*edited on February 13, 2025

I have been playing the guitar on and off for over 20 years now and really wanted to get back into it when I moved up to Thunder Bay in 2020. After the move, I bought some guitars, amps and pedals and was starting to get curious about the construction of an acoustic guitar. I checked online for some courses and managed to find a place in Winnipeg – Hamm-Tone Guitars and Mandolins.

The idea was to just build some guitars as a hobby but I ended up pulling the trigger to make it a business even before I took the course. Well…at least a business name. I liked how the name Monkey INC. would have sounded: I actually got that from WWF back in the 90s as there was a faction called Money Incorporated or Money INC but 1). INC is an American terminology and this isn’t the United States and 2) incorporated is much more than what I expect my company to be or become – sounds like it is overkill.

I ended up going with Monkey Guitars although there are two other places called Monkey Guitars – not in Canada though.

Later in 2022, I went back to Hamm-Tone for a couple of repair courses as well and am currently targeting to take Jeremy’s arch top guitar course. I feel that arch top guitars may be a hit here in Thunder Bay.

Starting now as a “luthier in training”- the best and finest is the ultimate goal and that will come with time and experience.

Monkey Guitars offers custom hand made guitars to your specs and options. Currently, I offer Ramirez classical, Martin style Orchestra Model/Auditorium/000, Grand Concert/00 and Parlour/0 sized guitars.

I do not offer Dreadnought or Jumbo guitars even though I have some molds for them. I feel that Dreadnought size is too common and that a smaller sized guitar would be more comfortable to play and easier to transport – especially for travelling musicians.

I had a comment from Dave Ketchum to let him know when I start making snare drums – this was about maybe spring or summer of 2022 and it stuck with me for over a year. I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not but I felt it was better to assume he was serious and started to do the research on how to build snare drums. I went with stave style as it seemed that it would be less complicated and specialty tools wouldn’t be needed to get things going.

I work with a gentleman that has a CNC machine. He has done some logo routing for me and we are doing a few electric guitars builds. It would be something that I can say that I had done and also test the market to see if there is interest in it.

I also work with another gentleman that does milling – I have had some custom made parts and I can say I am very fortunate to know somebody that can do this kind of work.

A couple of future goals would be to start building archtop guitars and violins. I have worked on a few violins and did some bow rehairing for practice. Tools and parts have been ordered here and there and hopefully I could be of service to stringed instrument players in the near future for setups, crack repairs and bow rehairing.

Currently, I do service guitars, and basses – acoustic or electric. From setups to fret leveling or fret replacements, electrical work, hardware and parts upgrade/replacement and installation. Most of the work I do is fret leveling.

I am now starting to offer “student” setups for violins and violas as well as bow rehairing.

Repairs on instruments would be a case by case basis. *Please note that I do not refinish instruments or do “touch up” work – I do not have a dedicated booth for parts that need spraying and I do not want to be purchasing all sorts of paints and other chemicals.

Monkey Guitars has managed to get a few dealer accounts for orchestral stringed instruments, guitar (related items) and accessories. Please contact Monkey if you have anything you would like to order.

*Please check the “Services” section to see what I offer for services and prices. You can inquire about any other work you do not see listed.

Monkey Guitars is also a member of the Guild of American Luthiers: there are some interesting articles and I get ideas from their quarterly issues as well as information and videos I find on the internet.

Builds and repair work are done in the Monkey Guitars workshop

The Monkey Guitars workshop version 5.18

Setups and fine tuning work are done in a separate room.

work station area version 3.01b

instrument room version 1.0001