This guitar was built as a donation project for a charity concert that was organized by a friend. It just so happens that he knows Matt Holliday (outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals), and they were able to get Needtobreathe in as the headlining band. My friend approached me to see if I would like to be part of the event, and without hesitation I said yes. He wanted me to build a guitar to be auctioned off toward the end of the evening, so we thought long and hard about a suitable theme.
Since Matt was playing a large role in getting things together, we thought a baseball-themed guitar would be a great idea. It was then up to me to come up with a guitar that would play well and attract lots of bidding. I had the brilliant idea of using baseball bats for the body, and before thinking it through, I mentioned it to the organizer who thought it was a great idea (remember kids, always think before speaking). Next thing I knew, I had a dozen Matt Holliday signature bats in my shop waiting to be turned into a guitar. Other baseball ideas came into play by inlaying Matt's number (7) on the fret board in Cardinals red and simulating a pine tar finish on the back of the neck. I also hand-stitched a strap to simulate the stitching on a baseball. The guitar sold for $45,000 at auction, raising money for Limbs for Life, Palmetto Medical Initiative, and Global Compassion Foundation.
Here are the specs:
- 25.5 scale
- Body made from ash and maple baseball bats
- Hand-carved maple neck with bocote fret board
- Wilkinson bridge with compensated brass saddles
- GFS Neovin noiseless pickups
- CTS pots
- Switchcraft switch and jack
