I had a Brian May guitar signed by Brian May, Hawkins Guitar placed a clear finish on the surface for protection . WOW what a great job! Looks out of the factory !I am grateful for his attention to detail and professionalism.If I ever need more work done this is the place I will go...

In September 2020, I took the opportunity to take Brian’s one week setup/repair class. Prior to this class, I had always taken my guitars to a local shop in Northern Virginia for setups. My experience level was limited to string changes and I had never even taken a truss rod cover off. Day one, we were out of the shoot breaking down how stringed instruments work and how to make them work properly. During the week, I became proficient in guitar setups, minor repairs, and even wound a set up pickups, which sound absolutely phenomenal. This is truly a course that you will get out of it what you put into it. Brian is an excellent teacher and seemed to cater his teachings to my level of enthusiasm. He breaks down the lesson to where it is easy to understand and put into action.One of the lessons learned that is not part of the class is the actual business of guitar repair. Brian is a great businessman that truly cares about his customers. I watched as he interacted with customers and observed while he handled their instruments. I can guarantee your instrument is in great hands while being repaired by Brian. He is a truly skilled craftsman. One of the most interesting things I noticed while in the shop was his genuine care of people. I specifically watched him with one student and the way that he was giving him lessons that crossed over from stringed instruments, to a lesson of life confidence. This is a little sappy, but nonetheless, speak to the character of Brian Hawkins and Hawkins Guitar.I cannot say enough about my experience in the repair school. I have learned a new skill which I have put into action on my own guitars. They were long days, but awesome days. You will definitely get your money’s worth in this class. Brian builds some of the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen. He is a great teacher and a genuinely good person at heart. If you entrust Brian with your instrument or educational opportunity, you can trust you are in good hands!

Took my 86 strat to hawkins for a refret, after seeing it he told me i just needed a proper setup.this guitar sings now, no buzz and intonates beautifully. Its like a different guitar.

I have taken my guitars to other shops for the past 30 years and found that no one has the depth of knowledge, experience and expertise that Hawkins Guitar has. The battle with the perfect setup ends at Hawkins!I own four acoustics and four electrics- all of which have been properly set up by Brian and crew. They play so sweet now- I tell everyone that perfection and quality starts and ends with Hawkins. Thank you Brian and team for making playing a guitar a pleasure again! Awesome customer service! Honesty and Integrity is still alive- at HG!

Brian saved me from a guitar I bought online that had a raised fret. He repaired a virtually unusable guitar into a highly desirable playing axe. The neck is beautiful with nicely polished smooth frets up and down the neck. Thanks Brian. Also great personal attention that you will not get at that big box store.

I have a beloved old guitar that developed a serious structural issue with a support brace inside the body. Having no clue if this could even be repaired I contacted Brian at Hawkins Guitar. He checked out the guitar and not only did he fix this issue perfectly, you cannot even see where the damaged occurred, he did it for less money that I expected and had the repair done within a week. Hawkins Guitar is your one-stop-shop for professional guitar repair.

Hawkins guitar did an awesome re-fret with evo gold fret wire on my 77 Les Paul Custom. After that job, I brought my 1999 Heritage H-575 in for a set up. Wow! I bought this guitar new in 1999 and have had it set up professionally many times over the years, but never by Hawkins Guitar before. The guitar has *never* played like this before. It feels like a totally different instrument. I will never take my guitars anywhere else again! I would give 10 stars if I could!

Since I met Brian several years ago Ive entrusted him with just about every guitar I own and thats a lot guitars. Every experience has been exceptional. Ive shared that with my musician friends and they have all told me the same thing. What he did was amazing and I feel like I have a new and better guitar. Acoustic, electric he knows the ins and outs and knows how to get the best out of even the most challenging projects.Most recently I brought him a 64 Jaguar that belonged to a dear friend who had passed. His wife wanted it to be checked over and made right. I knew it needed set up and Bryan did that perfectly. Also the electronics were sketchy. We couldnt figure that part out and I was beginning to lose hope. The other day we talked about it at length and begin ruling out where the problem was. He took every part apart and checked meter readings, connections etc. Finally with every nut and bolt removed he found a single coil wire on the pick up that was disconnected. He said all along Ill figure this out. No pun intended but it went down to the wire. One little tiny wire.Ive been a musician for over 50 years and have picked up a little knowledge along the way. This I know, Brian Hawkins is craftsman and a diligent professional. He not only builds a beautiful guitar but also has an uncanny knowledge of every intimate detail of the instrument. Beyond that, he has integrity. Im grateful to know him and trust him with my instruments.Mike Hodges

I needed my ukulele repaired and they did a fantastic job in less than 24 hours. Sounds better than ever. They are extremely nice and know their stuff! Highly recommend!

I took the guitar setup class and I was blown away with how my guitar came out. I learned a ton. I brought my les Paul to work on and this is the best it has ever played, and I’ve had the guitar for 9 years. I plan on returning for the guitar building class in the future. You won’t be disappointed with this class.

I recently just bought a Martin D-28 brand new, so set up was stock from factory. I brought it to Brian to see if he could lower the action a little bit, and sure enough the playability is so much more nicer now. I love playing it.

Brian is a wonderful teacher and, somehow, an even better luthier. His guitars are some of the most outstanding Ive ever played. Stop by & check out his shop whenever you get the chance!

Awesome set ups. Have had 3 guitars set up and pickup rewound which sound incredible. This is my permanent guitar guy. Hawkins guitars are what guitars are supposed to sound and play like.

My husband signed up for Hawkins Build School and Brian has definitely gone above and beyond to teach him all aspects of the craft and to give him confidence to try what otherwise seemed like an intimidating project. Brian is a true craftsman and my husband finds him to be an excellent teacher as well.

Brian really knows his stuff! Hes worked on several of my guitars, everything from setups to a total refret and I have been very happy with the results every time.

There are guitar builders and then there are Luthiers. The skills, talents, and knowledge required for building guitars -specifically acoustic guitars are vastly under estimated. Using templates and power tools to completely construct a stringed musical tool is the obvious choice for bigger companies such as Gibson, Fender, Ibanez...etc -cookie cutters.When Hawkins Guitar constructs an acoustic guitar, there are few if any power tools involved. With the exception of a router and a polishing wheel - most Hawkins Guitars are totally constructed by hand. The pride in quality and craftsmanship is hard to duplicate- Brian applies the same quality processing with teaching the fine art of stringed musical instrument construction and repairs; passing on his technique and knowledge to those who desire to be uniquely different from the norm.Well done Mr. Hawkins!

Without a doubt the worst luthier experience I have ever had in over 25 years. I brought my Gretsch to Brian to troubleshoot the bridge pickup cutting out and replace the pickups with new TV Jones ones in the process. I also asked him to do a setup on the guitar. He changed the pickups and said he tested it, but when I came in.....the bridge pickup wouldnt work at all. He apologized and said he would take care of it. A week or so later he informed me that he had fixed the problem so I came back....and sure enough, the bride pickup still did not work. I finally said I would order a whole new wiring harness from TV Jones and have it sent to him. Several weeks go by and I hear nothing, so I call him. He apologized and said he did receive the harness and would install it right away and have it done within 24 hours. Two days later I call and ask if it is ready. He says yes and I tell him I will come in that afternoon.When I arrived, he asked me if I had a few minutes....then I realize he hadnt even opened the box with the harness! I left and came back 30 minutes later and he tells me that TV Jones sent the wrong harness (which was true, but should have been identified long ago), but he was able to fix the switch this time. He tests the guitar in my presence and everything seems to work so I finally leave with my guitar. He apologized for the delays and offered me $50 off a setup! In other words, he never did the setup I originally asked for! Wanting to cut my losses, I took the guitar home about 2 months after I originally brought it in.I plugged it in at home.......the bridge pickup doesnt work at all. And to top it all off - He installed the pickups UPSIDE DOWN!You can bet Brian wont be touching any of my other guitars!

Beautiful hand crafted guitars and expert set-ups! Definitely recommend if your looking for a new custom guitar, repairs, or a set-up!

I have been playing 20 plus years, and Brian Hawkins builds the most incredible guitars that I have played. I just had a commissioned acoustic deliverd, and the kraftsmonship , and set up work is incredible.

I came in for a replacement nut so I could repair my acoustic guitar, and Brian gave me a free bone nut, sand paper, and advice for free! Thanks Brian!

I decided I would rather have a REAL guitar builder work on my guitars....Turned out to be the best idea ever!

The best guitar builder and repair man in the area, amazing teacher, highly recommended!

Brian is the Jedi of guitars..hes worked on 2 of mine

Bandmate and good friend Walter Potter had work on his tele done by Brian and he was extremely satisfied. My go to 74 strat was in bad need of a refret and I had just run into electronic issues so I called him up. He did a fantastic job on the refret and electronics but the set up was a challenge. He put in a lot of time getting it just right and was never happy until I was totally satisfied. Its an amazing guitar now. I can hardly put it down and that was over a month ago.During the process I also asked him to replace the pickguard on My 71 Martin D-28. He found a crack which is consistent with the pickguard issue for that model and time period. The repair was professionally done with no issues. I also decided to have him set it up and it has never played so well. As an added bonus he buffed it for me and it looks beautiful. All this at a more than reasonable price. I refer him to anyone I know that can use his services. It was the best experience I have ever had with my instruments and I have 50 years under my belt to make that claim.

Took back the same guitar three times..same result..unsatisfactory

Pretty bad..still unable to play guitar..action way too high