Dan Wolf
Owner/Luthier
Since 1997, thousands of players, collectors, and enthusiasts from around the country have turned to Dan for their most challenging and difficult repairs. Top crack on your Taylor? Fractured headstock on your vintage Les Paul? A neck reset on your prewar Martin? When Dan’s finished you’ll forget it ever happened as you return to making music with your favorite partner. Dan began learning his craft in 1996 at Red Wing Technical College (Now Minnesota State College – Southeast Technical) in Red Wing, MN. He and his wife live on the north side of Chicago with their dog, CFW greeter Reese. Dan loves taking in live music and rooting for almost all of Chicago’s sports teams.
Steve Baker
Owner/Luthier
Steve began working on guitars in 2000 at Bryan Galloup’s School of Luthiery. Prior to that, he spent 5 years teaching high school English in Chicago and the southwest suburbs. Over the years, Steve has established a reputation as a knowledgeable, honest, and skilled repairman. He particularly enjoys working on guitar electronic repairs and reviving old guitars that have been in hiding for a while. He lives in the Lincoln Square neighborhood with his family and occasional substitute shop-dog Olivia.
Patrick McKeever
Amp Repair and Service (lead technician)
Since 2000, Chicago guitarists and bassists have turned to Pat for complete servicing of their amplifiers. He prides himself on helping musicians “find their tone – the sound that you hear in your head – the way your gear ought to sound.” He trained at the Electronic Institutes of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1985, and has spent the years since focusing on how to get great sounds out of guitar and bass amps. Pat has been a professional bass player and a regular in the Chicago Blues scene for some 25 years, performing and touring with Eddie Clearwater, Willie Kent, and Guy King among others. He also hand-builds the beautiful Fender-inspired Sweet Amplifiers.
Troy Anderson
Guitar Technician
Troy grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago and began tinkering with guitars while he was in high school. Before joining the CFW staff in 2018, Troy Anderson was the lead guitar repair tech at Guitar Center in Country Club Hills, IL. He is a pop & rock singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. You can check out some of his work on Soundcloud. When he isn’t playing or repairing guitars, Troy is usually at a dog park playing catch with his two golden retrievers JJ and Josie, (who you may meet in the shop!) Troy has become a highly skilled fret-worker, doing many of the refretting jobs here. He also loves relic projects, giving modern guitars the look and feel of instruments from the 50’s & 60’s.
Sam Broom
Guitar Technician
Sam’s bio coming soon
Cameron Baum
Guitar Technician
Not long ago, two loving parents bought their 8-year-old son a guitar, prompting him to take it apart and try to put it back together. A few short years and multiple attempts later, Cameron Baum realized that guitar repair was the only thing he could really concentrate on so he headed to Arizona’s Roberto Venn School of Luthiery. After graduating, he became the repair technician at the Rockford GC for three years before finding his way here to CFW. He now handles many of our trickiest structural repairs and has the cleanest workbench in the shop.
Reese
In Memorium 2004-2021
The first employee to join CFW in 2008, Reese was always happy to see you. He enjoyed greeting customers, especially young ones, with a tail wag and the occasional kiss. He and Dan spent nearly 16 years together, playing frisbee on the lakefront, camping, and sitting on sofas. We miss him.
Olivia
Security/Greeter
A part-timer these days, Livy spends the occasional day in the shop. She would love it if you’d put down that guitar and throw her ball please.