Vote for ‘The Great Guitar Build Off’ 2020 charity contest
04-09-2020
Vote for ‘The Great Guitar Build Off’ 2020 charity contest
The Great Guitar Build Off 2020 is calling all guitar enthusiasts to cast their votes and help name the winner of this charitable competition. The unique contest challenged the most talented makers on YouTube to build the best electric guitars in a limited time frame and using the same base kit. The public now has the opportunity to vote for their favorite build, and each guitar will be raffled off with 100% of the proceeds benefiting charities that the builders have chosen. Although only one builder can be crowned the champion of The Great Guitar Build Off, the true winners are some great charitable causes.
The Great Guitar Build Off is sponsored by Crimson Guitars, which provided the luthiers’ kits used in the competition. The contest was free of rules, allowing each builder to decide how to customize and complete their guitar. After the guitars were finished, the builders released videos on their YouTube channels to showcase their work.
Now, each builder has been allowed one week of intense campaigning to their respective social media followers and YouTube subscribers, and voting is open on the contest website, www.greatguitarbuildoff.com. To ensure a fair playing field, the scoring system will be worked out based on how many views the last video gets of each competitor. Whomever gets the most views will be 100% when calculating the size of the other videos. Then, however many views the next videos get will be divided down to get a percentage of this total. This percentage will then be multiplied by the number of tickets sold to win the guitar.
So far, The Great Guitar Build Off has been a friendly, yet feisty competition thanks to some colorful personalities in the custom guitar and do-it-yourself (DIY) world. These builders have earned their reputations and followings because of their remarkable craftsmanship and captivating behind-the-scenes social media content.
The competitors are as follows:
Ben Crowe, Master Luthier and CEO at Crimson Guitars, founded his shop in Dorchester, England in 2005 and has built instruments for such luminaries of the guitar world as Robert Fripp, Charlie Jones, and Jakko Jakszyk, among others. After a few workshop moves, Ben started filming video tutorials on the Crimson Custom Guitars YouTube channel and making luthiers tools for builders around the world. Ben’s chosen charity is The Trussel Trust, which aims to bring communities together to end hunger and poverty in the U.K.
Derek Lenard is a luthier and owner of Big D Guitars in the Chicago area. He has been designing and building guitars for almost 20 years, and he’s made over 500 YouTube videos on his channel “Inside the Luthier’s Shop.” Derek is best known for his whiskey barrel guitars and partnership with Nashville guitarist Justin Johnson. His chosen charity is the Wounded Warrior Project, which strives to support military members as they transition to civilian life.
Matt Flaherty from Texas Toast Guitars is a Colorado-based guitar builder and carpenter. He takes pride in doing things “the old school way” with vintage equipment to build guitars like brands did in the 1950s. Matt will donate proceeds from his guitar’s auction to help fellow builder Brian Nutter with medical expenses he incurred from a lengthy hospitalization.
Phil McKnight of the “Know Your Gear” YouTube channel is an Arizona-based luthier who started building and repairing basses and guitars in 2003. He’s known throughout the industry for his seemingly endless knowledge of instruments, gear, and the ins and outs of the music business. Phil’s charity is Guitars for Vets, a non-profit dedicated to providing relief to struggling veterans through the healing power of music and community. Watch Phil McKnight in one of his videos below.
Brad Angove of Angove Guitars is a Canadian guitar builder who specializes in custom painting and manufacturing. His channel is dedicated to helping DIY builders, and he is known for sharing a variety of painting and guitar design ideas on his YouTube channel. Brad’s chosen charity is the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation in Edmonton, Alberta.
The Great Guitar Build Off added another dimension of creativity by including popular makers whose craftsmanship extends beyond guitars.
Jimmy DiResta is a New York-based designer, builder, maker, and teacher. He has been experimenting with tools and materials for more than 40 years and works with metal, wood, plastic, and more. After a career in television, Jimmy entered the YouTube media business and today has one of the top master builder YouTube channels in the world. He has also co-hosted the “Making It” podcast since 2014. Watch an outstanding piece from his archives below.
Tamar Hannah of 3×3 Custom is a woodworking mother of three based in New Jersey. She loves to transform rough lumber into unique conversation pieces, and has been building up her YouTube channel with DIY videos. While her main focus is building furniture and housewares, Tamara has the most fun when she’s working on guitars. Her charity of choice is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Dan Thompson is an Arizona YouTuber whose channel “Guns and Guitars” is devoted to his two favorite things. Dan loves learning how to build guitars and enjoys sharing lessons through DIY videos. His chosen charity is Lifewater, which is committed to ending the global water and sanitation crisis, one village at a time.
“The Great Guitar Build Off is going to be a dog fight—shop vs. shop and lots of techniques going head to head,” said Matt Flaherty of Texas Toast Guitars. “We’re going to see if these other guitar builders are the real deal. Things might get a little heated on the Internet from time to time, but if you’re a real guitar builder, you share the same passion that we do. We build guitars because we love it.”
Guitar enthusiasts can check out videos and photos of the finished builds, cast a vote for their favorite, and even make the winning bid that will benefit a great charity at greatguitarbuildoff.com.
Ceck the links below for this event.