Hi Dennis,
Awesome job ferreting my Deluxe Tele.  I’m not sure its ever played or sounded so good,  I do like the jumbo frets, and your workmanship is top notch.
Thanks again

Brian Notte

trbandvt@yahoo.com

Thunder Road Band
www.thunderroadbandofvermont.com

Hi Dennis.  I’m really happy with the refret job you did on my Strat.  These jumbo frets are great - I’m gonna need these in all my guitars.  Great job!

Dave Diamond

daviddiamond33@yahoo.com
Grippo Funk Band
www.grippofunkband.com

hey dennis-
I’m very pleased with how my  strat turned out. I don’t know how you work such magic but suffice it to say that my guitar feels like a high end instrument w/a flawless fret job. I can’t say enough about the obvious attention to detail that you lavished on the fretboard– the fret ends are so smooth and dressed perfectly. I work with my hands for a living, so I can tell a job well done. Also, I’m glad I heeded your advice and went with the jumbo frets. They seem to make more positive contact w/the string surface and make precise bending a breeze. In short, I would recommend your fantastic service to anyone who cares about their instrument and who appreciates great customer service–my strat plays like a dream!
Thanks for everything,
Ken Froehlich
zepfan68@verizon.net

I’ve just had the pleasure of playing my newly refretted and set up 1954 reissue Fender Stratocaster on three gigs in ths past month of May/June 2009. The masterful reworking of this instrument performed by Dennis Bonanza of Bluefrets was more than worth the money spent. It’s actually changing the way I’m playing this Strat! The payoff has been more sustain, better tone, and it’s now much easier to get a vibrato anywhere over the entire length of the fingerboard. I now have a very good instrument transformed into a great instrument. This is clearly a case of a player/luthier being aware of my specific need regarding an instrument, and knowing how to make lasting improvements. Thank you Dennis Bonanza, I’ve enjoyed working with you.
Dennis Willmott

Left Eye Jump Blues Band -Vermont

March 31,2009

wow dennis! I wanted to live with the guitar for a while before I told you how I felt about the fret job. Its been over two months and I’m blown away. I loved my les paul before but now I just cant put it down. I have 2 wolfgangs an explorer, a evh art series ,a prs hollow and the playability of the les paul is astonishing! Those frets are perfect. Yes I checked them w/ a straight edge and for anyone looking for a fret job ,It just doesn’t get any better period! The bone nut was cut perfectly and as you said my tuning stability has improved  two fold and the tone change w/ the frets and nut combined just gives this already sustain beast another level entirely. Thank dennis you have my fretwork for life.

John Kronenberger Va Beach Va

757john5@cox.net

Dear Dennis,

Thank you so much for all the work you put into Gabriella.  As you know, she’s been my #1 electric guitar for the last 20 years.  The last few years, though, I hadn’t really been playing her much.  I’d gotten tired of the muffled-sounding pickups and the worn frets.  Not to mention a lot of little things I wished were different.  But now, with all the work you’ve put into her, I am ecstatic!

First of all, the neck plays like butter — super smooth and fast — and I find myself easily playing licks that were difficult before.  There’s no fret buzz at all, and no glue marks or anything.  Great job on the frets and the new nut!!!

Also, I’m grateful that you recommended trying new pickups.  I’d always been wary of opening up the “pandora’s box” of trying different pickups in a beloved guitar, but you were totally right!  Gabriella “sings” so much sweeter now — crisper highs, better defined lows, and beautiful midrange –  not to mention lots of extra grit.  Perfect for blues and soul.

Finally, thanks for “fixing” all the little things: opening up the backplate hole; beveling the bridge holes; shimming the neck joint; redrilling the neck joint screw holes; changing the pickup wiring so the second tone knob adjusts the bridge pickup; changing the volume pot; and installing the new pickups and pickguard.  All these “little” things you’ve done have really added to my comfort and excitement at playing Gabriella again.

Once again, thanks for all your hard work and attention to detail.  Thanks also for the many extra hours you spent chatting with me about options.  And thank you for keeping the price of the whole project so reasonable.  You are an angel to working musicians like me.  I will definitely be spreading the good word about your great work Dennis!!!!

Take care, and thanks again for everything,

Dave Keller

www.davekeller.com

www.myspace.com/davekellermusic

Montpelier, VT

Dennis,

Yes, the Guitar arrived unscathed, and I must admit I was anxious to open the box and see and hear your expertise on my old Guitar. Visually it appeared beautiful, even the “ding” that you repaired. Now to the acid test. How does it sound? Well, to my ears it has a very clean clear projection of tone. There is no buzzing damping or muffling of the strings, it makes my other guitar sound dull in comparison. The basses and trebel strings are heard as individual tones and not blurred together (think Greg. Smallman). Now I don’t think I have a domestic Herman Hauser, but I have never played a Hauser, nor do I expect to. They probably will not allow me to take it out of the Segovia collection. (Just kidding). I am very pleased with the results, and anyone considering having a re-fretting on a vintage or handmade classical , FEAR NOT . In Dennis’s hands you will be overjoyed with the results.

History — Consider, if you will, owning a Guitar for 50 years and never having it sound right, even to the point of considering it unplayable. Bringing it to my local Guitar repair person (not a Luthier) , and have him say that maybe it was supposed to play” hard “. That was something I could not accept. Looking at the frets with a magnifing loupe I discovered that the frets were flat on top and very low. A” EUREKA” moment. I discussed it with my local Guitar repair guy - he said and I quote “I am not qualified to replace frets, and will probably destroy the fingerboard if I try”. I had the good fortune to find Dennis and Blue frets on the internet, The rest is as they say ” history”, in my case very good history.

Now I can continue my Classical Guitar instruction , and be assured that if it sounds bad, it is me, not the Guitar.

Thank you,

Warren (wrschrick@centurytel.net)

(You can see Warren’s guitar being worked on in the “Images” section.)

Wow!  That is really all I can say.  You my friend have a gift!  My Les Paul plays so effortlessly that if it played any easier it would almost have to play itself!  This is unreal!  I have never had a guitar that plays with such ease and finesse as my Les Paul does now.  After you worked your magic, it now has perfect tone, amazing action, and not one bit of buzzing.  This is literally everything i asked for and more.  Thank you Dennis.  You my friend are the man!

Thank You and Kind Regards,

Ryan Caldwell

aligatorbling@aol.com

When I got home I cranked her through the Marshall. Wow! This is now the smoothest, fastest guitar I’ve ever owned. Once I got really warmed up, I could play things I normally stumble on. The notes are so much cleaner, clearer, and sustaining. Which makes me play a lot better. Our bass player (also my roommate, also a guitarist) played her for a while and agrees. I haven’t had a chance to work the tremolo much yet. I was so eager to plug her in that I never took the bar out of the case. She played so well that I just kept playing and got lost in jamming, then realized I’d forgotten to even put it on, when it was dinnertime. And I had to stop.

Now it’s getting late and I’m going to plug her into the Silvertone I scored at the flea market last summer. It’s a little 5-watt mid 60’s tube combo. One of my fave pieces of gear. It’s going to be a late night.

Many Many Many Thanks,
Alton
altonfknlathrop@yahoo.com

Thank you and Kind Regards,
Ryan Caldwell
alligatorbling@aol.com

p.s. I have all the parts acquired for my kit guitar. If you have a spot open Id like to send it out to you in the near future and have you assemble and set it up for me. I’ll email later with details so you can give me a price if you’d like to take on the job. Thank you again!