JACOB JURAIN LUTHIER PORTFOLIO
Jacob has been building and repairing guitars since 2021. Jacob has been working closely with Lyndon Hardy of Luthierlyn LLC to help expand his skills and grow his knowledge of the craft. Specializing in the building of electric guitars, Jacob has made a small business out of helping his friends with their instrument repairs.
LEFT: Repaired. ABOVE: In process. RIGHT: Before.
In early 2024, while perusing a local music shop that was closing down, I found this gem. When I spoke to the store owner, it had been in inventory for quite a while, but the repaired were too much for them to handle. I decided that it would be a fun project and took it on.
It had a laundry list of issues; the neck was separating from the body and needed to be reset, there were many gaps on the sides where the top and back were to attach, there was a crack along the top, the fretboard had extensive wear damaged, the frets were heavily worn, the bridge was missing parts and the old strings needed replacing.
I chose not to redo the original finish from 1938, to honor the history of those who played this instrument before me.
ELECTRIC 12 STRING GUITAR “OPHILIA,” (FULL BUILD)
ABOVE CENTER AND LEFT: Finished build. TOP RIGHT: Dry fit. BOTTOM RIGHT: Building of the neck and fretboard.
I crafted this guitar from scratch alongside my friend Brandon Smith, (CrossandMiter on all social media platforms). This piece was designed in black walnut for the top and back panels, cherry for the body, mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard.
LEFT HANDED SEMI HOLLOW ELECTRIC GUITAR: “BLACK AND WHITE” (FULL BODY BUILD WITH MANUFACTURED NECK)
LEFT: Finished build. MIDDLE: Finish in process RIGHT: Body in process.
This was a commissioned build for a left handed guitarist. The body was designed in pine and crafted from scratch, and hand carved the phases of the moon as a sound hole to complete the look. For this particular build I chose to utilize a prefabricated maple neck.
The inside of the sound cavity and the body of the guitar have been finished with Black 3.0 by Stuart Semple and a hard acrylic pickguard.
MANDOLIN SHAPED SOLID BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR: “BLACK AND BLUE” (FULL BUILD)
TOP LEFT: Finished scroll. MIDDLE: Finished build. TOP RIGHT: Finished neck.
BOTTOM LEFT: Body carving in process. BOTTOM RIGHT: Test painting in process.
This instrument was inspired by the Gibson-style mandolin, whose body shape, scroll, and F hole captivated me.
As one of my first “from the ground up” builds, I used the Gibson Mandolin as a model but incorporated several of my own modifications and techniques.
I began with four blanks of clear pine, laminated them together, and hand-carved the overall shape. Once the shape was complete, I hand-carved the scroll and F hole, pouring a color-changing resin into the F hole for a unique touch.
The final steps involved cutting the neck pocket, installing the pre-purchased fretboard and frets, and applying the finish paint.