Working out of a little, unassuming-looking storefront on Carmine Street in NYC’s Greenwich Village, master luthier and artist Cindy Hulej makes magnificent, one-of-a-kind handmade guitars from reclaimed 200-year-old lumber. The shop, known as Carmine Street Guitars, is owned and operated by Rick Kelly, Cindy’s mentor and colleague. Between them, they’ve got 70 years of knowledge about guitars, and it shows.

Using reclaimed timber from old buildings including pine, swamp ash, and rock maple, Hulej designs and creates truly memorable looking and sounding instruments. According to Kelly, the 200-year-old timber adds to each instrument’s resonance. And that unique sound is accompanied by Hulej’s remarkably-unique designs.

“My creative process in terms of the custom work I do has ranged from woodburning to painting to drawing to etching to feather and leather work.. the list goes on and I’m still experimenting. Everything I have done custom artwork-wise and build-wise has never been exactly the same and I like to continue that promise to anybody getting any work from me.. one of a kind, the only one in the world.“

After the photos below is a neat documentary by The Good Hustle Podcast about the artists and the shop.

You can follow Cindy Hulej on Instagram, and you can see all of Carmine Street Guitars’ amazing instruments on the shop’s website and on Instagram and Facebook.