Our Background

 The Brisbane Guitar Repair Clinic is possibly the best equipped Repair Workshop in Queensland, if not Australia. A multitude of machines and a ducted and filtered Spray room coupled with the knowledge, ability and experience make this Luthier workplace the destination for discerning guitar owners who insist on the highest quality of servicing and repair.

With a Mechanical Engineering background, Raymond, our Luthier understands the necessity for precision and accuracy in not only Guitar manufacture, but also the attention to fine detail required in carrying out repairs to the highest standards. Raymond is also a qualified teacher with a number of years teaching trade subjects in schools for the Queensland Education Department.

Working alongside the highly respected Master Luthier Chris Kinman for many years, Raymond gained his invaluable knowledge and experience in Guitar Repair and was instrumental in the initial design and building of the prototype Kinman Blueprint Electric Guitar. Chris and Raymond went into production and created what has become a highly sought after and prized instrument. The Kinman “Blueprint Series” and “Icon Series” are names synonymous with the highest quality of fully handmade custom guitars and are known for their exceptional playability, attention to the finest details, innovative and creative ideas and absolute perfection in a boutique instrument.

From this, Raymond gained a love and respect for the flowing lines and aesthetic appeal of Custom made Guitars but, more importantly, gained valuable experience, knowledge and ability from the construction of so many instruments. Nothing beats the experience achieved from practice.

Imagine how good you get when you receive the highest levels of tuition and then have the opportunity to practice it several hundred times. When you have had the opportunity to Fret hundreds of new guitar necks and Re-fret an equally high number of every brand, shape and design of neck imaginable, it shows that experience and practice count; especially if you have a personal pride in your workmanship which is most important.

In this Kinman Guitar Craft manufacturing and repair workshop, other highly regarded Luthiers received their grounding and experience too. Raymond was followed by Gary Albrecht and the Chris Melville who is regarded as one of Australia’s premier Acoustic builders and repairers. Raymond has a great respect for all these fellow Luthiers as he regards the training and some may say “indoctrination” of them all by Chris Kinman to be of the highest standard.

As Chris Kinman and Gary Albrecht only visit Australia occasionally from their chosen overseas homes, Raymond was forced to return to Australia from living abroad to service the needs of the Guitar Centre as Chris Melville is too busy to handle all of Brisbane’s Guitarists’ needs and sending shop and customer guitars to other so called repairers was certainly not satisfactory both in quality of the repairs or service. Raymond and Chris Melville have a mutual respect in each other’s ability and will often refer customers to the other without pretension.