Hi, I'm Aaron. I'm a custom guitar builder and stringed instrument repair tech by trade, and a musician and stage tech by night. I write and record original music under the moniker Atomic Tortoise, I co-founded the New Orleans rock trio War Bunnies, and I play bass in the Southern swamp rock band Them Ol' Ghosts. And when my hands aren't on a guitar, I'm probably out riding motorcycles somewhere...
Author's posts
Nov 13 2017
Restoring a 1970 Gibson SG Damaged By Hurricane Katrina
It’s been 12 years since New Orleans was forever scarred by the high-water mark of Hurricane Katrina. As the flood waters receded, abandoned artifacts representing about $81 billion in damage emerged. An estimated 800,000 housing units, over 200,000 cars and trucks, and an immeasurable number of personal belongings were among the wreckage. Most of what …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/restoring-a-1970-gibson-sg-damaged-by-hurricane-katrina/
Oct 07 2017
Making An Acoustic Guitar Bridge From Scratch
Over the years Gibson has come up with some of the most legendary instrument designs the world has ever seen, some of which are essential to defining rock and roll itself. Innovations like the Les Paul, the Firebird, and the Explorer are among the coolest guitars ever made, while the P-90 pickup, the PAF humbucker …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/making-an-acoustic-guitar-bridge-from-scratch/
Sep 20 2017
Re-finishing a defaced SG
“Once more with synergy!” facetiously cries a cynical and formidable adversary of unbridled capitalism, Naomi Klein, in her corporate-weary manifesto scrutinizing the branded world in which we live, No Logo. This post is basically about that. One of our dear clients, Michael, recently picked up a Gibson SG on the cheap – perhaps because the seller, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/re-finishing-defaced-sg/
May 17 2017
Gypsy Jazz Restoration
We recently took in a nameless gypsy jazz guitar in desperate need of restoration. We inspected the instrument inside and out for any identifying logos or serial numbers and came up with nothing. The label inside the guitar bears the words “Jazz Cutaway Hot”, and the rest of the ink has fell victim to the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/gypsy-jazz-restoration/
Dec 06 2016
VW Themed Maret Custom Guitar
Hey everyone! Aaron here. I’ll be using this month’s blog post to talk about a custom guitar project that we’re all pretty excited about. To give you a little background, I embarked upon my path of lutherie at a pretty young age under the instruction of my father, who has been a guitar maker since …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/vw-themed-maret-custom-guitar/
Oct 24 2016
Making an acoustic bridge for a vintage Martin
Building a great acoustic guitar is tricky business. One has to find the perfect balance between two opposing ideas: build a guitar that sounds good, or build a guitar that lasts. If the guitar is too solidly built, it won’t have any resonance and will sound terrible; if the guitar is too flimsy, it will collapse …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/making-an-acoustic-bridge-for-a-vintage-martin/
Jul 30 2016
Rebuilding a vintage Gibson acoustic guitar
We have the greatest job in the world: we play with guitars all day, and oftentimes get our grubby mitts on vintage instruments that we wouldn’t ever get to see as mere mortals. Occasionally we see vintage gear that looks almost brand new, but most times when an older instrument comes into our shop it …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/rebuilding-a-vintage-gibson-acoustic-guitar/
Jun 17 2016
Fixing a broken headstock for The Revivalists
We do a lot of work for The Revivalists. Three of their seven members play electric, acoustic, and/or bass guitars, and as they seem to play them pretty hard and tour a LOT, the band keeps us pretty busy. This week Zach brought in his vintage Guild Starfire, which had it’s headstock broken and then …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/fixing-a-broken-headstock-for-the-revivalists/
May 13 2016
A word from Aaron
Hey everyone, Aaron here. I’ve been repairing your instruments alongside Benjamin for the last 4 months, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of you in the shop by now. I’ve even seen some of you out on gigs around town! It’s been great getting to know you, the working musicians of New Orleans, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/a-word-from-aaron/
Aug 31 2013
Carving a Telecaster body
[Today’s blog post is guest written by my good friend, Aaron Younce, who is a brilliant luthier who builds custom bass guitars in Brooklyn, NY. Since he’s such a talented woodworker, and my home shop is not currently set up to make tons of wood dust, I sent him this Telecaster body to carve in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/carving-telecaster-body/