SHG: The story & our mission
I have been playing guitar off and on for over 40 years. Back in “the day” - much like most of you - I was going to be the next ________ (insert favorite Guitar God / Goddess name here). At the time I was learning and coming into my own, the soundtrack to my rock and punk education was written by pioneering bands like the Ramones, Black Flag, Motorhead, the Bad Brains, Metallica, Husker Du, the Meat Puppets, Minor Threat, the Misfits, Big Boys, and later spiced up with the likes of Soundgarden, Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains, Godsmack, Pantera…. After a lengthy hiatus from playing, I started relearning guitar in 2014 and soon dug out my old neglected electric - a 1983 Telecaster that I bought when I was in highschool. As my relearning continued and playing hours increased, I realized that my old Tele was in pretty hopeless shape - badly in need of refurbishing. Not wanting to pause my playing, I decided that the budget could support buying one new guitar to substitute for my beat-up electric.
During my search for that substitute, I happened to be in Chicago for work and stumbled across my first Dunable Cyclops. I was immediately hooked, inspired and inquisitive. Why had I never seen these guitars before? Who makes Dunable? How are these Dunable guitars SO freaking fun to play? I didn’t buy that particular Cyclops, but the impression it left sent me down a rabbit-hole. While I was down there, I kept coming up with one important question: Why couldn’t I find any of these guitars in my town of Denver?
That last question eventually became the driving force behind Sinister Hand Guitars. But it wasn’t just about Dunable. I soon connected with a community of custom guitar makers whose creations won’t show up on the walls at any big-box guitar or music stores. They probably won’t be found at any stores at all. Often these brands are one person or 2 people, doing EVERYTHING themselves. And they’re making some off-the-charts high-quality, artistic, killer, inspiring, BEASTLY machines! We’re talking imaginative body styles, pointier shapes (sometimes!), crazy cool woods, custom pickups, and unique, edgier colors and finishes.
What started as my own fantastic, personal pipe dream soon became my focus and SHG’s mission: to find and develop relationships with some phenomenally talented, skillful and original guitar makers, AND to supply a space to show you their creations. At its core, that mission means getting the best, coolest, face-meltingest instruments around today and making them available to some like-minded musicians, students, and guitar-lovers so they can discover new innovative brands - so they can see, hear, play and feel those instruments and hopefully connect with the guitar or bass they’ve been dreaming about! So if that guitar you’re obsessing over is a little different, a little bolder and more badass, a little less mass-appeal and a little more individualistic, a little less factory made and a LOT more handmade, then you’re definitely picking up what the Sinister Hand is laying down!
So, what makes SHG guitars so special? We are very detailed and selective about the products that we feature here. Every instrument must be of superior quality, must produce incredible tone (whether incredibly warm, incredibly versatile, incredibly beastly, etc.) and must have THAT vibe. For the guitars in our inventory, we teamed up with our builders to choose outstanding specs and materials that will appeal to many players. We will always have some of these available for you to choose from - online ,and eventually in-store. But if those specs don’t totally match your vision, your playing style or your sound, we would love to work with you to get you the one-of-a-kind guitar YOU have in mind. We are consistently amazed by all of our builder-partners. Their craftsmanship, attention to detail and the quality of materials and parts are unmatched. They truly love their craft, and that passion is completely embodied in the instruments they construct. AND - extra bonus - not only do they make some of the most unique and kick-ass guitars on the planet, they are all super cool people to work with!
Dan Johnson - Owner
What’s with the name and the vibe?
We’re not really THAT evil. Not all the time anyway!
In a former life working in the medical field, I stumbled across the medical abbreviation “OS” and learned that it stood for “oculus sinister” meaning “left eye” in Latin. In the same way, the left ear is abbreviated “AS” (for “auris sinistra”). This all comes out of the belief in many early cultures that things that are on the left are sinister or wrong, and associating the left side of the body with evil, darkness, malevolence. I’m not left-handed, but regardless, as a lifelong guitar learner and perfection- chasing player, I do tend to focus a lot of my learning and practice attention on my left hand - the Sinister Hand!! And let’s face it - the idea of some disembodied hand doing evil all on its own is just cool. Still not convinced? There’s a whole mythology around the sinister hand in stories and films. Check it out - you can watch a sinister hand or 2 making mayhem in some classic films like Oliver Stone & Michael Caine’s “The Hand” or the classic “Mad Love” (the 1935 version) or the ‘90s slacker dark comedy “Idle Hands”. Just take a look …
All the info you could ever need…
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Who questions the Hand? (FAQ)
Nobody in their right mind would ever question the Hand!
But still … You have questions. We’ve done our best to provide answers to FAQs here. -
Builder Bios
At Sinister Hand Guitars, we’ve partnered with a selectively curated collective of some of the most creative and talented guitar makers in the world. Learn more about them here.
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Policies
All the boring stuff, but these are the things we will and WON’T do.