When designing the guitar stand I had three goals in mind: 1) the stand had to hold the guitar securely without damaging it; 2) the stand should complement or enhance the guitar's shape; and 3) the stand should look sculptural. My final design incorporates the catenary curve, made famous, or at least familiar, by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

The guitar stand is formed by two catenary curves, each composed of eleven layers of veneer. The nine inner layers or core—where only the edges are visible—are approximately 1/16" thick and woods such as cherry, mahogany, maple, oak, poplar, and walnut. The wood species for the core layers are chosen to match or complement the outer layers, which can be virtually any type of wood you would like. All that's required of the outer layers is that the wood chosen can be bent into a catenary curve without cracking. The outer layers of veneer are approximately 1/42" thick, making the overall thickness of each catenary curve approximately 5/8". The two catenary curves are joined together with a variation on the mortise and tenon joint called a feather or loose tenon. Click here to read more about the mortise and tenon joint.

What is veneer? Veneer is simply a thin layer of real wood displaying excellent figure or grain that is glued to another surface. In this case, the layers of veneer are glued to one another and bent into the form of a catenary curve.

There are two main advantages to using veneer. First, it allows me to achieve the graceful and eye-pleasing lines of the catenary curve. Second, and most importantly, it allows you, the customer, to choose the exact wood species and figure you want for your own guitar stand. As I mentioned above, a guitar stand can be created from any wood species or veneer you would like as long as the grain of that particular species will allow it to be bent into a catenary curve. Some veneers will actually crack before they can be bent into a full catenary curve.

As you can see from the above figure, the guitar stand is available in two sizes, one for acoustic guitars and one for electric guitars. The electric guitar stand is simply a scaled down version of the acoustic guitar stand. The contact points between the stand and the guitar are 8-9 oz. genuine Buffalo hide and available in black or chocolate. Each guitar stand is sealed and finished with matte lacquer and fitted with 4 black, tapered vinyl feet that are safe for any hard, smooth surface.

If you have any questions about the guitar stand, please don't hesitate to send me an email. My email address can be found by clicking here or on the 'CONTACT' link above.