The HD Guitars Start a conversation
HD’s workshop
Old soul.
New voice.
Santa Cruz, California
Made where redwood mountains meet the sea.
HD picked up woodworking tools at sixteen and never really set them down. Classes led to a scholarship at a luthier school in Nashville, then work in custom and repair shops—including the Gibson Custom Shop.
Before the shop names came the freelance years: a one-man repair bench, weekends of setups, and custom guitars built for himself, so he could learn exactly what he wanted to hear.
Now 21, he has brought the craft home to the mountains. He hand-selects every piece of wood, cuts the inlay, and turns The Boulder’s original wooden cone in his small shop—making one instrument that serves as art and makes art itself.
Learning
the craft
The professional side
Thousands of guitars, one goal.
The freelance bench grew into the professional side of the trade: thousands of guitars across the workbench, from bare wood and unfinished kits all the way up to ultra high-end customs from the best manufacturers in the world.
Setup to repair to building—HD wanted as much of it as he could carry, so that every instrument that leaves the shop stands on all of it. The goal was never a specialty. It was to become the most well-rounded luthier he can be.
That schooling keeps running. A guitar that comes in for a repair teaches something the last one did not, and the work is still a labor of love more than a trade. His skills as a repairman informed the design side of his journey with custom builds. The Boulder encompasses everything he sought out as not only a builder, but a player.
Learn every day by building. It is a labor of love.
Found history
Salvaged from a record player.
In the first year of luthier school, HD found a beaten and battered record player at a thrift store and gave himself a project: salvage what could be saved. It did not take long to learn he is more of a guitar man than an amp aficionado—so the knobs, the grill cloth, and the parts worth keeping came home instead.
He has been collecting old radio parts ever since, waiting to find the place for them. The Boulder is that place: a vintage guitar with a voice of its own, carrying the stories of many before it.
A love child of a resonator and an archtop
PURE VINTAGE, UNMISTAKABLY UNIQUE SOUND.
Wood cone
The original cone is turned by hand for a punchy, unmistakable voice.
Hand-cut inlay
Every detail carries the marks and patience of the hand that made it.
Found history
Repurposed parts from old radios give The Boulder its pure vintage character.
Come say hello
Meet HD.
Ask about the process, current build schedule, or a particular instrument.
Contact the workshop