Kirk Sand has been with the Guitar Shoppe since its opening in 1972. He began building guitars in 1978 and he and co-worker Jim Matthews eventually bought the shop and became co-owners.
For Sand, building guitars is more than a job or a hobby, it's an art.
He begins with Brazilian Rosewood, which is considered to be a superior guitar-making material because its density allows beautiful tone.
"I buy wood now that I'll be using five years from now," Sand said.
Just the thin strips of rosewood Sand fashions the guitar's body out of costs him about $1,000 on average, making it no surprise that his guitars sell for multiple thousands.
He shapes the body and the neck of the guitar using a variety of hand and mechanical tools, each piece coming together over time. He only makes about 30 guitars a year, and none of them ever hit the store's shelves — they are personally ordered by the player in advance.
"We build guitars here the old-fashioned way," Sand said.
Since each order is made individually, Sand customizes the guitar in minute detail to suit the needs of the player. This can involve variances on the length or width of the neck, the body's shape or even the patterns shown in the wood.
Big names like Jose Feliciano and Chet Atkins, one of the most prolific guitar players of the 20th century, have purchased and used guitars built by Sand.
Atkins even took one of Sand's designs to Gibson, who produced Sand's guitar with Chet Atkins' name. They split the royalties.
There are four guitar builders who work from the Guitar Shoppe, and each has his own brand name. There's Hobo Guitars, made by Sean Lindsey Copeland, Angus Guitars, made by Mark Angus as well as Sand and Matthew's guitars.
All the guitars made by the shop's four guitar builders retail for $3,000 or more.
That's because building a guitar as a fine instrument as opposed to the mass produced products found in other guitar stores and garages is an extremely difficult process.
