This a repost of an article I earlier had posted on my website.
The Soul of a Guitar
By Tony Anton, Wizard Guitars
Of all the instruments I know, the electric guitar is the most uniquely compelling and alluring. Never has one instrument had so many faces and voices and touched so many styles of music.
As a guitar builder, or luthier, for the past fifteen years, I've been intimately connected with the various incarnations of this captivating instrument.
Why are we so entranced by the electric guitar and what does it evoke in our own souls? Or perhaps a better question might be: does this instrument have a soul of its own?
Maybe it's the way it balances opposites. It is at once both common and elevated. It is accessible yet elusive. Chances are you can find one lying around most households. Many people have picked one up, learned to pluck a few chords. Yet it's the same instrument that, in the hands of a virtuoso, will sing with sounds that can make your jaw drop in awe. It evokes an image of glamour, potential for fame, stardom. It is a symbol of power, freedom and individuality.
Reminiscent of a gourd (a Taoist symbol), its shape holds together the potency of both feminine and masculine archetypes, a rounded fullness leading into a graceful neck. With a curvaceous body of dazzling and varying colors, adorned with cosmetic features, guitars are often named after women (such as B.B. King's Lucille). In an acoustic guitar, the sound hole is receptive to the vibration of the string, holding the note, allowing it to revebrate before sending it out.
An electric guitar hooked up to an amplifier, regardless of its tone, penetrates the air and cuts through the rhythm of a band. Depending on its electronics and how a guitarist plays, a guitar can be as piercing as a seagull's screech, soft as a harp, rhythmic like a drum, melodic as a piano, or as raucous and obnoxious as a chainsaw.
Of course, not all guitars have soul. Some look really good and sound bad, and vice versa. And no matter how good a guitar looks and sounds in a music store, it's still a result of someone else's vision. More adventurous guitarists might turn to a custom guitar, which can be an exploration of something not yet tangible, or an actualization of an already formed idea. Either way, as a luthier, I have found that the most challenging, exciting and satisfying aspect of building an electric guitar is letting its soul emerge.
A custom guitar with soul is far more than the sum of its components. The difference between piecing together a Frankenstein and channelling a living creation is being open to the sharing and exchange of creative energy. In a way, it's a co-creation between the player and the luthier. However, it works best when most of the input comes from the player. The goal is to let the individuality of the guitarist emerge. The luthier acts as a painter who allows his talent and technical proficiency on the canvas to be directed by the other's vision. The tools of the trade may be different, but it all starts with a spark of inspiration, an idea, and a rough sketch.
Once the concept matures into a definite shape on paper, the physical design of a guitar is ready to emerge. Materials and hardware, such as wood and electronics, flesh out the body. In effect, it's like working backwards towards reality.
These are only a few of the details. From exotic woods, to intricate binding, to elaborate inlays, infusing soul into a guitar is a steady process that can't be rushed. In a custom guitar, there are no compromises--you get exactly what you put into it.
But soul doesn't stop there. When a guitar is completed, it's not really finished. In fact, a dialogue between the player and the instrument then begins. Guitar and player become meshed and intertwined through imagination.
The instrument becomes an extension of the player's soul. It's a constantly evolving history and bond that can only add character and richness to the instrument--and the music. It can open up creative possibilities. Of course, all this goes hand in hand with another main ingredient for accessing soul in music--practice and hard work.
Still, it can all start with a little effortless free-floating. Whenever I'm stuck during the design stage, I just sit back in a comfortable chair, put on some Mozart or Bach, and relax into a meditative state. I know that if I'm open to it, soul will surely breathe life into my work--and that will always play itself out in the end.