Congratulations to Samuel "Lee" Blackwell on being our July Guitar of the Month winner!

This build shows that good things happen if you just allow yourself to be creative and roll with it. Custom guitars don't have to be traditional and can be trial and error, especially if you're just getting started in the guitar finishing industry. For Lee, this was an opportunity to see how well his artistic talents could translate to specializing his luthier skills with carving.

"This is my first carving ever. It started out by me wanting to see what I can do. My buddy left this Ibanez guitar at my house that he bought at a yard sale. I asked him if I could try and practice some wood carving on it. Him knowing my artistic abilities he had faith and said yes."

Lee was given the go ahead from his friend and started to brainstorm design ideas. After coming up with a blueprint of what illustration he wanted to carve out, he started the carving process with a chisel and hammer.

"First step started with a roughed out sketch with a chisel and hammer. That proved to be too difficult so I moved on to a Dremel tool. After the sanding I put layers upon layers of magic marker and polyurethane."

To put his own personal touch to the build, he decides to hand letter the back of the guitar neck with different emotions and feelings, both being positive and negative.  

Thank you, Lee Blackwell for teaching us that sometimes you have to take the jump into new methods to test out your skills. What's next on his to-do list? Lee's going to tackle an electric violin for his brother, which we can't wait to see.

He also plans to try out our Ultra Mark stain markers on his next build after seeing this build by Brad Angove.

Looking to start building your own guitar? Test out our Behlen Guitar Finishing Kit, which provides you with professional quality finish without the need for spray equipment or years of experience.