Repairs

Gryphon's Updated Repair Scheduling

All in-person repair consultation is by appointment only. Please call us at the shop (650-493-2131) to schedule an appointment to bring your instrument in for evaluation. Due to the backlog of work, we are not able to take in repairs without an appointment. 

While we can often restring your guitar, banjo, mandolin or ukulele on the day you bring them in without an appointment, it’s a good idea to call in advance to make sure we have the time free to do the job. You do not need an appointment to pick up your guitar after repairs are completed.

"We Fix Guitars"

That’s what we say when people see us working in the repair shop and ask what we do here. It’s a simple statement that usually answers the question fully enough for the casual passer-by, but it does not come close to describing the complexity of “what’s up” here.

Stringed instruments can be fragile delicate things, but they are usually handled quite carefully, so the majority of our work doesn’t exactly fit the definition of fixing structural damage. For us, the description “repair” has a broad and complex meaning.

Diagnosis and Dialog

Diagnosis and dialog begin the process in our repair shop. We’ll talk about structural, cosmetic, playability, longevity and any other appropriate issues. Direct communication with the player is vital to our effort, so we insist on having a face-to-face discussion, preferably including the luthier who will actually be doing the work.

Of all the conversations at Gryphon, the one that requires the greatest breadth of knowledge and expertise is that of repair diagnosis. We may need to draw on experience working with unusual instruments, because we’re not just a guitar shop – we deal with banjos, mandolins, ukuleles and most of the fretted instrument family.

At all times, we’ll continue an active discussion about the relationship between the cost and depth of repair and the ultimate value of the instrument. We’re here to keep players and instruments making music!

Setup, Adjustments and Customization

“Setup,” and adjustments occupy a good deal of our effort in making the instrument fit the player’s technique and style.

We do a lot of customization, including electric guitar pickups and rewiring and installation pickups on a variety of acoustic instruments.

Heroes' Voices

Gryphon is a drop-off donation point accepting guitars for “Heroes’ Voices’” a San Francisco-based music therapy organization treating veterans with PTSD and TBI. All donated guitars go through our repair department for pro bono setup and/or repair as part of our involvement in the local music community.