About us

Hi! My name is Rick Fontaine. The "us" in Riff On! Guitar Setups refers to my wife who helps with booking appointments and generally keeps me organized and sane. I do all the tech work at Riff On! myself. I'm a musician currently based in East Texas who's been playing guitar for the better part of 30 years. I've had the good fortune to play in various bands in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, including the house band for Club Dada in Deep Ellum and the House of Blues in downtown Dallas. I've always had an interest in keeping my equipment and guitars in optimal condition. The easier it is to play your instrument, the better the musician you are - and let's face it - I need all the help I can get! 

My journey to learning the skills needed to work on guitars began about 20 years ago when I decided to take my brand new American Standard Stratocaster to the legendary Charley's Guitars in Dallas for an initial set up job. I was so excited about getting my new guitar and I want it to play and sound it's best. After having dropped my treasured new axe at the shop for over two weeks, I decided to call them and get a status update. The guy that answered acted like he didn't even know who I was, and long story short, after finally waiting over 3 weeks and paying them $50, I came home with an almost unplayable guitar. The action was set so low that I couldn't even do any string bends without it fretting out. Needless to say, from that point forward I vowed to learn how to set up a guitar myself. After setting up a few of my own guitars, I did some of my bandmate's guitars, and it just grew from there. I got a soldering iron and starting doing my own pickup swaps, replacing input jacks and toggle switches. Later I found that I was fretting out on a couple of spots on a guitar so I decided to learn how to level frets, and it just went on from there. I've since done work on dozens of electric and acoustic guitars and basses and took some online courses to gather even more knowledge. 

Today I feel like I can share some of this experience to fellow guitar players. My goal is to provide affordable, fast and professional guitar work to my local area, so that people don't have to drive 30 to 45 minutes to a Guitar Center or other large shop where they'll have to pay more and have a longer turnaround time. I'm confident that you can put your trust in me. I have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so give me a try and let me bring your beloved instrument back to life!