Knowledgeable, particularly about Gibson thinlines, and honest. Done business online and by phone for very high value instruments. Prompt payments. Can't go wrong with Charlie. read more

OK Guitars - Loved this for a couple of decades, OK found a new home for it. - Guitar Stores Near Me - Kent, Connecticut

Charlie Gelber presents himself as an honest broker and an unimpeachable expert on all things 335. He also takes pains to portray himself as a dealer who discloses everything regarding the used instruments that he sells. For these reasons, I trusted Charlie with my first major purchase of a vintage guitar. After trying several different vintage ES-335s at his midtown Manhattan office, I selected a refinished early 60s stoptail model for $8,500. According to the information he furnished on the receipt, the guitar has "Original PAF pickups, appear to be unopened. Correct or original bridge, stop tail, knobs, pickguard, and truss cover. Repro Kluson tuners. Harness has been updated with new 3 way switch but pots are likely original". After I purchased the guitar, I took it to my local tech for a set up and intonation. He looked it over admiringly. When he flipped it over to look at the back of the guitar, he immediately said, "headstock repair, eh?" "No, not to my knowledge," I replied. Charlie had never mentioned any such repair and I took his word as gospel. My tech (a highly-regarded Manhattan guitar technician with a great many years of experience) showed me an area where the neck meets the headstock and pointed out how, in that area alone, the refinisher had used an opaque lacquer, which makes it impossible to see the wood grain at the point where the neck meets the headstock. The wood grain is otherwise clearly visible on the back of the neck and headstock. He also pointed out a horizontal break in the finish where the neck meets the headstock that I hadn't seen. "That opaque lacquer", he said, "conceals what they don't want you to see". I took the guitar to another technician to get a second opinion (the second tech was also very experienced and is a veteran of George Gruhn's Nashville shop). Without being prompted, he immediately pointed out that a neck/headstock repair had been done. Shortly after this happened I was playing the guitar in bright morning sun and I noticed a thin crack on the back of the neck and headstock, running from the area just behind the nut to the high 'E' tuner. I had not noticed it before. Now I had two experts who had stated that an undisclosed repair had been made and a visible crack that I had seen with my own eyes. At this point, I emailed Charlie and told him what the techs had said and what I had seen. Gelber claimed to be completely unaware of any headstock repair and asked that I bring the guitar in so he could see it for himself, which I did. When I showed him the crack and the lacquer area, he attempted to downplay the significance of the visible crack saying it probably came from a tuner change. He then said, "Since I am supposed to be The Man, just to dispel any possible doubt, I will refund you $1500 since I should have seen this before I sold you the guitar". However, before he gave me the money he said he wanted to speak with my technician and show it to his own repair guy first. I left thinking to myself, "what a stand-up guy." However, after that meeting, Charlie started ducking my calls. I finally received an email from him in which he said "I can probably get it X-Rayed" and "I may call your guy to talk about the repair". I strongly sensed that a weasel move was coming and I was right. He never did either of those things and never came through on his pledge to refund the $1500 either. Recently, I decided to sell the 335 and turned to another vintage dealer for assistance. This dealer--who has 30+ years of experience and is highly-regarded-- went through Charlie's refinished 335 with a fine tooth comb (since his own reputation as a seller would now be on the line). He immediately pointed out that the tail piece, listed on Charlie's receipt as being "correct or original", was, in fact, neither. If I were to replace this part with the correct one, a vintage 335 tail piece runs $750 to $1000. The new dealer also noticed right away that there had been damage and repair to the back of the headstock. I now feel rather foolish for having taken Charlie's well-cultivated reputation at face value. In the best-case scenario, Charlie sold a guitar that he hadn't carefully vetted. The worst-case scenario (and the one that I strongly suspect to be the case) is that Charlie knew about the defect and the incorrect tail piece and hoped that they wouldn't be noticed by a trusting novice buyer. I turned out to be that buyer. I will be more careful the next time. Caveat emptor folks. read more

Copy of a 2015 review I wrote that for some reason is not visible in the OK Guitars section. "Charlie is a generally recognized expert on ES-3x5 guitars with an international clientele. His name is referred to regularly on a number of guitar bulletin boards. I have followed his own blog (es-335.org ) since 2010, have corresponded regularly with him by email, and visited him in person at his shop once. While I have not purchased a guitar from him yet - his inventory being high end vintage stuff that is out of my price range - he has been generous with his advice and provided me with expert advice that helped me secure two ES guitars elsewhere at very good prices. If you visit his very cool shop in a railcar, he will let you try all the guitars you want, which is an educational experience in and of itself. If I ever have a financial windfall, OK Guitars is the first place I would head to spend some of it." read more

Charlie Gelber has a great deal of both knowledge and passion around guitars, especially in vintage semi-hollow Gibsons- ES 335's, 345's, 355's, also Trini Lopez and the hollow thinline ES330's. He has some pretty cool vintage solid body stuff now and then as well, always well-priced. His overall pricing is very fair. I believe his pricing is generally a fair bit better than the bigger vintage guitar operations. Maybe due to a smaller, more focused inventory, and lower infrastructure overhead. I spoke with Charlie many times prior to ever transacting with him. Mostly about getting valuation thoughts on other guitars I was looking at, the state of the guitar market, and general guitar nerd stuff. He was always willing to share his time, knowledge and opinions (always acknowledging that his opinions were exactly that- opinions) Over that past 5-6 years I have bought and sold a number of guitars with Charlie, looked at even more, and talked with him about even more yet. He's always been fair, honest, very straightforward and great to deal with. He has a very fair approval policy, where one can return a guitar within a period of time (a few days, I believe) and the buyer pays just the return shipping. He also has a pretty unique trade policy that I've used- he'll give you what you paid for a guitar purchased from him, if you're trading for a guitar of equal or greater value. I bought a guitar that, a year later, I just wasn't bonding with, and we did a very straightforward trade for another he was getting in from a seller. That guitar has been my number one for the last 4+ years. He actually predicted it would be, based on his knowing me and my playing. I haven't found that kind of customer focus very many places. In my opinion, there are a lot of sub-standard guitar shops out there. And, there are a lot of really good ones. However, based on my own experience, especially when it comes to the Gibson ES series of guitars, Charlie is at the top of my list. Great guy. Great shop. Great niche in a big guitar marketplace. read more

Always get a great deal with Charlie. He's a straight shooter and always is eager to share his expertise and opinion. I've bought several great guitars from Charlie. Never disappointed. A+++++ read more

Charlie Gelber is way too full of himself and openly disdainful of what he evidently views as his pathetic, ignorant customers. He prices everything at the absolute highest end of the range and uses his self-professed "expertise" to try to con you into overpaying. This is a store where if you're not careful you will get fleeced, plain and simple. Better to look elsewhere for your vintage guitars. I've been guitar obsessed since I started playing in 1980, and I've dealt with more than a few arrogant, rip-off guitar dealers, but Charlie Gelber manages to stand out as someone to avoid. read more