Hi, I’m Motander Guitars

I began playing guitar in the mid 1990s and developed an immediate passion for the instrument itself. At the time you could still walk El Cajon Boulevard from Rolando west to College and visit a half dozen dusty guitar shops. The guitars and the people around them were endlessly fascinating to a young teenager.

Electric guitars are amazing objects. A guitar is a tool, and it is essential to make it work to make music. It’s also piece of fashion. They are a reflection both of what we want to do as players, but also how we want to feel. They can be restrained or outrageous. Some days you need to wear a suit but sometimes platform heels and a feather boa just feel better. Every guitar is different, most guitars cool.

Around 2015 I suffered a wrist injury that made it difficult to play many of the classic designs on the market. Starting with some parts guitars and hybrid designs I began to explore guitar building. I’ve spent nearly every free moment since designing, building, painting, thinking about guitars

My designs are rooted in the past, but with a nod to the oddball designs. I’m influenced by the early solid bodies from Downey and Fullerton, but also by the catalog electrics from Chicago, Japan, and Germany. I make no apologies for my love of 70’s and 80’s BC Rich guitars, or 60’s Kickstand guitars. My guitars stand out in the use of contoured edges, a mix of straight lines and curves in the silhouettes, and just the right amount of pointyness.

I’m interested in expanding the materials and techniques of guitar design. I love to use woods that are overlooked by most large builders. Some are common species like cherry and walnut, but I also use ornamental and native timbers grown in San Diego and greater southern California. I use laser cutting, 3d printing, water jet, and die-cutting to create unique design elements you can’t get anywhere else. Life is too short for boring plastic. Everything on a guitar is an opportunity for expression, and technology enables small builders like me to be more creative than ever.

Motander guitars are built outdoors, year round, in my home town of San Diego California. They are named for the places, products, and characters from this beautiful place. If you’re in town, get a burrito (if if doesn’t come wrapped in butcher paper don’t bother), and come say hi.

-Justin Motander Jones