From tinker to artisan: Yonkers man builds electric guitars in his garage
Henry D’Allacco’s need for do-it-yourself repairs on his electric bass guitar eventually led to a custom-instruments business.
D’Allacco founded Grosbeak Guitars three years ago and runs it out of a garage in southeast Yonkers, where he make custom basses and guitars for professional musicians.
Electric guitar building is a skill D’Allacco slowly acquired after paying big bills to have his basses repaired. Frustration with the limitations of commercially made electric guitars and basses was another motivator.
“I was tired of taking a standard instrument and trying to tweak it to what I want. I decided to go from the ground up and I just kind of had at it. It was a lot of trial and error,” said D’Allacco, 30, an insurance adjuster by day who made his first instrument in 2014.
D’Allacco hand-makes guitars in the style of the Fender Telecaster, a vintage model that was the first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar.