Inspiration can arise from the most lifeless
and prosaic sources. Just ask luthier Doug
Kauer who accredits his “Ah-ha!” moment
to a single solid piece of maple. “I grew
up in the family’s woodworking business
and one day a piece of maple came in the
shop,” remembers Kauer. “I just mentioned
something in passing to my girlfriend—now
wife—that ‘I should build a guitar from
this.’” A few months later Kauer’s birthday
came around and she bought him some
pickups, tuners, and some other parts so
he could properly jump-start his DIY-luthier
career. Seven years have passed and he’s
constructed over 130 guitars under the
Kauer name, and 54 guitars in 2010 alone.
But that first piece of maple still hasn’t
been built into a guitar.
While most builders are grabbing the last
batches of endangered species of mahogany
and rosewood, Kauer generally goes with
Spanish cedar—aka South American mahogany—and ambrosia maple. “Spanish cedar is
an amazing, warm, clear sounding mahogany
that is also very light weight and ambrosia
maple is just as fantastic sounding as Eastern
maple,” says Kauer. “I’d rather put all my
efforts into making the most of what I think is
the best-sounding, most-reliable tonewoods
available to build something I know will
sound good and I won’t run out of… and to
be honest, I’m tired of seeing 10-top after
10-top [laughs]. What I truly enjoy about the
Spanish cedar and ambrosia maple is they
create a familiar sounding guitar that still
produces its own voice and character.”
In addition, Kauer’s goal from the very beginning
was to build a clear, articulate guitar
with lots of dynamic range at a comfortable,
balanced weight. “I took the positives from
guitars I enjoyed playing and threw out the
flaws that frustrated me as a player,” says
Kauer. All of Kauer’s standard Daylighters are
an offspring that is one-third-Jazzmaster—body style—one-third Les Paul—scale length,
radius and humbuckers—and one-third
Firebird—playing position and neck access.
Most of Kauer Guitars’ Daylighters—
Express, Standard, Semi-Hollow, and
Hollow—share a similar thumbprint: a
Spanish cedar body with an ambrosia maple
cap, 24 3/4" scale Spanish cedar neck with
a wenge fretboard, WolfeTone pickups, and
TonePros hardware. “The biggest requirement
I have for the entire package is a
clear, articulate guitar with lots of dynamic
range and a comfortable weight [8 lbs or
less],” says Kauer. “I really strive to build
a consistent, well-built, excellent playing
guitar that I could play three hours a night,
every night without a struggle… [laughs]
what’s the point if it can’t do that?”
Daylighter Express
The Express is the stripped-down, no-frills
workhorse of the Daylighter family. It
features a pau ferro fretboard and wenge
binding. Kauer explains its tone as being
“warm expressive tone that compliments
the WolfeTone P-90s—Mean (neck) and
Meaner (bridge)—cranked-up rock tones.”
Daylighter Standard
The Standard is currently Kauer’s only
solidbody model. It’s loaded with
WolfeTone Kauer-wind PAF-style humbuckers.
Kauer explains it as having a “thick,
full tone with loads of sustain and surprising
snap thanks to the wenge fretboard.”
Daylighter Semi-Hollow
Anointed the Swiss Army Knife of the
Daylighter models, this Semi-Hollow is
loaded with three Klein Pickups Firebird
Minis giving the guitar a sweet and fat low
end, with well-defined mids, and single-coil-like clarity.
Argonaut
After being unveiled at the LA Amp Show
as a prototype—tentatively named the
Double Hollow—the Argonaut won the
hearts and fingers of enough players for
Kauer to put this model into production.
It features a carved Eastern maple
back and a 4" Spanish cedar core block
which is attached to the Spanish cedar
top giving the guitar 60–70 percent
more internal volume. Initially, Kauer was
disappointed because he was hoping the
guitar would be somewhat ES-175-ish,
but he was happy to discover the guitar is
very much like an ES-335.
Pricing and Availability
Kauer’s handbuilt guitars start with the
Daylighter Express at $2500. The STD
starts at $3450, the Semi-Hollow models
enter at $3900 while the just released
Double Hollow begins at $5500. And
because Kauer Guitars is a one-man
shop—with occasional help from family
members—Doug has an open-door policy
on tweaking and tinkering. “You name I’ll
try it,” says Kauer. “Color choices, pickup
options and configurations, neck profiles,
and wood packages are all configurable on
the Daylighter models.” Currently, Kauer
Guitars’ current wait time is 3–4 months.
kauerguitars.com