Brian Elgey remembers the first time he ever picked up a guitar. He was seven years of age, and his father kept a finely polished and tuned Gibson SG hung up on their wall. It was a prize guitar that had never left that hanger for as long as Elgey could remember. He had asked to play it many times but his dad always refused, saying that it was too nice of a guitar to ever be played. Well given the mischievous nature of young boys, this deterrence only served to make his desires worse; and one day, he disobeyed his father’s wishes. And it was a decision that ultimately changed his life.

Elgey then went on to fall in love with guitars, and eventually convinced his dad to buy him one of his own for his birthday that year. His love for the six-string continued throughout his adolescence as he gained more knowledge about the instrument as well as a small collection of guitars for his personal choosing. He got to know each one intimately, which was just the beginning of a long career as a guitar technician.

By the time he had graduated from school and moved out of his parent’s house, he had already immersed himself in the world of professional musicians. He started working as a stagehand for a number of local venues, where he had gained the necessary skills and credentials to take the next step. Before he knew it, he was on the road and sharing a tour van with a five piece metal band from Norway. It was his first tour outing, and it got him in touch with many other acts that would later take him up on his services.

Now having toured with some of the world’s best-renown acts, Brian Elgey looks back to his starting days as a glorified roadie, and can’t believe the success he has achieved. Not only has he up kept the equipment of some of the world’s most famous guitar players, but a few times in his career he was asked to take the stage himself as a means of filling in for sick band members. And that is how Elgey has created a career that has kept him in touch with the very thing he loves most: the guitar.