It Started With a Question and a Napkin Sketch

Liaison Guitars started the way many good ideas do, quietly and with no intention of becoming a business.

Back in 2010, I sketched out a guitar on a napkin, just trying to design something for myself. I’ve been playing music since I was a teenager. I’m no virtuoso, but music has always been central to my life. From writing and recording to performing across a range of genres, I’ve played just about every flavor of guitar and bass, and one idea kept coming back: What if I could combine my favorite elements of each?

Not just something that looked unique, but a guitar that was:

• Comfortable and ergonomic

• Flexible in tone

• Expressive

• Familiar, yet different in all the right ways

I made a life-size cardboard cutout of that original sketch and brought it to a good friend, a skilled luthier who’s since become my quiet co-conspirator in this whole adventure. Over the next few months, we worked through everything: materials, dimensions, electronics, ergonomics. About six months later, the first Model0ne was born.

That guitar sparked something, not just in me, but in other players who picked it up and said, ‘Wait… this is really good! Where can I get one of these?’ And just like that, Liaison Guitars came to life.

Since then, we’ve continued designing with intention and continual refinement in mind. The Demon (our second model), for example, was inspired by the automotive ‘platform’ concept, using a shared foundation to create distinct models. It’s how we balance innovation with consistency, building guitars that feel custom yet grounded.

We’re not a factory. We’re not chasing trends. We’re just two people, one player, one builder, collaborating to make instruments that inspire.

~ Raphael