Check out this jewelry restoration on these two handmade bracelets I restored for my friend Barbara Abbott. Inlay encompasses many fields of art and skill from instruments, walls, flooring and jewelry. The abalone bracelet had some missing pieces that I had to custom fit and file on a radius to match the rest of the […]
Happy Anniversary to my good friends Mary DeSoucey and Dan Desoucey! Mary asked me to make this pick container on my lathe for Dan. The base of the container is Austrian figured maple dyed farm/forest colors of rusty red, blue, green and yellow for their love of the outdoors. The lid top is Amazon mahogany […]
Check out this bad neck/fingerboard crack restoration! I restored this for my good friend singer/songwriter Sandy Privetera on her vintage Martin D-35 acoustic guitar. This kind of crack repair takes a lot of time to do it correctly and have it look invisible. I always use my family glue recipe invented by my Dad (Dr. […]
The pickguard on any guitar really defines the brand/style. Over the years my Dad (Dr. Phil Petillo) and I have designed a lot of pickguard shapes for many of our own handmade guitars and custom orders. When this vintage Guild T-100 was purchased it came without a pickguard and my client wanted something to compliment […]
Check out this vintage Martin guitar restoration for singer/songwriter Joe Iantosca. The bridge came up on the Low E side and also caused the bridge to distort. I then secured it back flush with my family glue recipe invented by my Dad (Dr. Phil Petillo). The next step was the lacquer fill on the both […]
Check out this broken Warmoth roasted neck restoration for singer songwriter Rob Forst. When drilling a hole in a dried out roasted neck you have to be careful or it can result in a crack which Rob experienced when he installed the tuners. I used my family recipe glue that my Dad (Dr. Phil Petillo) […]
Check out Andrew Saul’s Fender Stratocaster fret micropolishing and set up! The process of micropolishing involes leveling off a business card worth of thickness off the tops of the frets to get the deep string coil dents out and the corrosion, then I reshaped the frets to their original state and micropolished them. My father […]
Check out Billy Joel’s Fender anodized gold tremolo cover with secret engravings dyed black of President JFK and Beethoven in the scene. Boxing has a deep meaning to Billy Joel. He was bullied as a kid and learned to box to defend himself. He has a great respect for the sport. I hope you all […]
PETILLO Custom Acoustic Guitar: (Made for my dear friend Gene Deetz & family/completion date – December 12, 2020) Specs/Notes:Soundboard: Spanish cedarBack & Sides: Brazilian rosewood (dark straight grain)Finish: NitroPickguard: clear Martin style Neck: Hondorous mahoganyNeck Heel Cap: Nigerian ebonyFingerboard: Nigerian ebonyFingerboard Inlays: abalone ringsFingerboard Side Dots: Mother of pearlFrets: stainless steel low profile styleNut: Woolley […]
Check out this custom PETILLO Tele neck I made for my friend William Joseph! It was themed after the Christopher Nolan Batman played by actor Christian Bale. The mother of pearl for the inlays was rare to find in big flat pieces. This was such a fun project, check out all the pics!
I wanted to share this story about Carrie Fisher since we very sadly just lost her. She was a lovely person who I admired. I had a chance to meet Carrie this October 2016 at Comic Con. I made her a box out of German quilted/flamed maple and rare East-Indian rosewood. When Carrie saw the […]
Gerald Edward, a singer/songwriter who studied music at Berklee and a good friend asked me to restore this antique Gibson A4. I was so excited to bring something back from death’s door in a way. All mandolins have a very high amount of string pressure, which called for a high strength military grade waterproof epoxy […]
Bass Specs: 1) top: two piece book matched German quilted maple with laminated thin Nigerian ebony center body highlight 2) back body: two piece book matched American Alder with European inspired geometric inlay design 3) neck: nine piece laminated (made of American birdseye maple, Nigerian ebony and German white holly/handmade lathed stainless steel inserts in […]
Boxing has many meanings to Billy Joel. Growing up he learned to box to help him defeat bullies and it has symbolism for fighting in the music industry to become one of the world’s greatest. The pickguard is made of black phenolic. Phenolic can take seasonal changes without cracking. My Father (Dr. Phil Petillo) used […]
This was a long repair job for Guitar Maker and fellow Marquetry artist Jim Macdonald. Jim created two marquetry guitar designs for the Gibson Custom Shop in the early 2000’s as part of their “Visual Artist Program.” Both guitars were priced at $14,000. In 2013, Jim began making his own guitars featuring beautiful marquetry work. […]
HAPPY EARTH DAY with a ocean/sea theme PETILLO Tele! We should all make the effort to keep our oceans clean. Enjoy this beautiful day!PETILLO SHORECASTER Tele (custom made for singer/songwriter/producer/musician Brian Mackewich) pecs:1) German quilted maple book matched top with natural binding edge to frame the top2) American alder two piece book matched back3) German […]
Check out the custom handmade PETILLO POINT body shape WAVE archtop guitar for my friend singer/songwriter Bob Snyder! Hand carved book matched quilted African bubinga top, back and sides. South American padauk outside perimeter binding and neck heel cap. 327 piece Paua abalone inlaid top purfling. South American blood wood fingerboard with Paua abalone and […]
Check out my friend Bettina Forbes’ German violin restoration! This violin has been in her family for a long time. Also, Bettina is an instructor at the Monmouth Conservatory of Music in Red Bank New Jersey. This restoration was a very cautious one. I had to measure the fingerboard angle and make sure when the […]
I worked all night till 3am getting this guitar ready for the 2012 Grammy Awards. Rick “Chainsaw” Lapointe brought it in the night before leaving for the west coast. Rick is a sweetheart and a veteran in the music business. I was so happy Patti enjoyed the guitar after my restoration for the Grammys. I’m […]
Kevin Guerin’s vintage Gibson B.B. King Lucille broken neck restoration. I posted pics of the patch work back in September and finally finished the restoration. Kevin was playing a fundraiser and when he put his guitar on the stand a gust of wind knocked it down and it resulted in a bad crack in the […]
