Free 15-Minute Musical Instrument Repair Consults in Gowanus

Brooklyn Lutherie, at 232 3rd Street, Suite E003, is a basement string workshop inside the Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, and it takes every acoustic and electric string instrument except harps and plastic toys. Visits are strictly by appointment, during Tuesday hours of 10 am to 7 pm and Wednesday to Friday hours of 10 am to 5 pm. The homepage states the rule in capital letters: no walk-in visits are entertained, so this is musical instrument repair you plan around, not stumble into.

The shop was founded and is still run by luthiers Chloe Swantner and Mamie Minch. In an interview with Women in Sound, Swantner explained that the pair met while working at Retrofret, the vintage guitar dealer, before setting up on their own. A 2018 profile from National Sawdust described it as the only female-owned instrument repair shop in New York City and reported a load of 30 to 50 instruments a week.

The services page lists guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, oud, lap steel, violin, viola, cello and ukulele, and the shop also rehairs bows. Its stated specialties are structural restoration and fretwork, the jobs that make an old instrument playable again rather than just shiny. Cracked tops, lifting bridges, worn frets and seam separations are the daily diet. The shop is also a dealer for pickup and string makers including K&K Sound, LR Baggs, Fishman, Trance Audio and D'Addario, plus Glasser and Incredibow bows, so a new pickup can be fitted in the same visit.

The philosophy is spelled out on the same page. The luthiers say their ears are bent to hear the entirety of each repair, and that whether the job is a simple setup or a complex restoration they treat it holistically. The stated goal is to hand back a playable, stable, well-treated instrument. In practice that means a fret job may come with a conversation about neck relief, and a crack repair with a talk about how the guitar is stored.

Knowing the limits saves a trip into the basement. The shop has no spray booth, so it offers no spray finishing or refinish work. It does not repair autoharps, harps or plastic instruments. The booking form adds one more exclusion that matters to acoustic-electric owners: it does not work on Takamine electronics problems. For brass and reeds, the resources page points players to a Midtown repair shop instead. For amps, it recommends separate technicians, including one who works out of Main Drag in Williamsburg.

Every job begins with a consultation booked online. The appointment page says it takes about 15 minutes in person: the luthier assesses the instrument, talks through the repair options and gives you an estimate. The booking page lists the consultation as free. The form asks for the make and model and the issue you want fixed, and it lets you upload photos in advance. Each appointment covers two instruments at most, a cap the shop says keeps its turnaround swift.

The booking page warns, in capitals, that the calendar is often full a few weeks in advance. That makes timing the real trick here. If your gig is next weekend, book the moment you notice the buzz rather than the week the string snaps. Tuesday is the only long day, running until 7 pm, so after-work slots there go first. If a repair is unusual or ambitious, the shop invites you to email info@brooklynlutherie.com beforehand to talk it through, which can save a wasted consultation.

Finding the door is half the visit. At the entrance, use the upper screen to the left of the door, tap the tenants list and scroll to E003; the intercom rings the shop and someone buzzes you in. Inside, walk to the chandelier, go down one flight of stairs to the basement and continue to the end of the hall. Brooklyn Lutherie is the sixth door on the right, marked by its flag. Drivers are pointed to the supermarket parking lot across Third Avenue.

A little homework makes the 15 minutes count. Put on the strings you actually want to play, because a setup judged on dead strings is a guess. Bring the case, since cracks and humidity problems are often a case problem too. Note when the trouble appears, such as a buzz only on the low E above the seventh fret or a seam that opens in January. For violins, violas and cellos, bring the bow if it needs rehairing so both can be assessed together. If you play out with a pickup, bring the cable and the amp settings you use.

All repairs carry a 90-day warranty, according to the services page. The appointment page also carries seasonal advice. If you are coming in with cracks or seam separations caused by dry winter air, the luthiers ask that you humidify the instrument at home. The simplest method they suggest is keeping it in its case with a humidifier, and they name Humidipaks as an easy option for all kinds of instruments. A cracked spruce top that keeps drying out will only crack again after the cleat is glued.

The Can Factory sits at the corner of Third Street and Third Avenue, a few blocks from the Union Street station on the R. After a consultation, walk east along Third Street, past Fourth Avenue, to the Old Stone House, a reconstruction of the 1699 Vechte-Cortelyou House in Washington Park. It marks the spot of the culminating engagement of the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn and also commemorates the birthplace of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Head back west to the Third Street bridge for a look at the canal. Brooklyn Fine Guitars, which the shop recommends for affordable new and used instruments, is also in the neighbourhood.

Address: 232 3rd Street, Suite E003 (basement), Brooklyn, NY 11215, in the Old American Can Factory at the corner of Third Avenue.
Hours: Tuesday 10 am to 7 pm, Wednesday to Friday 10 am to 5 pm, by appointment only.
Email: info@brooklynlutherie.com.
Booking: online consultations of about 15 minutes, free, with a maximum of two instruments each. No walk-ins.
Not offered: spray finishing, harp and autoharp repair, plastic instruments, Takamine electronics.
Warranty: 90 days on all repairs.