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Electric Trees

Electric Trees

By: Matthew Carver
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Electric Trees is a podcast about guitars and the people who make them. Builders, designers and collectors on craft, tools, branding and the strange economics of building instruments for a living.

 Art Music
Episodes
  • Does a CNC-Built Guitar Have a Soul?

    Does a CNC-Built Guitar Have a Soul?
    8 Oct 2026
    Can a guitar made with a CNC machine still have soul? In Episode 3 we start with updates from the bench: repairs and how we run the shop. Then we look at where a guitar's character really comes from. We talk about outsourcing work to specialists and when a build stops counting as 'handmade', the difference between handmade and homemade, and what CNC actually does in a real guitar shop. We finish with two myth checks: do heavier strings automatically sound better, and does tonewood matter on electric guitars?
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    54 min
  • Guitar Builders Roundtable: Booths, CNC Neck Angles, and Design Philosophy

    Guitar Builders Roundtable: Booths, CNC Neck Angles, and Design Philosophy
    24 Sep 2026
    The crew catches up on what's been on each builder's bench, then digs into why booth branding and presentation matter at guitar shows. Martin talks teaching, freelance work, and remote CNC workflows, and the conversation turns technical with a deep dive on machining angled neck pockets and planning guitar geometry on a CNC. From there it's design philosophy — why 'fully custom' requests so often turn into complete redesigns, where the design process really starts, and how classic forms still shape modern builds. The episode wraps with a look at modern tools lowering the barrier to entry, the challenge of standing out, and a few guitar myths (including a spirited take on zero frets).
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    54 min
  • CNC vs. AI, Vintage Branding, and Scaling a One-Person Workshop

    CNC vs. AI, Vintage Branding, and Scaling a One-Person Workshop
    9 Sep 2026
    The trio kicks things off by naming the podcast and catching up on the week — Bob unveils his Zeitgeist Guitars channel concept, a surreal 1940s brand world with vintage props and evergreen maker content. Matt walks through an overloaded schedule, a custom vanity build, small commercial products, and whether you can really design a better hanger (or an electric dulcimer pickup). Martin digs into his CNC consulting work and the resistance he still gets from traditional builders, which opens up a long conversation on CNC vs. AI: where automation genuinely helps, where authorship still matters, and why AI struggles with specialist guitar-making knowledge. Along the way: Jazzmaster trem routing and favorite measuring tools, metric vs. imperial in real workshop life, tool culture and how different countries value makers, and the honest difficulty of scaling small-shop manufacturing. Plus a wrap-up with jokes about competition and a tease for episode two.
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    1 hr and 19 min
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