Today we’d like to introduce you to Tomas Holgado.
Tomas, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been a musician of multiple varieties since I was 10 or so, and I always connected so strongly to the guitar and bass. It wasn’t till years later that I developed an interest in tinkering with guitars, and eventually stumbled on a guitar building school that was local to Atlanta (unfortunately no longer around). In early 2016, I paused my life for 6 weeks to attend a full-on guitar building immersion course. Monday-Saturday, all day and into the night! At that point – covered in sawdust, butterflies in my stomach, I knew I could make something out of this.
After school, I went back to part-time work to fund my desire to build and fix guitars, and have an awesome shop for my wonderful city! I spent about a year working out of Mom and Dad’s basement, running all over town in an old Mercedes picking up and delivering guitar repairs to customers. Soon after, I worked 6-8 months at an established guitar repair shop and got to cut my teeth in the service/shop world for a bit, until it was time to fully step into the guitar building world and my own shop!
I rented a big Decatur house for a year which had a basement and separate shop area for my power tools, and that really allowed me to set up my first attempt at a “home shop” for musicians to come by and get their instruments fixed. However, it had problems and not enough space for serious guitar production. After that year, and with the help of my incredible family, we bought a wonderful home in Decatur, and built the basement and separate wood-shop to be the grooviest guitar shop in town!
Now, I’ve got a steady flow of musicians coming by daily for service, maintenance, and custom built instruments!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Life’s path for me has been nothing but the lessons I needed. I’ve always been a driven person, and I find ways to exceed in everything that I care about. However – I’m nothing without my family, my lady, and the support of my friends!
My parents have been absolute totems of support in me finding my dream of building/fixing guitars, and I’m extremely fortunate to have them! I owe Dad a few guitars… There are and will be times when things don’t seem promising, but it’s making it to the next day that sets you apart.
Holgado Guitar Works – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m a luthier by trade – which generally means a stringed instrument builder and repair tech. Most traditional guitar repair shops around the country offer an “auto-repair” kind of experience – which involves an intimidating countertop, check-in, write stuff down, and see you in a few weeks, for simple repairs or maintenance. Also, it’s tough to build and fix guitars in the same facility, due to the sawdust and power tools – so most shops don’t build guitars either.
Holgado Guitar Works is a bit different. I’ve built a warm and welcoming workspace at home, which allows and encourages musicians of all varieties to come by, hang out for a bit while I work on their instruments. Featured is a small bar wrapped around the repair desk for customers to be able to see what’s being done to their prized possessions, adjacent to a showroom/live band setting – displaying my custom built instruments in stock.
Instead of dropping your favorite instrument off and being without it for days, you get to hang out with me, play custom built guitars, enjoy a drink, and leave happily within hours with a completely refined instrument! I work via appointment basis, to schedule same day repairs throughout my day while I stay busy otherwise building custom guitars for other happy musicians.
My custom builds’ pricing competes with industry standard American made instruments at big box stores. However, every one of my instruments is handmade, and most are specifically for/designed by the customer. Using historically significant lumber like heart pine sourced from The Masquerade’s legendary “Purgatory” room, or century-old bridge lumber hailing from historic restaurants in North Georgia, these instruments tell stories!
Otherwise, exotic lumbers and hand selected parts, locally hand-wound pickups (www.avedissianpickups.com), proper finishing techniques, and overall hand-built quality sets these instruments far past the standard. Why pay the same price for a factory made lifeless guitar, when I can make you a FOREVER instrument for the same money?
No more extensive wait times for guitar maintenance/repairs, no more outrageous pricing, no more false advertising/big store intimidation – Your luthier should be your best friend, and I encourage all my customers to come to enjoy a drink, some excellent music, the sweetest shop dog in town, instruments and amps of all varieties, and Holgado Guitar Works in general!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success gets harder to define as I grow older… I used to want to be the biggest rock star in the world, and soon came to find through working for some of them – that life is extraordinarily tough! Maybe not for me, and working from home is just groovy…
Success has always, and always will mean FREEDOM to me. It’s having the means around me to make any decision I want, and be able to execute. Freedom to work when I want/on what I want, freedom to travel, freedom to splurge at the store, freedom to play music for pure enjoyment, freedom to record music, freedom to have a family!
Some of those “freedoms” only come through financial triumph and generating enough business to make those things happen with little stress. If I can make all of these freedoms exist, working for myself, doing what I love, and making musicians happy, and maintain a happy and healthy home/love life – I’d be ok with calling that success.
Pricing:
- Same Day Set Up – $50-60
- Handmade Instruments – $1500 – $3000
Contact Info:
- Website: www.holgadoguitarworks.com
- Phone: 678-448-8282
- Email: holgadoguitarworks@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holgadoguitarworks/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holgadoguitarworks/
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
