Custom Instrument Wood burning
Musical Instrument Pyrography Portfolio
I love working with musicians to create instruments that make strong visual statements.
Wood Burned (Pyrography) Guitar with Tree Hugging Theme
The Chipko Guitar – Guitar #1, for Kyle
My first guitar pyrography comission was this vintage Fender strat. The huge amount of trust my client was giving me inspired me to really step up my pyrography game. I spent over three months invested in the process of this first guitar. First I consulted with wood burning experts and luthiers. Then I tested dozens of different tools, on many different woods, including the White Ash the strat was made of. I wanted to make sure everything was just right before making things final by doing the actual burn.
A HUGE thank you to luthier and guitar restoration specialist Doug MacCourmack for creating this beautiful video showing him putting the finish on the Chipko Guitar and rebuilding it.
Wood Burned Ghost Pirate and Kraken Guitar
The Guitarrr – Guitar #2, for Peter
Featuring Ghost Pirate, Kraken, Ghost Ship, Blue Ocean, Starry Sky with moon, and COLOR
When my parents saw how the first guitar pyrography project I did came out, and how much I enjoyed doing it, they did what they have been doing for me my whole life – they encouraged me to keep going, and helped me find the means and path to do so. My birthday was shortly after I finished the Chipko Movement guitar. So what did my parents decide to get me for a birthday present? Another guitar body to work on! We immediately started brain storming what it could become. My dad handed me the guitar complete with a list of silly names to potentially give it. And after quite a bit of sharing some really ridiculous ideas, we arrived at the Guitarrr. We concluded it would feature some or all of the following.
- a kraken (#1 most important because of my band Call of Kazulhu)
- skull and crossbones
- skull with an eyepatch
- mermaid
- pirate ship
- and ocean waves
The end result was this Gibson / Flame style guitar body. Soon my husband will put it together to become a complete playable Guitarrr with lots of frets on a gorgeous ebony colored neck with mother of pearl inlay.
An aside: it has come to my attention that people have been finding this guitar after going down internet search rabbit holes that start off with an interest in a very famous Cthulhu themed guitar. That’s pretty cool. Figured I might as well throw that keyword in there for y’all, to help others find it better moving forward.
Cajon Drum with Rococo Punk Style Bob Marley Skeleton Birds Theme
Three Little Birds Cajon – Drum #1, for Greg
My brother’s birthday is just a little over a month after mine. So it became pretty clear that he, too, would be getting some pyrography in his life. I asked him, thinking I was being clever, what musical stuff he might need in his life, as a TOTALLY subtle way to suss out what to get him for his birthday. I was positive he would name some guitar, and I’d get to do some more guitar pyrography. Most other guitarists I know seem to always have whatever their Next Guitar will be somewhere in the back (or forefront!) of their mind, so I was pretty sure he’d be naming one. After all, he’s a very accomplished musician in this 40s who is, as far as I know, still playing the Squire strat he got in high school.
But nope – he did not say a guitar. What he needed in his life was more hand percussion! This threw a wrench into my plans to get him a guitar body and burn a cool pyrography design into it as the perfect birthday gift from an artist sister to her musician brother. So I racked my brain for all of about ten minutes to try to figure out what hand percussion thing I could do cool wood burning on.
Wood burning on a … drum?
And then it came to me – a cajon! A cajon has a nice big front surface that is essentially a canvas waiting for some artistic love. But it’s unsafe to burn through the finish that comes on them, so I had to do some hunting to see if there were build your own cajon kits like there are build your own guitar kits. And indeed there were! So, this is the front of the cajon that I did for him – photo of it it fully put together coming soon.
The song is one of both of our favorites, and the dark spin of the three very dead birds saying “every little thing is gonna be alright” amuses us greatly. Also, there are three bird skulls much like there are three human skulls in our Dandy Highwaymen logo, and the filigree is very Rococo style work – so it’s quite perfect for us to hopefully use on stage some day.
If you think all this guitar pyrography stuff is cool, the best thing to do is to submit an inquiry using the button below.
Whether you’re ready to have us get started on your instrument right away, or just want to stay in the loop about our current projects and learn more about our process, the inquiry form is the best way to be in touch.
Guitar Pyrography / Instrument Wood Burning Inquiry Form
Looking for unfinished guitar bodies for pyrography?
They’ve got some really beautiful ones at Warmoth. They’re made in America. You should really consider getting one from them!
If you’re looking for the cheapest option, though – perhaps so you have more left in the budget to pay your pyrographer? 🙂 – with then yes, you can get unfinished guitar bodies on Amazon.
So, I spent an inordinately long time looking through them all to find this collection of links to unfinished guitar bodies and other instruments for you.
If you could come back here when you’re ready to buy and use these links, it would really help. You’re going to buy it off Amazon anyway, you might as well kick back a few cents to the nice artist who weeded through them all for you, right? 🙂
Some of them that claim to be mohagany bodies, I’m really not so sure about… That seems pretty cheap for mohagany, don’t you think? But even if it is indeed basswood as I suspect many are- it’s still an awesome blank canvas for a pyrographer, and it’s lighter weight, too!
Guitars and instruments in styles I have burned
Why is this guitar so awesome to do pyrography on? Because NONE of its beautiful front is taken up by a pick guard. Plus, it’s super lightweight because of all the cutaways. Plus, it’s just an insane, over-the-top metal-AF shape.
Ktaxon DIY Guitar Kit with Mahogany Body, Ebony Fingerboard and Maple Neck, 6 String DIY electric Guitar Kit with Unique Design, Easy Installation & Full Equipment to Build Your Own Guitar (Flame)
Here’s a make-your-own cajon drum kit, with unfinished wood.
Guitars and instruments in styles I haven’t burned yet, but would like to.
This strat style one is my favorite if you’re going to get a guitar with a pick guard on it. The black just matches so nicely with the wood burned areas!
BexGears DIY ST Style Electric Guitar Kits, Mahogany Body maple neck & composite ebony fingerboard
It’d be very special to have a sweet design burned into the wood of a ukulele with a heart shaped sound hole, don’t you think?
This five-string bass body doesn’t have a pick guard – and that makes it cooler as a pyrographic canvas.
BexGears DIY Electric Guitar Kits For 5 String bass Guitar.Okoume Body
