Meet Minarik Guitars and Its Jaw-Dropping Instruments

Minarik began his career in the industry as a musician earning an endorsement from a well-known guitar manufacturer. After developing a friendship with the owner, it became apparent to the seasoned manufacturer that Minarik’s true talent was in conceptualizing and designing guitars. With encouragement and connections from his friendship, Minarik connected with a prolific pickup brand that was instrumental in manufacturing the first run of his debut shape, the Inferno, resulting in the arrival of Minarik Guitars. In our conversation, Minarik encapsulated the goals of his designs, saying, “We create guitar shapes that visually inspire people to dig deep and bring out their gift, their music, their craft.”

Attendees at The 2022 NAMM Show stopped in their tracks when they passed one of Minarik’s latest builds, a Disney Haunted Mansion 50th Anniversary electric guitar. Disney reached out to Minarik to collaborate on a limited run of officially Disney-licensed guitars that celebrated half a century of the beloved ride. The visually stunning builds and the story behind their creation sparked a conversation at The NAMM Show that we continued with Minarik about the importance of collaborating with artists in creating his instruments.

Minarik said of the project with Disney and all his artist collaborations, “Some of the best and most amazing things come through collaboration.” From the start, bringing artists, including galleried artists, on board to uplift his designs has been critical to Minarik. He credits the relationship that led to the Haunted Mansion 50th Anniversary build to a meeting at The NAMM Show. He said, “Somebody saw the Minarik booth and dragged a friend over saying, ‘You have got to see this!’ I got the introduction, and it happened to be a licensed Disney artist. We developed a friendship and a professional relationship, and the opportunity was there to do this project it was a result of a chance meeting at The NAMM Show.”

Minarik reflected on his desire to start a company solely comprised of ornately inlayed, highly decorative, incredibly sounding instruments as its bread and butter. He credits this mindset as the foundation for being able to create 13 of the “outrageously inlayed, airbrushed, UV painted” Haunted Mansion guitars.

“We are always open to meeting new people, and if we can find some synergy, we are bringing you in on a project. When you work with us, I’m going through my mind the minute I’m out of a meeting saying, ‘Okay, who are some people we can collaborate with?’ The relationships we have with artists flowing in and out of our lives over the years never fades. We are a family and a network, comprised of people who are incredibly gifted at creating beautiful things.” says Minarik.

Minarik made it a point to share that he and his team always allow artists to do what they do best, create. “I do not micromanage artists. If we have a direction we are going in, I hand it off to them and say, ‘Go, be an artist.’ I have never had a bad experience doing this, and I know artists appreciate it.”

Today, Minarik still lives his original dream of being a musician, writing, singing, and releasing albums while doing what he’s come to be known for best, creating exceptional guitar and bass designs that help other artists reach their goals. Many of Minarik’s designs appear at The NAMM Show every year, and the company is already predicting making another big splash at The 2023 NAMM Show.

For more information about Minarik Guitars or the latest information on The 2023 NAMM Show, please visit https://www.minarikguitars.com/ and /thenammshow/2023/attend.