Story and photos by Brandon LaChance
Spring Valley man goes to a concert and decides to make guitars I t seemed simple. It would be fun and a creative project. It looked like something Jim Klein could do. So, he did. On a whim, Jim Klein started creating and building cigar box guitars and telecaster electric guitars. “I saw a guy playing one of the cigar box guitars. They have a really cool sound to them,” said Klein, 59, who was born, raised, and still resides in Spring Valley. “I saw them on a YouTube video. I thought, ‘I wonder if I can make that.’ So, I made one. Then I started making teles (telecasters). I just got into it.” There was some trial and error involved, though. “I watched a lot of videos and did a lot of reading on how to make guitars. I messed up a bunch of them,” he said. “I’ve made necks before and took them out to the fire pit to use them for kindling because I screwed them up. But you learn, and next time you don’t do it that way and you try something else.”
4 June 2022 | Illinois Valley Boomers | A NewsTribune Publication
The YouTube videos and reading led him to find a process that worked for him and his skill set. Klein had worked in construction for most of his life until a couple of back surgeries led him to drive a semi-truck for the last 12 years. The construction background makes it easy for Klein to create and build, and the truck driving job gives him time to make guitars in his garage. “The first thing you have to do is have a template,” said Klein. “You take the template, put it on the wood, and then route out all of the cavities. Then you put on whatever kind of finish you want, whether you want to paint or stain and varnish. “The neck is the same way. You have to use a template to copy it. You use double-stick tape and put it on a piece of wood to cut the
See KLEIN page 6
