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Junk re-purposed into a musical masterpiece

Submitted Photo

Beau Thiege is a local artist who takes junk and turns it into artistic guitars that are all one of a kind.

Thiege was born and raised in North Dakota, the oldest of eight children. He found art at a young age and became fascinated in it. He’s explored many different types, from woodworking and mixed media to pastels and acrylics. Then in 2015 he found his calling making custom guitars.

“I just sort of saw someone on YouTube playing a junk guitar and thought I could make that,” Thiege said.

November will mark three years since he started making the instruments. Since December 2015, Thiege has made 160 guitars and has sold 120 of them. They vary in price according to parts, type and time. He also sells more than just guitars. He creates soup can microphones and stomp boxes from junk as well. He does dabble in painting, but his guitars have become his main calling.

Thiege’s guitars are made of a variety of different things that he said he gets from anywhere – from a junkyard to a thrift store. Recently people have even begun giving him such things as pots and pans for him to make items out of it.

On the bio on his website, Theige said, “Each is handcrafted, inspired by everyday utilitarian objects, antiques, or plain old junk. Half art, half instrument, that’s the fun part, folks: You never can tell what I’ll end up with.”

When asked how long it usually takes for him to create a guitar, Thiege said “It depends on what it’s made of and how much electrical has to go in to it. Some can take just a few hours while others can take weeks.”

His guitars are going to be on display at the Taube Museum from Oct. 17-Nov. 17, but those interested can see photos of them at his site, beauguitar.com, or on Instagram and Facebook.

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