california

Name: Dave Young, designer; David Thiele, master woodworker

Hometown: San Diego, California

Guitar: Guitiki

The intricately crafted Guitiki.

This month’s guitar, inspired by trans-Pacific tiki art, is elaborately decorated from top to bottom and has eyes that light up in sync with the music being played on it.

Inspired by a family trip to Hawaii in the mid 2000s, I discovered a passion for creating tikis. I’m also someone who enjoys playing surf tunes on the guitar, and I combined my design and 3D-modeling skills to craft unique tiki-inspired art to attach to my Gretsch. Driven by a desire to take it to the next level, I then wanted to design and build an entire tiki-themed guitar. But while I had the design aspect covered, I lacked the necessary woodworking skills and equipment to bring it to life.

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Dave Alvin enjoys the “magic” of playing guitar with his trusty 1964 Fender Stratocaster. Much of that wear was put on by Alvin, with the help of flying beer bottles. When the fretboard was nearly worn out, Alvin’s friend Drac Conley built him the replica that he takes on tour today.

Photo by Chip Duden Photography

The guitarist and songwriter came up in Southern California’s fertile music scene to play in the Blasters and X, and grow a brilliant solo career as a Strat-slinging storyteller. Today, he’s an American-music legend.

Is Dave Alvin a guitarist or a medium? Listening to him play live, it’s hard to decide. Sure, there’s a custom copy of his beloved ’64 Strat in his hands, pumping loud and salty through an ’80s, Paul Rivera-made Fender Concert. But, rather than simply playing, he seems to be channeling every foundational 6-stringer from the 1940s through the 1960s.

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