Jimmy Carabbia & Durango Guitar Works

 Get Inspired Feature Presentation...

Jimmy

Inspiring Person: Jimmy Carabbia

Inspiring Attitude: "For a lot of my life, people told me I couldn't do what I dreamed of. I'm pretty used to criticism. I just don't let it bother me."

I met Jimmy in Durango, CO where most Durangoans met Jimmy--at Stonehouse Subs. It was a sandwich shop he opened when he decided Durango didn't have a good enough sandwich shop. He's a kinda picky guy and when he can't find what he wants, he just goes out and creates it. Like when he was a kid and couldn't find brake levers he liked for his BMX bike. So he made some. Back then, he wanted to mass produce and market them, but was a bit young to do it on his own.

These days, it's a different story. After spending years in competitive BMX cycling, he found himself revisiting an earlier passion--guitars. However, several broken bones and lots of repetitive bread baking left his hands and wrists with limited range of motion. He discovered playing short scales guitars let him play with the speed and accuracy he demanded, but wasn't happy with the quality of short scale electric guitars on the market. So, he hand made his own. He'd found a short scale neck he liked, but wanted a guitar body that was in better proportion to the neck. Then he wanted better pick ups. And so on. I can't tell you how many iterations I saw him go through. Then he decided that he'd learned so much making his own custom guitar, he would get them mass produced so other people could also enjoy a quality short scale guitar.

As you can imagine, there's a steep learning curve in starting an electric guitar company, and I'm sure many people thought he couldn't do it. But in spite of it, Durango Guitar Works was born. Here's a YouTube video of a guy reviewing one of his guitars. 

The guitar is getting great reviews.  Best of all, Jimmy's happy. He feels he's making a difference, building community by helping people who want a new choice in electric guitars. Thanks for the inspiration Jimmy!