For us, chaos comes naturally.
March 23, 2026
A sound stripped down to its essence.
It had been floating around in the minds and hearts for over a decade. This idea to attempt to make an arch-top electric acoustic guitar out of cardboard. Something that sounded just as beautiful raw and acoustic as it did plugged into an amp. And when it came down to it, the process was as spontaneous as the art form itself.
Natural materials. Honest construction.
Like every one of our cardboard creations, it starts in the innovation lab at Ernest with Mike Martinez and his band. But this one was the biggest challenge to date: to deliver an acoustic that has nothing to hide. And the process was as natural as the product. From carving archtops, backs, slides and multiple necks made of poly and paper, these real materials had to deliver a real result.. Mike said it himself, “We had to stay open to everything and push the cardboard to its absolute limit” so he could trade fours and eights with the next genius on stage all the way across the country. His name? Gabriel Currie.
“Everything I thought I knew, I put aside.”
These were the very mortal words of Gabriel, founder and owner of Echopark Guitars in Detroit, MI. As an LA native, he’d made guitars for some of the greatest in rock and roll, including Josh Homme and Steven Tyler. But when it came to making a never-before-seen creation based on the Benedetto jazz acoustic from the ‘50s, he had to take a solo break to collect his thoughts. But when he returned to his workshop, his stage, man was he on fire. Gabriel’s honesty and talent were on full display as this raw creation began to take shape seemingly out of nowhere.
Just like jazz itself.
Locked in, in the pocket. Feeling it. However you want to describe the art Gabriel creates, it was 100% on. Gluing up the body. Shaping the neck. Crafting the archtop. Creating the signature F-shaped holes. Gabriel was operating on pure vibrations. As Mike and Dave Lee from Signal Productions listened to Owen Barry plug in and dig in, it was proof that Gabriel’s vibes were pure and true. And a true testament to the power of improvisation.
