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Kostal Acoustic Guitars — West Point to Queen Creek, the Long Way to the Bench
Jason Kostal's path to becoming one of the most respected luthiers in America is unlike any other in the field. He grew up in Wisconsin playing guitar from the age of four, attended West Point, served nearly thirteen years in the US Army, earned an MBA from Emory University, and was headed for a career as a Fortune 100 executive when a chance encounter with Atlanta luthier Kent Everett of Everett Guitars changed the trajectory of everything. He walked away from the corporate world, moved to Phoenix to attend the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, taught acoustic guitar construction there for three and a half years, and then received the invitation that defines his professional identity to this day: a two and a half year apprenticeship under Ervin Somogyi in Oakland, the most transformative learning experience available to any luthier in the world.
He returned to the Phoenix area, set up his shop in Queen Creek, Arizona, and has been building a small number of fully custom instruments each year ever since. The Fretboard Journal called him one of the most fascinating builders around. The waiting list runs several years. The price per instrument approaches $40,000. Both facts are a direct reflection of what the guitars are.
The Somogyi Inheritance
Jason is direct about what his apprenticeship with Ervin Somogyi gave him: the ability to look at the guitar, understand what it is capable of, and create an instrument that fully expresses that potential. Somogyi's approach to voicing, his deep understanding of how the top, back, and air cavity interact as a unified acoustic system, and his insistence on building instruments that respond to the player rather than resist them run through everything Jason builds. The result is a characteristically orchestral sound with full, warm bass response and rich, singing trebles, supremely expressive instruments with immediate response and a wide dynamic range that makes them particularly extraordinary in the hands of fingerstyle players.
Every specification variable is controlled from start to finish to serve the finished instrument. Jason works closely with each client to understand exactly what they are looking for tonally, physically, and visually, then builds the guitar that meets those requirements as fully as his skill allows. The process is entirely collaborative and deeply personal, which is part of why the results are so consistently exceptional.
The Tonewoods
Jason's tonewood palette is among the most carefully curated in independent lutherie. German spruce tops are standard across the lineup, chosen for their exceptional stiffness-to-weight ratio and the complex, full-spectrum tonal response they deliver under Somogyi-influenced voicing. Brazilian rosewood back and sides with full CITES documentation represent the pinnacle of the Kostal offering, delivering a brilliance, sustain, and harmonic complexity that no substitute has yet matched. Indian rosewood, Celebes ebony, and other premium back and side woods appear across the catalog depending on the build. Ebony fingerboards and bridges, mosaic rosettes, chrome Gotoh 510 tuners with ebony buttons, and Hoffee carbon fiber cases are standard appointments throughout.
The Models
Jason offers four body styles, each one a starting point rather than a fixed template. The OO is the most intimate model in the lineup, delivering a warm, focused midrange with the short-scale elasticity and touch sensitivity that fingerstyle players prize above everything. The OM offers a slightly larger canvas with more bass response and projection while retaining the string-to-string clarity and balance that the format is famous for. The Modified Dreadnought brings additional power and volume to players who need more from their acoustic without the boxy, indiscriminate bass response that less carefully built dreadnoughts produce. The Jumbo is the biggest and most projecting model in the range, built for players who want maximum acoustic presence and the kind of sustain that seems to go on indefinitely.
The Phoenix, a guitar built on the site of a devastating fire and named for what rose from it, stands as the most celebrated single instrument in Jason's catalog, an example of what happens when extreme circumstances meet an extraordinary craftsman at the peak of his powers.
Browse our available Kostal inventory. A Kostal guitar on the market is a rare occurrence, and the instruments that appear do not remain available long. Reach out to discuss placement on the commission waitlist.