Saturday, November 1, 2014

October 2014 Spotlight Gear Maker - Chili Custom Guitars

                       October Spotlight Gear Maker
                   Chili Custom Guitars

When the electric guitar was invented little did they know that it would ignite the passions in millions of people from all over the world to express themselves. From southern swing and blues to country and jazz and metal the guitar has kept reinventing itself over and over again. This day in age there are guitars from so many companies from the cheapest woods and kits from places like China and Indonesia to some of the classiest most appealing guitars for any budget with the most exotic woods and setup..
A luthier from Austria is at the front of making guitars from any style or setup from your dreams to a reality. I met Horst from Chili Custom Guitars some time ago and was drawn in with his passion for not just making guitars but music and people to give his customers the best guitar for there dollar. Horst has a eye for wood and does things the old fashion way of a hand shake and to talk to each customer one on one to make sure that they get the most out of there Chili Experience.



                                                    Horst From Chili Custom Guitars


Horst and I had a nice talk all about his company
 
RBJ
When did you start making guitars and why?

CCG
I started making guitars in 2008. I repaired Guitars for over 30 
Years and was never thinking about to make Guitars. In 2008 a Friend 
of mine came into my Joinery and asked me to help him to make a 
Guitar. I said to him this is not possible its to hard to make no 
Chance. At the next day I started to make Guitars. The Local players 
said this is great stuff and they are good as well known Brands. So I 
decided to make guitars near my joinery and started to sell them.

 RBJ
 Chili Custom Guitars is a great name how did the name come about?

CCG
 I was looking for a Brand name for my Guitars and it must be all 
over the world the same name in every language. Nothing what i am 
thinking about made me really happy. Some Day I got a Mail from Thomas 
Eder from the well known Austrian Band Die Seer. He want to try out my 
Guitars and they where playing in Salzburg and i had to come with my 
Guitars to the Sound check. I got there with some of my Guitars and he 
liked them. So he orderd a Single Cut Model and I asked him about 
Inlays. He said When its possible to put some Chili's in the Body this 
would be nice. And i thought to myself That's it Chili Custom Guitars.

RBJ
 Do you have product lines or is all guitars custom?

CCG
Most of my Guitars are Custom made to the players preferences and wishes.
I worked out a Product Line Seed of Chili where i keep the price low 
and make it affordable for everybody.

RBJ
On the average what is the turn around time from order to delivery?

CCG
From Order to delivery is around 4 to 8 weeks depends on what the 
customer want. The Seed by Chili can be delivered in 3 - 4 weeks


                                                     Chili Custom Guitars made by Horst

RBJ
I have seen a new style of guitars called ''Seed of Chili'' tell me about them guitars?

CCG
The Seed by Chili is a low cost series what i sell for USD 999,-. 
There is a Tele a  Strat and my new Chilibird to get. They are all 
made out of good Materials. The difference to my Custom Models what all 
are made really by Hand is that the Seed Body's and Necks are CNC made. 
The customers can choose colors and Pick ups. In the next few weeks I 
will make a Flyer about them for sure.

RBJ
I have noticed some of your guitars have some amazing paint work (Eagles etc) who
does the painting on them guitars?

CCG
The Paintwork on some of my Custom guitars are made by my Sister 
Brigitta Gigler she is a painting artist. If anybody want some 
paintings on his Chili Guitar my sister can Paint all what you want. 
They will be all painted by Hand and not with a airbrush.


                                                            Brigitta Gigler painted Guitar


RBJ
Chili is out of Austria will you ship guitars anywhere in the world?

CCG
I ship my guitars all over the world. I use now only Fedex they are 
for me the best. They are not cheap but they ship the Guitars very safe.

RBJ
You recently have been working with the Freiburg Blues Festival how did that come about?

CCG
The relationship with the Freiburg Blues Festival comes from Tino 
Gonzales, one of the greatest Blues players and Chili Custom Guitars 
player. He is also honored member of the Freiburg Blues Association. 
Tino asked me to be a Sponsor for the Blues Festival. So i don't give them money I decided 
to give them a Guitar to make a lottery. This brings the Festival more 
money and more attention to my Company.

RBJ
Do you have any Chili Custom Guitars here in the united states in stores for sale and if so where so
anyone reading this can check them out?

CCG
Flying V Leather in Concord CA has some of my Guitars and is 
selling them also I am in touch with Greg Golden Bizarre Guitars in 
Reno NV and I will get soon a dealer on the East coast too.

RBJ
Why Guitars? Why not baseball bats or toothpicks? What drives you to keep making some of the
most beautiful and functional guitars I have ever seen or played?

CCG
Baseball bats and Toothpicks don't sound so good. The reason to 
make guitars is to make my Customers the best guitar they can get for 
themselves. I figured out my own Chili intonation system what the 
Guitars make to be in tune on every fret. This is a big reason that 
many players use my Guitars for the Studio.

                                        My personal Chili Custom Guitar I call my Tigerbaby

Horst is one of the nicest down to earth people you will ever meet that has come up with his own touch and process to make some of the most beautiful guitars I have ever seen. I own a Chili that I call my Tigerbaby ( I have done a review of this guitar in the Gear Talk Section). If you decide that a Chili or a Seed Of Chili is for you then you can be sure you are getting the highest grade materials and hand crafted process that are available on the market today. I have owned many guitars in my life but only a very few are the ones I would never part with and my Chili is one that will be part of my rig for a lifetime!!!

Contact
Chili Custom Guitars Facebook Page

I did a talk about my personal Chili Custom Guitar
http://geartalkbyjon.blogspot.com/2014/10/chili-custom-guitars.html





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