Joe counts it a huge blessing to have a small wood shop in the basement of his home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. With the right tools, guitar building can happen even in the smallest of settings…maybe that’s part of the nostalgia of the trade. That being said, there are a few steps that happen outside the home shop. First, a trip to the specialty hardwood supplier, where one can get lost for hours sifting through beautiful examples of nature’s beauty (full of hidden potential). Then a trip to a friend’s custom furniture shop, to plain and prepare the body blanks. Once prepared, the body blanks are delivered to the custom CNC mill shop. Here the body profile and cavities are precision machined to Joe’s exact design specifications. Now in the rough, the rest of the guitar work can be done in the home shop.
Soon the necks arrive from the vendor. They comes with a rectangular “paddle” headstocks, ready for custom shaping.
Aside from the body and the neck components, the pickguard assembly is the third major component to the guitar’s design. Because of the “no tools, interchangeable” aspect of this design, there is a lot of precise handwork that goes into each pickguard assembly. This is where the customer can choose what pickups, pickup configeration, wiring options, color/material/texture of the pickguard laminate, etc…really giving each guitar its own unique look.
Once the guitar components are shaped and sanded, its time for finishing. Stauffer Guitars prides itself in “non-traditional” finishes. Almost every electric guitar on the market today has the same thick high-gloss finish. We tend to go the opposite way…usually opting for thin, matte, and/or natural finishes. We sometimes use special distressing & finishing techniques to give guitars a antique/relic look. When paired with an antique looking pickguard material (like the examples shown below), the whole look completes itself.
Once finished, it’s time for wiring and assembly. As mentioned above, the pickups, pickup configuration, and wiring options are all customizable. The customer also has the choice to order more than one interchangable pickguard assembly for their guitar. Finally, the decals go on and the action and intonation are adjusted. It’s now ready to go!
TIME TO MELT SOME FACES!
