The Story

The story is a simple one, one that you might be familiar with. I am a man who loves guitars, and more than that I love to build guitars... guitars that are interesting in appearance and that have a beautiful and unique sound.

My name is Dave Philp and I am the owner of Joel Austin Guitars. I live in the Sierra foothills with my wife Jane, where we have resided for the past 35 years. During those years I was a finish carpenter and enjoyed playing occasionally with a local band. The turning point in my life was on one particular birthday (do I need to tell you which one?) when I received from our son Joel a copy of Making Master Guitars by Roy Courtnall.

Rebuilding an old greenhouse on our property, I converted it into a guitar studio and gradually began to teach myself. Working on weekends, I slowly made one guitar after another. I made guitars for anyone, whether they wanted one or not!

However, as it turned out, they actually did. And it was the positive feedback that I received about those guitars that moved me forward in my journey. Each one was a learning process, and that concept remains the same today.

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Being surrounded by the foothills, I particularly enjoy working with local woods and like to showcase them. If you are interested in a particular wood, or if you have wood that you would like transformed into a guitar, give me a call so we can talk about it. I am always open to a new creative adventure.