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Charles Hoffman passed away on December 4th, 2024 at 3:15 P.M. He was surrounded by his family, and has had many of his closest friends come by to play music and say goodbye in the last several days.
 

I had hoped that watching his illness for ten years, and helping with his hospice for the last four months would make his passing easier. It did not. It was as beautiful possible, and I am glad of the circumstances, but my life will never be the same.

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His memorial service will be streamed at 12:00 on 13th of December HERE. 

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Expert Guitar Repair &
Custom Handmade
Guitars

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Since 1971 Hoffman Guitars has provided a full range of services to guitar players nationwide.   We have always worked to provide the finest in instrument repair services and handcrafted guitars.  We provide a full range of repair services, including factory authorized warranty service for C.F. Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Jim Olson and others.  We have built over 650 individually handcrafted guitars, which are (or have been) played by such players as Leo Kottke, Tim Sparks,  Dakota Dave Hull, Ann Reed, Jerry Rau, Charlie Maguire, Phil Heywood, and others.  In this day and age it may seem a bit anachronistic but we really believe in customer service and strive to provide the very best.

About Hoffman Guitars

Our shop has been primarily an instrument repair shop since our founding in 1971. 

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Hoffman Guitars is a factory authorized warranty service center for C.F. Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Olson.  We offer a full range of repairs, from restoration of fine vintage instruments to the simplest set-ups of beginner guitars.  We have wide experience in both acoustic and electric instruments.  We are experienced in a full range of finish repairs, from touch up of old instruments to total finish jobs on custom instruments.  Along the way we have seen instruments ranging from plain to fancy, ordinary to extraordinary and normal to bizarre (we have repaired bullet holes, a Russian Contra-bass balalaika, sitars, and an entire collection of Dyer harp guitars).  We strive to do our best work on every instrument which crosses our benches, and there is no job we cannot tackle. 

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We invite you to visit us (or call or send an e-mail) to discuss any issues with your guitar.  We will help you arrive at a solution which is both cost effective and appropriate for your instrument.  We will tell you how long the repair will take, and we will do it in that time.  We believe that you will be happy with our work. 

 

We do not charge for estimates.

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Same Day Setups on Saturdays. 
Call to make sure we have room.  Limited availability.

Hand made guitars; hand built guitars; handcrafted guitars; luthier; all different descriptions of what we do.  When we first started making guitars we were often asked why we build instruments in the old fashioned way--each guitar built by one craftsman. These days when we are in the middle of  a renaissance in handcrafted guitar making, that question is not asked so often. The answer to the question then, as now, is actually quite simple-- we love to work with wood and tools, and we also love guitars and guitar music.

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We make only one quality of guitar -- the very best that we can.  We use only the finest solid woods available and painstakingly assemble them into fine guitars.   In this web site you will see a variety of models and decorative options, some of them very expensive.  These elements do not increase or decrease the care and craftsmanship that goes into each of our instruments.

About the Old Website

The old Hoffman Guitars website was a large and wonderful resource for many on how we build guitars.  Unfortunately, the cost of hosting it had become impossible to maintain.  It took Charlie more than 10 years to build it, but the code and picture quality was outdated.  While I would like to recreate much of the information when I can, the process of recreating would take far more time than I have available, and so I have had to retire it. 

That said, you can still find much of the information and resources saved on The Wayback Machine

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