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Howie Guitars
Howie Guitars
Made in Colorado: Howie Guitars
Eric Peterson //July 28, 2025//
A longtime guitar player, Craig Howie worked as a teacher and professional endurance athlete before becoming a luthier at the suggestion of his wife, Jen, in 2015.
Howie brought some of his background as a math teacher to guitar-making in the form of the Fibonacci sequence, a.k.a. the golden mean. “I was—and I still am—obsessed with the golden mean,” he says. “You find it everywhere. It’s all over art, it’s all over physiology, it’s all over nature. Having this huge knowledge of that number, I thought, ‘What if I built a guitar that was completely designed around this ratio?’”
The answer: a better sound. “It’s really hard to prove, but [the shape] vibrates differently. It gives you a different tone.”
Inspired by a nautilus shell, Howie began with his flagship Escape series, then expanded into the Phoenix series, which is largely made with wood recycled from old barns and pallets. Each guitar takes about a month to cut, sand, and coat. “If I really work hard, I can make about 12 in a year,” says Craig.
$1,800 to $8,000 retail.
Made by Howie Guitars, Longmont, www.howieguitars.com.
