I have been repairing, modifying, and making guitars and other instruments since 1988.
"Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed." - William Christopher Hand
Below are several of instruments that I have made, including my phase of Native American courting flutes. Of late, I have been designing and making cigar box, or wooden box, based guitars, which I find relaxing to make and fun to learn their history. I welcome inquires from people who would like me to design and make them a custom box guitar.
Coco Calaca 4-String Acoustic Guitar
This 4-string acoustic guitar has a scale length of 25.5-inches. The body is hollow and made from many angular cut sections of white and red oak that are jointed together and then stained with a pickling solution. The top of the guitar is oak plywood that is hand carved with a sugar skull pattern, which is hand painted and then pickled and polished. The guitar has a wood composite solid back that is antiqued black. The guitar sports a brass screened sound hole with a maple hand carved flower to complete the sugar skull theme. A mild steel stamped daisy is painted and used for the tail piece and the bridge is carved from alabaster. The through neck is made from white oak, stained and pickled. I use sealed tuners for all of my guitar builds. I currently have it tuned in Open-E using various color dyed steel wound strings to maintain the theme of the guitar. The frets on this guitar are nickel silver and it sports a mild steel nut. The head stock is carved white oak to represent the sacrum in a fun way. This guitar was finished in October of 2019.
Mindful 3-String Acoustic Guitar
This 3-string acoustic guitar has a scale length of 25.5-inches. The body is hollow and made from many angular cut sections of white and red oak that are jointed together and then stained with a pickling solution. The top of the guitar is birch plywood that has a pickled and polished finish, with a wood composite solid back that is antiqued. The brass screened sound hole for this acoustic is the open source symbol for Mindfulness from Radicalcourse A mild steel stamped grape leaf is used for the tail piece and the bridge is a self styled representation of a land bridge, using mild steel rods, to add a hint of being mindful of nature. The through neck is made from red oak and maple. The tuners that I use are the sealed type. I currently have it tuned in Open-G using copper stained steel wound strings. The frets on this guitar are nickel silver and it sports a mild steel nut. This guitar was finished in July of 2019.
Fretless VW Hubcap Guitar
This 4-string VW hubcap tenor guitar has a scale length of 23-inches. The 1960's vintage VW hubcap resonates with a nicely long sustain. The neck is maple with a heel made of a layered combination of white oak, walnut and maple. The body is hollow and made from many angular sections of white oak jointed together. The tuners that I used are the sealed type. I currently have it tuned in Open-G using bronze wound strings. Currently this guitar is acoustic, but I do have plans to hand-wind a lipstick style single coil pickup for it in the future. There are no frets on this slide tenor guitar, though it sports a mild steel nut and bridge and a bottle opener tail piece. This guitar was finished in late May of 2019.
Baritone License Plate Guitar
This 5-string baritone license plate guitar has a scale length of 28-inches giving this instrument the very satisfying low tones that fall between a bass guitar and standard guitar. The Idaho license plate resonates in a nicely haunting and long sustain manner. The neck is a layered combination of white oak and maple, stained with a very dilute vinegar and steel wool solution, which provides the dark and gray undertones and the golden hues of fine oak in the fretboard. The body is a hollow 1/2-inch plywood box stained in a golden honey tone. The tuners that I used are the sealed type. I strung this baritone guitar with D'Addario XL baritone steel wound guitar strings that go from 68 to 18 gauge. I currently have it tuned in Open-G from G1, D2, G2, B2, and D3. Currently this guitar is acoustic, but I do have plans to hand-wind a single coil pickup for it in the future. The frets are medium/medium nickel silver complemented with a mild steel nut and bridge. A very satisfying instrument to play being a long time bass player. This guitar was finished in May of 2019.
Air-Koko Cigar Box Guitar
This 4-string cigar box guitar is made from a 1987 Walker Candy Company wooden box. All the hardware is gold toned and brass. The scale of the guitar is 25.5-inches.
The neck is handmade from white oak and is fretted with brass medium height frets. It is currently tuned to GDGB and strung with CB Gitty bronze wound strings to maintain the golden theme. The solid brass inlaid air-guitar Kokopelli was designed by me, as well as the solid brass pickup ring. The pickup is a single coil ceramic magnet type, with a very straight-laced and precise tone this guitar. This guitar was finished in March of 2019 and is one of my favorites to play, plugged in or unplugged.
Optimum Cigar Box Guitar
This was the first cigar box guitar that I made. It is a 3-string cigar box guitar is made from an old wooden Optimum cigar box, given to me by my brother-in-law in the 80's. The scale of this guitar is 25.5-inches. The through-box neck is handmade from red oak which is stained black with an old fashion vinegar and steel wood solution. The finish was then distressed and polished. The neck is fretted with windshield wiper metal stiffeners, giving this guitar a unique feel that is very playable for Rock and Blues. The nut and bridge are made from 6061 aluminum. Under the bridge, internal of the box, is a large piezoelectric disc and outside the box sports its volume control. It is currently tuned to EBE. This guitar is fun to play plugged in or unplugged.
Purple Caribbean Petite Cigar Box Guitar
This acoustic 2-string cigar box guitar is made from an old wooden Caribbean Petite cigar box, given to me by my brother-in-law in the 80's. The scale of this guitar is 20.0-inches to keep it small for small hands. The through-box neck is handmade from white oak which is finished with an old fashion vinegar and steel wood solution, and then stained with a homemade purple top stain. The lack of tannins in the white oak causes a purplish hue with the vinegar solution, which is enhanced by the purple stain top-coat. The finish was then distressed slightly and hand polished. The neck is fretted with medium-medium brass frets, which are placed using an intonation method, making each fretted note perfect in the pentatonic scale. The nut and bridge are made from hardened brass. I made this little guitar to help teach my adopted granddaughter how to play stringed instruments. I used color dyed strings to help her learn. It is currently tuned B, F#.
Buffalo Flute
Black Sunset Flute
Rose Flute
These wooden flutes are were made from pine that was in a family shop fire. I have made and sold many of these flutes years ago, and also have made them as gifts for friends and family. They are fashioned after Native American courting flutes where there are two chambers: one for collecting the breath of the player and a second chamber which creates sound. The player breathes into mouth piece of the flute without the need for an embouchure like other woodwinds. The design of a sound hole or splitting edge at the proximal end of the sound chamber causes air from the player's breath to vibrate. This vibration causes a steady resonance of air pressure in the sound chamber that creates sound. The holes in the flute vary the sound pitch when covered or uncovered. The bead-work on the flutes was design and made by me on a beading loom and then sewn onto leather, which holds the spacer plate, which creates the flue between the two chambers. I also hand carved and polished the turquoise buffalo on the Buffalo Flute.
