Why play an EVOKE guitar?
EVOKE guitars combine nostalgia for the classic electric guitar formulas we know and love with modern inspiration to create an insturment that begs you to keep picking it up. While I do not intend to create a swiss-army knife insturment that is "the last guitar you will ever need and can sound like anything", I do hope to make the guitar you connect with and always gravitate towards.
Every component of the guitar is sourced, selected, tested, and crafted for a reason. No part of the guitar is an oversight, and I spend a great deal of time researching and testing the most minute details, so the end result is a guitar has vibe for days and will last a lifetime.
Most importantly, before I start working on a guitar, I wrestle with the question "does this guitar really need to be made?" Then I ask myself if it does, does it need to be made by me, and if so, does it need to be made now? Many times the answer to one or more of these questions is no. But when the answer is yes to all of them, I know I'm working on something very special. These are the guitars I build and hope you have a chance to play.
The Wood
I do not buy the fanciest figured woods from "magical" storied trees that convey bragging rights for cork sniffers.
I do buy properly dried, sustainable/reclaimed, and beautiful woods that allow the guitars to be light weight, have great sutain and resonance, and are stable.
Body blanks I often use include:
- Reclaimed Pine (100+ years old), various sources including storage tanks, grain elevators, and building structures.
- Vintage Honduran Mahogany (old stock or reclaimed from furniture)
- Roasted basswood
- Roasted Alder
Neck blanks I often use include:
- Quartersawn hard rock maple (roasted and non-roasted)
- Birdseye hard rock maple
- Quartersawn Honduran Mahogany (old stock or reclaimed from furniture)
- Quartersawn Roasted Mahogany
- Purpleheart
- Leopardwood
Neck Profile
All necks are hand-rasped, hand-sanded, and hand-scraped, one at a time. My favorite neck profile is a "Soft-V", and you'll see that on a lot of the guitars I build.
Finish
I use a variety of finishes, depending on what the insturment calls for. Some finishes I use include:
- Water-based laquer
- Polymerized Tung Oil
- Urethane
- Shellac
Neck Stability
All EVOKE guitar necks have a two-way adjustable spoke-wheel truss rod to allow for adjustments to neck-relief. Access to the spoke wheel can be found via a small cutaway at the 21st nut. Guitars are shipped with a tool to adjust the spoke wheel.
Some neck woods are stiffer than others depending on species, what orientation the wood was milled, and tempering process. For some woods that lack optimal stiffness (or for guitars designed for heavy road use, quickly traversing varying climates), I install carbon fiber rods adjacent to the truss rod to add reinforecement.
Hardware and Electronics
Hardware (bridge, tuners, etc.) is chosen to meet each guitar's unique design aesthetics and funcitonal requirements, and I'm constantly trying out new hardware.
Most of my pickups are from Lindy Fralin at Fralin Pickups, made just south of me in Richmond, VA. Lindy's line of pickups sound amazing, are thoughtfully developed and constructed, and are very consistent.
Standard wiring harness components include tight-tolerance CTS potentiometers, made-in-USA Switchcraft switches, multi-contact output jacks, and high-quality capacitors that I personally check for capacitance.
For more intracate and custom wiring schemes, I work with Gunstreet Wiring Shop to design and provide wiring harnesses.