Some visitors might already be familiar with Red Special enthusiast community member Luke Holwerda from Phoenix, Arizona in the USA and will have seen his Facebook blog page (https://www.facebook.com/LukeHGuitar/). Having first interacted via forums, Luke messaged me some time ago with a view to using my CAD design to CNC cut the guitar body sections and neck himself at the CREATE community workshop (‘makerspace’) in the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix. Although initially reluctant due to my relative inexperience, I was excited by the prospect of collaborating with somebody halfway round the world on a Brian May Red Special guitar build project.
The other reason I agreed to help him on his quest was that it was clear from the outset that Luke is an intelligent, witty guy and that he had the necessary handicraft skill, attention to detail and determination to see the project through to completion. Yet again, the guitar Brian May built with his father Harold so many years ago which has rocked millions of people around the world has proved a catalyst for bringing like-minded people together and forging new friendships. Check out the YouTube retrospective video I published in November 2025 on this project:
Luke has a day job of course and you might be interested in his audiovisual production work with his brother Gus. The Lovecraftian sci-fi movie “Intersect” they have worked on for the previous ten years https://intersectthemovie.com/ was released on 15th September 2020. If you like this genre of film and want to support independent filmmakers, please download it from iTunes, Amazon Prime or Google Play.
In 2019, they recorded and produced the Origins podcast series (https://theoriginspodcast.com/) hosted by internationally-renowned theoretical physicist and best-selling author Professor Lawrence Krauss. Luke and Gus visited the U.K. in spring and autumn 2019 to record podcasts with prominent public figures in the fields of science and culture including Ricky Gervais and Brian May. Please support their work by downloading and listening to the podcasts which are entertaining and thought-provoking. Luke was the guest in the first Red Special Guitar Podcast on December 22, 2020, hosted by Jon Underhill. You can listen to them discuss various topics here:
https://theredspecialpodcast.libsyn.com/website/luke-holwerda-red-special-guitar-podcast
I enjoyed collaborating with Luke over the two years that he took to complete his Brian May Red Special replica; the end result looks very professional and authentic and his artistic photographic and video illustrations have been a pleasure to behold. As far as I know, nobody else has illustrated their DIY Red Special Build project this way. His series of thirteen videos embedded below this text are all mesmerising and entertaining with a touch of humour and well worth a watch for general interest whether you are a builder or a player, or both. Luke manages to illustrate all the key processes and techniques with only visual information and no spoken narrative. The videos are all set to original tracks written and recorded by his former band, Smokescreen. His observations and intelligent challenges to some of the assumptions I made on my build have undoubtedly improved my approach. Thanks buddy!
Please visit Luke’s Facebook page for his guitar and amplifier projects and YouTube channel where he published his original series of thirteen videos that I have remixed:
https://www.facebook.com/LukeHGuitar/
https://www.youtube.com/@lukeyourself
Part 1 – Blockboard Lay Up: https://youtu.be/EmLi4rX7S5Y
Part 2 – CNC Body Routing: https://youtu.be/9bBQD6irAJQ
Part 3 – CNC Neck Routing: https://youtu.be/JwbNmn68vEU
Part 4 – Body Glue Up: https://youtu.be/ZddRVstlfLQ
Part 5 – Repair of Router Bearing Marks: https://youtu.be/8YUnrmC1Tvc
Part 6 – Applying Veneers: https://youtu.be/j-ljqtfDoZI
Part 7 – Binding and Staining: https://youtu.be/rnTdnpMDk9A
Part 8 – Repairing Veneer Sand Through: https://youtu.be/J00EK_N2ZIA
Part 9 – Neck and Fretboard Assembly: https://youtu.be/Eyb1CNfowO4
Part 10 – Neck Finishing: https://youtu.be/DOtInN0RlWs
Part 11 – Fret Work: https://youtu.be/4kp4oLsinxo
Part 12 – Guitar Assembly (Electronics and Hardware Installation): https://youtu.be/3uCOaPo5dCE
Part 13 – Demonstration: https://youtu.be/1hUd9dKFX1w
Return to the Collaborate home page:
https://dsgb.net/collaborate/
dsgb 