My first real exposure to woodworking was in Grade 7 Industrial Arts class in Scarborough, Ontario in the late 1960's. I started playing guitar in 1970 but could never justify spending a large sum of money for a guitar. The used guitars I bought always served their purpose but somehow came up short on features and/or performance. So I started upgrading hardware and pickups on my electric guitars around 1980. I made my living for several years at various points in my life as a working musician and sound technician.

 

In December 2017 I reconnected with Denis Tremblay at a Christmas party. He had just moved into his new home several blocks from mine a few weeks previously. He was running the audio engineering department at a large film company and talking about his desire to build electric guitars and amps. He asked what I was doing and I told him that I was woodworking and playing guitar as much as my schedule would allow. He said he wanted to start a company to build electric guitars and amplifiers...was I interested? “Absolutely” was my instant reply.

 

This conversation was the beginning of Norfolk & Jarvis Audio Technologies Inc. Despite my longstanding love for woodworking and playing guitar, it was only in 2018 that I began making my first electric guitar under the highly qualified experience and supervision of Denis. We build guitars that inspire us to play while faithfully serving their owners for generations to come.

I have expanded my knowledge and developed multiple new skills while learning to make electric guitars. I’ve learned to fail fast and now understand why better can be the enemy of good. We use power and hand tools to make our guitar bodies and necks from rough lumber. Making an electric guitar from raw materials is a multi-faceted journey with a vast number of catastrophic failure points in the process!