Sound and Vision: Bring Your Custom Guitar Dreams to Life

This African blackwood and sinker redwood guitar by Stehr Guitars is not for sale.

African Blackwood and Sinker Redwood Guitar by Stehr Guitars at CustomMade.com

This is only an example of what you can expect from custom guitars.  Artisan Joel Stehr explains: “I build every guitar to meet the player’s aesthetic and tonal needs. Every guitar is one-of-a-kind with no other like it in the world.”

As UK luthier Gary Nava wrote in a guest blog post for CustomMade, your dream guitar doesn’t exist outside of your head.  “It’s the job of the custom builder to realise those dreams.”  The custom guitars featured below were built by CustomMade artisans specifically to accommodate the musical choices and performance styles of guitar players.  All aspects of the instruments, from their appearance to their sound, were carefully considered in their construction.

The small-bodied Blanchard “Pinyon” acoustic guitar by Mark Blanchard Guitars was custom made with a wide mahogany neck to suit the classical musician customer’s playing style.  The side and back were made from Brazilian rosewood.  The top was made from redwood with a rosette of Brazilian rosewood and paua abalone.  The proud owner wrote Mark Blanchard and said: “A tiny instrument with a thick, fat warm sound. That’s what I wanted, and that’s what I got.”

Blanchard "Pinyon" Acoustic Guitar by Mark Blanchard Guitars at CustomMade.com

Why does this one-of-a-kind cedar and rosewood 2010 acoustic guitar by Florian Vorreiter Lutherie have two carbon rods inside the body?  They improve the guitar’s stability and relieve some of the string tension stress from the top, which allows it to vibrate more freely.  The result is a crisp sound with lots of volume.

2010 Acoustic Guitar with Carbon Reinforcement by Florian Vorreiter Lutherie at CustomMade.com

Is there a particular sound from a specific song that you’d like your custom guitar to capture? A musician approached Michael L. Elwell with a stack of CDs with comments on stick-it notes such as, “I want the bell-like sound on track 12.”  The result: a custom concert classical guitar tailored to the customer’s requirements, from the red and black ornamentation to the capacity for cannon-like big sound.

Custom Concert Classical Guitar by Michael L. Elwell at CustomMade.com

Whether you dream about custom electric guitars or acoustic guitars, get the sound and vision you want when you collaborate with a CustomMade luthier.