Gary is one of the most skilled guitar technicians and one of the NICEST people I ever met in this business. No job too big or small, he and his skilled staff NEVER snobby. I've known him since I was 18 years old before I got my first record deal. His shop was located in the alley along with the store Real Guitars. Behind Guitar Center when it was on South Van Ness in San Francisco. He also known as the tech to the "stars" constantly doing work over the years for people like Joe Satriani, Journey and others. He is the BEST !!!? read more

If you live in the Bay Area and you need guitar work, you are very fortunate to be able to have work done by Gary. He's a legend in the business, yet he is down to earth and just an all-around solid guy. The work that I needed done was only minor electrical re-wiring, but Gary treated me like a valued customer and made sure I was happy with the work before I left his shop. I would not hesitate to return for any future work. 100% satisfied. read more

Gary is the best hands down! No one in the Bay Area can touch him. If you want your guitars set up the best way possible Gary can do it. There's a reason Joe Satriani, Metallica, Santana, Neil Schon, etc take their guitars to Gary. read more

Gary set up my guitar expertly, including milling down the extra-super-jumbo stainless steel frets.

Gary is the best in business, bar none! 100% recommend for any guitar work... He is nothing short of amazing.

Gary is a fantastic guy and knows more about guitars than most of us will know in a lifetime. He's worked with most of the Bay Area greats like the Jerry Garcia, Journey, Metalica. 'Nough said. read more

Gary and his team are great. First of all, he agreed to look at my guitar without requiring me to make an appointment a month in advance. He did a set up and tuning head replacement for me and it worked out great - had it done in a week. When the tremolo started squeaking 6 months later he did a small adjustment same day, no charge. That is old school service! He's definitely my goto luthier for now on.! read more

Been going here since I was a wee one... their techs and knowledge are without comparison in the b area.

He is one of a kind He does the impossible Incredible guy with an extraordinary expertise read more

I wanted the action lowered on a nylon electric. I was clear about how low I wanted it. One of the techs decided that a classical guitar shouldn't have action that low and ignored my instructions. I ended up taking it to another shop which did what I wanted. read more

I've taken my guitars to Gary for repairs for years. Everything from vintage to new. I've always been treated with respect and every repair was flawless! read more

Top notch repairs and adjustments Highly recommended It's like playing a new perfect guitar. read more

Gary's the man. Been at it a while, probable address whatever your concern is many times. Good value.

I brought them two guitars. A 7 string Ibanez RGR752AHBF and a 8 string Skervesen Raptor. I asked for the pickups in the Ibanez to be changed out to Lundgren M7's and to have the volume knob removed and plugged and have the tone made into the volume. There was also some buzz on the first through fifth fret that needed to be addressed. Well there is still buzzing on those frets. The bridge pickup was installed way to low towards the high string where the low B string is just over the pickup pokes and I still have a volume and tone knob even though I asked for the volume knob to be deleted and plugged. The Skervesen came back playing exactly the same. They even noted in the receipt that they didn't change the strings. Yet still charged me $90. For what? IDK. I never contacted them about any of this. But why would I? It's too long a drive for me to bring them back to be setup right. And it should have been done right the first time so why would I trust them now? It is what it is. I had no problem waiting a month to get my guitars back. But I wish they'd come back to me like that time was well spent. If you are thinking of making a long drive based on their reputation think twice. They get Two stars because they didn't break anything. read more

Gary Brawer Guitar Repair - There it is. The volume knob I asked to have deleted. - Musical Instrument Services Near Me

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The best at what he does! His work is impeccable, and everything he's ever done on my guitars has been top notch.

The absolute best in the business! There is no one better than Gary. He stands behind his work and makes sure you are happy. Very talented man! read more

I've gone to the previous location in the city a handful of times, They always do great work so when I need some fret work I called Gary. I recently visited their new location in Berkeley and had my guitar plekked and got it back this a few days ago. Man it plays amazingly. Not only does it play great but Gary and his team are super friendly and knowledgable. I could not recommend a better experience. Brawer's shop is known as the best for a reason, Except no substitutes. read more

I didn't get any work done, only brought an acoustic in for advice and consultation but would gladly spend my money here. I believe they should get some praise for what they do right. I went to SF Guitarworks initially based on reviews which are usually fairly grossly biased, to see about an older Seagull with a crack in the side, slight neck bow, and some worn frets and had a much better experience here instead. The rep at SFG was dismissive (likely since it wasn't a vintage and/or big name maker he had heard of) and that it wasn't worth spending money on. Everyone values things differently and often times it's not just the brand name and sticker price that affects the value and playability of a guitar. Despite the long queue, they put it on the bench and had a good 5 minute check over of the bridge, nut, action, sight down the neck and looked inside for a structural check of the crack. They offered to adjust the neck and seep some super glue and clamp down to fix the crack since it was just superficial or that I could do it myself. The first few frets were a little worn but I could wait until further wear before investing in any work, just good honest advice. They even gave some strings to a guy who came in with a beat up guitar looking to buy some used strings who looked like he could barely afford a meal. This place is part of the real San Francisco that's slowly fading away, there's character here and it's a business with real people behind those doors, a total antithesis to other places where appearances would lead you to believe is better. There's also a bunch of nice used gear here and if I lived in the area and no SiP, wouldn't mind checking it all out and shooting the breeze with the folks here. read more

He's the MOZART of fine luthiersmanship! Go Gary Go Gary! Doesn't get any better..... This awesome dude can make a skateboard with barbed wire strings sound like a Stradivarius! read more

Gary Brawer Guitar Repair - rock n roll baby! - Musical Instrument Services Near Me

Gary is the best. Period. Full stop. End of story. There isn't a better place to take a guitar for some TLC.

Gary does great work with his expertise and craftsmanship. If you want the job done right and have some patience, he's the man to take your guitar to. read more

Gary does trick work but something is amiss. The www.brawer.com website is down, voicemail is frequently maxxed out, and calls are not returned when messages are left or email sent. What is up? read more

Be patient and your instrument will play better than before! Gary is truly a master and has a love for what he does!

Gary does amazing re-fret and setup work on electric guitars. He's able to fix or build anything you can think of. It may take time, but the job will be impeccable and very professional. When he does a re-fret he Plek's the neck and frets to get a micro accuracy. He's worked on 4 of my guitars and "always hit the mark". So I highly recommend his services! read more

Gary is the most capable luthier I've worked with. He is also super nice. He does A+ work, can go way past just a tuneup, and is very reasonable for price. He is simply the best. read more

Gary really knows all the little tricks to get the set up right, my acoustics are always dead on, thanks man ! read more

Gary Brawer Guitar Repair - Musical Instrument Services Near Me

Always a friendly atmosphere, definitely a place to take your guitar and have it worked on by professionals I've lost count of how many of my guitars I've taken there. read more

Just got a setup, a neck replacement & a few other "fixes" done on a partscaster Tele I put together a year ago; The control plate needed to move over a few mm and the neck side strap button's screw broke off leaving 1/2 of the screw buried in there... plus moving thinning heads from the old neck to the new etc. They got everything taken care of perfectly. Cant even tell the strap button and control plate were fixed. The new neck and setup feel absolutely great. The folks are cool too. Fern at the desk is pretty hilarious and run dude to chat with. He took meticulous notes on what I wanted and asked a ton of questions to make sure id be happy with the end result. All in all i'm stoked and will be taking my other guitars there for a tune up ASAP. thanks guys read more

Gary and company have worked their magic for me on several occasions. I'll ship a guitar from NJ to CA rather than trust it to anyone else.

Gary Brawer and his team are nothing shy of incredible. They are extremely talented, efficient and honest. I cannot recommend them enough. I brought in my 1955 Gibson Country Western for a setup and a loose brace. The guitar was new to me, a recent online purchase. They let me know that the guitar had been through the wringer and required a neck reset, new bridge, braces glued and a fret job. So basically the works. Now this isn't something anyone wants to hear, but they told it to me straight. They let me weigh my options and after speaking with Gary personally he let me know that 1) he was confident his team could restore it to better than new playability 2) the repairs would ultimately revitalize the guitar for another 30-40 years and 3) the guitar was worth it and not irrevocably damaged. He took several of my preferences and special requests for the new bridge (I wanted to keep the original inlays and make it look stock). He outlined the possible costs, was extremely upfront and was genuinely excited to restore this guitar. In about six days I had my guitar back and the workmanship was nothing short of incredible. As Ben of Real Guitars mentioned it allowed this guitar to come back alive. Intonation, sustain, action and depth were all improved. Gary and his team not only exceeded my expectations, they were diligent, thorough and came in under budget. Additionally, when I had some other last minute questions about the work, they graciously inspected it for a few more days to my satisfaction, buttoned up the job and sent me on my way. If you have a guitar and live in the area, I cannot think of anyone else I would rather have work on it. Also a quick shout-out to Real Guitars. I have bought several guitars from them over the years, and the two businesses work in perfect harmony with one another. Also Fernando fucking rules. read more

I love these guys! Amazing work - have been buying and getting my guitars repaired with them for twenty years!

Two of the best playing guitars i have ever had were pleked here. Also a lot of affordably priced vintage guitars and amps at real guitars next door (check out the pics). Many nights playing have been that much better cos of the work the did setting or wiring up the guitar read more

Called up on a busy Sat. and had question about a new guitar with some minor fret buzz - was it worth working on and setting up etc. and got some very helpful advice. The tweaks I did on my own got rid of most of the buzz and they advised me to come in if any issues persist, but not to waste my money on a set up when it's playing great as is. Seems super honest and and will def bring in when I want locking heads or pickup change etc. You can tell a lot about a company/service with how they answer the phone. A 5 min conversation goes a long way! read more

Thank you very much for the exceptional work on my Jazzmaster and Fender XII. You and your staff are top-notch. Fernando is a wonderful person to work with, super friendly and treats every customer that comes in (even me) like a rock star! Now that (2) of my guitars have been PLEK'd and play so incredibly good, I feel like I have to bring my other one in now as well ;) Thanks again read more

mixed review here. this was the second place i took this guitar for what should have been a straight forward job. shim the neck. bring the action down. this is what the manufacturer recommended and Taylors are designed for it. when i brought the guitar in i tried to explain to the front desk guy but it took some effort to break through. i thought i had ADD but compared to this guy i was a Buddhist monk. he played the guitar for about 20 seconds and said it played fine. i actually had a very specific story to relate to him and some very specific instructions and measurements...but i had to wait for breaks in his manic diagnostics and talking over me to tell it. i felt like i wasn't being listened to. not trust inspiring. i get it. they are experts on guitars. but i certainly new more about this specific guitar and my needs then they did. i needed the neck shimmed per manufacturer and the guitar brought to within the factory set up specs. the guitar had played best when inside those specs. i had measured it. simple easy. pick up. relief was not factory spec range. they adjusted this in shop after i played it. old relief was .004" and perfect imo. it was plus .008 and then adjusted in shop to about .008". low E was at top or above factory spec. i wanted it clearly within the actual range. they were very attentive when i picked it up. offered to make any changes. but at this point i was burned out. what i thought would be a simple repair had turned into 6 visits to 2 different stores. as i was playing the guitar on pickup i heard the front desk guy mocking the idea of "measurements" in a good natured way. here is my rebuttal. if you know the measurements on a guitar when it played great you should try and return to those measurements. you could try to do it by feel but humans tend to be less consistent then numbers. Taylor has those spec ranges for a reason. It's a playable range and a good place to start. for me it was a good place to end as well. for a repair shop i think measurements would be a god send. a customer can argue all day about it not feeling right. hard to argue that .02" is .002". i really try and support these local small businesses. I've done my share of set ups over the years but always figure these guys will dial it in better than i can. but i'm giving it a rest for a while and will do the work myself for the basic stuff. yeah, i'm slower, and might have to buy some tools i only use once a year but at this moment it seems like a less frustrating route. 8/19/18 forgot to mention this. taylors come with elixir strings. i've been playing with elixir coated for 14 years now. and the guitar had elixirs on when i dropped it off. they play very different from normal uncoated strings. much less friction. but when i picked it up for evaluation they put uncoated strings on it. this makes it play very different regardless of whatever adjustments were done. so i took it home, cut the strings off, and ordered elixirs. i wish they had asked me what strings i wanted on it or just looked at what was currently on it. i'll pay the extra $10 for elixirs. i'll even buy some and bring them in. waste of time and money. read more

Took my Gibson in for fret reduction. I wanted to have their Plek machine grind down my frets to "fretless wonder" dimensions. I even brought in a guitar with "fretless wonder" frets as an example. I brought electonic calipers to make sure they understood what I am after with an actual number. First time, no good. Frets still too high. Way too high. I couldn't tell they had been reduced. Second time, I talked directly to Gary himself and told him what I want. He said he understood and there would be no problem. Still no good. Frets too high, and again, I can't tell they had been reduced. And to top it off, the guitar is damaged. Looks like someone dropped it, and it has a couple of dents. Urggg! They denied the damage, said it was like that when I brought it in. I know for a fact it was not. Take photos of your instrument before you give it them. And have them sign a condition statement. My guess is when they see a cool instrument come through the store they "play" it. Probably have little jam sessions with customer instruments, and sometimes, they drop them. So two trips to Gary Brawer Guitar Repair and I still have frets that are too high, they have my money, and I have a damaged guitar. All in all, a big waste of time, money and effort. They made no offer to redo the fret reduction or repair the damage. WTHeck? This place came highly recommended. Sadly, I can not make the same recommendation. I am very, very disappointed. And my Gibson is damaged. read more

Back in June last year I had a short trip to SF for a guitar lesson, and brought one of my favourite guitars with the intention of getting a specific set up from Gary I contacted Gary (and Allen) before leaving the UK and booked it in. I was greeted by a very friendly business owner who was polite, interested in me and my trip, my guitar, and fascinating to talk to (incredibly knowledgeable) I'd arranged a priority service due to the short nature of the trip, and the team met that expectation fully. There was a couple hours delay from when I was originally told the guitar would be ready - BUT I hasten to add it was only the couple of hours where the PLEK had gone on the blink! Gary worked well after shop hours to make sure the guitar was done so I could take her home Both Gary & Allen kept me entertained with stories whilst I waited, and the guitar set up is the best I have on any of my guitars... so I'll be taking others back with me.... if you fathom in the cost of just my flight it's a mighty expensive guitar set up but SO WORTH IT! I don't understand any of the negative reviews on here... I always treat people as they treat me, and the team at GBGR were spot on, courteous and highly skilled Whilst there I noticed guitars from Joe Satriani, Neil Schon, Kirk Hammet all waiting to be worked on. In comparison I really am nobody whatsoever but I still feel I got start treatment so to speak So local or not, resident of the states or not, I wouldn't hesitate to send my guitars here for work Very cool people, very cool shop, very cool work - 10/10 Thanks guys! read more

Gary Brawer Guitar Repair - Musical Instrument Services Near Me

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I recently took my Gibson Les Paul guitar to this shop for a minor modification. The fretboard edge binding had sharp edges that I wanted smoothed (rolled, tumbled, etc.). I couldn't be more pleased with the service and the outcome of the work. Fernando and Michael helped me when I went in to drop off the guitar. They were very friendly and helped make sure they understood what I wanted done. Michael inspected the guitar and pointed out few minor issues that could be addressed with some setup adjustments. The price was was very reasonable and much less than I expected. The work was completed within the time estimate I was given. When I came back in, Fernando plugged the guitar in for me to play and try out. The neck feels sublime with the smoothed binding and the setup changes made it play even better. They give customers up to six months to make any additional setup adjustments, but so far, I don't think that'll be necessary. Gary's shop has some very famous, high end clients, yet they treat average Joes with the same service and respect as the superstars. read more

I would never send anyone to this shithole Located in the back of Real Guitars, a ragtag dump of old gear, I sent my best guitar in for a basic set-up and a new switch. So after they told me that it would only take a day or two, I never got a call and went in after three. The guys there acted like they could give a shit and they still hadn't even touched my guitar! They said it would be another couple of days because they were busy--even though one of the assholes sat on the phone verbally diddling his girlfriend for 10 minutes while I got ignored. Finally, they finished my guitar and not only did the set up job completely SUCK, they charged me $175 for the whole fucking thing. I walked out of the place swearing I would never go back, and I haven't. And that was more than two years ago. I would highly recommend SF Guitarworks instead. He is quick, friendly and really good. read more

After a lot of thought, and a return visit for service on my Frankenstein Bass that Gary built, I have to offer Gary an updated review. He honestly is the best, hands down. There are not too many persons in the world that can do the magic that Gary can pull off with a guitar. He is not only a genius, but he is an artist, and we are blessed to have him in our community and not somewhere else. Gary, i've been reading your blog, looking at all the work you've done, and i'm sorry i ever gave you 3 stars. you are the creme of the crop. i was talking to my guitarist Ian and we were discussing why he doesn't play his 1957 Strat or his 1968 Tele so much. It needs frets. i asked why dont you get it refretted? His reply, well, i'd only let Gary Brawer do it, and i'm just not ready to commit to the cost. Understood, and Clearly heard! read more