I've been designing and building a wide variety of woodworking projects since the late 1960s, and playing, pulling apart and putting together guitars since the early 1970s. The earliest project I remember was wrapping an old Sears Silvertone guitar in black electrical tape just for the aesthetic effect. Highly admired by my 13 year old peers. Lots of strings over and under the bridge since then.

 

A few years after retiring from teaching, the lightbulb finally blinked on, and I've combined these two passions into building custom electric guitars and basses. Each instrument that I build is a labor of love. This is NOT a business, and I'm not cranking out '59 Les Paul copies to sell on eBay. Playing, maintaining and building guitars is both joyful and therapeutic for me.

 

I build what appeals to me, completing one instrument at a time. Hence the "One By One" tagline. Each instrument has hours of meticulous hand crafting before completion. Most finished instruments I keep to play, give away as gifts, or donate for charity auction events.

 

As of the end of June 2022, the 28 instruments that I've donated to charity auctions have raised $33,500 for St Louis area organizations. Details are on the "Paying it Forward" page.

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Click here for information on purchasing an instrument to help fund my builds for charity.

 

So on most days you'll find me in my basement shop: building guitars with care and attention to detail, one by one.