“I first became aware of Jeff Mallia’s extraordinary luthier skills when I played an early 20th Century Gibson mandocello that he had done major neck repairs to. I immediately realised that I could trust any vintage instrument I had with him. Over the years he has done significant repairs to my 1989 Dan Crary Signature Taylor and 1969 Martin D-18 guitars and more recently, a major restoration of a recently-acquired 1972 Martin D-28. His eye for detail, historic instrumental knowledge and passion for optimising the sound of every instrument and customising it for the individual player’s style places him second to none amongst the top luthiers in Australia.”
“Jeff is the guitar doctor of guitar doctors. I’ve never seen such awesome work – and all done under intense time pressure with a terrific bedside manner.”
“I have played basses built by Jeff for over 20 years now. The only two basses I own are Mallia 4 strings. I can easily embrace the idea that they’re my life time instruments. He loves what he does and really gets inside what it is you’re looking for as a player. Actually, he challenges you to answer for yourself what it is your’e looking for in the pending instrument. Once you’re both clear on that, he just nails it. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of his instruments. They look and feel great and play beautifully. They respond to subtle variations in touch. I have used them on dozens of albums and hundreds of live performances, etc.”
“…just a short note to let you know how pleased I am with the repair you conducted on my dobro neck. I appreciate the effort you went to and realise you could have just given it ‘band-aid’ treatment. Thanks again.”
“I just wanted to drop you a short line to commend you once again on the terrific job you did on customising my D’aquisto.
Now that I have had it for about 6 weeks and have had the chance to ‘play it in’, it is as if you were able to duplicate the exact picture inside my head and bring it exactly to life. A difficult task for anyone in their chosen field, however, you have demonstrated this ability of listening and reproducing the desired effect as effortlessly as drawing a breath. I am contemplating contacting the original manufacturers to advise them of your expertise, and at the very least, I shall shout your name from the rooftop to any serious guitarist looking for a customised job. Well done.”
