Gavin Sheehan Finds His Rhythm in Biddeford
Before Gavin Sheehan could play a guitar, he knew what it felt like to see one come out of its case. His father would pull a 1958 Gibson from beneath the bed, open the lid, and play a few tunes. That same guitar is now with Gavin in his workshop at 22 Pearl Street in Biddeford. “It’s the first guitar I ever played,” he says.
Gavin moved to Biddeford full time in July 2026 when his wife took a new job at the University of New England. He brought decades of experience in music, woodworking, instrument repair, and lutherie to a city he already knew. Years earlier, he had helped build out a Main Street wine bar opened by his sister. Now he offers guitar repair, setups, and custom builds from his own workshop in an old Biddeford mill building, with woodworking machinery on one side and a set up table, guitars, drums, and recording equipment on the other.
Raised in Coventry, Connecticut, Gavin found his thing early. Guitar led to drums, bass, punk and hardcore bands, and eventually free jazz, experimental music, and sounds that resisted easy categorization. He lived in Seattle and Vancouver before spending roughly a decade in Montreal, where brutally talented musicians moved freely between bands and genres. “It was a really magical and open place.” he says.
Alongside the music, he was learning how things were made. An early job finishing furniture got him looking closely at wood grain, followed by years of cabinetry, furniture, commercial and residential build-outs. He worked on his own instruments throughout, learning fret work on a guitar he owned and gradually taking on other people’s instruments. After leaving Montreal and a good amount of his instruments behind, wanting a solid-body guitar built to his own preferences, he decided to make one himself.
Built to Be Played
The guitars in Gavin’s shop reveal a builder who keeps reconsidering the details. Weight, balance, neck profile, scale, and controls have all changed from one instrument to the next as he works toward something that feels right in his hands. This is an approach he takes with each custom build and set up alike to ensure the utmost of client satisfaction. On one of his Earth guitars, small fretboard inlays trace the moon orbiting the Earth, with an eclipse at the octave—a nod to Composer, Musician, and otherworldly entity Sun Ra. “It’s always fine tuning,” Gavin says.
That attention extends to instruments with much smaller price tags. During our visit, he showed a $175 acoustic he had transformed from an uncomfortable beginner guitar into something enjoyable to play. He thinks especially about children starting out with high poorly set action or sharp fret ends, struggling against problems they may assume are part of learning. “On top of the pressure to sound like other players, and the discomfort of building callouses and muscle memory, an instrument that plays like crap will make kids not want to play at all” he says.
His work ranges from basic setups to extensive repairs and custom builds, but helping someone enjoy the instrument they already have holds particular appeal. A modest guitar can become a good companion with the right attention. “But if you can make a $175 guitar play like butter, who the hell cares?” he says.
A Place to Make Things
Gavin is still exploring his new hometown, meeting fellow craftspeople, finding shows, and recording music of his own. One project originally intended for a larger ensemble has become a solo album, with Gavin recording every instrument himself. Biddeford’s concentration of people making things gives him encouragement. “It’s nice to be in a town where there’s talented people outwardly doing great stuff,” he says.
Back in the shop, his father’s Gibson remains a reminder of how much an instrument can carry. Gavin has cleaned away corrosion, tended to its electronics, and brought it back into playing shape, keeping the guitar that first caught his attention before he could understand what playing meant. “It’s just a really soulful sounding guitar,” he says. These days, he gets to help other people keep that feeling, too.
Many thanks to Gavin Sheehan for his time on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
For contact info and more, visit Gavin online at https://cstmjahb.com
Follow Gavin on Instagram at @customjobmusicalinstruments
photo by Maine Photographer Cy Cyr. Click each photo to enlarge.
Gavin Sheehan is Interview #52. BRICK+TIDES tells the stories of the people who make York County, Maine, their home and the work they do here. Through interviews and original photography, we take you inside places you might pass every day, like Gavin’s workshop on Pearl Street. Subscribe to The Drift, our free newsletter, to get new stories in your inbox.