Duncan Guitars

Welcome to the home of Duncan Guitars.  Here you will find a collection of my thoughts and beliefs about guitars, the world of luthiery and a portfolio of my past and present work. You will also find links to the wonderful DuncanAfrica guitars, the woods we sell, and contact information if you are interested in collaborating on the design of an instrument made just for you.

 Thank you for stopping by, and for the opportunity to serve. I look forward to speaking with you.

– Jay Duncan

My hope for my guitars…

That they get played to death, taken out on the road where they learn to sing and find their own voice and find out how high they can fly.

I hope they return someday, scarred and beaten, bruised and battered, burned by the heat when they dared to soar too close to the sun.

I hope they learn to value the silence between the notes, and that they grow old and laugh and spend evenings telling tall tales with old friends.

I hope they share everything that was inside them, with those who dare play them, and that they speak the truth and shout endlessly about the goodness of the One we were all created by, scaring the hell out of the devil in the process.

I hope they bring a smile to the players heart, and i hope they lay down a groove that makes the young ones move.

When they are old and gray, and their frets are worn and strings get hard to play – when they smell of beer and sweat and there’s dirt caked on the fingerboard and cobwebs inside – well, then I hope they’ll be passed on down to the next generation to treasure and find new inspiration in old, beat up guitars.

Play on.