Some instruments are made to be sold. A Wood Spirit guitar is made to be played. Each guitar is built by hand in Seattle, Washington, for the player who believes that no two voices sound the same, and no two guitars should either.
Established in 2020, Wood Spirit Guitars is a custom guitar-building workshop specialising in semi-hollow and full-hollow body electrics, mandolins, and cigar box guitars. Every instrument crafted as a one-off, unique to the musician it was made for. Just a single craftsman and a workshop full of carefully chosen tone woods, it all starts with a conversation with you about what your perfect guitar looks and sounds like.
Whether you play blues, rock, Americana, or something else entirely, a Wood Spirit guitar is built around your playing — not the other way around. Think of it like a tailored suit: you could buy something off the rack, but nothing fits like something made for you.
From the Pacific Northwest to stages across the world, Wood Spirit guitars have found their way into the hands of touring professionals and passionate players alike. Every one of them different. Every one of them built to be heard.
Jon Beason
Jon Beason grew up surrounded by sawdust and music in equal measure.
“I just hope to continue building great guitars for great players.”
His father and grandfather were both craftsmen who worked in the wood shop, and Jon was “butchering wood” (as he puts it with a grin) from around the age of five. Some of the hand tools he still reaches for today belonged to them. Jazz, folk and big band filled the house, but when Jon discovered the work of guitarists like Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and BB King, something clicked. Not the desire to play, but the deep fascination with the instrument itself and with guitar-based music
Walk into Jon’s shop and you’ll find no production lines, no templates cranked out in batches, no two guitars the same. Every instrument that leaves Wood Spirit Guitars is a one-off, built around the player who commissioned it.
“You can purchase a very nice suit from the store, but it will never fit like a suit custom tailored to you.”
He regularly exhibits at trade shows across the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon), and his work has been featured in collaborations with an impressive roster of artists including Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Ed Clarke of Brave Rival, Aaron and Grace Bond of When Rivers Meet, Mathias Lattin, and the late Matt Long of Catfish.