Grubby Halo Guitars

02/09/2026

Not all of the guitars I build have a profound meaning to someone in particular straight off of the drawing board. Sometimes I just follow my own thoughts, feelings and desires and see where that leads.

This guitar focuses on mainstream playability while incorporating the types of custom elements that I love to include. A set of custom A3/A4 humbuckers from Ted at Vig Guitars paired up with a 25.5” scale and CNC milled steel TOM bridge offer a ton of tonal range which is expanded on by a partial coil split circuit. From beefy humbucker tones to sparkly single coil tones and combined with stunning looks, this guitar has it all!

It’s not very often that I have a guitar that isn’t sold by the time it’s completed. This one is so cool that I’ve kind of kept it under wraps so that I can maybe have it around a little while longer. It is for sale though and I’d rather have it in a good home getting played than gathering dust around my workshop. Drop me a message if you’re interested!

- Chambered Alder body with Black Limba top.

- Black Limba neck with Richlite fretboard inlayed with Black Limba fret markers.
- 25.5” scale, 12” radius
- Black TUSQ nut
- Medium Jumbo fret wire
- Hipshot open gear tuners with black buttons

- Pinnacle CNC milled Tune-O-Matic bridge with body-through anchors

- A3/A4 humbucker set from Vig pickups
- Grain matched custom covers
- Partial split circuit switching
- Orange drop tone capacitors

12/11/2025

I find that it’s sometimes difficult to tell if it’s a blessing or a curse to build something that is as potentially personal as a custom guitar for someone that you know pretty well. Such was the case for this build for local artist, Joe Dunn.

The project started around a central theme that incorporated a relatively new to me technique on entombing fabric in clear epoxy. These fabrics could then be incorporated into other fixtures for preservation and display. In considering what piece of fabric could be used that summed up Joe’s essence at a glance, my mind went straight to one persistent image of him from over a decade ago. The image of a young and insanely talented singer, songwriter and performer tearing up stages across the metro while clad in a particular button down shirt that was a perfect match to his personality. Fortunately, Joe still had this shirt in his closet all these years later and I wanted to immortalize it.

I felt blessed that I had enough insight into Joe’s past that I could pick out a recognizable symbol that was universally synonymous with his character. Something that would conjure up memories of past triumphs and maybe more importantly, lessons learned each time the case was opened.

Now, on to the curse…..

Making this fabric topped guitar wasn’t going to be enough, not for Joe and not for me (even though a fabric top guitar is an extreme exercise in patience and frustration management). I wanted to incorporate some other materials that I knew Joe liked or had a special relationship to. I found some beautiful PurpleHeart to make the neck out of because I know he loves PurpleHeart (even though PurpleHeart is one of the most difficult woods to carve into complex shapes like guitar necks). I found a prelaminated and multicolored birch plywood product aptly named ’Frogwood’ because I know he loves frogs and bright colors (even though it was dyed with waterbased dyes that bled their colorful mess all over the place at every step of the build). I used some off cuts of Paduk from another guitar that I built for his long time friend and band mate, Demitri Rallis because I know he cherishes that relationship (there’s no down side to this one, it was actually pretty easy).

Finally, I wanted to incorporate a gift from me for Joe to carry with him on his future journeys. The North Star, Polaris, L’Étoile du Nord hand inlayed in 21 pieces right at the 12th fret. In additional to everything else this guitar has to offer, I hope this gives him encouragement in times of doubt, direction when the path goes dark and becomes a totem for his soul.

- Chambered Alder body with fabric and epoxy covered Maple cap. ‘Frogwood’ accents.

- 24.75” scale neck made from PurpleHeart and YellowHeart with a Paduk headstock, ‘Frogwood’ accent and custom inlay at the 12th fret.

- Bone nut and dual action truss rod with pinwheel adjustment.

- Hipshot open gear locking tuners

- Dual, custom made, P-90 pickups from Vig Guitars. Alnico 2 in the neck and Alnico 4 in the bridge.

- Tune-O-Matic bridge from Pinnacle, CNC milled from solid Bell Brass.

- Top shelf electronic components from Pure Tone, CTS Pro and Switchcraft.

12/04/2025

When Jonathan stopped into my shop awhile back the conversation started the way that most do in this business, laying out a wish list of things he wanted in a new guitar. The desired mechanicals were pretty sttaight forward, seven string, tremolo bridge and humbuckers in a new, modernized JazzMaster inspired body shape but the ideas around the cosmetic design were less clear.

Generally speaking, I’m pretty conservative when it comes to guitar design. Familiar shapes that have at least loose historical rootings and either colors and/or natural wood choices that are easy on the eyes. Many of my clients are performing artists and creating a distraction away from the artist themselves is something I try to avoid. I didn’t belive that Jonathan was an exception to these rules of thumb but he was pretty insistent on having a dyed maple top on the body as the primary focal point. Dyed maple can run a wide spectrum from cool and classy to wild and obnoxious so I really needed to figure out where he was at on this scale.

Copious amounts of cyber stalking and background checking later, I think I was able to get a pretty good personality read on Jonathan. Simplistic underpinnings with touches of flare and class and while unconventional in specific ways, a clear overall evolution from those he’s taken influence from. This top needed to be good. It needed to be prepared just right to allow it to transcend into something more than just a guitar. Most of all, it needed to be unique to him.

After a lot of planning, gathering of the “just right” materials and careful construction, the finished product is stunning. The maple top has a unique figuring which after a three part dying process looks like rippling water. The rest of the guitar stays classy and simple with some gorgeous cuts of Sapele. All topped off with black and chrome trim. Timeless beauty and perfect match.

Body and Neck:
- Figured maple top over semi hollow Sapele body
- black edge binding
- Sapele tilt back neck with Richlite 22 fret finger board.
- 25.5” scale
- jumbo stainless steel frets
- Sapele fret marker dots
- black edge binding
- dual action truss rod with pinwheel adjustor
- TUSQ nut

Hardware:
- Gotoh tremolo bridge with cold rolled steel block
- Hipshot open gear locking tuners.
- Custom wound 7-string humbuckers from Vig Guitars
- alnico 5 magnets
- Switchcraft output jack
- CTS pro potentiometers
- push/pull switching on “tone 1” k**b for partial split tones on both humbuckers
- Orange Drop tone capacitor
- CRL 3-way pickup selector
- Dunlop strap pegs

07/11/2025

When it comes to one-off specialty guitars, words and pictures don’t usually tell the whole story. Here’s Kevin Wick giving a run down and demo of his new Grubby Halo.

Grubby Halo Guitar Review/Demo: GraphTech Ghost MIDI & Piezo System | Handwound Vig Pickups | 3 Voice Guitar | New Standard Tuning | Kevin Wick's Bougie (Can...

03/09/2025

Wayne Gretzky once said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” and while I’m not a big hockey fan, the meaning has always been very clear to me. I don’t believe that in any part of those words lays encouragement to take risk without reward but rather to seize viable opportunities to extract commensurate gains. As a small volume, up and coming custom guitar builder I’m always eager to explore opportunities to widen my professional envelope and set myself apart from other builders.

Such was the case when Kevin Wick reached out to me regarding a new guitar meant to replace his current gigging workhorse, a custom spec’d Carvin with a trifecta of outputs including magnetic, piezo and MIDI. I had heard of guitars in this configuration before but I had never seen one with my own eyes. It would be a challenging build to execute correctly, just the type of challenge I like.

Along with all of the ordinary attention to detail tailored specifically to the end user, this guitar was going require a whole lot more R&D to properly execute the sprawling electronics package, accommodating the intonation issues presented by the massive spread of a 8.5-54 string set, and overcoming the adverse aesthetics presented by the triple output arrangement.

While it took some time to work through these issues and to create something that will become an intuitive and integral part of its artist, the rewards have been absolutely worth the risks. This is a truly unique guitar for a truly unique player.

You can catch Kevin and his new guitar with the Shotgun Ragtime Band Sunday nights at the Driftwood Char Bar in Minneapolis.

- Black Walnut semi-hollow body with Roasted Birdseye Maple and Black Walnut top

- Roasted Birdseye Maple neck with a Richlite 24-fret fretboad
- 25” scale
- Gold fret wire
- Dual action truss rod
- Gotoh 510 locking tuners
- Brass nut

- Triple voice and triple outputs
- Hand wound hex-pole humbuckers with matching roasted Birdseye maple covers from Ted Vig at Vig Guitars
- GraphTech Resomax bridge with Ghost piezo under saddle pickups routed through the GraphTech Acousti-Phonic onboard preamp.
- GraphTech Hexpander onboard MIDI preamp

03/01/2025

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02/22/2025

I talk to a lot of people about the custom guitars they are dreaming up in their heads. I love these interactions. For one, who doesn’t love talking about guitars[?], and 2, it challenges my thought processes on how to accomplish various custom elements and it pushes the edges of my professional envelope out. Such was the case one day when talking with Charlie.

He had some ideas on a short scale, four string bass which really didn’t have a suitable equivalent in the mass produced marketplace. We discussed body shapes, neck profiles, ergonomics, on-stage aesthetics, pickup arrangements, electronic packages, wood selections, finishing materials, hardware choices, weight and balance targets and serviceability factors that all add up to an optimal instrument for a professional musician.

(As a disclaimer, I will readily admit that I am not the most skilled at determining through the course of casual conversation when someone is fully committed to a project.)

A number of months pass and I run into Charlie again and he asks me, “how’s construction coming?” I froze in my tracks. The only response I could come up with was, “wait, you were serious?!?” Construction started soon afterwards.

My apologies Charlie but I hope the wait was worth it. 😅

- Semi-hollow one piece Mahogany body with Wenge top and cream bindings

- 30” scale quarter sawn Wenge neck and fretboard with jumbo frets, dual action truss rod and TUSQ nut

- Hand wound “Bass Bucker” pickup set by Ted Vig at Vig Guitars

- Hipshot bridge and tuners

- CTS Pro, Orange Drop and PureTone electronics.

02/02/2025

Inspiration comes from many places for many people. One of those places for me is paying homage to the men and women who make civilized life possible for all of us. The people who show up day after day in inhospitable conditions doing the jobs that make our living conditions safe, secure and comfortable. The people who shower AFTER work. The hard working professionals of the construction trades.

The story of this six string electric began as I was finishing a bass guitar for a general contractor friend of mine that I use often for work at the family compound. He and his crew had just installed a new roof at my home and as part of that job, some roof sheeting had to be replaced. I’m not one to let job site scraps go to waste so I rescued a small piece of oriented strand board (OSB) out of the job site dumpster. The scrap was about the size of a guitar and out of curiosity more than anything, I ran it through my drum sander to see what it might look like if it were cleaned up a bit. I was amazed at its transformation from an ordinary and unglamorous construction material into something with serious potential as a decorative guitar top.

I was hooked and I started planning out a full guitar build highlighting the OSB board. It was originally going to be for my personal collection, then I was going to sell it on the open market but the minute Adam (my General Contractor friend) saw it, he had to make it his.

It was a ton of work taking job site scraps and turning them into a fine musical instrument but it was worth every minute. This is truly a unique guitar and a timeless tribute to working class Americans.

- One piece eastern white pine body with Oriented Strand Board top

- European White Birch neck with Richlite fretboard with:
- Dual action truss rod
- Medium/jumbo fret wire
- TUSQ nut

- Hipshot open gear tuners

- Billet brass telecaster bridge plate w/compensated brass saddles

- Hand wound pickups from Ted Vig of Vig Guitars
- Neck: Alnico 3 PAF
- Bridge: Vintage Hot Broadcaster

- CTS pro, CRL, Orange drop and Pure Tone electrical components.

**I don’t usually do plugs for other businesses but Adam Heaney can be found at Black Ladder Restorations (blackladder.com). Anyone looking for exterior maintenance work in the metro area should give him a shout. He does excellent work and he is part of the Minnesota music community.

05/16/2024

This beautiful vintage/modern six string guitar goes out to Nate Case. It’s been a long road in the planning and building of this amazing instrument but the wait has finally paid off! While Nate is a native Minnesotan, this one will spend most of its time on stages across Deutschland.

- Walnut topped Sapele semi-hollow body and neck
- Richlite fret board with 25” scale
- Bone nut
- Hipshot tuners
- Tone Pros Nashville T.O.M bridge
- Custom wound humbucker pickups from Ted Vig at Vig Guitars

04/28/2024

When Adam walked into my shop last year with eyes on a new custom bass I’m not sure that he quite knew the ideas I had rolling around in my head on how to “build a better bass”. It’s not easy to convince someone with decades of experience playing guitars and basses that the very construction methods of everything that they have ever played were inherently flawed for what we ask a guitar to do (and to be fair, I make these “flawed” instruments as well). I made it clear that this endeavor would be a pursuit of that last 1% of potential performance from the instrument at the cost of an unknown construction timeframe.

The process would require clean sheet drawings and blueprints. New tooling, jigs and templates would have to be made. The sequence of construction all had to be completely altered. The difficult to find lumber in the sizes required would also have to be sourced. To my delight (and frankly, surprise) Adam was 100% on-board even though it was all just in my head at the time.

My construction ideas revolved around making a stiffer, stronger, more responsive and more stable bass while enhancing user playability. Shaving off a pound of weight from a typical mass produced bass guitar while maintaining perfect balance was also a high priority. To achieve this, the central construction method had to be a semi-hollow and a “neck-through” whereas there is a contiguous piece of wood that spans the entire distance between the bridge and the headstock and the remainder of body had to be hollowed out. Neither of these construction styles are anything new to the guitar building world but the neck-through typically results in exposed layers of unsightly mismatched woods which I wanted to avoid. I wanted this bass to have a traditional and classy look. I wanted it to be smooth and sexy. I wanted laymen to appreciate its simplistic outward style while simultaneously wowing the experts with its complex and precision joinery.

No opportunity was missed in making Adam’s bass the best that it could be. Look for him on stage across the metro!

- Honduran Mahogany heartwood body with figured Walnut crotch top

- Roasted maple neck with Richlite fretboard

- Hipshot Ultra-light tuners and A-Style aluminum bridge.

- Oversized TUSQ nut

- Hand wound “Bass Bucker” pickup by Ted Vig at Vig Guitars

- CTS controls with partial splitting capability