pre-then. Restoration is beautiful, sounds amazing with lots of character, the natural harmonics are clean-ringing, and I am super pleased with The Lutherie Shop’s work!

If I could I would give Scott 10 stars. He helped me with an issue with my guitar far and away beyond any expectations . 1000% recommendation.

Scott did an incredible job on my bass guitar. I'm pretty new to playing, so I took my guitar to this shop for a restring and a setup. After I took it home, it feels like a different guitar; in a good way. It doesn't buzz when I play anymore, and it sounds incredibly warm and rich. Will absolutely be going back when I need to, so I can't recommend highly enough.

I feel fortunate that someone like Scott is available in the Des Moines area. I have taken many guitars to him in the past several years and have been more than satisfied with his work each and every time. A few times he worked miracles on blemishes/dings that I hadn't thought possible. He doesn't hesitate to patiently answer my questions and to share some of his extensive knowledge with me. His prices are more than reasonable for the excellent work he does and he has always treated me with honesty, fairness and respect. I would give him 6 stars if I could.

The following is my opinion! A few years ago, I took my Fender American Deluxe Strat, to have the factory frets, replaced with stainless steel frets. Scott Roden, owner of 'The Lutherie Shop', in Urbandale,IA, did the work. He ruined the guitar, by filing the frets too short, so the top E & lower E strings, pops off the fretboard. he refused to make it right.

I have Martin and Guild workhorse acoustics that frankly I've drug through the mud for a couple of decades. Being mid-level guitars, I considered retiring them when I noticed the binding coming off and intonation was waning among other things. I really like the way they play, so I took them to Scott to see what he could do. I couldn't be more pleased with the price, quality of his work, and the knowledge he shared about caring for my flattops. They play better now than when I bought them, and the repairs cost significantly less than replacing them both. Best of all I get to hold on to their character and the memories that these instruments provide. Thanks Scott and look forward to working with in the future.

Scott is a master craftsman who has been in the business for over 27 years and knows his stuff. I recently purchased a Stewart stow-away electric travel guitar and the nut slots were cut too high, causing everything in the first four frets to be noticeably sharp. After reading the stellar Google reviews, I knew I had to make the 50 minute trip. Scott took an appointment for the same day and once I arrived, had filed the nut in under 30 minutes at a very reasonable price. I will definitely take my other guitars to him when they need work.

Scott is a world-class luthier, and we’re lucky to have him in Des Moines. He’s worked on several guitars of mine – including resetting the neck on my 1973 Guild. There is no level of instrument I would not entrust to Scott. He simply does great work!

I had a very good experience with Scott. Quick email reply and good service. Went in to get a strap button installed and it looks as if it was there all along.

This is the ONLY place in Des Moines you should be taking your guitar to have serious work done. Scott is extremely knowledgeable and friendly, and willing to take extra time to share some of his knowledge with you. Guitars are tools, and the Lutherie Shop expertly fine tunes them. I brought in a brand new Les Paul Special that needed to be intonated, wouldn't stay in tune for the life of me, and the action wasn't exactly how I like it to be. I dropped the axe off with Scott, and in a couple of days got back one of the nicest playing guitars in my collection. The action is perfect, the intonation is perfect, tuning is spot on and the guitar SINGS. Again, this is THE place you want to trust with your guitar. Thanks, Scott!