Like most guitar nuts when not playing guitars I like to look at them. A year or so back I was tooling around the net looking at vintage guitars and I read about a cat named Brian White who was modding guitars and building custom guitars that were somewhat based on the guitars custom built for Jerry Garcia. OK, you have my attention now. After 40 some years of playing and going through about every type of vintage guitar going custom for some reason had never crossed my mind.
I looked up Brian's website and saw what he was doing and immediately gave him a call. He was very cool and we talked about him building me a guitar. I asked Brian about his background and what led him to where he is now and was impressed enough to make a deal for a custom build.
One of the nice things about working with Brian is that you can be as involved with the build as you want to be. In my case I had a few “must have” features but I wanted him to use his artistry, craftsmanship and vision and not be bothered by me much. A few times I think I strayed off the path but Brian gently nudged me back on.
I could go on all day about the quality, craftsmanship and detail of his work. What could be better than playing a guitar that was hand-built by an artisan that also is an excellent player that loves the same types of music? He has very high standards so when he told me all of his builds were as if he were building it for himself I took it to heart because thats along the same lines of my thinking.
The set-up on the guitar is perfect, the harmonics all ring true, all 24 frets are playable, all the hardware Brian uses whether he buys it or makes it himself, and most of it is hand made as far as my guitar goes is top quality. Brian also sends pictures if you want of the build in progress, so you can see a block of wood morph into a beautiful instrument. I still can't believe that its mine to play. It is magnificent.
The tone this guitar delivers is amazing. I have the full “Jerry electronics package” and since I really like to play mostly clean this guitar and a good reverb on its own will blow you away and when you add other effects you have that nice clear tone as a foundation. I admit that I am very critical of my playing, but since playing my IO custom guitar I find myself more and more saying “damn that sounded pretty good”.
To see my guitar and all the other mods and custom builds visit Brian's site at https://iocustomguitars.com/
My guitar is "Terry's Custom" in the custom guitar gallery. Check it out.
I looked up Brian's website and saw what he was doing and immediately gave him a call. He was very cool and we talked about him building me a guitar. I asked Brian about his background and what led him to where he is now and was impressed enough to make a deal for a custom build.
One of the nice things about working with Brian is that you can be as involved with the build as you want to be. In my case I had a few “must have” features but I wanted him to use his artistry, craftsmanship and vision and not be bothered by me much. A few times I think I strayed off the path but Brian gently nudged me back on.
I could go on all day about the quality, craftsmanship and detail of his work. What could be better than playing a guitar that was hand-built by an artisan that also is an excellent player that loves the same types of music? He has very high standards so when he told me all of his builds were as if he were building it for himself I took it to heart because thats along the same lines of my thinking.
The set-up on the guitar is perfect, the harmonics all ring true, all 24 frets are playable, all the hardware Brian uses whether he buys it or makes it himself, and most of it is hand made as far as my guitar goes is top quality. Brian also sends pictures if you want of the build in progress, so you can see a block of wood morph into a beautiful instrument. I still can't believe that its mine to play. It is magnificent.
The tone this guitar delivers is amazing. I have the full “Jerry electronics package” and since I really like to play mostly clean this guitar and a good reverb on its own will blow you away and when you add other effects you have that nice clear tone as a foundation. I admit that I am very critical of my playing, but since playing my IO custom guitar I find myself more and more saying “damn that sounded pretty good”.
To see my guitar and all the other mods and custom builds visit Brian's site at https://iocustomguitars.com/
My guitar is "Terry's Custom" in the custom guitar gallery. Check it out.