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For over fifteen years, luthier Jay Lichty built custom acoustic guitars and ukuleles in his Western North Carolina workshop. His work grew out of a love of craft, music, and the quiet satisfaction of making instruments by hand. Jay’s curiosity led him to build over 400 instruments, going beyond guitars and ukuleles to fiddles, mandolins, electric banjos, and electric guitars. In 2023, Jay stepped back from full-time custom work and into a slower, more personal rhythm. These days he builds for the sheer joy of it — some instruments stay with him, and a few he offers up for sale (see Facebook page). While Lichty Guitars is no longer accepting custom orders, the spirit of the workshop lives on — in every instrument Jay crafted, in every musician who plays them, and in the ongoing spark that keeps him asking, “What’s next?”