Three years ago, on a fateful Christmas morning, Greg Hembree received a book from his sister on how to make guitars out of cigar boxes. He'd been a fan of woodworking for over a decade and a fan of music since childhood.
That first guitar snowballed the former financial advisor into a new career of making scrap wood and electronics into musical pieces of art.
Now, Hembree is planning to make his business official, moving it out of his garage in North Chattanooga and into a new space in Highland Park at 1085 Bailey Ave. The transition hasn't been easy - the space was formerly a storage facility. Hembree said he and his business partners have recycled around 30,000 pounds of paper products over the last two months in working to get the space ready.
In the meantime, Hembree keeps crafting his exquisite custom instruments.
"I think people really appreciate the ability to customize everything about what they get," he said.
Depending on whether Greg Hembree inlays wood or abalone into the body or neck of the guitar, each piece can take up to 100 man hours to create. (Contributed photo)
All the variables for each guitar are customizable for the customer. Here, Greg Hembree has inlaid stripes of rosewood into a maple body. (Contributed photo)Handmaking an electric guitar, bass guitar or banjo is a laborious process. At minimum, Hembree said it takes him around 60 hours of work for a guitar without too much pomp and circumstance, up to 100 hours for hand-carved headstocks, abalone inlaid into the neck and other complex custom features. In between the hours waiting for glue to set and lacquer finish to dry, Hembree gets to work on another guitar, often working on four or five at a time, he said.
"I take an artistic approach to building guitars. I've been playing my whole life and I've gotten a feel for what I believe is a good-playing instrument," Hembree said. "I just try to build based on that."
Well-known local musicians are already singing his praises. Hembree said bluegrass group Slim Pickins has been using his custom instruments for several months, and local rock band The Bohannons has also been rocking out on custom guitars courtesy of Hembree. Hembree himself even performed during the most recent Riverbend as a fill-in guitarist for the group, although he was the first to admit the stint was short lived.
Hembree's more simple custom creations cost around $1,500. The most he's sold one of his guitars for was $3,500, which entailed a hand-carved headstock and detailing an expensive, rare species of maple for the body, inlaid with rosewood. In guitars, each species of wood gives a different sound, and Hembree said he has studied them all to be able to give the customer exactly what they want.
Not that every customer is dead set on the sound, of course. Hembree said he believes his instruments are more than just tools - they're works of art, and some of his customers enlist his services just to create a gorgeous guitar. For them, the intricacies of pickup technology and the electronic components of the guitar are less important than the overall look, which is something he said he understands completely.
Eventually, Hembree said he wants his space to be more than just a workshop; he wants it to be a place where musicians can come hang out and jam.
"We want to keep it sort of low key. We don't want to fill up the space with too much, but we'd love to invite musicians down from the Revelry Room or Track 29 to drink a beer and have a good time," he said.
More than anything, Hembree said he just wants to see people picking away on the pieces of art he's created, whether onstage in front of thousands of fans or in a home as Mom or Dad teaches kids how to play.
Those interested in one of his custom guitars can contact Hembree at greg@hembreeguitars.com or 785-6389.