An Extra Special Guitar for an Extra Special Person
- scraggylegg
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
The past month or so has been busy beyond belief. Setting up a guitar shop, working on customer commissions, doing my day job, and fitting in family life has certainly been a juggle. Amongst all of this, I have happily carved out time to collaborate on a custom guitar for an extra special client, one who knows exactly what he wants.
The young client and craftsman in question is my youngest son. He's just turned 11 and wanted one of my guitars in time for his birthday. It's been a wonderful journey working together to produce an instrument that is uniquely his. We started with a visit to the wood yard several months ago. My son is a big nature and tree lover, and he wanted to honour that by making a guitar that let the beauty of the wood shine through. After a good long browse, he chose a stunning piece of Cherry.
The making process started by cutting the guitar body shape with the band saw. I loved the fact that my son wanted to get involved, he even helped file the shape of the body to get it just right. I showed him how to use the saw to cut out the body in a similar shape to my Kestrel, though he had a few tweaks in mind to make it uniquely his.
My son is very particular about what he wants and had a clear vision from the outset. He wanted gold frets and hardware to complement the natural beauty of the wood, and pickups that would give him a tone reminiscent of Iron Maiden and Megadeth. Old Bones is one of my go-to pickup makers, his products are exceptional. I passed my son's brief along, and he certainly came up with the goods!
The guitar is now complete, and I couldn't be prouder of what we've created together. Seeing my son's vision come to life, from that first trip to the wood yard to the final piece of gold hardware being fitted has been one of the most rewarding builds I've ever been a part of. This wasn't just a guitar build; it was a shared experience I'll treasure for years to come.
He picked it up, plugged it in, and the smile on his face said everything. The burnished Cherry top glows, the gold hardware catches the light just so, and those Old Bones pickups absolutely roar the way every young Maiden and Megadeth fan deserves. It is, without question, the most personal guitar to ever leave my workshop.
Happy birthday! Here's to many years of music ahead.
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