All of my designs can be customized to shape it to your style and needs. Switching, electronics, bridges, neck profiles, radius and fretwire… I’m also absolutely open to designing a guitar based on you vision. I do NOT build copies of other guitars. The one possible exception would be a guitar that has been out of production for some time.
Currently the ONLY two scale options I offer for my builds are 25.5″ (typical Fender scale) and 26.5″ (For Baritone tuning). I can do nearly any board radius, but be aware that a flatter radius will incur far less issues with fret buzz and choking on bends without having to have rather high action to avoid those issues. I prefer a Straight 12″ radius, but it’s up to you. I buy my fretboards pre-slotted from a company who offers several different radii.
I will only use my 6 inline headstock and logo design. You may get it in standard or reverse. I typically use string trees rather than angled headstocks. My standard nut is hand made from bone, but if you prefer something else (locking, Corian, brass, etc..) I can certainly accommodate you.
Finish options: I prefer hand rubbed oil finishes. They’re faster, more forgiving, and look great. I do on occasion spray lacquer.
I do not mark up parts prices. You’ll pay me enough in my labor overhead for my builds to be worth it for me to build, and keeping the parts prices at my cost (usually retail from wherever I’m sourcing parts plus shipping costs) keeps the price a little more accessible which is something I strive for in everything I do for my customers. Just remember when you’re daydreaming your build that fancy wood comes at a fancy cost!
I require a NON-REFUNDABLE deposit equal to 50% of the quoted build price before I will start your build. NO design revisions* will be accepted once the deposit has been paid. Final payment must be made before you take possession of the instrument, either at the time of pickup, before shipping, or within 14 days of the completion of the build. If these conditions are not met you agree that I may list the instrument for public sale and forfeit your deposit.
*Before I’ve gotten to the finishing stage I will allow changes to the finish choice, and I’ll make sure to let you know when that is.
-The Spirit
My original inspiration for this design was The Spirit of St Louis.
The neck has a hand carved V to C shape profile so chording down low is more comfortable, and leads up high allow easy hand movement for all kinds of styles and techniques. The body is chambered and closed with an aluminum top. The hardtail version as you see here uses a Hipshot bridge as well as Hipshot semi-open gear locking tuners. The pickups I went for were Lace Alumitones as I felt they kept the “spirit” of the build cohesive. They sound pretty damn good, too.
Original design used an aluminum top (as you see here) but I quickly found it is very difficult to do a clear finish that will adhere properly. I can absolutely do a painted color over the aluminum top, add F holes, do a wood top, arm cut, belly cut, no cutouts with radiused edges… I tend to prefer mahogany bodies with any kind of standard top material (be it maple, purpleheart, rosewood, even clear plexiglass!) but nearly any typical body wood can be used. The original prototype was actually made of hard maple but because of my chambering design the guitar was still under 9 pounds.
The second (actually this is the third, I also built a baritone) seen here is made of mahogany and hard maple with a three piece neck with an ebony fretboard. It has DiMarzio pickups with push/push coil taps on the volume and tone controls for a total of 8 switching options! Absolute shredder of a guitar.
Chambered Maple body, Aluminum top
Maple Neck with Ebony board.
Chambered Mahogany body, Birdseye Maple top,
Maple neck with Ebony board.
Chambered Mahogany body, Purpleheart Top
with matching back cover, Flame maple neck
with Granadillo fretboard.
Yes, my 3 bolt necks are stable!
The Killer
-The Killer was originally designed for my first commissioned build with the direction that my customer wanted a body reminiscent of a LP Jr doublecut, but chambered. What we ended up with is a deceivingly light and wonderfully resonant guitar. The 25.5″ scale and correctly compensated MojoAxe wraparound aluminum bridge makes it a very comfortable guitar to play, and much easier to tune down without the issues caused by tuning down a shorter scale guitar. You can of course get nearly any bridge – be it hardtail or tremolo on earth, but if you’re looking for simplicity the MojoAxe bridge is an excellent choice and super affordable. The neck pocket is carved to allow comfortable upper fret access.
Analog Revival Co. 