This page serves to document my humble guitar collection. The fact that I have a guitar collection is funny, since I do not play the guitar or any other instruments. I would love to learn one day. Despite my lack of proficiency, I have an appreciation for instruments, especially guitars.
Cigar Box Guitar
The first guitar I ever owned was one I built myself. I built this Cigar Box Guitar in 2012 based on plans from Make: Magazine. This is a 3-string guitar that is tuned to “Open G” tuning.
Rather than conventional pickups, it has a piezo pickup inside the body, which translates vibrations into an electrical signal. While it is not perfect, I learned a lot while building this instrument and really enjoyed the process.
Aria A551 Classical Guitar
I purchased this Aria A551 nylon-string classical guitar at Goodwill in 2012. This Japanese-made guitar has mahogany back and sides, a fine cedar top, rosewood fingerboard, nato-mahogany neck, and nickel plated machine heads. It was possibly manufactured in the 1970s, but I do not know for certain. It has a 5-digit serial number (#03930) on a label inside the body.
A previous owner had put some stickers on the top, which I removed. Unfortunately, the stickers left a discolored spot on the top.
Stratocaster Clone Electric Guitar
I purchased this cheap electric guitar from Monoprice.com back in 2013. Called the “California Classic,” part number #610103, it features three single pickups and a sunburst body. It has a solid basswood body, maple neck and fretboard, and chrome tuning pegs.
The price for this fully assembled guitar was just $76.00 in 2013. It even came with a soft case. The guitar is a Chinese-made clone of a Stratocaster. I bought it to hang on the wall because I love the sunburst color.
Yamaha EG 112C Electric Guitar
I wasn’t looking for another project when I happened upon this Yamaha EG 112C electric guitar at a thrift store in early 2026. I paid just $7.99 for it! The body was covered in scratches and dents and the tone pot and output jack were missing. The electronics were trashed and the pick guard was warped. For some reason, I felt compelled to save this one.
I set about fixing it up with the goal of making it a really nice everyday guitar. I figured it was probably about $140 away from being an $80 guitar.
