Elloree Guitars

Elloree Guitars Elloree Guitars builds a wide variety of stringed instruments, and repairs all stringed instruments I am a builder of stringed instruments.

Sixteen years and 1200 instruments ago, I started out with the intentions of building one guitar, and it was for me. I have since found a lot of other folks who have very specific needs like mine.

This one took a bit of time, but I think we are all back together. That 2-way truss rod is convincing the neck to stay s...
04/22/2026

This one took a bit of time, but I think we are all back together. That 2-way truss rod is convincing the neck to stay straight, we are strung with light gauge strings, the action is low. Yeah, I think this old boy has a few more tunes to play. Thank you for following. Peace.

The '59 Martin had a pretty severe crack in the side. I was able to convince that crack to come back together and glued ...
04/22/2026

The '59 Martin had a pretty severe crack in the side. I was able to convince that crack to come back together and glued it securely. Without refinishing, I can't make it look like it was never damaged. Peace.

Here is one of those times when I need to make sure not to sound like a smarty pants. When I say the bridge on this old ...
04/22/2026

Here is one of those times when I need to make sure not to sound like a smarty pants. When I say the bridge on this old '59 Martin is too tall, it sounds like I am trying to say I am smarter than the folks at Martin. The bridge needs to fit the rest of the guitar. A flat-top should have a bridge that is only a little taller than the combined height of the fret board and frets. It is a good rosewood bridge, but I need to take some of it away. My Dremel did the job. I sanded and buffed a bit, and it looks about right now. Peace.

I am not putting the same machine heads back on. Those were made for 6-in a row. I had something in stock that lines up ...
04/21/2026

I am not putting the same machine heads back on. Those were made for 6-in a row. I had something in stock that lines up with the original machine head mount screw holes and covers most of the extra holes. I am moderately happy with that. Peace.

Working on the '59 Martin that is keeping me company in the shop. This is at least the second pickguard this instrument ...
04/21/2026

Working on the '59 Martin that is keeping me company in the shop. This is at least the second pickguard this instrument has had, and it is just being held in place by double-sided tape. We're going to put on a new one. Here is something I have seen on lots of old Martins. Not only did they glue on the pickguard at the factory, but it was also pressed on. Pressed so hard that the wood was dented and the grain crushed. I have seen some with the grain crushed so badly, it created a crack that led all the way back to the bridge and all the way to the front of the body. Here is how I handle it. I float out that sunken area with Devcon 2-Ton, make it level with the rest of the top, and install a new pickguard. Oh hey, Martin no longer does it this way. Good for them. Peace. The new guard looks scratched, but that's the clear plastic protector. It peels off. Peace.

We got us a fret board back in place and a groovy 2-way truss rod in the neck of the '59 Martin. Day of rest comin'. Old...
04/18/2026

We got us a fret board back in place and a groovy 2-way truss rod in the neck of the '59 Martin. Day of rest comin'. Old men need a day of rest. Let's come back to this on Monday. Peace.

While working on the '59 Martin, let's take a look at what is coming soon. Mr. Clint Coleman sent this guitar in for wha...
04/18/2026

While working on the '59 Martin, let's take a look at what is coming soon. Mr. Clint Coleman sent this guitar in for whatever it might need. I built it in Nov. of 2003, and it is a real hunka hunka burnin' love. It is a jumbo and with 4 1/2" sides. Good gracious! I could never hold something that big. The top is Parana. It is a soft wood from Brazil and I thought I would always make some most excellent tops with it. Probably 20 years ago, an embargo was put on this wood. In 1970, an embargo was put against the selling of Brazilian rosewood to us. Nobody has ever budged off of that. What are the odds that I will live long enough to see the embargo lifted from Parana? The bridge and fret board are Bacote. That's another wood I can no longer get. It is primarily from Mexico and Central America. Sides, back and pickguard are black walnut with a flamed maple neck. We will get to this one soon. Peace.

Same story, different instrument. The fret board for the '59 Martin is glued back in place. The bottom of the fret board...
04/18/2026

Same story, different instrument. The fret board for the '59 Martin is glued back in place. The bottom of the fret board ALWAYS needs to be washed down with denatured alcohol if you are dealing with either rosewood or ebony. Too much natural oil for the glue to permanently adhere. I use the same quartersawn purple heart plank to convince everything to glue up straight and true. Peace.

I unclamped the jig that was on the neck of the '59 Martin. I like the way it turned out. With my trusty Dremel, I route...
04/18/2026

I unclamped the jig that was on the neck of the '59 Martin. I like the way it turned out. With my trusty Dremel, I routered for the new 2-way truss rod and will install it with the adjustment nut at the sound hole. Takes a while to get set up for gluing the fret board back on, so let's come back to that tomorrow. Peace.

Alright, got me a plan for filling in the gap left by the non-adjustable truss rod on the '59 Martin. Did some measuring...
04/17/2026

Alright, got me a plan for filling in the gap left by the non-adjustable truss rod on the '59 Martin. Did some measuring, got a piece of mahogany, sanded, glued, inserted, and clamped. I put a piece of tape over the glued area to keep the squeeze out from gluing my straight edge to the neck. We'll come back to this later. This piece of purple heart I clamped over the whole thing is quartersawn, planed flat, and forces the neck back into a straight position. Peace.

Address

810 Tidwell Road
West Monroe, LA
71292

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+13183882635

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