Jake Van Vranken
Since high school I’ve had a passion for music and guitars which led me to pursue a degree in audio arts from Columbia College Chicago, where I graduated in 2011. Later that year I moved to Los Angeles and became interested in woodworking, with a desire to one day build acoustic guitars. I felt pursuing education and work in traditional woodworking techniques would serve me well in the long run.
Since 2012 I have worked at Knowhow Shop, an architectural design/build practice in Los Angeles, as woodworker, fabricator and currently as shop foreman. This job taught me all the traditional woodworking techniques I was seeking, as well as introduced me to CNC and digital fabrication techniques. Our work there has also given me an ever developing sense of design and respect for the materials we work with.
My guitar building began when I attended a workshop building a steel string acoustic guitar with Charles Fox. There I was introduced to his style of small shop construction and specialty tools, such as his side bender that have changed the way modern guitars are made. Shortly after that, while living briefly in Redding, CA, I worked with Jason Schroder, a builder who focuses primarily on electric guitars, who has a unique sense of design and a refined touch. I especially like his take on T-style and semi-hollow guitars. There I learned about the finer points of electric guitar design, setup and building. He and his wife also produce a great line of electric guitar hardware.
Upon moving back to Los Angeles, I focused my building on ukuleles and eventually gathered enough tools, materials, knowledge & experience to feel confident to start an acoustic guitar. That first one turned out better than expected, and left me plenty excited to build the next one... and the next one.