No, not the governor, but Albuquerque's greatest guitar tech! We are lucky to have a guy like him around. Here's his website http://studioguitarworks.com

I was there again today and got to play (drool all over) his '63 SG. I said "wow, this thing plays REALLY nice" he said "Yeah ... because it's mine!"

He can work magic on your instruments.

Yes indeed, he is THE MAN! He's worked on all my basses and has always done an awesome job and charged more than fair prices for the work.

Highly recommend this cat!

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He can work magic on your instruments.

He is currently working on my Martin and my Explorer and I couldn't be happier!

Seems like a cool guy.....but I bought a guitar through him (he was selling it for someone) which he gave a clean bill of health, and it totally fell apart and was unplayable in 3 months.

My money's on Karl Mayforth. He's in the white pages, and an amazing guitar guy.

Bill is a jackass. Karl does much better work and is a great guy. He'll literally bend over backwards to get your guitar or bass going again.

Can I take my amp? I've had it at music go round for a couple months and nothing.

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Can I take my amp?

I've had amps fixed at Encore

If you look for stories about any repair shop in town you'll get them. It's called competition. Bill has worked wonders on all my instruments and if he can't do it he knows some really good people who can. Hell, cyril jordon from the flamin groovies used bill to fix his guitars. That's proof enough for me.

He will definitely do whatever you need done in a timely fashion. If you need a rush job then tell him you need a rush job. I've had him put down everything he's working on right on the spot and proceed to fix my instrument in front of me before. He's good.

Also, encore farms out their amp repair jobs. They don't do it inhouse. They do give your equipment to decent people though. I've had mixed results with them but they do get the job done.

I'm a newbie to this forum, and this is my first post.

I've known Bill Richardson since 1992 when we both lived in Northern California (The Bay Area; Bill has never lived in L.A.), and he's as honest as the day is long.

Since then, I haven't given my basses to anyone but him, although I'm sure there are others in town who probably do good work as well.

Bill's shop positively buzzes with activity every day he's open; his phone rings off the hook; his website is as professional as they come; he has decades of real experience, and people appreciate all of this.

Albuquerque is large enough for competition, especially if the competitors play fair and don't engage in ad hominem argument (i.e.,name calling).

Name calling really doesn't establish/reinforce a credible position; all it does is call into question the name-caller's motives and point to a possible underlying agenda, and it's ESPECIALLY egregious if the name caller acts friendly to the face of the one he's attacking, as is the case here.

I have no agenda here save backing a good friend and supporting an ace guitar tech.

For what these two cents might be worth.

My two cents - I rely on Bill to keep all my various guitars in ship shape. He's handled an excellent refret on my beloved vintage Gibson acoustic, built two killer Teles for me, patched a broken neck on my sentimental first guitar, turned my standard Danelectro reissue into a baritone and installed a pickup system in my Martin.

And that's not including all the advice and knowledge that helped me get hooked up with my current favorite amp (when I needed one that was versatile, easy to use and lightweight), my current favorite pickups (sweet, sweet Rio Grandes) and my current workhorse acoustic (when I absolutely had to have a high quality dreadnought, but couldn't shell out a fortune).

I appreciate having someone who is reliable and fast and attentive to any follow-up needs: guitars aren't static creatures - usage, humidity, construction and a gazillion other factors come into play.

I think the Albuquerque metro area is big enough for all the repair folks around here without needing to descend into pettiness. If you have someone else you like and can rely on - great! I'm going to use Bill because I've had great experiences with his work.

Agreed.
When asked by the Alibi what our band thought on this subject, we wrote;

Best Instrument Repair
Hands-down, it's Bill (Not-the-Governor) Richardson's Studio Guitar on Morningside NE (next to Stove). The man is a world-class guitar tech (just don't call him a luthier) and has the pedigree to back it up. Honest and unpretentious, Bill gets to know the musician or band and will repair or tweak your stringed instrument to a level of performance you probably didn't know existed. He's unbelievably affordable, does it for the love of the craft and has better stories than any Rock Dude you know.

(To be honest, although I have used his services in the past, I didn't realize Karl Mayforth was still around. For a while, he seemed to be hard to get a hold of and I sort of gave up trying to track him down)

Bill does good work.

Just picked up my explorer from him this weekend. Went from being a piece of shit to a brand new guitar that I should have payed like $800 for but instead payed $50. Mad props to Bill!