Welcome to Monson Guitars. Here you will find some of the most unique guitars around. Inspired by The Misfits, specifically Doyle's Annihilator, and the custom guitars they built, I began building guitars in January 2001. I was looking to make something different. Having worked on guitars with bands, including my own, for years and having fifteen years of woodworking experience, I began. With a slab of Black Walnut, I designed and built my first guitar, The Impaler, complete with a coffin case and six handles. A labor of love began. I went on to build many more. I sold a few, but kept many for myself because I ended up liking the sound and feeling more than any of my other guitars. Most of all, they were unique.
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Monson Guitars was started in Northern California, near Chico, and is now currently located just outside of Seattle, WA. Over the years, I've developed an arsenal of quality designs to rival anyone. From my early designs to the more recent designs showing my design experience......shaping the future of how you'll see functional and extreme. My guitars are a combination of function and bad ass looks. I try to make all my guitars function well first. It should be comfortable to play, well balanced, sound even better and look unique. I also try to make my guitars affordable. People coming up in the underground should be able to afford them, hence the reason for offering a base model guitar that isn't "loaded". Almost all my guitars are hand-made to order. I do not mass produce guitars. Making expensive novelty guitars is something I try to avoid. I make guitars for people who want to strap 'em on and play! However, it should be said, handmade guitars are more sensitive and responsive than factory guitars.....they have personality and this is why we play them....they have feel and tone. The longer I build guitars, the more I see the guitar industry for what it is. I have no desire to fit in with the guitar industry! I'm just a guy building guitars....no corporate agendas here. I take great pride in my craftsmanship and I'm always working on new and more unique designs. Quality is always a priority and nothing leaves my shop unless it meets my standards. I love to use black walnut as well as cherry because of the tone and sustain, not to mention the beauty. I've got so many designs coming it's ridiculous!.....and that is never going to stop. Many have made Monson guitars a requirement on stage and in the studio. This is where innovation meets old school craftsmanship. Monson guitars, creating guitars that inspire you to create.
2-21-14 - First of all, let me say that the secret driving force behind Monson Guitars is my wife, without whom, Monson Guitars simply wouldn't exist. I was recently having a conversation with her about the future and the direction of Monson Guitars. I said that in order to build the guitars that appeal to more people and have the features they want at a price they want, I would need to make some compromises. My wife reminded me that I never got into this business to appeal to 99% of the people out there. My guitars were never meant to appeal to the "mass produced in China" crowd. I got into this business to appeal to a select few. "quit trying to appeal to the masses, that has never been your niche", she said. She reminded me that I have never compromised to make more people happy. I thank her for this perspective. And with that in mind, if you want to buy a cheap mass produced guitar somewhere else, be my guest. If you want a unique, one-of-a-kind guitar, hand built in the U.S. , then look no further.
Every musician is unique. They have their own personality and their own soul. Just so, every guitar I build is unique, with its own personality and soul. For every musician out there, there is a guitar that is perfect for them and vice versa, for every guitar I build, there is a musician that is perfect to play it. Musician and instrument should complement each other. After all, they are extensions of each other. As a luthier, it is my job to not only build a fine crafted instrument, but to play matchmaker in a sense…..building guitars to match the unique people that play them.
A lot of people ask me “what’s better, this or that?” or, for example, what’s the best wood to use for my guitar? Well, nothing is really better or the best, it is simply different and it all depends on what is right for you. Same thing goes for pickups and bridges, etc., it all depends on what is right for you, not what is necessarily "the best". A lot of people want to add things to their guitar simply to make it "the best" when it's something that they don't need or will use. This is something I try to steer people away from. I really want to make the guitar that is best for you…that is right for you.
All guitar designs on this web site are the property of Monson Guitars. Any reproduction or assimilation will be subjected to legal action! All guitar names are trademarks of Monson Guitars. All violations will be subject to legal action!
