There used to be an instrument repair shop/luthier opposite where I lived when I was a teen. The guy who owned it, Archie McPherson was a pretty well known in his field but he didn't just do classical instruments he would do electric guitars and basses too. The guy had one eye that pointed the wrong way and if you ever wandered in his shop he would talk to you for hours. It would be hard to escape.

Being not the richest kid I would often dumptser dive in the nicer parts of London to see what I could find. One time behind the Marquee, which when it was alive was a pretty famous music venue, I found the remains of a Fender Stratocaster that someone had obviously smashed onstage. The neck was broken off the body with a piece sheered out of it around the backplate and splitting the fretboard. It had also been hollowed out and had a metal plate attached to the back - a mess. I took it into the repair shop and asked how much it would be to fix it. He waved me away. Because I was a kid, lived opposite and knew me reasonably well he only charged me for the parts and nothing for the labour and boy oh boy what a job he had done. The break in the neck was close to invisible which was amazing seeing as he had to find a piece of wood to match the bit that was missing. I played like a gem too. Everyone who picked it up was shocked by how easy it was to play. It's a beautiful beat up guitar which I still own ....and play very badly. :D