Joe Laurean started playing guitar in 1988 one fall afternoon after discovering Guns 'N Roses. He was about 13 then and never looked back at life without having a guitar ever again. Since then, it's been his breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As a teen, Joe would skip most parties to try and make his fingers fret chords and practice, practice, practice. Fast forward to 2002, Joe was home one day in Pasadena in his living room, staring at his two guitars. Bam!! The idea came to him and his head said to swap out those two necks. At the time, he was a small guitar repair enthusiast and so decided to set up a business with a friend and so they worked out of an old mansion on Lake Ave. Back in 2002, Joe had been customizing old guitars, building them from parts to satisfy the guitars he wished he could have when he first started out playing. Joe is a strat guy so that's what he started out mostly customizing, but he built a few single cut LP styles and even a few basses. In 2018, Joe got to take things a little further and joined Guild USA in Oxnard, CA. Joe Laurean is part of building some of the most iconic acoustic guitars now. The Guild USA famed dreadnoughts, our parlor sized M20s, and of course our jumbo acoustics are off the charts. Although the pandemic has slowed them down a bit, Joe knows to always follow his heart and frequently reminds himself to feel blessed to have found so many of the most amazing fellow musicians along his musical journey.