Jamon Zeiler
A forty year musical career, a devotion to the art of guitar making and a love of pure sound have made Jamon Zeiler a master guitar builder. Born into a musical family, Jamon began playing guitar at the age of eight, learning from his father. Later the Beatles came along and that was all it took to get him going down the road of rock and roll.

At around the age of eighteen Jamon began listening to James Taylor and other acoustic musicians and fell in love with the sound of the acoustic guitar. Jamon along with his voice that Jim Ed Norman, once president of Warner Brothers Records has said, "Jamon's voice is smooth and powerful with a gentle delivery."

Jamon traveled all over the north and south playing his acoustic music. After a major record label deal fell through the cracks he began looking for something else to do in the music industry. Jamon's father was a bricklayer and home builder and it was there that Jamon learned to build, repair and make things out of wood. He began first as a carpenter then a cabinet maker and then began making high-end furniture for clients in New York City.

In 1990 Jamon saw an ad in Acoustic Guitar Magazine for a seven week seminar in guitar making, Jamon did not attend the seven week seminar but found a one year course at Red Wing Tech in Minnesota. Jamon attended Red Wing Tech and there he learned to repair string instruments and built four acoustic guitars. After graduating he moved to the Cincinnati, Ohio area where he still resides and after fifteen years of making instruments has made over one hundred guitars.

In 2004 he opened Zeiler Music Center located at 120 Main Street in Rising Sun Indiana. His store is mostly a building and repair center. Jamon continues to play music and work as a musician in and around Cincinnati.


A little on Philosophy:
To me the most important part of guitar making is the bracing of the top. I build my instruments very light. It is important not to build them too light on steel string guitars, there is a fine line that must not be crossed. I do not weigh my parts before assembly. I use my eyes, my ears and my touch.

On nylon string guitars it appears you can't build them too light, the great classical guitar maker Torres built his instruments as light as he could, after over one hundred years they are still with us and still sound incredible.

For steel string bracing I use the X bracing pattern. For my nylon string guitars I like the lattice bracing. I use hide glue for the bracing of the top and instrument makers glue for the rest of the instruments construction.

Being a player all my life, I know the importance of a good setup and great playability and I spend a lot of time on fret work and set up.

Talking a little about finishes, I have used many over the years and have settled on the latest high tech water based lacquer, spraying only six coats, it is a very thin finish and to my ears it is wonderful for guitars. Another important thing is that truly handmade instruments should sound better than high-end factory guitars. I guarantee my guitars to sound better than any factory guitar you find.

I love my work and hope that when it is my time to go on to the next world, I fall dead at my bench with a smile on my face building a guitar (:

Thank you for your interest in Zeiler Guitars.