From Stewart Campbell, the founder of Gifted Guitars:

Gifted Guitars was literally an idea that popped into my head one day when I was working on restoring a guitar from my personal guitar collection.  I have played guitar in various forms (acoustic, bass, electric) from the time I was 6 years old and learned basic guitar tech work when I was only 13.  For the last several years I have been purchasing guitars just for the fun of rebuilding them into great playing instruments.

​

Making my own music has been in my core for my whole life - my Mom played piano, my Dad loved to sing in their church choir, my sister played flute, and I learned trombone, rudimentary piano, and other band instruments along with guitar.  I know the feeling playing music - it both stirs your soul and calms your mind all at once.  I think every kid should somehow experience it.

​

Finally, my wife, Robin and I have always tried to give back to our communities.  Whether serving meals at "soup kitchens" in the city, helping at homeless shelters, working food banks and food drives, delivering food to the less fortunate, giving is part of what also feeds our souls.

​

So, putting together my love of "wrenching" on guitars with the desire to give back, and the desire to have kids be able to experience music led to the idea that if I could get people to donate guitars that they aren't using, I could fix them up and give them away to kids whose families can't fit a guitar into their budgets.

​

This started in June of 2024 with one guitar donated which I then refurbished. It was given away on July 12, 2024 to a young man named Dion.  I then created and registered the name Gifted Guitars, incorporated as a non-profit and started marketing to receive donated instruments using the photo of Dion getting his guitar.  Within days I had a dozen or more guitars and we were off to the races.  We gave away more than 25 guitars in the remainder of 2024, we gave away more than 60 in 2025, and as of October of 2026, we are at more than 140 guitars given away.  Since then, the community has poured their support into Gifted Guitars in the form of guitars, amps, cases, straps, strings, parts and most importantly, financial gifts which helps us be able to continue to drive this forward and serve the community.

Gifted Guitars is a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization - we received that designation in February of 2025.  Your financial support allows us to fund our operating expenses, which, while not large, are substantial - governmental and legal fees, business insurance as well as all the materials needed to ensure we are giving kids instruments that are complete and ready to play.

Every guitar we give away goes out complete - a case or bag, a strap, an amplifier and connection cord if an electric guitar, and when we have stock of them, a guitar stand too.  

​

Our guitar refurbishment program is thorough. While we don't refinish guitars, we do repair damage that affects playability, we thoroughly clean and polish the instrument, we adjust everything to an optimal setup, installing fresh top-quality strings from either D'Addario or Ernie Ball. Finally, we tune and adjust the guitar to its best possible intonation, action and playability.  

We do also give away new guitars when we are able to find them on special purchases, and we frequently purchase amplifiers as those are not donated very frequently.  Since building guitars is one of my hobbies, I also hand build and donate at least 5 guitars a year at my own expense to Gifted Guitars.

​

No one takes a paycheck from Gifted Guitars. Not now, not ever.  It's in our bylaws.

​

Many, many, many thank yous to everyone who has donated a guitar or other gear, and for all those that support us financially.  

 

If you're interested in volunteering, we're always interested in help - especially if you have guitar technician or guitar building skills. Just use the contact form to get in touch with us.

You're all the best!

~ Stewart Campbell, Founder and President
 

​

​