Guitars.
One day I decided to challenge myself to build an electric guitar. I had a few tools, nothing in the way of woodworking experience, and little or no knowledge of what made a guitar work. I bought a book, some wood, and a few more tools and got to work.
It came out ok, but I thought I could do better. So I made another one. Then another.
It’s been a couple years since I’ve built one but I know one of these days I’ll come across a chunk of wood that wants to be turned into a guitar. I’ll build more.
I have a separate site for my guitars here.
#1. My First (January 2016)
My Apollo 11. "Can I do this? Yes I can." This is where it started.
Swamp ash body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Danish Oil finish.Very basic.
JIMCASTER (July 2016)
What do you do when you've always wanted a Tele but can't justify buying one? Build one.
Swamp ash body, one-piece maple neck/fretboard. Sprayed nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
Granite State (November 2016)
This was going to be a cigar box guitar. A simple one day build. Then I looked up on my shop wall and noticed a New Hampshire license plate that had been hanging there for years. It belonged to my late father-in-law and I immediately knew I wanted to use it on a guitar.
I built my own "cigar box" out of cherry and poplar and a neck out of maple. When it came time to cut holes in the license plate for the bridge and pickup, it just sort of worked out to be... nice.
Since there aren't too many U.S. states that are roughly headstock-shaped, you have to take advantage of it when you can.
LX (March 2017)
A gift for my brother-in-law. I wanted to build something that looked like a piece of fine furniture. Something that would feel at home in a living room filled with antiques, standing next to a baby grand.
Birdseye maple top on a mahogany body.
Cinque (December 2017)
Why a five string bass? Because five is more than four. I don't know, I don't even play bass.
I was at a lumberyard when I found the most beautiful slab of claro walnut. As soon as I saw it I knew it was going to be a bass.
Claro walnut top on mahogany body. Neck through construction with seven piece laminated neck of wenge, maple, and purpleheart. Seymour Duncan NYC Bass pickups. Hipshot bridge and tuners.
Totality (May 2018)
Flamed maple top with a hint of amber. Mahogany body.
Ebony fretboard with hand-cut "eclipse phase" abalone fret markers, inspired by the 2017 eclipse, of course.
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates (neck) and Custom Custom (bridge) pickups. Abalone topped control knobs. Individual volume and tone controls with a three-way toggle switch.
Schaller bridge, tailpiece, and tuners.
#7 (Unnamed)
Spalted maple top with a walnut body. Maple and wenge neck-through construction.
Ebony fretboard with compound radius.
EMG P/J Pickup set. Hipshot bridge and tuners.