Maduro: A Homemade Acoustic electric guitar

2019 - Present

During my years as a college student, I began gravitating towards woodworking and carpentry. After a few simple projects, I decided to explore my curiosity for the Luthier trade - although I had no formal Luthier training and straying far from practical construction. I set out to make an instrument that would either perform, or be an attractive wall ornament. I cast aside fear of failure, fully engaged my creativity, and ended with a unique guitar that performs well with an amp!

Cigar Box Inspired Aesthetic

Named after a popular dark color cigar wrapper, Maduro's top face is comprised of cigar boxes. I worked at a cigar shop in college, and the owner kindly let me take a few boxes home.

Abnormal Construction

Majority of the body is plied red oak, which makes the guitar quite heavy. I plied the wood in a very a-typical manner, and I learned from the downfalls of my approach. Red oak is a dense hardwood and was free to me at the time!

Staining and Finish

I chose an espresso brown stain for the back, which turned out quite nice! To differentiate the grain in an artistic manner, I added two pieces of lightly stained poplar.

Electronics and Internals

I spent a good amount of time researching pickup types and configurations in search of something unique. I designed the switching and circuitry myself, and soldered everything together. In an attempt to achieve a unique tone, I scatter-wound the pickups by hand, to perhaps achieve more capacitance per turn of wire.