Welcome To Sylvan Wells' Bay State Guitars!

This guitar was built to honor one of the great songwriters and performers of my generation, John Lennon. Made of spruce, ebony and brazilian rosewood, the guitar encompasses John’s caricature in pearl at the 12th fret and his signature on the pickguard. The number 9 was significant to the Beatles but especially John. Tom Ellis built the rosette about 20 years ago and I had saved it for the perfect guitar. The finish is french polish with Gold Grover 18:1 tuners.

In The Shop (Pictorial Essays)

Design and build the acoustic guitar of your dreams! Spend up to nine very full days in beautiful Central Florida (bring the family – Disney World is only an hour away!) with Master Luthier Sylvan Wells at the Wells Workshop and learn the principles of how to build a really fine acoustic guitar in a very unique teaching format. Sylvan has been teaching aspiring luthiers for over 15 years. Come to the class and get 15 years of experience in just nine days!

Instruments and How To Order

I make two different lines of acoustic instruments. One is the new “turn of the century” Bay State (Bay State logo) models. For information on the Bay State models go here.

The second line of instruments are the custom made, Wells logo instruments. These instrument are handcrafted with only the finest quality wood available and are tailored to the individual order. To see those models click here. Why would you want this type of instrument? I would hope it is because my guitars incorporate many unique features. For an explanation of the differences in my guitars versus other fine instruments just click here

Please remember that I build a very limited number of these special instruments each year. Feel free to contact me directly at (781) 361-1471 so that we can discuss the details of “your” instrument and meet “your” requirements.