Joe Veillette (born March 13, 1946), is a

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

and the owner of Veillette Guitars. He specializes in the crafting of unusual and innovative handmade guitars, basses, and other stringed instruments.

Early life

Veillette is originally from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

, and was subsequently employed as an architectural designer on Park Avenue.

"Woodstock Music Products" and "Veillette Guitars"

He took a class in guitar-making, taught by luthier Michael Gurian in 1971, to learn how to repair the broken headstock on his Gibson J-45. He became interested in guitar building and teamed up with fellow architectural student Harvey Citron, and formed Veillette-Citron in 1976. Veillette-Citron collaborated with

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the ban ...

to develop and market the first production baritone guitar. Veillette-Citron pioneered neck-thru-body construction, made innovations in instrument electronics, and set new trends in modern electric bass design. Early Veillete-Citron instruments are rare and highly sought-after as a result of their excellence in craftsmanship and innovative designs. The company moved from Brooklyn to Kingston NY in 1976. The partnership lasted until 1983. Veillette formed Woodstock Music Products in 1991, in partnership with bass-maker Stuart Spector. One of Veillette's innovations developed during the partnership was the Deep-6 neck, which allowed a baritone conversion for Fender-style instruments. Veillette, in conjunction with bass-maker Michael Tobias, developed the Avante line of instruments for Alvarez. The Veillette/Spector partnership ended in 1994. Veillette then established Veillette Guitars, in Woodstock NY. He has focused on making unusual instruments, rather than trying to compete in a saturated market of OEM clone-makers. One of his most notable guitars is the Gryphon - a short (18.5.1”) scale 12 string guitar tuned D-D in unison courses, almost a full octave above standard tuning. This instrument can be played to sound like a

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

, and other traditional folk instruments. Veillette licensed production of his acoustic Gryphon model as a high quality import from Korea, and revived the Avante name to market this instrument as well as versions of the acoustic baritone 6 and 12 string he is also known for.

References

External links

Joe Veillette Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veillette, Joe American luthiers Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States 1946 births Living people Businesspeople from New York City Veillette family