Guitars, by their most basic of definition, are implements of artistic expression. And we consistently deliver to our clients the best possible instrument to suit their creative needs. Using beautiful wood sourced from local trees that were taken down by natural causes, the materials we use for our necks, bodies, fingerboards and caps makes our building process operate as ethically and sustainably as possible. We have total control over every step of the build process, as the tonewood is transformed from whole tree to finished guitar.

Our mission is to produce quality instruments that are a balance between one-of-a-kind uniqueness and tastefully not overstated – with unparalleled cutting-edge features, aesthetics, ergonomics, and tone!

For setups, fretwork, onboard electronics work and crack repairs to complete overhauls, we combine expert craftsmanship with unparalleled courtesy and professionalism while maintaining prompt turnaround times at reasonable pricing.

Recent Projects

Paulownia/Ash T-Style + Walnut Neck

This was a lot of trial-and-error to get the body color right, but it worked out in the end. The Process: This started out as a sub-2lb. Paulownia body, and the customer wanted to beef it up a bit, and make it purple. Since Paulownia is notoriously bad at taking color – not to mention how soft and therefore prone to denting it is – we opted to cap the body with a 3/16" bookmatched Ash cap.

St. Paul Walnut HB

Finally, a singlecut model. The shape is pretty standard, but there are some notable departures from the legacy design. Specifications The body is comprised of a heavily beveled 3/8" thick cap carved from Spalted Maple. Above is a nice shot of the bookmatched maple cap after being planed down to thickness. As usual, all of the wood used on this guitar – excluding the rosewood and ebony used on the fingerboard, trussrod cover, and pickup rings – are of local (Scotch Plains, NJ) origin and have been felled from natural causes.

The Smuggler's Route

Recently a customer brought in a 6lb. Tele body, asking if there was any way that we could lighten it up to the low-4lb. range. What happened was the most ridiculous “Smuggler’s Route” that I’ve ever seen. The end result looks good, though. First off, I took some pine template material and traced a pickguard onto it, making note of the mounting holes. Next, I marked out about 3/16" to the inside of the pickguard line, leaving some extra space around the screw holes, and cut said line out on the jigsaw.

MG-Vii Mulberry/Walnut HB

For the updated version of the MG-V, we took the old template and made a few changes, including switching from the 3+3 headstock to a reverse inline-6. Originally this was going to be entirely made out of mulberry, but due to the “less than straight” results of our prior mulberry neck endeavors, it was too risky. So instead of wasting a bunch of time on a neck wood that is a long-shot for staying straight over the long term, we decided to make the neck stringer from “ol’ reliable” black walnut.

MG Mulberry/Ash HB

This is the Manitou MG! As always this was built using 100% local, ethically-harvested wood, with an ash neck (stringer + headstock), mulberry body wings, black walnut fretboard, and mulberry rear headstock veneer (more on that later). While the body shape is derivative, the overall design is original in many ways. From the offset asymmetrical compound neck profile to the 25" scale to the shallower string-through-body flattop bridge design, these details make it sound and feel like a completely different animal.

Manitou Guitars

Custom Luthiery & Stringed Instrument Repair • Scotch Plains, NJ

We are not yet another CNC shop!

Repairs

Recent Projects

Paulownia/Ash T-Style + Walnut Neck

St. Paul Walnut HB

The Smuggler's Route

MG-Vii Mulberry/Walnut HB

MG Mulberry/Ash HB

More

Ash/Mulberry Double-Cut Body + Walnut Neck

Ash/Pine Double-Cut Body

Ash Double-Cut Body + Ash Neck

Walnut/Pine T-Style Body