Interview and Shop Tour with Luthier Jeff Jewitt
“I’ve always operated under the principle that if you can build a guitar, you can do anything.” – Jeff Jewitt
Jeff Jewitt is the perfect representative of the collaborative spirit that now defines the guitar-making world. Likely a familiar face to fellow builders, Jeff’s tints, stains and dyes company has supplied names big and small in the guitar world for decades. Fans of guitar-making content may have seen his StewMac collaborations, ending up on his channels where he gives a glimpse of the build process and demos his freshly completed guitars.
Self-taught to start but influenced by his contemporaries, Jeff’s guitars are a perfect mix of classic design with modern appointments, tone and style. Because he’s always learning and pushing himself, he happily takes on challenging custom builds for folks like fingerstyle virtuoso Matt Thomas, expanding the bounds of what a Jewitt Guitar can be in the process. In the spirit of sharing, we discuss some of Jeff’s advice for newer luthiers on the value of apprenticeship and self-promotion.
In February I took a drive north to Cleveland to pick up a guitar for a client and make up for last year’s in-person interview that never saw the light of day due to construction noise. It worked out for the better, as there’s really nothing like seeing someone in their element, and what a truly palatial workshop Jeff has!
Watch on YouTube or listen to Talking Guitar on your preferred podcast app.
Quick Facts
Go-to listening: Tommy Emmanuel, Norman Blake, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, ‘50s jazz, Richard Thompson, Bonnie Raitt
Favorite tonewoods: Sinker mahogany
Preferred finish: Catalyzed polyurethane
