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.
Raul Cotaquispe
Amp Repair and Service
When the pandemic of 2020 hit, Raul took the opportunity to turn his longtime hobby repairing and modifying guitar amps into a new career, joining CFW in 2021. Over the years, he has worked as a machinist for Schilke trumpets, as a guitar teacher at Old Town School of Folk Music, and as an electrical technician at Woodward Aeronautics. He also plays drums for Chicago band Izzy True and runs sound at Chicago’s legendary venue The Hideout. He continues the tradition of top notch repairs and friendly customer service our clients have come to expect. Raul lives in Chicago with his wife and two dogs.
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 started at CFW in 2021 but his background in guitar repair goes back well before that. He started swapping electronics in his Strat in high school, then studied ceramics and printmaking at the School Of The Art Institute before finding his way into instrument building classes. He went to work for Schroeder Amplification in 2010, learning guitar and amp repairs from one of Chicago’s masters. After a short sojourn to Detroit, he returned to Chicago in 2021. He specializes in fret work and custom electronics here and lives in Irving Park with his partner Becky and cats Gary and Kitty. Sam loves to get outdoors for a run, shopping for all things vintage, and seeing live local music!
Cameron Baum
Guitar Technician
When his parents bought 8-year-old Cameron a guitar, he found he was more interested in taking it apart and trying to put it back together than he was in playing it. Eventually, he realized that tinkering with guitars was the only thing he would really concentrate on so he headed to Arizona’s Roberto Venn School of Luthiery to learn guitar building and repair. After graduating, he worked as 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. In his spare time, he likes drawing on the shop dry erase board and being a dad to his two sons.
Micah Strobel
Guitar Technician
Micah hails from southeast MInnesota and was raised in a household of musicians. His early interest in performing in music and theater evolved into an interest in the way instruments worked. He attended the guitar and violin building and repair program at Red Wing (Minnesota Southeast Tech) for three years, taking every available course. He’s excited to hone his craft here in Chicago!
Balthazar de Ley
Amp Technician
Before joining our amp repair crew in 2021, Balthazar already had a long career of building and repairing amps and other musical gear in Chicago. He spent years restoring and maintaining the array of vintage amps and studio equipment for Smashing Pumpkins and continues to build his own line of handmade tube amplifiers based on early 60’s British-made amps like Selmer and Vox. Learn more about them at balthazaramps.com.
Josie & JJ
Security/Greeters
Josie (left) and her brother JJ have become regulars here in the shop. They go home with Troy at night but they’re so friendly you’ll feel like you’ve known them forever. Belly rubs always welcome.
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.