When it comes to electric guitars, if you can dream it, Ed Snoble can build it.
Snoble has taken his hobby of repairing and customizing guitars and turned it into the Penguin Guitar Company, making custom guitars for musicians around the country out of his South Elgin home.
Ed Snoble of South Elgin makes custom guitars and recently launched Penguin Guitar Company.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
“We can literally build whatever is in your head,” Snoble said. “Having that ability to get bespoke with your instrument and pick every little variable of it makes all the difference.”
Snoble began working on guitars in the late 1990s, when he was playing with a band several nights a week, to maintain his collection of instruments. He found he enjoyed modifying his guitars to fit his preferences.
“That’s just a passion that has grown furiously for the last 20 years,” he said.
As he stopped playing to focus on his family and career as a senior financial planner for BMO, he started repairing and customizing guitars for friends and other musicians he knew from the local scene.
“It started off as word of mouth. But over the last 25 years, I built up a group of folks that has really grown over time,” he said. “It’s turned into something that I’m kind of proud of.”
Kenny Potilechio plays the first guitar that Ed Snoble made for him. He now works with Snoble, helping to promote the Penguin Guitar Company.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
One of his frequent customers, Kenny Potilechio, was performing hundreds of shows a year and bringing lots of repairs to Snoble. A few years ago, he said he had an idea for a guitar in his head and asked Snoble if they could build it from scratch.
“We cut the body. We figured out the neck. Every single thing on it was specced out,” Snoble said.
Potilechio, who lives in North Aurora, said there’s something special about having a guitar built specifically for you.
Kenny Potilechio, left, started working with Ed Snoble at Penguin Guitar Company after Snoble repaired, customized and built him several guitars.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
“This is a lot cooler and a lot more personal, and, quite frankly, sounds a lot better,” he said. “I’d play this over a store-bought guitar any day of the week.”
When people saw the guitar but not a familiar name or logo, they started asking Potilechio where he got it.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work together the last three years because of that one guitar,” Snoble said.
Knowing that professionals own multiple guitars, Snoble gets very specific when building a new one for a customer.
“I want to do whatever we need to do to make it so that’s the one they pick up first,” he said. “Every little thing can be adjusted. We can make it so it’s stage-ready and perfect for them every time. Because at the end of the day for a working musician, this is literally just a tool.”
Ed Snoble’s 14-year-old son came up with the name for Penguin Guitar Company.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
The business has taken off. In April, Snoble formed an LLC that his 14-year-old son Eddie, who works with his dad on building and repairs, named after his favorite animal.
“I built this little niche where if people have a dream guitar, they come here, and we build it,” he said. “And none of this is work. This is what I love to do.”
Potilechio is handling marketing, communications and outreach for the new company.
“I’m starting to use my contacts and my friends who are interested and have seen my guitars, and they’re starting to build with Ed,” Potilechio said. “It’s a lot of fun to see the hype build. Everyone’s excited.”
Ed Snoble works on a custom, left-handed guitar in his South Elgin home.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
All the work currently takes place in Snoble’s home, spread out between both main floors, the basement and the garage. But he knows that can’t last and hopes to move into an industrial space soon.
“CNC machines (which he uses to cut the wood to exact specifications) are really loud and annoying,” he said. “And that’s not gonna last here forever.”
Ed Snoble likes to leave little hidden Easter eggs in the guitars he builds.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
While working full time and doing it from home, Snoble said he makes 10 to 12 guitars a year along with all the repairs. He said it’s about 40 hours of hands-on work for each instrument.
On average, the guitars cost $1,200 to $1,500, which is not much different from similar mass-produced guitars purchased off the shelf.
And when it comes to guitars, one size does not fit all.
“People will come in with a $1,500 guitar they bought from a store then ask me to replace a bunch of stuff. And the next thing you know, they’ve spent another $500 to make it their own,” Snoble said. “If you’re going to spend that much, why not start from scratch so you can really hone in on every little piece.”
He said building something that should be a part of someone’s life for a long time is part of the reward. He even had a customer come to his house to help him cut the body of a guitar he was working on so he could feel more connected to the process.
“I actually think about that a lot,” Snoble said of that guitar. “I know it’s gonna end up in his (the customer’s) son’s house someday. That’s an impactful thing.”
