Welcome

  Welcome to my guitar building & repair blog. My name is Brian Howard and I am a full time Luthier from Hummelstown PA. I ran my shop there from 2009 until the spring of 2018 at which  time I moved to my current shop in Magnolia Delaware. I come from a long line of fine woodworkers and have been a professional woodworker my entire life. I spent the first part of my life building fine cabinetry and furniture along with custom millwork and balustrades. I learned from my family and other old masters hand to hand the old ways of woodworking and finishing.

  But it is guitars where I found my true calling. I have played guitar since I was a small boy, though I did not come from a musical family. Woodworking had been how I supported myself, at times no more than a "job", Guitars were how I relaxed after a hard days labor. It was a good way of life and i enjoyed it but something always seemed to be missing. So it seemed that combining the two would be ideal. My first attempt did not go well...........It was the late 80's and I wanted to be the next Paul Reed Smith or Bernie Rico. I had great Ideas but really didn't have the knowledge I needed of the guitar itself to pull it together. After a few years I gave up building but still did modifications like Floyd Rose installs for people as kind of a hobby. I also taught myself how to do fretwork and started learning the nuances of set up work.

  As I grew older I tired of full size woodworking. It had become a chore, I had lost my passion for it. Building furniture and casework had become mundane and I needed something new. That is when my yearning to build guitars rekindled. I started off with designing my very own guitar, mainly because I had never played an acoustic guitar that I found truly comfortable with good tone and projection. I also got back into repairs as I found that quality repairmen were in rather short supply in the area. Soon I was spending more time on guitars and feeling much happier so I left behind the world of large woodworking and now spend all my time with all types of fretted musical instruments. For seven years I ran my small lutherie in Hummelstown Pa and did very well there. In the spring of 2018 I moved myself and my shop to Magnolia Delaware where I now serve clients from all over the USA.


  I also have been writing articles for print and posting tutorials on various forums for several years on different projects that come into my shop. This blog is a library of these items. That which is posted here is free to use by anyone so long as a few conditions are met. That I and any associated publishers be given full credit and that no changes or alterations are made to the text or photos.

So come inside ...........

www.brianhowardguitars.com