{"id":3870,"date":"2016-02-26T00:00:35","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T05:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=3870"},"modified":"2016-02-20T14:37:40","modified_gmt":"2016-02-20T19:37:40","slug":"local-products-lichty-guitars-ukeleles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/local-products-lichty-guitars-ukeleles\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Products: Lichty Guitars & Ukeleles"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Trevor Clark<\/p>\n

\"Local<\/a>Combining decades of experience in carpentry with a lifelong passion for music, luthier Jay Lichty crafts world-class guitars and ukuleles in his home workshop in Tryon. While his creations may be seen in the hands of renowned performers such as singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt and ukulele master Kimo Hussey, Jay says he takes pride in simply crafting instruments that sound beautiful in any setting.<\/p>\n

In 2009, when he found himself out of work during the economic recession, Jay built his first instrument, a ukulele. As a custom homebuilder for more than 20 years, he let his woodworking expertise inform a new hobby in instrument building. After years of playing banjo and mandolin, Jay believed the ukulele captured the unique sounds of both.<\/p>\n

\"Local<\/a>\u201cI\u2019d discovered the ukulele and decided that I wanted a nice one, but I didn\u2019t think I could afford one, or I couldn\u2019t justify it since I was just learning,\u201d says Jay. \u201cI decided to just build them for fun.\u201d He says the first two didn\u2019t turn out as visually appealing as he would have liked, but adds, \u201cthey sounded really good.\u201d His musician friends soon began encouraging him to make more.<\/p>\n

After completing several more ukuleles, Jay set his sights on crafting guitars. When he heard that legendary luthier Wayne Henderson planned to visit Tryon to teach a workshop, Jay seized the opportunity to learn from a master of the trade. After building his first guitar with Wayne, Jay hoped he could turn his hobby into a profession.<\/p>\n

Jay\u2019s custom-built instruments earned him the first \u201cMade in the South\u201d award from Garden & Gun<\/i> magazine, and his reputation in the luthier industry grew. He\u2019s built guitars and ukuleles for clients from Appalachia to Kazakhstan, tailoring each guitar or ukulele to his clients\u2019 specific playing styles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just listen to what they have to say and inform my opinion based on what they\u2019re after,\u201d says Jay. \u201cNine times out of ten, they agree with my choices, though I have had a few people say, \u2018Why don\u2019t you do it this way?\u2019 The ones who do say that are people I can usually learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jay credits the international attention he\u2019s received to the rich, resonant tones of his instruments, which come from the carefully selected woods used. While some materials like spruce may come locally sourced, Jay often works with exotic woods from South America that help create a special sound in his instruments.<\/p>\n

In addition to his international clientele and sourcing, Jay believes his passion can help contribute to his local community. Lichty Guitars frequently sponsors concerts in Tryon to help spread top-notch music throughout the rural area. Each year, Jay also donates an instrument to LEAF Community Arts to be auctioned off at the LEAF Festival in Lake Eden. All proceeds support arts and music education. Jay\u2019s instruments have found their way around the world and they are also making a difference here at home.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit lichtyguitars.com<\/a>. Trevor Clark is a writer
\nliving in Asheville.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Trevor Clark Combining decades of experience in carpentry with a lifelong passion for music, luthier Jay Lichty crafts world-class guitars and ukuleles in his home workshop in Tryon. While […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,59,57,89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-entertainmentandmusic","category-lifestyle","category-locally-made"],"yoast_head":"\nLocal Products: Lichty Guitars & Ukeleles - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Combining decades of experience in carpentry with a lifelong passion for music, luthier Jay Lichty crafts world-class guitars and ukuleles in his home workshop in Tryon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/archives\/local-products-lichty-guitars-ukeleles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Local Products: Lichty Guitars & Ukeleles - 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