So what happens when one of the top luthiers in San Diego decides to make a guitar for himself? You end up with one of the slickest custom strats around. While elRayo's Andy Greenberg is known for his bass playing, he still likes to lay down the occasional guitar riff. Rather than purchasing a medium priced guitar he wouldn't be completely satisfied with, or an upper-end guitar costing thousands of dollars, Andy decided to make his own black 60's era strat replica. This photo diary from the winter of 2006 documents all of the steps Andy took to make his personal "Blackie" styled guitar everything he needed from an axe.

The first sequence of photos shows some of the aging techniques Andy used to not only relic the appearance of the instrument, but improve the overall feel. A light nitro finish combined with lightly rolling the fingerboard edges makes the guitar feel like it is decades old.

The following sequence reveals some of the electronics details from when the guitar was first built. A variety of configurations were employed, including blend pots, the Suhr BPSSC system, and most recently a set of Joe Barden pickups (Andy's personal favorite).

The next sequence of pictures brings us back to some of the aging techniques used. Sometimes guitar repair isn't about making things like new, but getting an old look on something that performs as new.

Lastly, we return to the guitar a year and a half after it was built. This is Andy's go to guitar when he needs a sound reference, wants to record a quick track at home, or demonstrates why elRayo Guitarworks is THE San Diego guitar repair shop.

This is without a doubt a truly inspired build. Andy had a lot of fun dialing it in to his preferences, bringing that same enthusiasm to all custom builds and repairs. For any questions about this custom build, or building the guitar of your dreams, email us.