Handcrafted in the USA by
Luthier Avishay Shabat
Shabat Guitars is a family-owned, boutique, custom electric guitar and bass company. Contact us to get started on your next stunning custom-made instrument, built completely to your personal preference.
Features / Why buy a Shabat Guitar?
There are no shortcuts in crafting the perfect guitar. That’s why we take the time to ensure that everything comes together perfectly to create an everlasting instrument. We believe in conserving the classic guitar formulas that worked—and are still working today—but at the same time, perfect the imperfections that accompany many vintage instruments.
The result is a remarkable, consistent array of electric instruments that boast vintage vibe and feel combined with modern stability and comfort of use.
Wood Selection
Shabat Guitars are made from the best and most stable tonewoods available today, perfectly selected and dried for optimal resonance, sustain and stability.
Finish
We take the time and effort, in-house, to hand-spray a thin nitrocellulose lacquer to all of our guitars. The properties of nitrocellulose are ideal for creating a timeless, beautiful finish that ages with you, becoming warmer and more distinguished as the years go by.
Neck Shape
All Shabat Guitars necks are hand-rasped, hand-sanded and hand-scraped for optimal feel and comfort. The sense of “home” that our necks offer simply cannot be duplicated—the neck is your literal connection to the instrument, so we put in the time and effort it takes to make it feel just right.
Quartersawn Neck
The best way to keep a guitar neck from warping twisting and bending is to use a carefully dried, quartersawn tonewood. It might not be the cheapest way, but it is the best way to keep an instrument stable, roadworthy and ready to rock—anytime, anywhere.
Single-Action Truss Rod
A single-action truss rod is not only optimal for tone transfer and definition, but it’s the only way to ensure the optimal neck stability against climate changes—so that’s the only way we do it. We handcraft our own truss rods and install them, rattle-free, through the back of the neck.
Lollar Pickups
We exclusively use Lollar pickups to amplify the finest acoustic qualities from each electric instrument, without coloring the natural sound of the tonewoods in any particular way.
Hardware and Electronics
As a crucial part of not only the tone of the instrument, but the tuning stability as well, Shabat Guitars use only the best hardware materials available. A guitar should be built simply and functional, just like a great tool—the rest is in your hands.
Shabat Story
The “bug” of guitar building bit Avishay (Avi) Shabat early on in his life, after he discovered the truss rod in his newly purchased 5-string bass was broken. After graduating from the Algranti School of Lutherie—and handcrafting himself a new neck-through bass from the ground up—Avi moved to Los Angeles where he apprenticed for a few local guitar repair shops before joining a well-known boutique guitar company.
Avi spent the next four years honing his craft, building beautiful handmade instruments, and during this time, founded a company of his own, Guitar Groomer, where he restored and repaired guitars and basses from a small shop in his home. In 2012, Avi expanded his repair business and began designing and building his own instruments, giving birth to a brand-new line of handmade electric guitars and basses—Shabat Guitars.
Shabat Guitars harken back to some of the earliest electric guitar designs, offering a kind of vintage-inspired style that will catch the eye of any true guitar aficionado. Each Shabat Guitars model boasts premium-quality tonewoods, high-end electronics and professional appointments that are fully customizable to each and every player’s preferred specs.
Avi’s impeccable sensibility for detail—as well as his expertise as a live show guitar technician—culminates in a series of stunning, inspired guitars of matchless quality that deliver a level of performance any artist would expect from a professionally designed, handcrafted instrument.
All Shabat Guitars are made in the USA, and all repair and custom work is performed at Avi’s innovative Los Angeles workshop.
Artists
Justin Derrico
Currently guitarist for P!NK and NBC’s The Voice, and lauded as one of the most talented and hardworking musicians working right now, MI graduate Justin Derrico grew up in Virginia and started playing guitar after being inspired by the classic rock icons. In addition to his longtime playing with P!NK, Derrico has worked with Beyoncé and Robin Thicke, and maintained a steady spot as a guitarist for the band, The Calling
Dweezil Zappa
Dweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Dweezil developed a strong affinity for playing the guitar and producing music.
Sean Hurwitz
Sean is a multi-talented musician, producer and song writer. Originally from Israel where he started as a session guitarist and sound engineer, he worked with all the top artists. This inspired him to reach for even greater heights in the international music scene.
Sean is passionate, energetic and generous of spirit as a guitarist, bassist, producer and writer. He is ever the consummate professional whose trademark attention to detail provides the perfect polish to any performance. Sean’s style is crisp and precise, and has been described as exceptionally well-crafted.
Currently based in Los Angeles, Sean is an outstanding musician who has had the pleasure of co-writing, producing, recording, touring and playing with such artists as Enrique Iglesias, Smash Mouth, Gin Blossoms, Judith Hill, Anna Nalick, Chris Wallace, Ferras, Jordy Towers, Laze & Royal, and Nick Carter.
Chris Traynor
Chris Traynor is American guitarist and songwriter. He started his career with the seminal post hardcore band Orange 9mm, and continued on, playing bass and guitar in the alternative metal band Helmet. In late 2001 Traynor joined the British rock band Bush, and has been performing with Bush and Gavin Rossdale to date. Over his 25 plus year musical career Chris has performed with a diverse group of musical artists live, including the Brit pop band Blur and recorded with Katy Perry, Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, and Rival Schools. “I met Avi when he first started doing his own custom builds. He’s not only a great luthier, but I consider him a great friend. It’s a rare occasion that I would let anyone one else repair or build my guitar; Avi is my go to guy.”
Gonzalo Bergara
Gonzalo Bergara has emerged a virtuoso composer and lead guitarist. Mixing a cascade of arpeggios with the sounds of Paris and his native Argentina, he has forged his own style of progressive Gypsy Jazz. His music exists in a way that very little music does. He has lavished such care on every phrase, built each arrangement with such lapidary precision and pared away anything extraneous, the music becomes sculpture. It has weight, density, gravity. This is serious….and deeply moving.Bergara began playing professionally at age 16 in Buenos Aires. By 17 he was already fronting his own blues trio on National Television. In 2000, at age 19, he arrived in America. He’s toured worldwide with John Jorgensen Quintet, as well as performing and recording with hundreds of artists including Tim Hausser from Manhattan Transfer, Sylvie Vartan, Dan Hicks, and Howard Alden. Gonzalo’s touring resume covers Croatia, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Hungary, Argentina, Brazil, England, Scotland and the United States, with notable appearances at Playboy Jazz Fest, Sweet and Hot Jazz Fest, The Montreal Jazz Fest, Django Reinhardt Fest (Germany), Suev Guitar Fest (Italy), Merle Fest, Strawberry Fest and most Django-style Fests in the US. His performance and tutorial videos on YouTube have logged nearly 5 million views!
Phil X
Theofilos Xenidis, better known as Phil X, is a Canadian musician and songwriter. Since 2011, he has played lead guitar with Bon Jovi and officially replaced former lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2016.
Tim Pierce
Tim Pierce is an American session guitarist and guitar educator. He has worked with artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, the Cheetah Girls, and Bon Jovi.
Asaf Rodeh
Asaf Rodeh is a Los Angeles based session guitar player and producer.
Born and raised in Israel, Asaf moved to Los Angeles in 2007 to pursue a music career and quickly found his way into the local scene. His credits in alphabetical order include AJ McLean, Ava Max, Ariana Grande, Arizona Zervas, Charlie Puth, Dominic Fike, David Archuleta, Jason Derulo, Jxdn, King Princess, Raissa, Lil Nas X, Little Mix, Lukas Graham, Melanie Fiona, Madison Beer, Rita Ora, Sophie Simmons, Skip Marley, Sofia Carson, Weezer, and Zayn.