Building a Custom Guitar From Start to Finish, Part 1: Getting started ...

Written By: Jac Harrison

At least once a month I get an inbox on social media or an email asking questions about getting a custom guitar built and all the bla bla bla that goes with it... so for the next few months I will be documenting a build from start-to-finish covering every aspect from how to choose a luthier (guitar builder), choosing a design that works best for you, how to not "over spend" and there will be video of the actual build from the luthier in part two of this series. On that note, this will be in a three part editorial series called "Building a Custom Guitar From Start to Finish", and will be in direct correlation with the Facebook group "Beardly Customs Build for LMG". The luthier I will be working with is Rick Link of Beardly Customs and he has agreed to do this build as an interactive workshop allowing you (the reader) to follow the step-by-step process of ordering a custom built guitar, and watching it built in real time while he answers questions in regards via the Facebook group. By the end of this editorial series you should have a complete understanding on how to spend a few thousand dollars on a custom built guitar while feeling fuc*ing amazing about it! Now let's get this party started...

Price -vs- Value When Buying A Budget Guitar ....

Local Music Gear Feature Story 

Written By: Jac Harrison

Recently, I have noticed an influx of new guitar players on social media in the groups and pages I manage, and few of others that I’m a spectator in. Everyone seems so eager to learn about buying their first guitar or are looking for advice on buying a guitar on a budget. To me, it is exciting to see so many new faces playing what I consider the best musical instrument, but at the same time I feel bad for the novice today due to the over abundance of misleading information in regards to price-vs-value because of the fuc*ing know-it-alls on the interwebs. Thirty plus years ago when my father gave me my first guitar, he didn’t ask 40,000 people (that he never met) what they thought would be the best guitar for a beginner. We took a trip to Hi - Way Music on rt 18 in East Brunswick, NJ where I was given the choice of the ugly one I played with humbuckers or the ugly one I played with single-coils (I went with the buckers). Knowing that not everyone has access to someone that can explain to them what to look for like my father did for me, this month's editorial will be based on the some of knowledge I have gained while buying, selling and trading guitars over the last 20 years. So for all the social media know-it-all as*hats and the keyboard wizards of knowledge, please stop reading this and go Google something so you can continue your "awesomeness". This is meant for the guitarist that wants to learn buying techniques that will allow he/she to make an educated decision at the point of sale to obtain the highest quality guitar on a budget.

Chasing That Vintage Tone on a Working Musicians Budget...

Local Music Gear Feature Story 

Written By: Jac Harrison

Since the beginning of time, mankind has been trying to replicate "stuff" that we have observed to enhance our lives making it more enjoyable. "Stuff" like harnessing the power of fire to cook our food to insure that it is safe to eat, using river-rock and gravity to purify our drinking water to prevent bacterial infection, and in this case -- the most important of all, making your guitar have that vintage mojo to achieve the tone of the gods (I got choked up just saying that).

About ten months ago I had this crazy idea that I could put together a guitar that had the same characteristics of a traditional 1954 Les Paul, but with a few modern amenities that I have become accustomed to. My goal was to make this guitar a usable instrument and not a watered down novelty like the "reissues" that flood the market place today. Originally; I commissioned a NY based luthier to build a guitar to my specifications, but he turned out to be difficult to work with, so I used a guitar that I already had in my personal collection that was 95% of what I was going for with the commissioned  build.  The only real difference between the donor guitar and the commissioned build was that the commissioned build was a five piece neck through body (a modern amenity that I would have enjoyed) and the donor is a set neck, like the original had in 1954. With that said, this is my step-by-step "manifesto" on how I turned my 2012 Jarrett Zaffiro in to a 1954 Les Paul tone clone ....