James Aaron F. Orr, JAFO Guitars
JAFO began his musical life in the orchestra playing the violin, then the viola, and then cello and then bass. Music ran in the family; many of the people in his family played instruments and often found themselves huddled together to sing and play at holiday gatherings. He eventually began playing electric bass guitar in high school. After graduating he soon picked up the guitar and played with many local bands in the San Antonio, TX area. While playing in a band called the StoneCutters he became a traveling guitar technician doing repairs (being self-taught) with The Nick Lawrence Band often performing with the group or as a live sound technician. He enjoyed creating custom parts for band members the most, like cables of unique length or for specific use, modified whammy bars for guitars, or even speaker cabinets for sound system equipment. JAFO toured south Texas with The Nick Lawrence Band in 2015 and 2016 before helping to establish an audio production company with Nick.
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JAFO was the kind of kid that played with Legos® or Erector sets and dissected any machines he could get his hands on – the telephone, remote controls, anything that could be taken apart would be dismantled and inspected with curiosity. He enjoyed working with his hands, and repairs were an opportunity to learn something new and do something helpful for a friend. He grew up with a natural fascination for physics and how things work. He even still today finds it hard not to stop at look at the new Lego® collections if he happens to be in a store with a toy section.
Sustainability became a focus for JAFO as he gained experience on the road after learning about the D'Addario string recycling program. With a fretboard that became too thin to utilize for a guitar, JAFO created a key holder with a unique inlay of his family members’ initials: the fretboard, instead of being wasted material, has now been re-purposed.
After taking a break from the performing world to focus on his health, JAFO still found himself with a saxophone and a clarinet while tweaking guitar tunings and set-ups; JAFO could not break away from playing with new instruments or ideas about music and how to make it. JAFO's stepfather then strongly encouraged him to take what he was doing as a hobby and turn it into a career; to become a luthier. True inspiration struck him as a close friend who lost his sight due to complications with diabetes and memory loss after a disastrous truck accident asked him to teach him how to play the bass guitar again. In the fall of 2019, with the encouragement and support of his parents, Mary and Russell Gainer, JAFO attended the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sustainability became a focus for JAFO as he gained experience on the road after learning about the D'Addario string recycling program. With a fretboard that became too thin to utilize for a guitar, JAFO created a key holder with a unique inlay of his family members’ initials: the fretboard, instead of being wasted material, has now been re-purposed.
After taking a break from the performing world to focus on his health, JAFO still found himself with a saxophone and a clarinet while tweaking guitar tunings and set-ups; JAFO could not break away from playing with new instruments or ideas about music and how to make it. JAFO's stepfather then strongly encouraged him to take what he was doing as a hobby and turn it into a career; to become a luthier. True inspiration struck him as a close friend who lost his sight due to complications with diabetes and memory loss after a disastrous truck accident asked him to teach him how to play the bass guitar again. In the fall of 2019, with the encouragement and support of his parents, Mary and Russell Gainer, JAFO attended the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I’m here to build guitars for the less-abled. If a guitar player has been in an accident or has been stuck in a wheelchair their whole life, they might need an instrument tailored to their needs and abilities. I was born with juvenile diabetes and could go my whole life avoiding things I couldn’t have, or could instead have the sugar-free version, and so I’m trying to make the ‘sugar-free’ version of a guitar that is accessible to people with different needs. Django Reinhardt played with only 2 usable fingers on his left hand after a fire in his home and Tony Iommi had an accident in a sheet metal factory that cost him the tips of his fingers. But what if you had a shoulder that didn’t have much mobility? Or somebody suffering from Bell’s palsy? I want to be the guy that creates unique instruments with those people in mind.”
When designing and creating an instrument that is unique for someone with different abilities, JAFO takes into consideration things like the guitar's body shape, weight, and balance. He likes to go to lunch to get to know them and their physicality: by watching them eat, for example, he can take note of their motion, and potentially notice things that they, themselves, might not be aware of, since they may not have had the opportunity to play an instrument yet because instruments thus far have not been designed with them in mind.
“I want them to say, this isn’t an instrument for me; this is MY instrument.”
When designing and creating an instrument that is unique for someone with different abilities, JAFO takes into consideration things like the guitar's body shape, weight, and balance. He likes to go to lunch to get to know them and their physicality: by watching them eat, for example, he can take note of their motion, and potentially notice things that they, themselves, might not be aware of, since they may not have had the opportunity to play an instrument yet because instruments thus far have not been designed with them in mind.
“I want them to say, this isn’t an instrument for me; this is MY instrument.”