Today I’d like to highlight a US guitar manufacturer that I’ve noticed at NAMM and in a few other videos on YouTube, Kiesel Guitars. Sadly for the rest of the world, they only seem to be available in the US, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying looking at their guitars, since they produce some beautiful instruments.
The guitar in the picture below, a Custom Shop SCB6H, is an example of their work (they make many sorts of guitars, including semi-hollows, acoustics and bass guitars, and they cater for left-handed players too). The have a certain number of guitars in stock and you can order a custom guitar based on one of their models but with the options that you want. For US-made custom guitars, they seem to be quite reasonably priced, too.
Obviously, I haven’t played any of these guitars and I’m not going on much more than the looks. The looks are great, though, and I’d certainly enjoy hanging one on my wall!
My one criticism is that the company doesn’t seem to know what to call itself. They appear to be transition between the names Carvin and Kiesel, and in a lot of places (e.g. on their Facebook page) they refer to themselves as “Kiesel and Carvin Guitars” or “Kiesel Guitars Carvin Guitars”. I find this confusing as a casual onlooker, and I’d urge them to pick whichever name they want and stick with it. I understand that there’s family history behind the story; we consumers don’t care about that and it’s confusing the branding. Make nice guitars, give them a clear name and everyone will be happy!
