Chupacabra Guitars
Located in El Granada, California, Chupacabra Guitars builds reasonably priced instruments that sound great and are constructed to the specifications of the player. My steel string instruments are built around the traditional Martin guitar bracing pattern and body shape. My nylon string jazz guitars are built using both traditional and a D’Aquisto bracing pattern. We are also now building ukuleles, so come on by and check them out.
I live in El Granada, California building and repairing guitars and similar stringed instruments. I have always worked with my hands and have always enjoyed the beauty and satisfaction of wood working. After starting evening jazz guitar lessons at the Berkeley Jazz School (not Berklee), having previous experience building instruments, I decided to build the ideal acoustic jazz guitar.
About Me
Guitar Description
I work with customers to create a responsive instrument that complements their playing style and accomodates their physical needs. My basic steel string guitar starts out with dimensions and lines similar to a Martin 00, 000 or OM boxes using a modified Martin X-bracing pattern. The OM is a long scale (25.4 inches) with 14 frets clear of the body, while the 00 and 000 are usually short-scale (24.9 inches) and available with either 12 or 14 frets clear of the body. My nylon builds are a long scale (25.5 inches), 00 or 000 size, with 12 frets clear of the body. The bracing pattern for my nylon string guitar was pioneered by the late great Jimmy D’Aquisto, utilizing a light X-brace and fan brace combination that is light and loads uniformly to provide good sound projection and a balanced tonal response. The back bracing integrates vertical tone bars that are light but provide added rigidity to complement the tonal response of the top.
