Leaderboard

Good guitar techs in the Bay Area?

exaN

Hero Member
Messages
1,302
Hey guys, I haven't been around in years since I made my first build. I'm looking to build my 2nd Warmoth, but I don't have the space and the equipment to put it together myself this time. Do you guys know of any good guitar techs in the Bay Area I should do business with?

Thanks!
 
Where at in the Bay Area are you.
The 9 Bay counties cover a lot of ground.

You can look up Marc Miller in the Concord area out in Contra Costa County.
He used to work for John Jordan, very skilled.
 
Gryphon Guitars in Palo Alto (Frank Ford's shop) has a tremendously capable staff - doesn't really matter which guy there does the work, there's excellent QC and oversight and a very deep bench.


Keith Holland's Guitar Hospital in Los Gatos is also a top-notch shop.  They build their own line out of axes (well, two, actually, Los Gatos Guitars and Keith Holland Guitars, with the LG line being a lower trim line). Their builds often include Warmoth parts, and they are perfectly set up.


In San Francisco, Gary Brawer's shop inside of Real Guitars is the go-to for such luminaries as Joe Satriani, the Metallica boys, and so on.  But he's often booked solid so don't go there with anything you need right away unless it's a real simple job.  If you had them do a Warmoth build from components, it would be perfect, but you'd wait a while.


Also in SF, there's SF Guitarworks, who also do premium-grade builds.  They've done a few builds for folks on this forum, in particular you should be able to find a "Swamp green" Strat by searching.


Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz does good work if you're on that side of the hills. 


I know there are some guys in Marin but can't dredge up their names.
 
Bagman67 said:
Gryphon Guitars in Palo Alto (Frank Ford's shop) has a tremendously capable staff - doesn't really matter which guy there does the work, there's excellent QC and oversight and a very deep bench.


Keith Holland's Guitar Hospital in Los Gatos is also a top-notch shop.  They build their own line out of axes (well, two, actually, Los Gatos Guitars and Keith Holland Guitars, with the LG line being a lower trim line). Their builds often include Warmoth parts, and they are perfectly set up.


In San Francisco, Gary Brawer's shop inside of Real Guitars is the go-to for such luminaries as Joe Satriani, the Metallica boys, and so on.  But he's often booked solid so don't go there with anything you need right away unless it's a real simple job.  If you had them do a Warmoth build from components, it would be perfect, but you'd wait a while.


Also in SF, there's SF Guitarworks, who also do premium-grade builds.  They've done a few builds for folks on this forum, in particular you should be able to find a "Swamp green" Strat by searching.


Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz does good work if you're on that side of the hills. 


I know there are some guys in Marin but can't dredge up their names.

SF Guitarworks is actually very close to my place so I'll go check them out. Thanks a lot for all the recommendations!
 
Back
Top