Dirk the Luthier does amazing work! I recently brought an old (over a century old) koa wood…read moreinstrument to him for restoration. The top was split, the binding on the side of the fingerboard was popping off, the fingerboard itself had a lot of crud, somebody had added a cheap pick guard that was coming apart in layers and obscuring about a third of the sound hole... and when you tried to play, well... it sounded like you were playing through mud.
But I believed in this little gem, I knew it was made of great tone wood and had over a 100 years of playing through several generations to mature that tone. It was worth restoring, so I brought it to Dirk the Luthier, at "Loves Guitar Repair," in Temple.
When I walked into the repair shop, I knew I'd found the right place. It wasn't just the instruments on the wall and the work bench; it was the working atmosphere... This felt and looked like a place where magic happens. It reminded me of an old-time violin workshop in Pennsylvania that I knew of, where a few employees in a small studio at the edge of a forest in the mountains were making custom bows and violins, and restoring priceless antique instruments. The atmosphere at "Loves Guitar Repair" was the same, the well-used work-happens-here surfaces, organized, but not sterile, the smell of wood, everything about the place says, "this space loves instruments and works miracles to heal them."
Dirk gave me a very fair estimate regarding cost and time, described the process and possible unexpected issues that can arise with an instrument this old, as well as establishing how we would contact each other. I felt confident watching how carefully he handled the instrument, even taking care not to carry the case by its tattered 106-year old handle.
But here is the dramatic part: Earlier than expected, Dirk notified me that my instrument was ready and that "it turned out real nice." Wow, was that an understatement! Dirk fixed the crack, cleaned the instrument without sanitizing the patina, repaired a few dings and the loose binding, removed the disintegrating after-market pick guard, oiled the tuners, re-strung and tuned it, brought it back to life, gave it back its voice. The sound is now clear, loud, sweet, resonant... like a whole concert hall is inside the body. The high strings have a melodic, lyrical ring, very emotional to hear, and the low strings have guts, drive, a big sonorous voice that can really dig in. My skills are not worthy of this instrument, and I will be shelving some other activities to make as much room in my schedule as possible for practice, so I can do justice to this rare sound. Dirk the Luthier took on a broken, grimy thing and brought out its inner glory. He saved something that many others might've sent off to the trash heap and freed the voice of angels that was inside all along. I'm honored to own a restoration by Dirk the Luthier, and I now have an instrument that is ready for another 100 years of bringing music to the lives of many more generations.
