Swee Lee Musical Instrument Repair: S$75 Guitar Setups

Swee Lee is the name most Singapore guitarists grew up with, from the first nylon-string bought for school to the boutique electric saved up for later. Fewer people know that the company also runs its own repair bench, a service centre on the fifth floor of an industrial building in Ubi where guitars and basses go for setups, fret work, bridge reglues and neck resets. Its price list is public, which makes it a useful benchmark even if you end up elsewhere.

The company describes itself as founded and headquartered in Singapore since 1946, and in 2026 it is marking 80 years with an anniversary site and events. Today it sells through its own stores and a large online shop, so a good share of the guitars played in Singapore bars, churches and school bands were bought from it at some point.

The service centre is where that history becomes practical. Rather than sending repairs out, the company keeps technicians and machinery in-house, including a PLEK, the computer-controlled machine that scans a fretboard under string tension and levels the frets to a measured profile. Few independent workshops can justify that equipment, so it is one of the main reasons players bring guitars here.

Swee Lee publishes its repair prices in Singapore dollars, and strings are bought separately. A plain restring costs S$25 for an acoustic folk guitar and S$40 for a classical. A setup with restringing, covering action, relief, intonation and a general check, is S$75 for an acoustic, an electric with a non-locking tremolo, or a bass. Locking tremolos and unusual hardware take more time and are quoted separately.

Fret work is where the PLEK comes in. PLEK analysis and fret levelling with a setup is S$219 for a guitar with a non-locking tremolo and standard nickel or silver frets. A full refret with PLEK is S$650, and an acoustic neck reset with PLEK, the job that fixes an acoustic whose action has crept up over the years, is S$900.

Choosing between the S$75 setup and the S$219 PLEK job is mostly about the frets. If the guitar buzzes on one or two notes and the frets still look rounded, a setup usually cures it. If the frets have flat spots or grooves under the strings you play most, a setup alone cannot remove them, and levelling is the honest fix. A refret at S$650 only makes sense once the frets are too low to level again, which the technicians can tell by measuring what height is left.

The structural jobs are priced too. Replacing a bone nut and saddle is S$250, lifting and regluing an acoustic bridge with a setup is S$250, and repairing a broken neck or headstock is S$200. Installing an acoustic guitar pickup costs S$140. Hardware swaps and modifications, such as new tuners or a pickup change on an electric, have no fixed price; the page asks you to get in touch for a quote or an in-person consultation.

The service centre doubles as the collection and drop-off point for repairs and warranty work. Before bringing an instrument in, the company recommends contacting support@sweelee.com.sg with the model and the problem, so the team can tell you whether it is a bench job, a warranty claim, or something that has to go to the brand's own service centre. Warranty claims for other brands are routed that way.

Pick up promptly when you are told the work is finished. The warranty terms state that items left uncollected for a month are deemed abandoned, which is a rule worth knowing if you are dropping off a second guitar before a long trip. Bring the case or gig bag, since the instrument goes home in whatever it arrived in, and remove pedals or straps you do not want to lose track of.

If you know the string gauge and tuning you use, write it down and hand it over with the guitar. A setup is done for one set of strings and one tuning; if you play in drop D with heavier strings, the nut slots, relief and intonation all change. The same goes for a seven-string or a baritone, which should be mentioned when you first get in touch.

Swee Lee Service Centre, at 61 Ubi Ave 1, #05-12, UB Point, Singapore 408941, sits in the Ubi light-industrial estate in the east of the island. It is not a shopfront: you take the lift to the fifth floor of a block of offices and workshops, so carry the guitar in a case you can manage in a lift lobby. Ubi MRT station on the Downtown Line is the closest station.

The area is built for work rather than sightseeing, but the east has good food nearby. Geylang Serai Market, the Malay heartland's wet market and food centre, is a short bus or taxi ride away and is a good place for nasi padang or mee rebus while you wait. Further along Sims Avenue, the lorongs of Geylang are known for late-night zi char and durian stalls.

A taxi or ride-hail drop-off at the building entrance is the easiest way to arrive with a hardshell case. If you come by MRT, give yourself a few extra minutes for the walk along Ubi Avenue 1, which is long, straight and exposed in the afternoon sun, and a guitar case gets heavy quickly in Singapore humidity. Keep silica gel packs in the case for the trip home.

Swee Lee Service Centre, 61 Ubi Ave 1, #05-12, UB Point, Singapore 408941. Email: support@sweelee.com.sg. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30am to 6pm; closed on Sunday, Monday and public holidays. Prices above are from the published repair list, with strings charged separately and hardware modifications quoted individually.

The bench is set up for guitars and basses, so violins, wind instruments, drums and pianos need a specialist elsewhere. Book the work by email before you go rather than turning up unannounced, collect within a month, and ask for the old frets or parts back if you want to keep them. If you are buying a new guitar in a Swee Lee store, ask staff about a setup at the same time.