Gibson relaunches its Nashville-based Repair & Restoration Shop – all guitars welcome

Gibson has relaunched its Repair & Restoration Shop. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the climate-controlled facility is staffed by expert techs who will perform any repair, from a fresh set of strings and adjusting neck relief to full restorations.

Gibson R&R takes all guitars, electric and acoustic, young and old, and they needn't be a Gibson brand. It will also rehabilitate bass guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, banjos, and resonator guitars.

You can set up an evaluation over phone or via Zoom, send in your guitar, then Gibson R&R will get back to you with a full evaluation and quote, starting work once you've authorised the job. Gibson will fix it up, give you a call, collect payment and then ship the guitar back free of charge.

Many of the services offered are the sort of everyday maintenance issues that we can often do ourselves but lack the time. But some of the Gibson R&R repair jobs are a little more delicate, rebuilding vintage instruments, making guitars playable after water damage, and most incredibly, repairing holes left by firearms.

We have all put our guitar in harm's way at some point, but shooting it? With a gun? Jonathan Blocker, director of aftermarket services at Gibson Brands, says it is more common than you might think.

“We can do just about anything; you would be very surprised at how many guitars we repair that have been victims of a gunshot,“ he says. “Gunshot guitars are always interesting, as well as anything that requires us to rebuild a structure where one does not exist, but anything is possible with Gibson R&R.“

Blocker says heavily damaged vintage acoustics present some of the biggest repair challenges Gibson R&R face. Broken headstocks? Easy. Besides fixing up necks, refretting and replacing worn nuts, Gibson R&R can also rework your guitar's electronics, and now offer an authenticating service for those looking to sell or insure their guitars.

“This service is relatively new for us to offer as an external service, but we are well-versed in it since we have tools at our disposal that most shops do not even know of,“ says Blocker. “To authenticate and evaluate, we will review the age, condition, build quality, and materials used versus the time period of the guitar.“

For more details or to set up an online consultation head on over to Gibson.