Asking Jay Walsh, Senior Graphic Designer on the Advertising Digital Team, if he has a hobby is a little like asking Bob Dylan if he’s written any songs. The list of Jay’s avocations is so exhaustive it might require an entire issue of Stardom to do them justice. For now, here’s just one:
“I kinda got started building electric guitars when I realized it only cost a fraction of the price to build a $4,000 custom guitar.
As usual, I buried myself on YouTube and found dang near every video on: assembly, body shaping, wiring… and the biggie, how to do a finish. What people don’t know is that, back in the late ‘40’s early ‘50’s, Leo Fender – the creator of two of the most iconic guitars in history, the Stratocaster and the Telecaster – relied on leftover auto paint to finish his guitars and gallons of old nitrocellulose lacquer to put his paper-thin finishes on.
The guitar in this photo is in its beginning phases. I found a gorgeous piece of spalted maple and glued it to a hunk of alder I had laying around from a previous job. I use templates and routers to cut the final shape, neck pocket and pickup slots… followed by endless hours of sanding. I find it easier to just purchase a semi-finished neck to go with the project.
In the end, I usually can design, cut, assemble, finish and setup an entire guitar with top-of-the-line parts for less than $800. I’ve sold them for around $1,200 to $1,500… making a bit of poker money and creating a custom instrument for someone without a custom price tag.”
STARDOM 