Jol Dantzig

Jol Dantzig is a musician, designer, author, luthier and entrepreneur. He has contributed his talents to the Gibson, Fender, Guild, Gretsch and Ovation guitar companies and was a founding partner of Hamer Guitars in 1973. As a consultant, Dantzig’s clients include Mesa Engineering, Kaman Music, EMG, Nady Systems, Yamaha and Modulus Guitars. He has designed and built instruments for hundreds of major artists. Jol performs with Jolyon Christopher and the Cool Art Rockers, Dean the Gurglah, and Book of Liars. His hobbies include vintage sports car racing and fencing. Read more at https://dantzig.com.

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Jol Dantzig

Esoterica Electrica: Toad Takes the Rap

A borrowed Sunbeam Alpine, a Vox AC100, a golf course caper, and a house party gone sideways.

Esoterica Electrica: What a Neck Joint Says About Your Guitar

For centuries, neck and body belonged together like a marriage—glued, permanent, born whole. Then Leo Fender turned the neck into a module held on by four screws. Jol Dantzig traces the divide, and the mythology that hardened around each side.

Esoterica Electrica: Aspiration has Entered the Chat

What guitarists are really buying when they buy a guitar—and why the pull is so hard to resist.

What Matters in Your Guitar’s Setup?

The way your guitar plays is a matter of personal taste, but here are some thoughts.

Can You (or Your Guitar) Make Something Out of Nothing?

Musings on the impermanence of sound.

Esoterica Electrica: The Geography of Your Favorite Gear

Where your favorite guitar or amp was produced used to mean something. Does it still?

Fix the Tiny Gremlins Stealing Your Guitar’s Tone

Here are a handful of simple tweaks that can enhance your guitar’s performance and sound.

Esoterica Electrica: On Our Way to the Top

Reflections on where we’re all headed with our music.

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Jol Dantzig

A borrowed Sunbeam Alpine, a Vox AC100, a golf course caper, and a house party gone sideways.

For centuries, neck and body belonged together like a marriage—glued, permanent, born whole. Then Leo Fender turned the neck into a module held on by four screws. Jol Dantzig traces the divide, and the mythology that hardened around each side.

What guitarists are really buying when they buy a guitar—and why the pull is so hard to resist.

The way your guitar plays is a matter of personal taste, but here are some thoughts.

Musings on the impermanence of sound.

Where your favorite guitar or amp was produced used to mean something. Does it still?

Here are a handful of simple tweaks that can enhance your guitar’s performance and sound.

Reflections on where we’re all headed with our music.