About Bruce

Hello and welcome to Bruce Guitars.

My love for guitars started in 1976 when my brother brought home the new Kiss album “Hotter Than Hell”. He apparently bought the record because he was enthralled with the album cover. When my brother played the album for my family for the first time, they looked at each other with a facial expression that most resembled the “who passed gas” face. I on the other hand immediately became obsessed with the wonderful sounds the guitars were making. I had never heard rock guitar played like that and was instantly hooked.

When I turned 13, I finally got my first guitar. Since then, barely a day has gone by without having a guitar in my hands. Coming from a family of mechanics, I could not help but take that first guitar apart to see what made it tick. This knowledge of guitars inner workings came in very handy later when I became a music teacher. If a student had a problem with his or her guitar, I would make the necessary repairs or adjustments enabling my students an easier time playing.

Later I went on to doing various jobs as a composer and session musician. Eventually I joined Larrivée Guitars where I was introduced to the creation of beautiful hand-crafted guitars by world-class craftsman. This is where I developed my skills working with a team of professionals building some of the finest acoustic guitars in the world. Larrivée became the foundation of my journey to becoming a Luthier. It was working in the fretting department where I honed my skills to the point where I was confident that I could branch out on my own.

In 2013, I opened Bruce Guitars as a retail guitar store. I soon realized that retail was not for me. I found myself enjoying fixing my customers guitars far more than simply selling them.
This led to me purchasing Vancouver’s first Plek Station, which really helped me find my calling in the field of guitar repair.

Now I find incredible happiness in reuniting a player with their oft forgotten treasured guitar. The guitar they used to love to pick up every day, that now sits waiting, forgotten in the closet. That treasured instrument that they have simply fallen out of love with. With my hands and the tools at my disposal, restore that treasured guitar to beautiful function and free it to sing a beautiful song again. I live for seeing the customers face brighten up and become inspired to create again.
I hope to do the same for you.

Bruce McNeill