Building a Jazz Guitar by Ralph A.

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  August 28, 2026 Mark Maneja

  Shotgun Shells for Knobs, LEDs in the F-Holes: Bill's First Build

  Bill Antonitis had never carved wood when he bought a chisel set from Home Depot, printed a stencil, and cut a rune into the top of his first guitar kit. He also turned spent shotgun shells into control knobs, dropped magnet-mounted LEDs into the f-holes, and found out mid-build that a semi-hollow has no control cavity.

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  August 28, 2026 Mark Maneja

  "It Breathes": Why This 80-Year-Old Leaves a New Kit Boxed for a Week

  Byron Stafford is 80, lives in the mountains of northeastern Arizona, and has been building guitars since 1956. He wrote us this piece on wood, patience and abrasives, illustrated with photographs of his own builds from 1958 to this year.

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  August 28, 2026 Mark Maneja

  Colored Pencil, No Stain: Drawing a Guitar Top on Bare Flame Maple

  Peter-John V. drew the entire top of our semi-hollow kit in colored pencil, straight onto bare flame maple, with nothing removed and nothing painted. He sent us the full run of photographs and video, so here is the build in order, from the first outline to the finished artwork.

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