Ruben Guitars and Repairs

Even though I have a "lowly" 1970's Suzuki Dove copy, Ruben and Rose treated me with the utmost respect, and did an impeccable dress/crown service on my guitar. The neck and action have never felt so smooth and silky, and the improvement in feel and tone are wonderful. See before/after photos.

Most pleased. I thought It was not possible, but it has genuinely exceeded expectations. Simply Magnificent! Rose and Ruben were so patient, helpful, guiding and informative throughout the whole build process. I am now the very proud holder / owner of a unique "one of a kind" Australian Made Bespoke Guitar. Thank You Ruben Guitars. Highly Recommended.

It was a great experience having a Ruben Mastercaster custom made. My first bespoke custom build, so I was a bit tentative. But Ruben and Rose were very experienced and the guitar turned out amazing. Thanks guys.

On 31/08/23 I had my Cole Clark ‘Angel’ worked on by Ruben & Rose and had an amazing experience with them. I wasn’t happy with my action and wanted a general guitar set up done on it. They absolutely nailed it! Best ACOUSTIC guitar set up I have ever had. The guitar plays absolutely beautifully and was serviced with such great precision and skill.

While they are quite pricey for their service, I recommend taking your ACOUSTIC guitars to Ruben & Rose for a truly masterful service.

Thank you both so much,
Josh

Had the absolute pleasure of buying a Fender Jazz from Ruben & Rose. Ruben had it set up to perfection and it plays like silk. Unfortunately the bass had a noise issue which showed up shortly after purchase, but Ruben graciously looked over it and redid/upgraded the wiring. Now it sounds as good as it feels and hasn't had an issue since!
Hands down Ruben Guitars is the place to go for guitar work. Thanks heaps guys :)

I was ready to hand over my hard earned money for one of Taylor's top end guitar at Acoustic centre when I glanced over to an even more prestige wall of acoustic. Randomly I picked up a guitar that strikes me and said to myself ahh...what the heck, Im just gonna tease myself by playing a guitar that is way beyond my budget and talent- just because.

Well STOP the train ! Holy cow ! OMG ! I was captivated right from the first note. Seriously, It was an epiphany ! I abandoned that Taylor purchased, went home, stared at the ceiling for days then remortgaged, refinanced and revised everything. Went straight to Rubens, introduced myself and bought that very guitar.I have not regretted one bit this day. Every time I open the case, what I see, my heart melts. When I play that guitar my soul soothes.Its a dream come true and I say that confidently because I've played many guitars in 30 years.Nothing comes close. Guys go see this man. Thank you Ruben. Thank you.

Had my USA Stratocaster undergo significant modification and routing work done.

Cannot fault the quality of Ruben's work.
Better than OEM.

Will be back at Ruben's for any future guitar related work.

Absolutely wrapped with the service provided by Rose and Ruben. Had my PRS Custom 22 repaired and setup which now plays and sounds better than ever. Pickups were upgraded with Lindy Fralin pure PAF’s at Ruben's suggestion (which are sensational), corroded hardware replaced, body, neck & frets polished - restoring my 16 year old guitar to its original glory. Since returned for service and setup on a Strat and Gretsch, both very happy with their work.
Very accommodating, knowledgeable and took the time to offer options and recommendations. Just genuinely nice people offering great customer service and a quality job. Would highly recommend. Thanks again!

I brought in my 12 string Taylor, which was not playable beyond on the sixth or seventh fret. After a neck reset, set-up and some love, it plays, sounds and feels like a new guitar. Ruben knows his eggs, and he and Rose are lovely to talk to. The Ruben guitars are stunners.

Hi Ruben. Thank you immensely for your excellent work on my long time guitar. She plays like the first day.You are indeed talented. Excellent work Ruben. Cheers Mate, Dash.

I recently had two guitars (an ES335 and a Maton acoustic) repaired by Ruben and I'm over the moon with the results. Great attention to detail and excellent craftsmanship - these guitars have never played better! Great customer service as well by Ruben and Rose - explained in detail all work that was done. Excellent value for money as well. Would give 10 stars if I could!

As the new owner of my Ruben Apex Predator Custom I am truly lost for words, however I will try to explain.
From the word go this has been the most amazing ride I could experience.
I discovered from very early on in the process that the only limitations were in my imagination, and my dreams were soon to become reality.
I am no stranger to high end guitars but they all lacked that 'cutting edge' that I was looking for. Ruben managed to create that extension of myself that I desired. The absolute finest of details were paid the highest of attention to, from the selection of the timber and highly detailed inlay work, right through to the custom finish. The resonance and sound are also exceptional.
Ruben truly is a master of his trade.
If you are searching as I was, I strongly encourage you to contact Ruben and begin your own individual journey.

I have been working with Ruben Guitars to have an acoustic guitar built. During this process I have found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful in guiding me in having the guitar built that will give me the sound and playability that I am looking for. I have owned 3 custom built acoustic guitars from Roy Noble (recently deceased) in the past and I anticipate that the guitar Ruben and Rose are building for me will even exceed the Noble guitars I had. For those out there who are not familiar with Roy Noble, he was responsible for many innovations found on top acoustic guitars today by Taylor, Gibson and others. In 1964-65, Roy rebuilt Clarence White's pre-war Martin D-28 after the Kentucky Colonels ran over it with their van. This legendary guitar went on to be owned by Tony Rice.

I live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and working with Rose and Ruben has been a wonderful experience. I hope someday to be able to meet them in person. During the process of having this guitar built I have become increasingly impressed with Rose and Rubens commitment to building the finest guitars possible. For example, I have learned that a few tonewoods are much more sensitive to their surroundings and can have issues that require a highly skilled craftsman to correct. Rose and Ruben try to avoid selling guitars with those tonewoods to anyone who is not somewhat local so they can provide any maintenance necessary in the future. Ruben also will only build his acoustic guitars during certain months of the year to avoid weather related construction issues that can show up after the guitar is built such as what Gibson experienced when they began building acoustic guitars in Nashville prior to moving their acoustic operations to Bozeman, MT. Ruben does build his guitars in a climate controlled environment but when the heat and humidity reach a certain point, that is not enough as Gibson learned the hard way. In addition to all of the above, Rose and Ruben are just darn nice people!

For what you are getting Ruben Guitars are an exceptional value. I have a Collings OM2HT that plays like a dream and has beautiful tone. The guitar Rose and Ruben are building for me has been designed with the tonewoods and top to give me the exact sound I am desiring. I had been initially looking at some other tonewood and top combinations but in consulting with Ruben we chose the woods that in his experience will give me what I am looking for tone wise. The Collings has a very well deserved reputation for high quality guitars with a lot of hand work involved. The guitar Rose and Ruben are building for me is 100% hand built with custom details that you can only get from a top luthier such as Ruben. All for the same cost as my wonderful Collings! In addition, the superior tonewood selections available from Ruben are making this guitar a beautiful work of art.

I can't wait to be able to do a follow up review once I receive my guitar. The only thing that I don't think this guitar will be able to do for me is to give me the skill to fingerpick the old Country Blues from the 1920's, 30's and 40's as skillfully as my guitar hero Jorma Kaukonen. Oh well, I guess there are some things money can't buy!

I dropped a Fleabass off that has virtually never been played before as it had been sitting in a box for most of it’s life. I knew the bass had needed a good set up and decided to go visit Ruben and his wife. They were so wonderful and friendly and was more than happy to leave it in their professional hands. The bass had needed quite a bit of work to get it back up to playability and when I picked it up, the work that Ruben had done was evidently masterful in his class. The bass action and frets are amazing to play in my hands and is better than ever before! Thanks guys! Take care!

I was in the market for a new guitar when I came across Ruben Guitars online. I rang them up to enquire about one of their builders choice guitars that was for sale that looked interesting and they were extremely friendly and knowledgeable with all of my questions. I organised to buy the guitar and Ruben and his wife Rose walked me through the process in a very courteous and professional manner. When I received the guitar it absolutely exceeded my expectations and I am staggered at the build quality of what I now proudly own. The guitar was set up with my preferred string gauge and plays like an absolute dream. I would highly recommend using their services and it is fantastic to have such a great company to deal with locally in Australia. Thanks again!!

I took my new high end Epiphone Les Paul into Rubens guitars for a set up and was blown away with the outcome. Ruben refined the action to an absolutely delightful level. He was able to resolve a nut issue with the new LP and the intonation is now perfectly tuned in sounds noticeably richer up and down the whole fretboard. I cant recomend Rubens guitars highly enough and am very grateful for the superb quality of their work.

Ruben guitars recently repaired a sizeable dent I carelessly managed to make in the soundboard of a sunburst Gibson acoustic guitar. The guitar came back looking stellar. Very happy with the outcome and I can unreservedly recommend Ruben for any repairs to the finish of your instruments.

I had my Penguin set up and shielded by Ruben. Excellent work. The guitar plays better than it ever has and the shielding has significantly reduced the single coil hum and I've detected no difference in tone. Very impressed and very happy. I would highly recommend Ruben to everyone!

Had my Messiah repaired by Ruben at Ruben Guitars and Repairs.

What can I say, he did an amazing job. He is an exceptional luthier and his attention to detail is top class.

I have no hesitation in recommending Ruben on any repair , set up or maintenance that you may need.

The guitars that he makes are awesome too!

Ruben and Rose provide exceptional servicing. I have had a few guitars setup recently and find they are much more enjoyable to play when I get them back. I was particularly happy to discover Ruben's experience with Maton, which meant it was a no-brainer for me to take the Messiah to him when I first bought it. Totally satisfied with the end product.
I look forward to unltimately designing and building a Ruben guitar.
I highly recommend their services.