Meet Jeff Walker | Guitar maker, woodworker, musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeff Walker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeff, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
It was a necessary evolution over time. I worked in guitar shops for years. I would do repairs on the side and eventually realized I could take it on full-time. Around 2017, I began to acquire some basic woodworking tools and started making replacement bodies. Every body I made sold quickly, and I began to get requests for recommendations on necks, which are expensive. This went on for a couple of years until I realized I should start building necks as well. Once I got my processes down, I was officially building complete instruments.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I learned how to play at a young age and was playing in bands before I could drive. I started working on the retail side of things and began to learn about all the different brands and various construction styles. I had the opportunity to tour the Fender guitar factory and was fascinated by those designs and processes. Over time, I began doing setups and small repairs as a service to my sales customers. Once I developed those skills it was not long before I was able to start a very small side gig offering repairs and maintenance. By this time, I had seen more than a few home made guitar bodies and believed I could do better. Eventually I acquired the necessary hand tools to begin making my own replacement bodies. That it when things became more challenging. I was learning how to sell things I made by hand, often according to specific measurements by request, and became relatively successful at it. I began to get requests to source replacement necks to match prewired and loaded bodies. It quickly became apparent that I needed to learn how to make necks to go with these bodies. The rest is history. I began to source local woods to cut shipping costs. I began researching alternate building techniques to improve my own processes and minimize mistakes. The key for me has been to keep building regardless of the pace of business. I strive to learn more. I continue to interact within the builders’ community. Reaching out and developing relationships with working guitar players has been paramount to creating a name and reputation for my brand in an otherwise dense market for custom instruments.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You can’t go wrong on the Beltline. The walk from Ansley Park to Ponce City Market is lined with places to stop and get a bite or a beer. The Georgia Aquarium and the surrounding area are great for spending the day downtown. Polaris at the Hyatt is excellent for sunset cocktails. Not far from downtown is Chamblee, which is booming right now. There are several restaurants worth checking out, including Vintage Pizzeria and Antiguo Lobo.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This might sound like an easy answer, but my wife has shown infinite patience and support throughout the entire process of building my business. I was never mentored or taught how to do any of this. I have piles of mistakes in my shop and I see them every day. The time it takes to accumulate that experience is difficult to measure, but my journey has definitely been less arduous because of her belief in me and what I can do.

Website: https://jwalkerguitars.com

Instagram: jwalkerguitars

Facebook: J. Walker Guitars, LLC

Image Credits
Jean Frank Photograpy
Bill Foster Photos