Guitar Chief’s story begins in an unlikely place. A carefree boy, hand-me-down vinyl records, and a veterans housing project. Hardly the ingredients for a legend – yet it would hold untold promise for me.

It was in West Allis, WI that rock and roll came to The Chief (Pronounced: “Duh Cheef”). The Beach Boys, the Ventures, the Beatles… rock music was exploding! What an exciting time to grow up in the United States! More importantly, what an exciting time it was to play guitar!

Except for one problem… I wasn’t much of a guitarist!

You see, as a young boy growing up in the post-war Midwest, there simply wasn’t a lot of money for extravagances like electric guitars and music lessons.

Unsurprisingly my first experience with a stringed instrument wasn’t a glamorous electric guitar. It was a black ukulele I found tucked away in my grandparent’s closet – a relic from my father’s war days. The back was peeling off and it had been around the world, but my enthusiasm convinced my father I’d play forever.

My first electric guitar was a used 1950’s Magnatone. I purchased it from a friend, road worn and ugly. But kids don’t see imperfections the way adults do. I only saw potential. When I strummed, I felt passion and enthusiasm in a way I had never felt before!

I quickly outgrew the Magnatone, searching for other sounds and builds. I was ravenous! There were so many guitars out there, but few that I could afford. I bought a great playing Gibson SG, but it had this awful “TV Yellow” finish that reminded me of a baby’s diaper…

Then I had a breakthrough: 1966 Fender Electric XII – the “Hockey Stick.”

The Fender Electric XII purred with dual split-humbucking-coupled pickups and a four-way pickup switch with phase-reversal. – LOVED IT! – It owed its trademark jangly sound to reversed string pairs (hi-low instead of low-hi like Rickenbacker and other popular 12’s).

The way I felt about the XII… you’re only supposed to feel that way about people.

And then I did something very foolish… I sold it. The band broke up, I got married, moved to Chicago, had kids – you’ve probably heard all the excuses. I actually traded it for two acoustic guitars.

Flash forward 30 years – kids, college, moves, career, life. I’d been waking up every day wishing I still had that guitar. So I did what very few people get to do – I went back out and I found it.

“Searching for that guitar was eye opening!”

The last guitar I purchased was in a store… from a salesperson! I was able to peruse the instruments, try them out, and haggle with the salesman who was usually a musician too. That experience has become exceedingly rare.

Today the internet is the go-to. It offers so many options, but you’re never certain who you’re dealing with, how the instrument will play, or even if the picture on the site is the instrument you will receive!

Now if you’re a rock star you can afford custom-made guitars and have luthiers do custom work. Chances are this probably isn’t an option for most of us.

Many of the Guitar Chief Fans I’m lucky to speak with are new to guitars. They’re parents speculating on a child’s passing interest in guitar. They’re teen rockers in garage bands. They’re young Moms and Dads who sold their collection to buy a crib, and still want a guitar around the house to play.

So what options are open to them? They buy entry-level guitars. Here’s what keeps me up at night…

Most of these entry level guitars are just – pretty good. They’re not excellent. They may have been conceived with good intentions but they’re often built by people who don’t play guitar, with a finish that is barely dry before the guitars are shipped.

It’s these, otherwise fine guitars, that make it into the hands of the eventual discouraged guitar players. The flaws of the guitar get in the way and that’s just not acceptable when you’re trying to learn to play.

My Fender Electric XII search helped me connect to a mission that was bigger than myself: helping passionate musicians overcome bad equipment and share in the joy of playing guitar.

This is the most important detail I can share with you about Guitar Chief…

We’re not about putting the most expensive guitar or powerful amp in your hands. We want to give you the smartest looking, smoothest playing guitar in your budget, and the confidence to master it.

How do we make that possible?

Do you remember those abandoned, unloved guitars that were discouraging their owners by getting in their way? We go out and look for them, acquire them, and fix what was wrong with them. We search high and low – in pawn shops and the web – to find unloved guitars and breath passion back into them.

What do we do that makes these guitars so special?

Our process at Guitar Chief addresses the most critical areas affected by poor workmanship, humidity changes, and neglect.

The package includes, but is not limited to:

• Full disassembly of the guitar
• Straightening the neck
• Filing (dressing) fret ends
• Leveling and polishing frets
• Truss rod adjustment
• Bridge adjustment
• Action adjustment
• Pickup height adjustment
• Inspect/clean lube nuts
• Oil fingerboard
• Fresh strings
• Tuning
• Setting intonation
• Clean and polish the instrument

Every guitar that passes through our hands receives this premium treatment, and the product you receive will look brand new, and play comfortably.

We stand firmly behind our brand, “Lovingly Restored | Passionately Played.”

As a show of confidence in the instrument choices we make, and the restoration work we do, every instrument that leaves Da Chief’s shop is guaranteed by a full 18 month service warranty. We’ll ship this to you, with your product, in the form of a voucher.

Our 18-month service warranty includes:

• Cleaning & polishing of the guitar
• Neck adjustment
• Fret evaluation
• Fret polishing
• Complimentary set of strings
• Volume & tone control cleaning

Since our mission is to put affordable instruments in the hands of young and inspired musicians, Da Chief often reaches out to local elementary, middle, and high school music teachers with an offer — to donate a guitar and practice amp to students who have been identified as having musical commitment, but may lack the family resources to acquire instruments.

We also give back to the community by actively looking for opportunities to donate equipment to fundraisers and silent auctions. Each restored instrument that isn’t earmarked for donation will be made available for sale to Guitar Chief Fans.

It’s for this reason that your support of Guitar Chief is so critical.

This isn’t a hobby or job to us. We doubt we’ll get rich doing this. This is the active promotion of music, which we know can play a critical role in our lives no matter how it reaches us.

I’d like to invite you to LIKE our Guitar Chief Facebook page, where we’re very active in promoting guitar as a lifestyle. Also please feel free to look over our Contact Us page if you’d like to reach us. We’d love to hear from you!

Finally, you can shop our inventory on eBay, and Reverb and own your very own passionately restored guitar.

Here’s to your success,

Jerry Gendron
“Da Chief” | Guitar Chief