Life changed suddenly for Warrenton native, Robert Brooks, when he severely injured his knee on a construction job. He never once thought he would someday be known as “the guitar doctor of Greater St. Louis.”Now relocated to Hawk Point, the carpenter is using his woodworking skills in an entirely different way. In 2013, Brooks became a certified luthier, repairing stringed instruments. He opened Brooks Acoustic and Guitar Restoration in the spring of 2016.Brooks said he enjoyed carpentry work and built custom decks in the St. Louis area. After the injury, Brooks and his wife, Tonya, moved to Georgia so she could complete a Ph.D. program in mathematics there. Finally, it was determined that surgery would be required to help repair the damage. His surgeons weren’t overly optimistic and thought Brooks would be disabled permanently.“They thought I would always need a cane and might have a funny gait or limp,” said Brooks. “They wanted to know what my goals were after surgery. I thought being able to walk and not be in pain was my goal.”Brooks said he had months of physical therapy and was looking for something to do to keep himself busy. He received his first guitar as a Christmas present in 2011 and began teaching himself to play. He began to think that maybe finding a beat-up guitar and fixing it would be interesting.“I remember thinking, ‘It’s wood! How hard could it be?’”As he was searching for an old, damaged guitar in a music store in Athens, Ga., a patron told Brooks, “he knew a guy that does this.”Scott Baxendale, of Athens Luthier Academy, looked over the young man that came in his shop searching for something to do and thought he might have what it takes to build guitars. Brooks began an intense class that typically would last from six months to a year.“It was overwhelming,” said Brooks. “There was so much more to it than I thought.”Brooks said after four to five months, Baxendale asked him to be one of his employees. Brooks was already building custom guitars. He said after 250-300 guitars, he learned to fine-tune the sound to the body style and pitch the guitar the way a customer wanted it.Kevin Babb, singer and performer from St. Louis, was one of his customers and raves about the sound Brooks was able to get from his guitar.After a few years working with his mentor, Brooks was ready to try out some of his own ideas. He and Tonya wanted to move closer to home and were looking for a house with an attached workshop. They found the perfect place in Hawk Point.Although his target customer is a playing professional, Brooks is also excited about restoring family heirloom instruments. He said a lot of guitars are found in attics and closets and just need some TLC.“They’ve kept that person alive by rejuvenating the instrument that person played,” said Brooks. “Everybody has a story.”His specialty is what he calls a “sleeper conversion.” Brooks can take a guitar with a rough, damaged exterior and completely rebuild the interior dynamics to give the guitar a new voice, including changing the bracing, the focus of his restoration work.Recently Brooks rebuilt a Keith Urban guitar and donated it to the Healing Box Project. Their motto is “bringing healing to soldiers, one guitar at a time.” The not-for-profit provides guitars and lessons to veterans. Playing a guitar has been shown to provide stress relief and promote brain healing.The Healing Box Project was founded by Dave and CJ Dunklee. They have provided more than 100 guitars to veterans. Celebrities such as the Marshall Tucker Band and Charlie Daniels have autographed some of the guitars.To learn more about Brooks Acoustic visit brooksguitarrestoration.com.

Robert Brooks of Brooks Acoustic and Guitar Restoration LLC, Hawk Point, specializes in restoring and building guitars. His “sleeper conversion” method can give a mediocre guitar a new voice, often better than when it was new. He is known as the “guitar doctor” in the St. Louis area.

Record Photo/Cindy Gladden