I went to the first Great American Guitar Build Off in Denver to see what people do and to learn. While I was there I grabbed Dylan from Dylan Talks Tone and asked him for his top three things from the week. He did not pick what I expected.

One: the people

This was not on his written rundown and he led with it anyway. His words were basically that meeting everybody had been the best part of the whole week.

I felt the same way and I think it is worth saying why. There are corporate conferences you can go to in any industry and most of them feel a little skeezy. This was people drinking a beer and talking about guitars. That is a completely different thing and you cannot manufacture it.

Two: the gear

Dylan walked me through the guitars Texas Toast Guitars builds for his shop. There is an exclusive model called the HST, and the one he showed me was the second version, built with a steeper neck angle so it behaves more like a Les Paul than a Tele. There is a more basic model alongside it at a lower price, which is the one most people can actually reach.

He also had a prototype of the Valkyrie on the floor that weekend, with a custom Alnico pickup pairing, marked down for the event.

Then he took me to the thing he was most excited about, which was not a guitar at all. Henriksen amplifiers. He had already talked to Pete Henriksen and told me flat out he was buying them. His description: little boxes, about thirteen pounds, and they feel enormous.

I played a Tele through one at the demo station and he is right. Very Fender-ish on clean, but flat and natural enough that it will do whatever you ask it to. That amp is the reason I later sat down with Pete for a full interview, which is on the channel now.

Three: the build off itself

This was his real answer. Forty five people built Telecasters and entered them. Hundred dollar entry, winner takes the pot, second place takes a Strat.

What gets you is not the prize. It is walking the line and scanning down it. The workmanship, the time, the number of hours in each one, from people who did this around their jobs and their families. Dylan did the laser work on one of them and a lot of them had his pickups in.

Forty five people voluntarily spent months of evenings on something with no guarantee of anything, then drove it to Denver to be judged. That is the whole community in one room.

Why I went

I was not submitting anything. I went to observe, and honestly to make some connections with people, Dylan and Paul Richards among them. I came back with a longer list of things I want to learn than I showed up with, which is about the best outcome a trip like that can have.

People and brands in this one

• Dylan Talks Tone
• Texas Toast Guitars
• Henriksen Amplifiers
• Milehouse Studios, Paul Richards

Follow along

One guy in a small shop on his father-in-law’s property in Lindsborg, Kansas. IT Director by day, maker by obsession. Equal parts problem solver, craftsman, and curious human. If you’re the kind of person who takes things apart to see how they work, or watches people who do, you’re in the right place.

Uncut shop sessions go up on YouTube and I stream on Twitch. Everything is @carverwoodworking. There is merch in the shop, or you can buy me a coffee.