aboutus
Located in Mid-City Los Angeles, Patt's Guitar Repair works on electric and acoustic stringed instruments of all eras. We perform a range of services from basic maintenance to complex restorations, including conservation of rare and heritage instruments.
Our boutique sells vintage instruments, odd curios, and guitar maintenance supplies.
Whether your instrument is ultra valuable or ultra sentimental, we give all instruments equal attention and care.
We specialize in guitar repair and restoration, but also work on almost all stringed instruments.
What we enjoy most about this line of work is helping people in their quest to play and enjoy music of all genres and varieties. Whether it is adjusting the action on a guitar they play every day, restoring a vintage instrument back to good health, or preserving an instrument to be enjoyed for generations to come, we consider every step of our work with care.
Patt's Guitar Repair opened its doors May 20th, 2018.
Paris Gulbro Patt
Owner // Principal Repair
Paris first began to explore music with piano at the age of two, having taken classical courses at the Colburn School of Music by the age of twelve. He branched into jazz, teaching himself bass and guitar, and has now been playing music for over thirty years. As a young adult, he turned to composition, performing and collaborating as a working musician with various bands and recording artists.
Paris worked his way from apprentice to journeyman learning repair and lutherie skills at the world-famous McCabes Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. He was first attracted to guitar repair from the point of view of a musician wanting to maintain and understand his own tools, but soon learned that he had a talent and love for the craft. After years of working in repair, he studied and apprenticed as a sculpture and objects conservator, working for museums and other fine art institutions. The conservation industry perfected his scientific and researched approach to wood and organic materials, and he applies a conservation methodology and approach to his guitar repair work.
His philosophy and approach involves treating all objects and instruments with careful consideration. He has enjoyed working with priceless museum collections, as well as yard sale finds, seeing the value in all instruments regardless of their provenance.
Elizabeth Patt
Owner // Conservation and Restoration
Elizabeth studied art history at Loyola Marymount University and has been working in the art field for over 10 years having worked for museums such as LACMA, MOCA, and the Getty. She apprenticed in an art conservation studio for five years learning scientific methodology and techniques for repairing artworks. She has trained in the repair of a variety of materials such as, bronze, ferrous metals, celluloid, glass, ceramics, stone, wood, plastics, and painted and lacquered surfaces.
Elizabeth enjoys applying her knowledge and training in art conservation to instrument restoration at Patt's Guitar Repair. Her specialities include wood splicing, crack repair, lacquer finish, stain and color matching, and custom fabrication of missing material. She applies knowledge of appropriate cleaning supplies to fragile wood surfaces, particularly with heritage and rare instruments. She has applied safety standards for the handling of artworks to our own repair shop and the instruments within it.
Elizabeth has developed a technique of consolidating and stabilizing antique celluloid pick guards and heel-caps.
Robert Miller
Apprentice // Repair Technician
Originally hailing from the East Coast, Robert brings a unique blend of talents and passions to the shop, having a particular interest in vintage microphones and recording equipment. He is persistent in his pursuit of caution and curiosity. A multi-instrumentalist (Guitar/Bass/Drums), he knows what he likes in an instrument and how it plays, and is now in the process of apprenticeship at the Shop to learn and employ our system of repair.
