Music is an artform that takes people on a wondrous journey. Some players tour in bands, while some are collectors who play at home. Each musical journey is unique. Zak Ward of Quader Guitars believes everyone should have the opportunity to build their own guitar during their journey.
Quader Guitars: Yesterday
Zak Ward, a Perrysburg native, has an entrepreneurial spirit. “People that are artists and musicians have the creativity and drive to be an entrepreneur. It’s in my blood. It’s an opportunity to be creative and to make people happy. I realize that as I’ve been playing in bands since 1994,” Ward explains.
Ward’s pioneering spirit, which took shape early in his musical journey, continued while he went through college and started a website development business. He then founded a 3D imaging business, before selling guitars for Ken Haas, CEO of Reverend Guitars. After 10 years as Reverend’s Sales Manager, Ward became the Sales Manager for Souldier Straps, a manufacturer of guitar and musical straps with an added line of belts, handbags, messenger bags and apparel.
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Ward’s interest in building guitars started during the pandemic, when he was working from home for Reverend. With a thought process of “I sell these things, I have time, why not learn how they’re built?”, Ward built a wood shop in his garage while watching hours of YouTube “how to” videos.
The first two guitars Ward built were played by friends during shows. That provided an chance for him to sit back to watch and listen. The friends’ critiques helped shape his approach moving forward. “Guitar players are pretty opinionated people, and many of their opinions are constructive,” Ward remarked.
Quader (noun): cuboid, rectangular solid
The origin of the name“Quader” comes from Ward’s fascination with words beginning with “Q” and a mathematical term referencing a design element.
Quader Guitars: Today
Now, in 2024, a number of Toledo area guitar players are using Quader Guitars including Frank May, Patrick Caligiuri, Justin Marchand and Brian Chandley. Ward comments, “it’s an honor for someone to buy [a handcrafted guitar] from you. It’s like writing a song and seeing someone cover it in front of you.”
Quader Guitars are built one at a time by Ward in his garage workshop. As he’s building the guitar, he sends photos showing the progress and invites the recipient to help with the building of their guitar. Ward has a list of people who have ordered hand-built guitars from Quader to be delivered in 2025.
Quader Guitars: Tomorrow
Looking ahead, Ward’s main focus is building a limited number of guitars while updating Quader’s YouTube channel which provides help and inspiration for viewers on their guitar-building journeys.
“I want my YouTube channel to be a place where people can watch the journey, getting tips and tricks that are learned along the way while demo-ing the products. I learned the vast majority of guitar building from watching other people or factory walkthroughs on YouTube.”
Ward relates “The tagline I should use is ‘everyone should build their own guitar in some capacity.’ [The build] doesn’t have to be from scratch, but working with your hands dirty and understanding the different components of a guitar brings you closer to what a lot of guitarists search for, which is hard to put into words. The journey is about appreciating the art of music.”
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