About Yavcon Guitars

In the late 1990's I ordered my first custom shop dream guitar. It was made with the wrong specs... three times. I decided to build my own guitars. With limited funds, little space, and almost no equipment, I started making bolt on bodies with aftermarket necks before graduating to building neck-thru guitars with Carvin neck-thru blanks (which at the time were $275 bare bones specs with very few options.) The internet was in its infancy. I remember typing the word "luthier" into eBay and seeing 30 search results. I learned the art of building on a shoestring budget by trial and error. My passion for exotic and figured wood did not go well with the many mistakes I learned along the way. It was an expensive hobby. 

In the early 2000's three factors hit at the same time.

    1. I realized I would need to sell product to finance my passion hobby.

    2. I moved across the street from and began a friendship with a retired 4th generation pipe organ maker with a love of exotic wood,  a basement full of pro grade woodworking equipment, and a sincere interest in my projects. 

    3. The internet exploded and information as well as parts became obtainable. 

I began building neck-thru guitars, farming out inlay and paint/finish. I built 10 guitars under a brand derived from my contracting company name "Yavin Construction."  Enter Yavcon guitars. 

In the mid 2000's as the internet explosion allowed me to start Yavcon guitars, it also produced an incredible amount of backyard builders. Guitar companies sprang up overnight and the market became saturated. Small startups like myself were lost in a sea of competition, many of whom gained notoriety for bad product, unethical practices, and an alarming reputation for disgustingly going out of business with customers deposit money. Few companies made it. At this time, the focus of my personal life shifted to the rat race like so many other lost souls of my generation and I shut Yavcon down. I tried to stay somewhat involved in the industry, occasionally building something here and there. I collaborated with Neal Moser on some lamination projects and having him do inlay, binding, and finish on a lacewood guitar I built that has his M logo. In 2020, I was able to join his crew in Arizona when he became a BC Rich custom shop. As beautiful as AZ was, it wasn't a financially sustainable situation. It's not easy keeping the dream alive.

In 2019 I experienced the pattern interrupt of a lifetime. My 24 year marriage ended in a savage betrayal. The company I was working for in Massachusetts decided to pull out of the state. I was facing some medical issues. I was not in a good place and thought things had finally turned around with the opportunity to join the NMG/BCR custom shop in Arizona. It was not meant to be. I wrote off my losses moved back to my roots, back "home" to lick my wounds, recover from the financial, physical, and emotional damages I sustained, and start over. So, it's 2022 and I find myself in the heart of Cajun Country, Louisiana. Surrounded by family and realizing success is measured by happiness, not money.  I'm now in my late 40's and just want to enjoy some life. 

To quote the great Shannon Hoon, "Keep on dreamin' boy, 'cause when you stop dreamin' it's time to die."

My dream is simply to do what makes me happy. Building high end, exotic wood, multi laminate, pointy neck-thru guitars. I'm finally  taking a risk I won't regret, win or lose. I'm relaunching Yavcon Guitars. I advise anyone reading this... life is short, find some happiness, follow your bliss. 

Wherever the tides of fortune or oblivion take me, I hope to keep building. Simple as that. Many projects in the works, please check in here regularly. Health & Happiness!