PLAY FOR KEEPS
Everything you need to create, play, and care for your favorite instrument.
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Builds
Fully customized and small batch acoustic and electric guitars, basses, and ukuleles. Check out our gallery and learn about the build process.
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Accessories
Instrument stands, headphone stands, guitar straps, pick pouches, and custom pickguards. Handcrafted quality and original designs.
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Repairs
Certified, expert luthier in Oak Park servicing Chicago-area guitar, bass, and ukulele players. Licensed and insured.
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Merch
Shirts, hats, stickers, and posters featuring the logo and lore of MachMachines. What’s up with that sasquatch anyway?
Design & Build Approach
MachMachines is the most versatile luthier in the Chicago area. Coming up through Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, Specimen Products, and Lakland, Dave has seen it all before—or he can figure it out. Regardless of acoustic or electric, guitar or bass, rock or jazz, we can co-create every element of your instrument with you.Design
Playing an instrument is a multisensory experience, but a lot of builders prioritize the senses in the wrong order. We have a specific hierarchy for how our music machines come together.
Sound. First up, your instrument has to sound great or nothing else matters. For acoustics, wood selection is everything. For electrics, pickups take the prize, but wood selection still holds second place.
Feel. If the fit and feel don’t match you as a player, then you won’t play it. We are not making wall art—although our co-founder Jen might have some opinions on your actual decor if you ask.
Style. Looks always come after sound and playability. That said, guitars look cool (and friend, you look cool playing one ;) ). We’re as flexible on style as we are on instrument type or genre, but we’d prefer to create something unique. Why get a custom-built instrument that looks like all the rest?
Story. Some of our favorite collaborative builds have included details with deep personal meaning for the player. If you’re interested in inlay, think about the design as if you were getting a custom tattoo.
Build
Our commitment is to the craft of luthiery over the scale of mass production.
As makers, our philosophy is less about absolutely everything being hand made—we of course use tools and buy hardware—than about the care and attention that comes with one-of-a-kind and small batch production.
We use the right tools for the job, including machinery that enhances precision and quality. What we don’t do is let speed or scale drive the process.
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We never build from kits, we never design using AI, and our necks are always carved by hand.