It’s been a while since I caught up with local guitar repairer Reuben Axsentieff. After hearing he has moved to new premises in Cairn’s Oceana Walk arcade I thought this would be an ideal time for a catch up. To be perfectly honest, as a guitar player I just needed an excuse to pop in and have a perve on the new guitars Reuben is cranking out!

TM:- You have your first endorsee for the Rueben guitars, how did that come about?

Reuben:- Jason Hall is my first Endorsee for my handmade guitars – Jason is quite busy gigging constantly and I was keen to get one into Jason’s hands. He loves guitars and has assembled himself a very gig useful collection and for my guitars to survive 12 months of Grand Theft Audio gigs is going to be the ultimate test. He is a big sweaty hunk and I discovered that if his handwound pickups are not wax potted they do not last more than 250 – 300 gigs! I am confident my guitars will go the distance with Jason..

TM:- How much can a potential customer expect to pay for one of your handmade beauties?

Reuben:- Handmade Replicas are not cheap however they a custom made for people who are tired of the average “Cookie Cutter” guitars, that is to say each one is unique just like the coveted originals. Expect to pay from $1500 and UP (Bolt Neck) and $2500 and Up (Set Neck and Neck Through Designs)

TM:- I notice in your new shop you have some guitars by other local luthiers other than yourself, can you tell me a bit about those?

Reuben:- I have some real nice guitars in the shop made by Laurie Rohjan from South Cairns, They are very nice guitars – they make mine look like an old boat haha – but, his are very pretty and well made as you’d expect. They are worth coming in to check out!

TM:- In a short amount of time you have gone from the small workshop behind music city to the new shop, I take it business is good?

Reuben:- We moved to Oceana Walk Arcade about late August as I decided to be more visual as a guitar repairer – and so people could check out what we do in store. I gotta keep on my toes as some tourists are prone to sneaking up to my workbench and just watching me – ooh soo quietly…

TM:- You have a lustworthy collection of real Les Pauls, how do the Reubens compare?

Reuben:- Ah the “Collection”…. well the Dilema is this…. If you can and have made Instruments that are equal too or even better than some famous brand’s “Custom Shop Reissues” do you keep the collection or sell it off and use the cash elsewhere? Another Dilema is, If I can make me a guitar anytime I like – when do I stop?

http://www.reubensguitarrepairs.com

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