These two Hewlett residents say building guitars is an art project for them

Woodmere’s John Roblin son, Nathan, expressed an interest in playing the guitar during the first year of his Ph.D. program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and asked if his father would purchase one for him. Instead of heading over to a store like Guitar Center, which carries a wide selection of guitars, John instead asked, “How about I make you one?” Nathan approved his father’s offer.

John completed his first bass project in September 2021 and gave it to his son. What came next after the first was another custom-made bass two months later. This month, he completed his third custom instrument, a Telecaster-style guitar.

Now, three more are on the planning board, but John doesn’t play the guitar or any instrument. Instead, they’re more like art projects, he said.

“I have no talent to play instruments, whatsoever,” John said.

John serves on the board for the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools Endowment Fund, an independent organization made up of alumni, families and friends of the Hewlett-Woodmere school district designed to establish an endowment through fundraisers that would help provide a sustainable source of support for students.

But outside of the HWPSEF, he is the owner/creative director of Creative.io, a digital design studio with services that include developing websites, business cards, product packaging, logo creation and others.

“You have to have a thick skin as a graphic artist because what you think is right is not always what the customer wants,” he said. “For me, this is a way to get my creativity out in a way that I can do it exactly what I want.”

Others, however, may call themselves a luthier, a craftsman who makes and repairs string instruments. The most famous luthier is considered Andrea Amati.

To start his most recent project, John purchased the BexGears Electric Guitar Kit with an okoume wood body for roughly $90 on Amazon, which included the body, fretboard and strings. Parts such as the control cover, bridge plate, ferrules and pickguard were purchased separately.

Not satisfied with the okoume wood body, John went with a famous Japanese technique, Yakisugi, a centuries-old technique that involves charring the surface of wood.

To accomplish that look, John purchased a garden weed torch and set the body on fire with the help of a YouTube video, all while keeping a bottle of water on deck in case things got out of control.

The custom-made guitar earned the name the “Dark Roast.”

Although John doesn’t play, friend and fellow HWPSE board member David Rifkind, tested the custom-made guitar.

Rifkind, who retired in 2019 from the Hewlett-Woodmere school district as a social studies teacher at the high school, also customizes guitars.

Guitars can cost as low as $100 and rise accordingly in price based on quality, the guitar-building duo said. But, the two of them have learned that building one occasionally can come out more expensive than buying one pre-made depending on the materials in the kits. A small obstacle.

“The idea of working on them and creating them is kind of positive,” Rifkind said.

“It’s creative and what I like about guitars is they’re really imperfect.”

Rifkind has three in the process of being built.

The Dark Roast took about three weeks to be made after the body was burned.

For the final touch, John made the guitar feel more like his by adding a custom-made Dark Roast emblem on the back of the guitar body.

But, how does the guitar sound? Leave it to Rifkind.

“Sounds pretty good to me,” he said.