- [Voiceover] Yeah, every guitar has a story.
(heavy guitar music)
(soft guitar music)
- My name is Rick Kelly.
I custom-make guitars here at Carmine Street Guitars.
I make guitars from reclaimed lumber,
old New York City building wood
and from 200 year old trees.
Most of the wood is being thrown away
and so I just dumpster dive for it.
The craft of it is one of my favorite things.
You know, building from the materials that are historic
and coming up with instruments that make music
and are kind of alive in a different way.
It's a lot of, you know, steps involved.
(lively guitar music)
I bring the wood here and then I have to de-nail it
and then surface it and cut it to shape on the band saw,
sand it smooth, and then I use mostly shellac finishes,
which is a natural finish.
A lot of people have come through Carmine Street Guitars
and bought my custom guitars over the years.
Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Patti Smith band, Roger Waters,
Steely Dan band, so many other bands.
(acoustic guitar music)
To be able to give life back into the instrument
from the old timbers that built this city
is a wonderful feeling.
To be able to make it have a new life
and turn into something that makes music.
It's wonderful.