My shop is located in New England (Gardner, MA) where I have been building 6-7 acoustic guitars per year since 2007. Being left-handed and having a hard time finding a quaility, affordable left-handed acoustic, I endeavored to build my own. My first build was a Martin D28 H kit purchased from C.F. Martin. I have been working with wood for many years, building fine hand-crafted furniture and other carpentry work. As the first build progressed I found that each step would be easier if I had the proper tools and jigs. I found that designing and building these jigs was as interesting and satisfying as building the actual guitar. This process also opened my eyes to the future and possibly building custom made acoustic guitars for someone other than myself. A few months later I had a beautiful, great sounding guitar that was a dream to play. So with a shop full of jigs and tools I decided to keep building and offer my handmade guitars at affordable prices.
The shop is located in my home split between the cellar and a room I made in the attic, so I get plenty of exercise going up and down stairs. This summer I plan on combining them to save costs associated with keeping it climate controlled. I build my guitars one at a time always learning something from the last, and Incorporating it into the next.
Currently I only build right handed guitars to order, but continue to build left handed models for sale on this site and there are a few right hand guitars also for sale. I like to stay with the traditional guitar I have not built any cut-aways to date but may experiment with one in the future. My main focus is primarily Dreadnought and OM style guitars.
All of my guitars are built from scratch with the exception of the neck which I purchase semi-profiled which enables me to do the final carving to meet a client's desired specifications. I offer and recommend carbon-fiber rods inserted on both sides of the adjustable truss-rod for added stability. I believe the added stiffness from these rods adds to the tone. I offer two style head stocks: Martin-ish and my own design seen at right. Both will carry the inlayed JMaC logo.
Pre-war scalloped X bracing is what I generally use, although you my request any style. All bracing is made from hand split Adirondack red spruce.
Wood for back, sides, and top is your choice, only limited by availability. I build all my guitars for tone and not war so I prefer not to build with Mahogany as the wood has just too much movement with humidity changes this is especially an issue here in new England. Binding, purling, backstrips, tuners, fretboard inlays, and rosettes are all client options. The finish will be either nitro-lacquer of water-based lacquer depending on time of year, I cannot spray nitro during the winter months.
