A beautiful koa Sadowsky!
Koa is one of the most beautiful woods and this guitar is just amazing. There really isn’t much to say about the guitar, just look at the picture!
Koa Sadowsky Guitar
Saint Guitar Company
Saint Guitar Company embraces the vision of providing the discerning guitarist with a high performance instrument that is personalized to their playing technique and style.
Saint Guitar Company is dedicated to providing musicians with quality guitars that are superior in sound performance, construction, design, and playability. We provide musicians with hand made works of art, which are as unique as their musical creation. We continually work to create a better instrument, it is our passion. The care and effort that goes into every guitar is attributed to the love of guitar making that is transcended through the hand of the guitar maker. This labor of love is the essence and core of Saint Guitar Company.
Visit the Saint Guitar Company website at:
Saint Guitar Company
Saint Guitar Company Benchmark Single Cut Guitar
Saint Guitar Company Messenger Guitar
Saint Guitar Company Benchmark Guitar
Saint Guitar Company
Saint Guitar Company Messenger Electric Guitar
Saint Guitar Company Benchmark Guitar
Saint Guitar Company Benchmark Guitar
Saint Guitar Company Messenger Guitar
A Few Heatley Guitar Pictures
I came across some pics that Scott Heatley posted on The Gear Page and thought I would post them here. The guitars shown are the Heatley Tradition and Heatley Standard models. Both beautiful guitars and show the quality of work Scott Heatley is capable of.
Heatley Standard
Heatley Standard Back
Heatley Tradition
Heatley Tradition
Heatley Headstock
Todd M Lunneborg Guitars
80′s. He received his first guitar just after he turned 7 as a Christmas gift from
his parents. And shortly after “accompanied” his 3rd grade class for their fall
program. ”Mostly, I just strummed G, C, and D chords to some songs about
bugs. The music teacher played the piano, and we were in a concrete gym, so I
doubt anyone heard me.”
During his eighth grade year he was hired at a local music store in
Alexandria Minnesota. ”I wanted to work there so bad I would go into the store
every day and just start cleaning up. One day the owner of the store pulled me
aside and said that if I really wanted a job I should come back after the
Christmas break and see if there was space for me.
That was almost 2 months away, but January 4th I went back and he gave
me a job cleaning bathrooms and dumping garbages once a week.” Cleaning
once a week evolved into, twice a week, then three times a week with some
piano deliveries, and then evolved into, “here would you change the strings on
these guitars.” By the time he graduated from high school he was selling
guitars, teaching lessons, and “fixing” the guitars that would come in for repair.
“In Alexandria there wasn’t a lot of ‘repairs’ to ‘fix,’ it was really just doing set-ups
and removing old sticker goo. But it was enough to get me started or at-least
interested in knowing more about guitars.”
Todd attended St. Olaf College in Northfield Minnesota and received a
degree in Creative Music and Literature, a synthesis degree that combined
studies in Music Composition and Theory, and Journalism. While at Olaf Todd
also was the Concert Chair, in charge of booking bands, and Technical Director
of the campus club space. During that time he also studied fingerstyle guitar
with John Stropes, and toured as a intern and tour assistant with Billy Mclaughlin.
“It was during the time I was booking at Olaf that I thought about starting to build
guitars. To help pay for school I guitar teched for local bands. After doing two
large tours as a tech and seeing what life is like on the road for a prominent
professional player I realized that I wanted to be around my soon-to-be wife and
friends more than I wanted to live in a motel somewhere.”
After graduating college, getting married, moving to Texas, then Chicago
where he “may have” worked on B.B. Kings actual Lucille he moved back to
Minneapolis to work at the Electric Fetus. ”It was realizing that I loved working at
the Fetus but couldn’t afford it that made me look towards building and teaching
more seriously in the first place.
In late 2003 my wife forced me to start building. I wanted to buy an Olson
guitar, so I bought one that was owned by a prominent Nashville player. Brought
it home and, after checking with Jim, found out it wasn’t made with the woods I
was told it was made with. I was devastated. But my wife asked me why it meant
so much. And I said, ‘All I want to do is build, I wanted to use it as a model and a
goal for my own building.’
She said, ‘Well that’s dumb, why spend that much money on a guitar when
you could just go out and buy the tools to start building one of your own?’ So
with that nice kick in the pants I started to outfit my shop.
I wanted to build electrics first, I thought they’d be easier, and there wasn’t
anyone in Minnesota building the guitars I would build. Plus I knew I wouldn’t be
able to compete with the Acoustic Builders here in Minnesota. After my friends
started seeing my practice bodies they started ordering guitars. I sold six guitars
in my first batch before I had even started building.”
Todd owes a lot to the local guitar builders in Minneapolis. Brian
Applegate, Charlie Hoffman (as well as his staffers Ron and Michelle), and Jim
Olson who have helped him in his developement as a builder.
Brian Applegate has been especially helpful by serving as a pseudo mentor
for Todd. ”He just answers all my questions and gives me dibs on all the tools
he’s outgrown.” Todd also got to aid in the design of his own Applegate guitar.
“Brian gave me the SJ template and I went home and started drawing lines for
the Venetian cutaway on my guitar.”
Todd also had the chance to spend time with some of his other guitar
builder influences while on vacation in Spain this summer (2005). “I got to meet
and spend time with Manuel Contreras, Jerzy Drozd, Manuel Rodriguez, and
Felix Manzanero this summer. I was able to con my way into the Rodriguez
Factory, and spent almost an hour with Manuel himself. The real story is
beyond embarrassing but it all worked out in the end, and I learned a lot that
day. I also had the chance to visit the shop of Felix Manzanero, who is one of the
last remaining apprentices of Jose Ramirez II. His shop and collection of guitars
was amazing. He invited me into his shop and even though he didn’t speak a
word of English he still showed me around his shop for an hour and a half.
My last stop in Madrid, other than the Ramirez shop, was the Manuel
Contreras shop. I played his instruments and was flabbergasted. I’d never
played a classical with so much volume and tone. While demoing the guitar I
had a question about the wood and was introduced to Manuel II himself. He and
I talked well past closing time about wood, wood seasoning, tone, starting out as
a builder and our wives also commiserated about being married to builders and
cooking with saw dust in the air. It was awesome.
We then continued on to Barcelona and Jerzy Drozd basses. A bass
company that builds the most amazing ergonomic basses that balance better
than conductors batons. I spent almost 2 hours drilling Jerzy about his work and
he in return drilled me about mine. When I told him that I designed my electric
body shape around the main guitar companies in the states and his Basses he
was amazed that he was the ‘variable.’ He said it was one of the best things he
has heard about his work. He said ‘I have always hoped I would inspire others
with my work.’”
Todd also writes for the Fretboard Journal, a great magazine that features
in depth articles and photo-album quality photos, publishing “Stars of the North”
in the Number 4 Winter edition about the local Minnesota builders that help to
teach him how to build.”
“Great builders like Jerzy, Brian, Jim, Manuel Contreras, and PRS inspire me to
be as good as they are. They are the goal I’m working towards.”
Check out Todd M Lunneborg Guitars at:
Todd M Lunneborg Guitars
Todd M Lunneborg Electric Guitar
Todd M Lunneborg Guitar
Todd M Lunneborg Guitars
Todd M Lunneborg Electric Guitar Back
Todd M Lunneborg Guitars
Todd M Lunneborg Guitars
Todd M Lunneborg Guitars
JG Guitarworks – Guitars by Jake Goede
Jake Goede builds handmade electric guitars for the player who wants something different, but still wants a traditional feel. These guitars are almost 100% made by hand, from the block of wood to the finished product. Jake takes pride in his methods, and in the fact that he does not churn out guitars by the hundreds on conveyor belts or anything like that. Jake Goede carves the necks by hand using a spokeshave, rasps, and other simple hand tools. He does the same with the body. Jake could very easily use methods to speed up production, but he just likes doing it this way.
Jake Goede has been a player and guitar enthusiast for as long as he can remember, and a builder and designer of guitars for most of that time. In 2007 he attended a lutherie school, where he honed his skills, and soon upon returning home, Jake went to work for Scott and Jamie of Birdsong guitars (Thanks for everything guys!) He learned quite a bit in the time he spent with Birdsong. They still help him to this day, and he tries to help them whenever he can.
He has spent several years in the sign business, (both as a neon bender and welder/fabricator) pretty much his entire working life. The time spent building signs has taught him to use his hands, and to create things meant to be seen. Being a guitar player for so many years, Jake naturally knows what he wants in a guitar. The combination of these things has culminated in his current profession, Lutherie. Making an instrument by hand from start to finish gives the builder an opportunity to let the guitar become what IT wants to become. They each have their own personality, so to speak.
Jake Goede builds guitars of a certain design, HIS own, but if there is certain preferrences you cant live without, he will of course be more than willing to accomodate.( Width at nut, neck thickness, pickups, types of wood…..etc.) Jake does wind his own pickups, and they really work well in his guitars. However, if you have a certain type you like to use, they can be added with a small fee.
You can visit JG Guitarworks at:
www.guitarsbyjake.com
JG Guitarworks Electric Guitar
JG Guitarworks Karlin Electric Guitar model
JG Guitarworks Electric Guitar