MANILA, Philippines ? When facing a guitar emergency, what number should you call?

0929-6054258. That?s the hotline for Guitar 911, a repair and custom shop run by Jugs Jugueta and Kelvin Uy, vocalist and lead guitarist of the band Itchyworms.

Jugueta, who graduated with a Management degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, remembers how hard it was to find a good guitar shop when he was starting to play.

?Back in high school, when I was just learning how to play the guitar, I couldn?t find a guitar shop that could fix even the simplest of my guitar problems. I had to go to a Tito who knew a little bit about guitars.?

Years later, after their band?s success, he and Uy had the chance to start their own guitar repair business when their long-time luthier lost his steady job. Jugueta realized it was a great opportunity.

?I couldn?t say no. Plus, I now have a big collection of guitars, so this is also the perfect way to maintain them.?

They first opened shop in February 2008, with people from Philmusic.com as their first clients. Now, Jugueta wants to offer their services to ?all musicians from beginners to professionals who play any string instrument.?

?We can fix any kind of string instrument, from guitars to ukeleles to bajo de arcos. We do all kinds of repairs, like action/intonation adjustment, circuitry check-up and repair, repainting, reglue-ing, refinishing, refretting custom pickguard, etc. Anything that you can think of, we can do?as long as it?s legal!,? he said.

Customized paint jobs

The guitars are repaired by Guitar 911?s senior luthier Mang Doro Taneo. Artist Andox Frencillo takes care of the repainting and the customized paint jobs.

?He specializes in spray paints,? said Jugueta.

Although there are other companies that offer guitar repair services, Jugueta believes what they offer is different.

?We are more affordable than most of the guitar repair shops out there. This is because we want to encourage the kids who want to play to keep playing their guitars. Second, the quality of our workmanship is unmatchable. Our luthier has been doing this since he was young. He was also personally trained by the late great luthier, Rudy Discipulo. Third, we are located in Kapitolyo, Pasig, which is very accessible.?

The feedback has been great so far, with people coming from as far as Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Baguio for Guitar 911?s services. Some of their clients include Raimund, Mong and Diego of Sandwich, Pakoy and Chi of Typecast, Tim of Imago, Rico Blanco, Sammy Asuncion of Pinikpikan and Russ Davis of NU107.

Free service

The other members of Itchyworms have been excited about Jugueta and Uy?s business as well.

?They were thrilled, because it was band-related. We fix Chino?s guitars and Jazz?s ukelele for free!?

Guitar 911 isn?t the pair?s only business. They also run Softspot Inc. (www.softspotinc.com), a company that makes stuffed toys, pillows, bags, caps and other corporate giveaways.

Jugueta and Uy are very hands-on when it comes to their business.

?We deal with the clients ourselves. We personally reply to all e-mails, texts and messages to GTR911. We will personally guarantee your satisfaction. We are customer-friendly. If there is a problem, we will fix it for you,? said Jugueta.

In the future, they intend to introduce a custom-designed line.

It?s clear that Jugueta is enjoying his business. ?It doesn?t feel like work because I like what I?m doing. Plus, I get to repair my guitars for free!?

Visit www.guitar911.com.ph.