James Tyler Guitars

James Tyler Guitars is a boutique electric guitar manufacturer established at Van Nuys, California in 1972.

James Tyler is a custom maker heading a team of three other guitar builders in the Los Angeles area. His most famous guitars were the superstrat-style Studio Elite and the radically styled Ultimate Weapon, introduced in 1987. He builds guitars and basses for Michael Landau, Steve Lukather, Robben Ford, Buzz Feiten, Dann Huff, Abe Laboriel and Neil Stubenhaus. The company has built over 150 guitars since 1999 and currently produces 12 instruments per month.

Many Tyler guitars (such as the Classic, the Mongoose and the Tylerbastar) are mostly inspired by the Fender Stratocaster, the Fender Telecaster and the Gibson Les Paul and are made of alder, ash, mahogany and jelutong (also known as mamywo or Malaysian Mystery Wood), available in solid, transparent and psychedelic finishes, featuring a variety of options (including active electronics, a variety of pickups and abalone dot-inlaid maple necks with a late 1959 soft V backshape featuring maple, rosewood or ebony fretboards with 22 Dunlop medium-jumbo frets).

Tyler guitars were initially offered with pickups from other manufacturers such as DiMarzio, Suhr and Seymour Duncan until 2007, when the company began making its own pickups. Recessed Floyd Rose locking tremolos (which debuted in 1982) were re-introduced on many models after a 15-year absence.