Hart’s Guitars

At the intersection of science and art.

Science rules the day, kicks art away.

Some traditions in lutherie squelch the artist within the luthier. There’s a pretty strict orthodoxy surrounding tonewood and aesthetics in the classical guitar world. With regards to tonewood, there’s a pretty clear story. With the popularity of guitars rising in the mid to late 1800s, musicians began to have regular performances scheduled in large venues where hundreds or sometimes thousands of people might attend. The single most important goal for a luthier’s reputation became making the loudest instruments they could and getting them into the hands of performing musicians, who needed to fill these bigger spaces with sound for the paying public. This was in a time before mics and PA systems and it meant that luthiers had to use spruce or western red cedar for the soundboard. Very understandably, the science of loudness began to dominate lutherie. But is it necessary in 2023?

Welcome back, art!

We now live in an age with quite innovative types of technology: pickups (even for classical guitars) to capture the vibrations and sound amplification technology enabling a guitar’s sound to be projected across stadiums and humungous outdoor festivals. The primary driver behind the need need to make the loudest instrument possible was neutered long ago. Different tone woods can now be explored. At Hart’s Guitars, art has a seat at the table once again.

Creating a new sound in the studio.

Hart’s Guitars is here for the musician seeking something different. Most people might not be aware that a mahogany top on a classical guitar produces a lovely, thick low-end mellow sound. The first five instruments made at Hart’s Guitars were all-mahogany. That’s how convinced we are that it’s a lovely sound.

Alaskan Yellow Cedar as a soundboard also produces tones that no kind of spruce ever will. If you want to capture a different sound in the studio (or your Garage Band setup), Hart’s Guitars can provide you with an instrument that will get you quickly on that path. Exploration and experimentation, it’s what we do.

Scientifically sound, artfully done.

I searched for years and years to find my dream classical guitar. I’ve always loved the feel and sound of nylon strings. But I was continuously disappointed with finding the same old worn out aesthetic in classical guitars. From twenty feet away, classical guitars all look the same to an untrained eye. So, I decided to begin making the guitars I could not find.

Hart’s Guitars was born in 2018. Our guitars are made using the very same traditional classical guitar lutherie methods of the very best. We just know that it’s OK to take a little leap of faith with other tone woods and aesthetics which ultimately produce incredibly unique guitars with a new kind of sound.