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Post by drlj on Sept 3, 2011 7:16:06 GMT -5
Have any of you Chicago area pickers had any experience with Geoff Benge doing repair work for you?
LJ
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Post by Fingerplucked on Sept 3, 2011 7:33:13 GMT -5
Never heard of him, not that that means a whole lot. If it was me and it was a guitar I liked, I'd find a way to get it up to Marty.
Marshall knows a guy in Rockford who did some pretty good work on some of his once unplayable guitars.
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Post by brucemacneill on Sept 3, 2011 7:42:57 GMT -5
Never heard of him, not that that means a whole lot. If it was me and it was a guitar I liked, I'd find a way to get it up to Marty. Marshall knows a guy in Rockford who did some pretty good work on some of his once unplayable guitars. I thought you took your guitars to MAACO. |
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Post by Fingerplucked on Sept 3, 2011 7:46:48 GMT -5
;D
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Post by John B on Sept 3, 2011 7:57:48 GMT -5
Jim Worland is the luthier in Rockford. In addition to making Kali play wonderfully, he builds great guitars. I played a couple when I met him at the Harp Guitar Gathering in Indianapolis in November. Doc Shannon on this forum has one of Jim's guitars. www.worlandguitars.com |
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Post by Marshall on Sept 3, 2011 9:42:18 GMT -5
No. I don't know no stinkin Geoff Benge. But that reflects more on me than him. Could be a superstar, for all I know. Where'd you run in to him? Yes Jim Worland is fantastic. But Rockford is a long haul (long hall?) {about 2 1/2 hrs} from LJ's hood. And that's on the Interstate. www.worlandguitars.com/In the city there's Tim Schroeder; right down town. Does a lot of fancy vintage repair; at fancy vintage repair prices. www.schroederaudioinc.com/news/?gclid=CJ7R3NWmgasCFSQBQAod4j8r0QThere's a young guy in Ottowa, Austin McKee, that does nice work. And cheap too. www.mckeeguitars.com/index.htmBruce Roper (of the Sons of the Never Wrong, and the recording engineer of my up-and-coming CD release) is the repair person at the Old Town School's guitar store. He makes some nice instruments and does some fancy repair, like rebuilding Michael Smith's old Brrrraazzzzillliaaan D28. www.chicagoluthiers.com/About%20Us.htmlThen there are good repair departments in all major shops like Guitar Works in Evanston, www.guitarworksltd.com/and Chicago Music Exchange. www.chicagomusicexchange.com/And there's a company Third Coast Guitars that does repairs for GC and others. I've heard mixed reviews on them. No personal experience. www.thirdcoastguitar.com/But all of them are north and a noticeable distance form LJ. Chicago's a big sprawling tangled organism. And I don't get south of center much at all. So, what's with this Geoff guy? |
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Post by drlj on Sept 3, 2011 12:14:36 GMT -5
I have read things about him and was wondering if anyone had had any dealings with him. www.chicagoguitarrepair.com/He has an impressive list of clients. I think he was a repairman at Chicago Music Exchange for a while and then went out on his own. Getting to his shop would not take a long time but I am reluctant to trust my guitars to someone I do not know. Joe Konkoly of Elderly has done a lot of things for me but they are 3+ hours away and I was looking for someone closer. I will check out your suggestions, Marshall and I thank you for them. LJ |
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Post by Marshall on Sept 3, 2011 16:58:41 GMT -5
Well ! ! ! And I WILL check out Mr, Benge. Looks like his shop is only a couple miles from my office. Makes sense that he came up through Chicago Music Exchange. They are the big vintage seller in town. I've been in their store many a time. Sold my old L7C to them. Almost bought a '45 banner top LG2 from them once, but escaped unscathed. Though, I've never had work done there. My only comment is he's showing a lot of clear lucite electric guitars. But he does show an old smashed Gibson repair. If he did work at Chicago Music Exchange, then he's seen a lot of vintage repair. I will stop in the shop sometime this week. . . . , because it's there! (and my life is a hollow empty shell with nothing better to do  ). |
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Post by drlj on Sept 3, 2011 18:05:20 GMT -5
Great. I will be interested in hearing what you think.
LJ
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Post by Marshall on Sept 8, 2011 15:18:58 GMT -5
BULLETIN. . . BULLETIN. . . BULLETIN.
This just in: Our roving reporter just returned from a brief stop at Geoff Whatsisname's shop, and files this report:
It's a small one room place on Damen Ave just south of Addison. Plus a small closet-like back room. (and maybe a bathroom). You walk it the door; propped open for ventilation on the chilly day; and Geoff is busy in the corner sanding a bone saddle while a helper repair-guy is doing a setup on a Telecaster in the back of the room. There's a small waiting area up front with a counter. On the counter is an old hog Martin 00 (or some small size). Geoff was grinding the saddle for the Martin. As he returned to the Martin I quizzed him. "Oh, an old Martin, I see." Geoff said it was his specialty. He's been doing repair work on Martins, like neck resets and damage restoration, for 30 years. The guitar on the counter had a nice new fret job and a lot of repair. He said it had had some funky rubberized glue bastardized repair on inside of it that he had to get out. Lousy messy job. There was a hole in the side at the lower bout that he still had to repair. He said it'd all be done tomorrow.
There were a bunch of strange instruments hanging on the walls. A cigar-box 3 stringed instrument. And a few of his lucite electrics. But he clearly does a lot of acoustic work too. He's not the most sparkling conversationalist. But it looks like he knows what he's doing and this is what he does for a living every day of his working life. (For the last 30, he says).
He's not as handsome as Marty, (who is?), but seems confident enough and focused enough. He's not a slick salesman. But he's a hardworking craftsman. I told him I was checking out the shop for a friend. He said his web site has a lot of endorsements. He'd be happy to take any questions.
All in all, I'd consider him for any serious repairs I was contemplating. I would expect him to be cheaper than Tim Schroeder and the big shops, yet quite competent. He says he does a lot of the tough repairs for many shops around town.
That's all for now.
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Post by drlj on Sept 8, 2011 15:58:34 GMT -5
Thank you, Marshall. I am in your debt. I really appreciate the information and I feel a lot better about heading in there now.
Your report is what I was hoping for and I am grateful to get it.
LJ
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Post by Marshall on Sept 8, 2011 16:08:10 GMT -5
*pshaw*
It doesn't take much arm twisting to get me to check out an interesting guitar place.
Tell him "Marshall" sent ya.
(And let me know if you're going in there. I might be able to come by).
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Post by drlj on Sept 8, 2011 17:09:05 GMT -5
Will do, Marshall.
LJ
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Post by Shannon on Sept 8, 2011 19:58:25 GMT -5
Jim Worland is the luthier in Rockford. In addition to making Kali play wonderfully, he builds great guitars. I played a couple when I met him at the Harp Guitar Gathering in Indianapolis in November. Doc Shannon on this forum has one of Jim's guitars. www.worlandguitars.comYes, I do! In fact, I have his first OM. I just put fresh strings on it tonight after not having played it in a while -- I had forgotten what a great guitar it is. |
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Post by John B on Sept 8, 2011 20:24:17 GMT -5
He's not the most sparkling conversationalist. In school we learned about the "money box" - the 2' x 3' area right in front of your bench. When you're in the money box, you're earning money. When you step outside the money box, whether it's running to the hardware store or shooting the breeze, you're not making money. Granted, being outside the money box can be enjoyable, and may be an investment in future business (such as your report indicates). I tend to err on the side of spending too much time "investing" in future business, because I love to talk - about guitars or anything else. But sometimes, especially when I'm in the middle of something, on a roll or whatever, I'm no good for talking. |
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Post by Marshall on Sept 14, 2011 8:50:57 GMT -5
Resurrecting this thread. Somebody on AG mentioned a Chicago shop that did vintage distressing. He posted a link. They are mostly a repair shop. Relicing/distressing is just an off-shoot. Looks interesting. Nice website and blog. www.chicagofretworks.com/ |
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Post by Fingerplucked on Sept 14, 2011 11:29:58 GMT -5
Thanks.
I left Idiot Jam wanting a new guitar. It wasn't my fault. There was just too much wood there. I was waiting for the urge to pass. Then I saw this thread. Then I looked at Jim Worland's website. Then I thought about looking at his guitars. Now I'm thinking about driving to Rockford.
Thanks a lot.
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Post by Marshall on Sept 14, 2011 13:34:45 GMT -5
Well, call him first. Or at least email. He doesn't have a store. The shop is an old garage behind the house. He rarely has any finished guitars around; maybe a couple. It's a shop. You get to see works in progress, though.
He was making a 12-string for epaul (if I remember correctly) one time when I stopped by. I saw a harp guitar under construction once.
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). 