Scott Walker Guitars – The Phoenix
The Phoenix is a collaboration between Scott Walker, Steve Kimock, John Cutler and Jason Lollar. I have to say The Phoenix is absolutely beautiful. The woods, the pickguard, the design….just an amazing looking guitar!
The specs for The Phoenix are as follows:
25.5 Scale Length
21 Fret
1 11/16th Bone Nut
2 1/4 String Spacing at the Bridge
String Through the Body
Double Action Truss Rod
Kluson Tuners
Graphite Reinforced Neck
Chrome Hardware
Lollar Blade Style Pickups
Cutler Preamp
Curly Mahogany Body and Neck
Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard
Medium Jumbo Frets
Tone Pros Bridge
Copper Pickguard
The guitar comes standard with a rare, curly Mahogany body and neck and a Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard. These woods have been collected by naturally fallen timbers and stumps. There is a limited supply of this wood and Scott Walker Guitars will be building between 15 and 20 of these instruments.
The Phoenix From Scott Walker Guitars
The Phoenix Stereo Electric Guitar
The Phoenix features a unique, two channel preamp that was designed and built by John Cutler specifically for The Phoenix stereo guitar. It also features a solid copper pickguard to help shield the electronics as well as add the final touch to face of the guitar. The copper pickguard allows Scott Walker to incorporate his patina and engraving skills that provide each guitar with a unique and distinguished appearance.
Scott Walker Guitars Copper Pickguard
The Phoenix Copper Pickguard
The Phoenix Two Channel Preamp
The Phoenix Stereo Electric Guitar is exactly what you would expect from Scott Walker Guitars and then some. It features beautiful woods, carvings, and it just screams of class.
The Phoenix Curly Mahogany
Scott Walker Guitars Headstock
Back of Scott Walker Guitars The Phoenix
The Phoenix is loaded with features. To learn more about The Phoenix from Scott Walker Guitars, visit:
Scott Walker Guitars The Phoenix
Interview With Howard Robinson of Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Interview by Ron of Boutique Guitar Resource
Boutique Guitar Resource: Tell us about your history and what got you interested in building guitars?
Howard Robinson: The first music I remember was Elvis played on a maroon and creme dansette record player, which belonged to my dad. He played Robin Hood and William Tell TV scores on it, but my elder sister sneaked the Elvis in!! I bought Brian Fenn and the Fenn Men , Gerry and the Pacemakers, etc. My first guitar was a Rossetti 7 acoustic. All my mates got them so we formed a band with all the different colors available which were white, red and sunburst. Early influences were the Beatles ,Beach Boys etc. I wasn’t happy with the Rossetti so it very quickly became a Rossetti 7 Bass. I have no idea how or where I got the parts, but it changed colors so many times it was actually heavier by the time the band split up! I played it through one of those curved, cloth fronted radios. That guitar changed into an SG inspired solid body then into a double neck which finally ended up as two cricket bat basses.
In college I was Social Secretary and got a list every month from this band agency of available bands and their prices. It didn’t seem particularly special at the time but I booked E.L.P, The Who, Spooky Tooth, Chicken Shack, and Hendrix of course! I left college and went from London to Devon as a roadie with Edgar Broughton whose anti-government stance was much bigger than their talent. We did several free tours. Most of the band were in prison a lot of the time for doing free music without permission!!!! Anyway they went back to London, and I stayed in Devon. Three years in a small design company followed by three years on the building sites as a carpenter followed by three years as a furniture restorer. Then out of that I formed the kitchen company that would pay my way for the next thirty years. Strangely enough, during this time I had little or no interest in guitars. Then one day I was visiting a client’s house and spotted an acoustic guitar. It had a big hole in the side of it so the client let me have it and I was off again. I formed a new band and before you know it I’m changing my squire strats into my own and thats really when I started seriously making guitars again. It was strange, because about two or three years before the end of my design company I was beginning to feel stale and really got into making guitars. I even thought this could be good way to make a living. As it happened I was forced to do it, but I see that as a good thing. I have carried on freelance with furniture and it pays even better. It has allowed the guitar side to gather at it’s own pace and I think it will take time. This means I can focus on one guitar at a time and not get into the trap of trying to make too many. I want each one to be really special for me and the client. I hope to spend the rest of my life trying to fine tune my instruments and learn as much as i can. This is where I am now.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Are you a self taught luthier or did you have some formal education?
Howard Robinson: As you can see, only the cabinet making side of me which I learned in school. My woodwork master was an apprentice to one of the last great English cabinet makers, Edward Barnsley, who made furniture for the Queen. But no Luthierial training, just common sense, rip one apart see what makes it tick ,then make one, then re-make it, cause it wasn’t quite as easy as you thought, then again and so on, and so on.
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Boutique Guitar Resource: Do you keep up with the work of other luthiers and if so what other guitar builders do you admire?
Howard Robinson: Not in any great way. It frightens me when I see the amount of amazing Luthiers out there and it puts me off. My main inspiration is Grit Laskin and Larry Robinson. I am in contact quite regularly with the ‘Metal Guru’ Anthony Goulding of Goulding Guitars. We pat each other on the back every now and again when we are down!! He is a really nice bloke.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What are some of your favorite woods to use when building a guitar? Do some wood combinations sound better to your ears than others?
Howard Robinson: Mahogany off course. It’s the great cabinet makers wood. The older the better, not yer african or bastard Mahogany but Cuban, Honduras and Brazilian. I have an amazing source of hurricane damaged Cuban Mahogany. I love English Pitch Pine and Elm. I love experimenting to get the surprise of different sounding woods, its part of the thrill. To be honest, I don’t know exactly what my guitars are going to sound like. I know they are going to be good ,but they are always a surprise, which is great!
Boutique Guitar Resource: Do you have some particular woods you prefer to use for fretboards and necks?
Howard Robinson: I use birds eye and standard Maple for the necks and only Ebony for the finger boards as it really the best colour format for inlaying.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What do you look for when picking wood for a guitar?
Howard Robinson: Really interesting grain, shake free, which is bloody difficult in reclaimed timbers!! One piece where possible. I don’t go over it with a little sounding hammer.
Boutique Guitar Resource: You do some amazing inlay work. What got you interested in the inlay process and how do you come up with the designs for your inlays?
Howard Robinson: It wasn’t that long ago, but to be honest I am not really sure. I just thought bloody dots! How boring, not a chance, and I decided to give it a try. I bought a book on inlay by Larry Robinson and off I went. I was particularly taken with Grit Laskins idea of using the neck as a sort of narrow window through which you could see part of what is going on outside. I don’t take it quite so literal and not all of his images are to my liking, but boy is he the best!!!!!!
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Inlay
Boutique Guitar Resource: What type of materials do you use in your inlays and how long does one of your larger inlays take to complete?
Howard Robinson: Now this is where Larry Robinson comes into his own. Although I would have tried anything without his influence, he basically says if it’s hard enough and you can glue it in place, and it looks good, use it! If I could get porridge to set I would probably give it a go!! Here are some of the materials I use: mother of pearl, abalone, oyster, bamboo, end grain woods, oak, briar, aluminum, perspex, brass, bone, ivory, reconstituted stones, buttons etc. A large inlay can take about two weeks of nine to five, and then some.
Lindsay Wilson Guitar Inlay
Boutique Guitar Resource: What part of the building process do you enjoy most?
Howard Robinson: Apart from that first finished plug in and plunk, sanding the inlay off. This is where all the colors and patterns finally show their true worth, and I know experienced inlay artists can tell exactly what their work is going to look like. It’s a total bloody surprise to me most of the time. More often than not ending up better because a bit of ripple abalone has changed colour, pattern, and direction completely and looks great!
Boutique Guitar Resource: What type of finish do you use on your guitars?
Howard Robinson: Now here is a thorny subject. I really dont like 120 coats of plastic. The thicker the finish the farther away the bloody wood seems to go!!! I remember looking at a Rolls Royce Dashboard and the bloke said “that’s burr walnut”. I said, “Is it by golly?” “Well you could have fooled me.” I like wood to be wood and able to take the grime and dents and knocks. I would be quite happy to supply a no finish guitar. That way you can polish with wax or sand out a dent if you like. Just like a piece of furniture it gets better with age and builds up a patina of use. Having said all that, most people can’t get their heads around that and I usually use a polyurethane or cellulose finish. Just enough to protect it and not enough to make it disappear. Obviously painted finishes are just that, but again I tend to have a low build satin finish. I get my spraying done by a friend who is a specialist.
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Boutique Guitar Resource: What type of pickups do you offer in your guitars?
Howard Robinson: I really only use single coils and try to use the purist, so Bareknuckle and Lollar are the order of the day. I would like to try Kinman. I am not into humbuckers. What I want to achieve is the very starting point of pure top quality single coils and solid wood. After that you can add whatever effects you like. Theres nothing like that clean jangle of a ‘G’ major with the extra finger, holding down a ‘D’ on the ‘B’ string. And the funny thing is I used to want it to sound like a Fender Strat, but it doesn’t. It sounds like mine!!!
Boutique Guitar Resource: What is the neck radius on your guitars?
Howard Robinson: 15″ barrel radius on my bass and a conical radius of 9.5″ to 12.5″ for six strings.
Boutique Guitar Resource: When a customer orders a guitar, what is the typical wait time before the guitar is completed?
Howard Robinson: This can vary, but usually two months minimum, depending on level of orders.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What do you see in the future for Lindsay Wilson Guitars and do you have any new guitar models in the works that you would like to share with us?
Howard Robinson: As I said I want to do about six guitars a year max and for my customers to say they are just beautiful. That means a lot to me. Not cool or funky, but beautiful. I want them to sound great and to be beautiful. I found a template that I did years and years ago that was influenced by a ricky and I am thinking I may well have a Mark 2 in the cards. Who knows?
I want to thank Howard Robinson of Lindsay Wilson Guitars for taking the time to answer these questions. You can visit Lindsay Wilson Guitars at:
Lindsay Wilson Guitars
Boutique Guitar Resource is an authorized dealer for Lindsay Wilson Guitars. If you are interested in having a custom guitar built by Lindsay Wilson Guitars, please use the contact form to get in touch with me.
Interview with Cliff Suttle of Shark Inlay
Interview by Ron of Boutique Guitar Resource
Cliff Suttle founded Shark Inlay in 2001 (sharkinlay.com), a company that supplies inlay art all over the world from Australia to Zimbabwe. He works with luthiers all over the planet and has done inlays for famous guitarists such as Lemmy from Motorhead. A master inlay artist, Cliff studied art at the University of Michigan.
Boutique Guitar Resource: How did you get involved with guitar inlay work?
Cliff Suttle: It all started back in the late 90′s when I was one of the lead writers for Harmony-Central.com, back when they had writers. I use to cover the NAMM show for them. In doing so, I dreamt up an award program called “The Golden Axe Awards,” where we would pick out the best 10 guitars at the show. They were all amazing guitars with unique designs, paint jobs, and often dripping with inlay. In 2000, the PRS Dragon 2000 won the award as the #1 guitar. It was at that point that I fell in love with inlay and especially guitar inlay. About two years later, I decided to give it a try as a hobby. Well, after I had inlaid pretty much everything in the house, including the drive way, I began driving my family nuts. Then one day a friend asked me to make him a few truss rod covers for him. When I gave them to him, he asked how much he owned me. MONEY, did he say money? Two weeks later I launched my web-site. It took me three months to get my first order. Three weeks to get my second order and only three days to get my third. I have never looked back.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Are you self taught or did you have a mentor help you out in the beginning?
Cliff Suttle: The first year I did “The Golden Axe Awards,” mentioned above, I received a call from a nice guy named Ron Thorn. I had no idea who he was at the time, but it turns out he inlaid three of the guitars in the final ten. He was thrilled. His phone was ringing off the hook and he wanted to thank me. Ron said if I ever wanted a favor give him a call. When I decided to try inlay, I wondered how to learn this skill. There is only so much you can learn from a book. But then I remembered that I knew one of the best inlay guys in the business. I called Ron up and he talked to me for hours. Told me everything I needed to get started, including supplier names and more. Over the next few months he was a great source for questions and encouragement. It was sort of like a little league football quarterback getting advice from Bret Favre. I really had a great start thanks to Ron. Today Ron is making his own line of custom made guitars that are really great.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Have you been influenced by other inlay artist and if so who would you say has had the most influence on your work?
Cliff Suttle: Yes and no. I love looking at other inlay artists’ work, but I have never even tried to copy any of them. Right from the start I was in search of my own style. I have always loved the paintings of Frank Frazetta through. Frank did the artwork for most of the Molly Hatchet album covers. I have always appreciated his use of color and design flare. Frank is a definite influence even though he is not an inlay artist.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Tell us a little about your business and what services your provide?
Cliff Suttle We supply one off inlays and production inlays for anything on wood. Mainly what we do is musical instruments, but we also do jewelry, cigar boxes, furniture parts, key chains, etc. From one piece to a thousand we can supply it. We work with a number of luthiers, but always show the same level of professionalism to the single piece buyer. I think that is why we have such a long testimonial section on our web-site.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What skills do you feel are necessary in order to be successful at inlay work?
Cliff Suttle: First and foremost you have to be able to draw. An artist is an artist is an artist no matter what media they use to express it. The ability to draw is the building blocks of all art whether you make paintings, cakes, motorcycles, or inlaid guitars. I have heard people complain about artists that use cam machines or computers to make their art. Yes, I agree I have seen engineers use technology to simulate art, but they will never be true artists. If you give a true artist a piece of paper and say draw an apple, you’ll get pretty much something that looks like an apple. I draw and paint, but inlay is my media of choice. It’s the art form I enjoy, but if inlay didn’t exist I would do something else artistic. It’s just in my blood. My Father was a painter and gave me the bug.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Tell us how the process usually works when a customer hires you to do some inlay work on their instrument.
Cliff Suttle: Usual is a tough word in this business. Every client wants to do it their own way and that’s fine with me. Some come to me with their own artwork, some supply bad sketches on napkins, some have no idea what they want and I have to talk them through the process. And now and then a customer tells me their budget and then gets out of my way. Those are the ones I like best.
The “Roc” was done that way.
Shark Roc Inlay
When I talk someone though the process, I know the questions to ask. The best inlay work is work that matters to the client, that they have an emotional attachment to. The two pictured t-covers are perfect examples of what I mean. The badge t-cover was made for someone who’s father had passed away and was a police officer. 719 was his badge number. The baby foot t-cover was made to honor a man’s son who died in child birth. I always ask people what turns them on; birds, cars, crosses, insects, what floats their boat. Maybe it’s boats. I’ve done those too.
Badge Truss Rod Cover Inlay
Baby Foot Truss Rod Cover Inlay
Boutique Guitar Resource: Once you have the inlay artwork created and approved by the customer, what is the typical wait time for delivering the finished product?
Cliff Suttle: That would depend on what is being ordered and how complex it is. Truss rod covers are normally turned around in two weeks. I’ve been working on the Viking guitar for two months already and probably have another month to go.
Viking Guitar by Shark Inlay
Boutique Guitar Resource: What type of materials do you prefer to work with when creating the inlays?
Cliff Suttle: I like natural materials. I will use plastics or acrylics if I have no other choice, but I would prefer not to. I love wood, real shells, metals, etc. Now the stone I use is actually recon-stone which is a stone that has been ground up and put back together with resin. This is pretty much the industry standard material and is used by all the great inlay guys. Real stone does present a number of problems. First off, it’s as hard as a rock 
Second is the weight. If you added a lot of stone to a fretboard for instance, you would change the balance point of the guitar and that wouldn’t be a good thing. Third, real stone has a lot of flaws in it that would cause problems with the inlay. Recon-stone is easier to cut, sands very much like mother of pearl, and is much lighter weight than real stone. Plus it looks great. The invention of this material was a real boon to the inlay artist.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Are there any limits? Do some ideas work better as inlays than others?
Cliff Suttle: Yes, there are definite limits. You can do things with a pencil or paint that you can’t do with inlay. For instance, you can shade from red to blue with paint, but you can’t shade from red to blue with pieces of stone. It’s red and then pow it’s blue. This is the biggest problem I have with people who supply artwork, is their artwork has a lot of shading. This can made it hard to convert to appropriate inlay art.
The second limitation has to be with the materials it’s made of. Sometimes clients want designs with lots of little pieces half the size of a pin head. These pieces have to be physically cut, glued, and handled. Little or very thin pieces will often crack or disappear on the floor somewhere. The last limitation is the space of the piece of wood I’m inlaying into. Many times a client will want a square design inlaid into a guitar fretboard. Fretboards are not a square area. If you shink the design to fit on the board it’s so small you can’t tell what it is. Beyond that, I can do pretty much anything.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What do you feel makes you unique as an inlay artist?
Cliff Suttle: I’m an out of the box thinker. A perfect example is my t-covers. Many of my covers go outside the shape of the cover. In fact, it’s sort of become my trademark. There are other inlay companies doing this now, but as far as I know, I was the first and they just copied me. The reaction I got to the first one I did that way was staggering. People loved it, people hated it, people thought I was the second coming, people thought I was the anti-Christ. It was a crack up and I knew I was on to something. Anything that invokes that kind of passion both good and bad had to be an exciting thing. I was talking with Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars once about this very subject. He said that he loves when people hate his guitars because it generates conversation and that’s a good thing. I think his exact quote was, “if I was the only one making acoustic guitars and everyone loved them, acoustic guitar magazine would be only ten pages thick and nobody would care.”
That’s the way I feel. I know my work isn’t for everyone and that’s great. I think what makes me unique as an inlay artist is I’m OK with that. It’s allows me to be true to my style and to have passion for my style. Passion is what art is all about in my opinion.
Boutique Guitar Resource: You have incorporated CNC machines into your business model. What made you decide to go in this direction and how does it benefit your work?
Cliff Suttle: I first decided to purchase a CNC machine in order to handle production runs. When you do inlay by hand, 100 pieces of the same design would pretty much drive you insane. So I bought one. I swore at the thing daily for probably the first three months during the learning curve. I remember dreading the day I bought it more than once. However, like any good tool, once you’ve mastered it, it will do nothing but help. I love CNC’s now. You’ll have to rip it from my cold dead fingers. The work I can do with a CNC is much better than I can do by hand. I was good doing it by hand (as evidenced by
the Vine of Death shown below), but I can do way better now. The tolerances of my CNC machine is 1/10000 of an inch. The amount that your heartbeat makes your hand move is 1/100 of an inch. I can cut far smaller, much sharper, and completely repeatable pieces that would be impossible by hand. Plus, I know when I’m done everything is going to fit. Look at the claws on the Dragon Strike t-cover. I have made 8 of these and they all look great.
Vine of Death Inlay
Dragon Strike Truss Rod Cover Inlay
I know some people think of CNC’s as cheating some how. This doesn’t make any sense to me. These same people use routers, depth gages, rotary sanding, and lots of other technologies. If you don’t believe in technology, why not pound it out with a chisel and a hammer. This machine has greatly increased my ability to express my art, greatly reduced my swearing to smiling ratio, and improved the quality of my work. At this point I can’t imagine being in business without one. It so funny to here a luthier scream about hand made, hand made, hand made, until he can finally afford a CNC and then you never hear him say that again.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What would be your advice for someone that wants to get started doing inlays?
Cliff Suttle: Do it! Get a book like the one Larry Robinson wrote and give it a try. Be patient and realize that your first pieces won’t be great and be OK with that. Every mistake is one more step toward getting it right.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What part of your work do you enjoy most?
Cliff Suttle: My favorite part of my work is when I open up the guitar case and show someone their long awaited dream guitar and watch the smile on their face. Or, when I get a email back from someone who just opened up a package from me. Many times you can just feel their excitement right through the email. When I get an email like this:
“It just arrived a few minutes ago. Oh, My God!. You are correct sir, the pictures cannot possibly capture how good this is. I hope you are still real proud of this because you should be! The MOP just sparkles and the glasses turned out terrific. The hair is perfect. The pictures just don’t capture how good it is. I really enjoyed working with you on this and hope I can steer some more work your way. I am planning on having Shawn build another guitar in a few years so don’t retire! Thanks for everything!”
I just smile the rest of the day. For me, knowing I made someone happy is the best feeling in the world.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Where do you see your business going in the future?
Cliff Suttle: When PRS released the first Dragon guitar in the 90′s, they make it popular and cool to have wild inlays on your guitar. Since then the popularity and collectability of such guitars has grown and grown. If you go to the NAMM show many manufacturers have stunningly inlaid guitars as the center piece of their booths. Martin, Taylor, PRS, Gibson, Fender, all the big names and a lot of the smaller builders too. I think people are really starting to appreciate the amount of time and craftsmanship that goes into such work. I see it only getting more and more popular.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What are some of your favorite inlays you have done?
Cliff Suttle: Well that is a tough question. #1 is easy the Rock ‘n’ Roll Angel. One day I will have to make a guitar like this for me. After that it starts getting crowded fast. I really like the Grateful Dead tribute medallion, and my current project The Viking. I still have a soft spot in my heart though for the Dragon Wizard too. And with all the cool t-covers I’ve made, I would have to say that my favorite t-cover has to be the Tiger Head.
Rock 'N' Roll Angel Guitar Inlay
Grateful Dead Tribute Medallion Inlay
Tiger Head Truss Rod Cover Inlay
I want to thank Cliff Suttle from Shark Inlay for taking the time to answer the questions in this interview. Please visit the Shark Inlay website at:
Shark Inlay
Interview With Adam Hernandez of Saint Guitar Company
Interview by Ron of Boutique Guitar Resource
Boutique Guitar Resource: Who or what got you interested in building guitars?
Adam Hernandez: I have always been interested in woodworking and being creative, however, it wasn’t until high school when my good friend and business partner Jon suggested that I build a guitar for a woodshop project. I was 17 years old and from that point on I have been dedicated to the craft.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Are you a self taught luthier or did you have some formal education?
Adam Hernandez: That first wood shop project guitar was a great learning experience. About midway through the project I got stuck and I didn’t know where to go so I asked around local music stores for help. I was referred to a guy in town who built and repaired guitars, so I went to visit him. After looking over my makings of a guitar he offered to help me complete it if I was willing to help him out in his shop for the summer. While working in that shop I learned the basics, theory and reasoning behind guitar building. I guess you could say I apprenticed and for about a year I worked off and on in the shop soaking up as much guitar building information as I could. Once I finished my first guitar I was on my way, it was the biggest piece of crap I have ever been proud of.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Tell us about how Saint Guitar Company came to be?
Adam Hernandez: During my Junior year in college I came home on break and while I was there I met up with my friend Jon who was also home on break from College. I told him I had this idea for a guitar Company. We talked until the wee-hours of the morning going over ideas and possibilities. I showed him a rough prototype of our current Messenger Model and he was so excited about it he employed me to build the first one ever. By this time I had a half dozen guitar builds under my belt and my processes were defiantly improving.
One year later I came home after graduating from college and worked in a friend’s custom pool table restoration shop. It was here where I perfected my processes, templates and Jigs.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Give us a little information about the people working at Saint Guitar Company and what their roles are.
Adam Hernandez: Saint Guitar Company is run by Jon and my self. We have a small operation right now so there aren’t regular employees, however, we have tons of support from family and friends and when things get busy we have good people we can count on.?
Boutique Guitar Resource: Can you list the different guitar models you offer and describe them?
Adam Hernandez: We currently have two models the “Benchmark” our version of the single cut and the “Messenger”, a double cut away model. From those foundations musicians have the opportunity to modify details, aesthetics and pickups to meet their needs. We offer a 25-1/4” standard scale length and a 27” baritone scale length. Currently we are working on a prototype that we are going to call the “Vintage series” it will be a guitar that will offer a variety of vintages tones pickup combos, and vintage styling cues. We will definitely keep you posted on the development.
Boutique Guitar Resource: When designing your current guitar models, where did the inspiration come from?
Adam Hernandez: I always had a picture in my head of what I wanted in a guitar and as I got better at building the more I was able to realize my visions. I wanted my guitars to have styling that wouldn’t go out of date so I tried to encompass timeless curves and carves that would be appealing to all styles of play. I also have to give credit to my business partner Jon. He has always been a great source of inspiration and ideas and I have found that we have a good check and balance system when it comes to new ideas.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Would you take us through the building process of one of your guitars?
Adam Hernandez: Well, it all starts with the wood. As soon as we get the wood in we cut it to rough billet form and let it dry out and acclimate. From there we use a series of jigs and fixtures to create rough profiles of the body and neck. When it comes to shaping the guitars it is all done by hand. We feel like because we shape it by hand it creates a human feel that is noticeable.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What is your favorite part of the building process?
Adam Hernandez: As much as I love building guitars my favorite part is hearing what people do with them when I’m done.
Boutique Guitar Resource: When picking wood for a guitar, what do you look for?
Adam Hernandez: The best guitars come from stable wood. When I pick woods for guitars I look for stable boards. I look at the tree’s growth rings, color, and grain patterns.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What are some of your favorite wood combinations to use?
Adam Hernandez: I have found that Walnut has a great tonal quality but I also like the traditional Mahogany maple combo. It’s hard for me to pick a single wood as my favorite because they all have their own cool unique sounds.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Do you have some particular woods you prefer to use for fretboards and necks?
Adam Hernandez: We primarily use Rosewoods and Ebony for our fretboards and for the time being the most extravagant neck wood we have used has been Rosewood.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Do you prefer nickel or stainless steel frets and why?
Adam Hernandez: We use nickel fret-wire on our guitars. To be honest I haven’t worked too much with Stainless so I couldn’t really give you an opinion on it.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Can you describe the finish you use on your guitars?
Adam Hernandez: As far as the Natural open-pore finished guitar it is a natural stained guitar with a thin coat of Nitro base coat just to seal it up. I like it because it creates a natural raw feel to the guitar.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Can you describe the neck carve options that you offer?
Adam Hernandez: Being a custom shop we offer any variations within reason. In the past we have done “C”, D”, and “ V” carves all with varying thicknesses.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Tell us a little bit about the neck joint on your guitars.
Adam Hernandez: Our neck joint is the pride and joy of our guitars. I’ll try to give an explanation of how it works: Our neck joint is so tight that the neck could be assembled to the body and it would be functional with out glue. This type of neck to body connection creates an undeniable resonance and transfer of vibration in turn creating huge tone and sustain. Think about if you were to grab something that was vibrating with your hand, if you barely squeeze it you’ll feel it vibrating but if you were to grab it and squeeze it as hard as you could, not only would you feel it vibrating, you would feel it vibrating all the way up your arm. This is the same idea behind our neck joint, we wanted to be sure that we had the most efficient transfer of vibrations between the neck and body.
Boutique Guitar Resource: What is the wait time when ordering one of your guitars and can you describe the ordering process?
Adam Hernandez: The wait time varies depending on how bust the shop is, typically it is between six to eight weeks. The order process can be done by email or phone. I like to interview customers to find out what exactly they are looking for, that way I can make recommendations or suggestions to help them get what they are looking for.
Boutique Guitar Resource: If you were building one of your guitar models for yourself, which model would you build and what would the specs be?
Adam Hernandez: I would have to build three guitars for myself. The first one would be a “Benchmark” (single cut) curly maple top Mahogany back and neck, brown translucent stain, Duncan Custom 5 in the bridge and Duncan ’59 in the neck, Master Volume and tone Coil tapped. The next would be another Benchmark except this one would be a baritone and it would be a natural walnut finish, Duncan Screamin’ Demon in the bridge and a Duncan ’59 in the neck. The third would be the new vintage series painted vintage gold with a white pickguard, maple neck, ebony fretboard, alder body, topped off with P-90’s.
Boutique Guitar Resource: Do you have any new guitar models in the works that you would like to share with us?
Adam Hernandez: “Vintage Series”……….be on the lookout!?
Boutique Guitar Resource: What do you see in the future for Saint Guitar Company?
Adam Hernandez: I’m excited about what’s to come. Jon and I are in a good place right now. We are taking things slow and doing things on our own terms. We like where things are going and we want to continue with our “grass roots” approach.
I want to thank Adam Hernandez from Saint Guitar Company for taking the time to answer the questions in this interview. Please visit the Saint Guitar Company website at:
Saint Guitar Company
Frank Hartung Guitars “Glowing Moon” Custom Guitar
In the past we have checked out the Embrace and the Diavolo models from Frank Hartung Guitars. This post is going to focus on a custom model from Frank Hartung Guitars. This guitar is called Glowing Moon. The guitar features a 25.5″ scale, ash body, stained flame maple neck, brazilian rosewood fingerboard, a Kahler tremolo bridge, Schaller locking tuners, Haussel HOT Special bridge pickup, Haussel mini HB middle pickup, Sustainiac neck pickup, and much, much more. This guitar is a true work of art!
Frank Hartung Guitars Glowing Moon
Frank Hartung Glowing Moon Back
Glowing Moon Frank Hartung Custom Guitar
Frank Hartung Glowing Moon Headstock
Frank Hartung Stained Flame Maple Neck
Frank Hartung Custom Guitar Glowing Moon
Boutique Guitar Resource is an authorized dealer for Frank Hartung Guitars. Please contact BGR if you are interested in having a guitar built by Frank Hartung Guitars.