One man’s scraps can be another man’s livelihood. For Boot Arreola, a fallen persimmon tree, a worn-out piano and leftovers from a high school woodworking class represent the makings of beautiful music.
Arreola is one of a handful of luthiers—skilled artisans who make and repair stringed instruments—living in South Carolina, and his line of original guitars, marketed under the brand name BA Ferguson, is crafted entirely from repurposed wood. He gleans the materials for his trade from the trash bins, floors and forests of places as far away as the Pacific Northwest and as close by as the coffee bar located just a few doors down from his shop, Frets and Necks, in downtown Hartsville.
“This piece of wood came from a guy I know in Alaska who collects old logs that wash up on shore and wood from fallen trees,” Arreola explains, pointing to the neck of a guitar in progress. “And this inlay on the back is made from coffee stirrers from the Midnight Rooster Coffee Shop."
South Carolina is a luthier’s treasure trove, he says, offering plenty of pine, oak, cedar, poplar and hickory for repurposing. Once the wood is in his shop, the entire recycling process, from salvaging to strumming, takes about eight months. “Luthiers always used what was available in the environment,” Arreola says. “I’m proud to get back to the roots of guitar-building.”
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Boot Arreola
OCCUPATION: Luthier and musician
AGE: 29 EDUCATION: Apprenticed with Baron J. Martin of El Paso, Texas
SPECIAL GOALS: To build a thriving business that will fully support the mission trips he takes with wife Stacy