History

 

Dunie Henry, Kelly Cox, Andrew Cline, James Radke and two interlopers behind Bill and Kyle

 

Welcome to Cleaver Guitars of Springfield, Missouri. Dunie Henry, Andy Cline, Kelly Cox and James Radke welcome you into our studio. We will be initially introducing three instruments to the world. The first two guitars will “The Randy” and “The Beaver”.

This is what happens when you hang out in coffee shops.

We had no idea that we would create Cleaver Guitars on that early summer morning in 2010. It was a morning like any other at the Mudhouse in downtown Springfield, Missouri. Our usual gang of cronies were sitting around in the front of the shop jawboning about this-n-that.

Topics come and go with very little resolution. But this morning James said something about how cool it would be if there were a guitar with headstock shaped like a cleaver. That prompted a lot of riffing on possible names for such a guitar — a string of bad puns and baby-boomer cultural associations followed. Kelly said it would be cool if the whole guitar resembled a cleaver or an ax. And another round of bad puns and cultural associations followed.

Something else followed. We actually followed up.

Before anyone knew enough to wonder if it was crazy to start making guitars in a recession, we began planning, then designing, then building.

We still don’t know enough to wonder if this is crazy or not. But this we do know: The first model is seriously cool. It plays well. It’s light, comfortable, and strong. The action is sweet. And the sound is awesome.

So we continue making steps along the way — to what we’re not entirely sure yet. But keep watching this site. If you like what you see, you could own one of the first Cleavers.

And if you want to play it, please give us a shout!