About J.D. Reno Guitars

Hello,

Thank you for your time and interest in my guitars. Below is some information and brief history about J.D. Reno Guitars and my love for “making music”.

History

Here is a brief bio of how I got here. I am 53 years old and have been playing guitar for nearly 30 of those. At the age of fourteen I discovered I had a God given talent for woodworking and metalworking. My education interests through high school and college started in medicine and science and I ended up in Aeronautics and construction. But my love for building everything from custom furniture to custom cabinets to antler chandeliers came full circle in 1998. While I was remodeling a residential building I nearly removed four fingers of my left hand when a (worm drive) circular saw kicked back unexpectedly. As you could imagine, this accident was the turning point in my in both my guitar playing and woodworking. You might think that an accident like this might deter a person from doing either ever again, but in my case it was the complete opposite. My guitar playing ability has been slightly affected do to some loss of length and dexterity in my ring and pinky fingers but then again I was never a good enough player or singer to ever have a career in music. On the other hand, starting over with my guitar playing sent me down a path of seeking knowledge about guitar play-ability and sound quality. After years of playing Tama’s, Gibson’s and Martin’s, I bought a Taylor 714 Cedar Top with East Indian Rosewood back and sides. It was the best sounding and easiest playing guitar I had ever played. I had learned through my “due diligence” of research that Bob Taylor had not long ago been a struggling Luthier (builder of stringed instruments). He had pushed the envelope of tried and true building design and technique and his innovations lead to guitars that sounded and played better than the old standards. Today he is one of the biggest factory guitar producers in the world and cranks out a couple of hundred thousand guitars a year and yet I still love my Cedar 714. However I still believed that a factory built guitar would have to be inferior to a well designed and built custom hand built guitar. My research led me Jamie Kinscherff of Kinscherff Guitars who had learned the Luthier trade with Taylor Guitars and was now building custom guitars bearing his last name. I was excited to find a used, cosmetically flawed finger style guitar and quickly purchased it. Wow, what a quality feeling and sounding guitar this was. I was hooked instantly. It’s almost a sickness now. I would like to own and play all of the best guitars in the world now. Each and every one is different in sound and feel and appearance and I can’t understand how any guitar enthusiast can only have one or two. This brings me to 2005 when it occurred to me that I would go broke trying to feed my bad case of GAS (Guitar Acquisition Sickness). Luckily, I had a fully equipped wood shop, maybe and with some time and education I might be able to build something that would bring a smile to my face when I heard it for the first time. I now have 4 models that I build and a few of my own proprietary designs which I (and my customers) believe make a superior sounding and playing guitars. I’ve taken my sickness and turned it into an almost religious experience for me. I truly love stringing one up for the first time after months of blood sweat and tears and hearing its voice for the first time. I wish I could keep them all. The only thing that makes it bearable for me to sell them is the fact that I know the person who buys it might enjoy it more than me.

The Process

First I must explain that at this time I do not have an inventory of guitars to sell. The guitars that I have built and kept are a demo version of different sizes and styles of guitars with different levels of finish and custom features. When ever I build the first model of a particular size or style of guitar it is a test subject for all kinds of new options and then becomes the demo model which I keep for customers to try out and see what they like.

I build custom “one off” guitars to the customer’s specifications and desires. I build them by hand and do not mass produce any parts. I build them by myself and therefore control the quality of each step of the process from start to finish. This is one of the differences that set me apart from the factory guitar builders. A custom guitar will be built and “Voiced” to accommodate the player’s style and playing comfort as well as tone and volume. Factory guitars are too often over built and heavy compared to a good hand built guitar. This allows the custom guitar to have much better tone and overall range of sound and sustain. A typical high end factory guitar is built in 30 hours and shipped out. They use a thick UV cured Polymer Epoxy Finish so that it can be hard in 2 hours and is a sound killer. A good hand built guitar will take 30 days just for the much thinner Lacquer finish to cure hard enough to be hand polished out to a glass, mirror finish, and hundreds of hours to build. This is just one of the reasons a guitar connoisseur will commission a custom guitar over a factory built guitar.

I build the guitars from the best “Master Grade” woods available which are only found on the premium factory guitars. Each guitar takes 3 to 4 months to complete, and I’m usually building 2 different guitars at the same time. This allows me to build 4 to 8 guitars a year at a comfortable pace and is something I do more for the fun of the challenge then for any other reason. As I mentioned earlier, I have been building all types of woodworking and furniture projects for 20 years now and nothing compares to the challenge of building a wonderful sounding and beautiful guitar. However, nothing is more satisfying then stringing one up at the end of months of work and hearing its voice for the first time. It is truly a religious experience for me and it’s hard to let the new guitars go. But they are built to be played and enjoyed and typically the client who is willing to wait for the months of building and pay the price for a custom guitar, are the clients who will play it almost every day.

Guitar Models

Styles of guitars I offer from largest to smallest are Dreadnaught, Small Jumbo (SJ), Orchestra Model (OM), and Classical (Herman Hauser style nylon string).

All the guitars can be specifically braced and voiced for different playing styles which include General Purpose, Strum and pick, and Finger Style.

My Signature Model is the Small Jumbo with proprietary finger style bracing (X Fan ). It is like a marriage between a classically braced guitar and a large X-braced steel string with big deep bass tone and unbelievable mid and high end with a very light touch. All of the guitars can be set up for the individual player with a narrower or wider neck width, string height action, and various scale lengths and fret board radii to accommodate different size hands and fingers.

Ordering Process

Ordering a guitar starts with a call or email to begin the selection of all the different options and desires. Once all the details are decided I will send you a contract and build slot reservation for your review and signature to be returned with a non-refundable $500 deposit. This deposit will not only guarantee your build slot but will be used to purchase any materials for your guitar. 50% of the total contract price will be collected immediately prior to your build start date. The balance of the contract plus shipping & insurance will be due prior to the guitar shipping out. Your satisfaction is my biggest concern. Once you have received the guitar you may return it for any reason, and in like condition, with in 5 days for a full refund not including the $500 deposit and shipping costs. Any changes that need to be made to the guitars play-ability or action are included in the price of the guitar for life. All you would need to cover is the shipping.

All of my guitars come with a lifetime guarantee to the original owner against material defects or workmanship. Damage or normal wear repairs will be assessed on an individual cost basis.

My shop and home are conveniently located smack dab in the middle of the country and a short drive just south of Kansas City. I would love to invite you to visit my shop and play some of my demo guitars.

I really appreciate your interest in my guitars.

Please contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

Jay Reno

J.D.Reno Guitars