Bio

I learned to play guitar at age 10, which makes over a quarter century of playing the guitar for me. I always had the tendency to want to take everything apart and figure out how it worked, so this was a hard combination on the first few guitars I owned. By my late teens, I had developed a keen interest in fixing guitars and was looking for any project to work on.  I began collecting books on any aspect of the business that I could find. From those books, I taught myself how to do fret dressings and refrets. I refretted every guitar I owned for the practice, and eventually started working on friends' guitars.  Before long, I had done about 40 refrets and had honed my craft fairly well. 

In 1995, I was hired by Don Gallagher to work at Gallagher Guitars in Wartrace, Tennessee. In my five years at Gallagher's, I really increased my skill level. I started out building the soundboxes, from selecting the rough pieces of wood up to binding the body. I performed that task for about 2 1/2 years, making a little over 200 soundboxes. I then moved to a position in the finishing and setup area, where I would take the complete but bare guitar, level the fretboard, install and dress the frets and proceed with the finishing process. The final setup is a very satisfying task to perform. I was the first person to play many Gallaghers, and I have fond memories of that. For a time, I was also in charge of repairs at the shop. Since the Gallagher shop only accepts its own guitars to repair, I was able to sample a wide range of their instruments, going back to the 1960s, when the shop began building them. One memorable repair was an old guitar that someone had sat on and demolished the top and back. By carefully removing the back, I was able to piece the original top back together and keep 100% of the outer wood, including the back. I only had to replace a few missing braces, and the guitar was refinished from there. It was one of the most satisfying repairs I've ever done.

In 2000, my wife and I decided to move back to our old Georgia stomping grounds for family reasons. It was a hard decision to leave Gallagher's, but we had become pretty homesick. I had to make ends meet for 3 years working a desk job at a swimming pool manufacturer, but in 2003, I decided I had to break out on my own and set up shop again. In the months proceeding, I was able to develop relationships with TJ's School of Music in Covington, GA and Atlanta Discount Music in Chamblee, GA, doing repairs for both stores. In 2007, I also began working with Atlanta Premier Guitars in Conyers, GA.  If you have a guitar or other instrument that isn't right for any reason, go to my Contact page and drop me a line. My home shop is between Conyers and Covington, GA (about 30 miles east of Atlanta). If you need a major repair but live too far away, we could arrange for shipping both ways.  Thanks for checking out my page.  I hope to hear from you soon.

William Brooks