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My name's Jerrod Brown, but I usually go by "j.". I build custom acoustic guitars under the brand of Alis Guitars (pronounced uh-lease). I build 6-Strings, Acoustic Flat-top Basses, Baritones, and other instruments as time, patience, and customer requests allow.

Being a guitar player and building & maintaining my own instruments has helped to shape the direction Alis Guitars has gone.

Alis guitars have been played across the country. They've been in some amazing studios and plugged into some of the best sound systems in the world like Red Rocks Amphitheater. They stand up to the rigors of live performance and are as capable on stage as they are in the living room. I build Alis guitars to be played.

You can check out a commission I completed last year as it went through the construction process at www.mb-22.blogspot.com

I do my best to guide the player through the process and design the guitar with the customer. Some customers like to get as involved as possible, while others prefer to take a backseat once the details are hashed out. I'm flexible, so its completely up to the customer how involved they want to be.

Its a long process, but each piece that goes into the guitar is cut, shaved, carved, glued, sanded, tapped, listened to, and finished by me alone with the utmost thought and care, always mindful of the end product. I believe this is the best way to arrive at the best product.

I studied luthiery under Robert O'Brien in Denver, Colorado, and eventually became a Teaching Assistant in his steel string guitar construction classes at Red Rocks Community College...home to the second largest woodworking school in the country. I also attend continued education style workshops with Master Luthiers like Kent Everett and continue to develop my own sound and design theory. Guidance from people like Robert and Kent has been incredibly important to my construction technique and process.

This eventually led me to create Alis Guitars. Custom building acoustic guitars with a combination of the oldest traditions and the newest methods and materials. As projects come and go, I'll update this site whenever possible.

Spending the necessary time on the important aspects of the build can tend to mean that I've always got a backlog of projects both on and off my bench. Occasionally, I've got a spot open to get a new order in, so by all means, if you're looking to have a custom, hand-made acoustic guitar built for yourself or for someone you know, please contact me. I'll see where my schedule is at and I'm sure we can work something out.

The most important thing is seeing a musician happy with a new Alis slung around the neck makin' it sing like its supposed to.

Thanks for looking and keep tabs on this site.

-j.