The purpose behind SkyScraper Guitars is simple: Help make a better guitar playing experience for everyone.
Our purpose is manifested in the tools we make, the videos we produce and the countless emails we answer about how to setup guitars. I’ve seen too many people who have a musical story to tell, give up playing because they had a poorly setup guitar. I don’t want that to happen any longer.
I started playing in bands at age 10 (as a drummer no less). One day our guitar player, JJ, told me one of his yard mowing customers, Mr. C, was building a guitar. Of course as any good 10 year old would do, I told him that he was full of beans. JJ replied, “Ok, I’ll prove it.” Like a scene out of a bad western, we walked down the street and knocked on Mr. C’s door. When he answered, JJ asked him to show us the guitar he was building, Sure enough, we went into his garage workshop and there it was… It was glorious and somehow magical… A raw piece of ash with pickup reliefs routed in it. Holy crap!!! This guy WAS building a guitar! From that point on, I was always looking for an excuse to knock on Mr. C’s door and ask if I could see his current projects. He would later show me how to adjust truss rods, file bone nuts, solder in pickups and most of all, he showed me the Floyd Rose “Battery Trick.” It was that spark that led me to start setting up and modding my friend’s guitars and to eventually build guitars from scratch. Thank you Mr. C!
After college was over, I started practicing architecture. About 3 years in, I couldn’t stand it any more and I left the profession to work in the production of large rock shows. I directed live video, did some sound mixing and a lot of stage managing for large radio festivals. I ran into tons of players traveling without guitar techs and I was able to help them out by getting their guitars ready to play for the day. Life on the road was not for me and eventually I decided to go back to the design profession… But my love of music and the guitar never wavered.
I founded SkyScraper Guitars to help players have a better experience. As a designer, I apply my problem solving and design thinking skills to instrument setup and repair tools. I share as much of what I know with the rest of the world and I strive to make it easier for players to work on their own instruments. High quality tools are one way to make working on a guitar more enjoyable. At SkyScraper Guitars, we machine our tools to aerospace level tolerances so there’s no guess work. We design with details that most guitar tool makers avoid because they want to maximize profits rather than deliver master grade tools. We do not outsource our production overseas. All SkyScraper Guitars products are proudly Made In The U.S.A. It’s not always in our financial best interests to make our tools the way we do, but when faced with the decision to skimp out on the details, it is an easy answer – NO. Not now, not ever.
I hope the information we offer here on our website and in our videos is helpful and somehow inspiring. I also hope that whether you use our tools or someone else’s tools to setup your guitar, that you have an awesome time playing. Lastly, music is the one constant in this world that we can count on, so I hope you share your music with others as often as you can.
Greg Porter Founder, Artist and Creator
