Behold The Lolo

An Adaptive Guitar For Stroke Survivors

It's hard to write about why this instrument was created without it sounding like a bad reality T.V. back story.  You've all heard it a hundred times.  Timmy fell in the well that caused mom a heart attack and was rushed to a hospital at high speeds by uncle Jeff that was arested and dies in jail. "I'm doing this for you, Timmy, mom and Jeff," he'd say during a tear jerking montage. 

Well... here's my story.

My grandfather was a hard worker, a shade tree mechanic and a musician.  I can't remember a time in my youth when he didn't have a machine, a wrench or guitar in his hands. 

After he suffered a second stroke he gave me his guitar because he couldn't make his hands form the chords anymore. I think this act was the seed that started the entire project.

In 2017 his health began to decline and he became less cooperative with his thereapists. It was my mother that noticed that the best days he had seemed to revolve in some way around music. She would play his favorite songs or talk about his playing days and he would light up. His memory was better and his perosnality became his own again. I started to form an idea of how to put a guitar back into his hands. How could I give him the music back? Would it help?

All this sat in the back of my mind until I learned he could be facing end of life care in 2018. Resolved to build him a gutar that no longer relied on the dexterity in his hands, I flew to New Mexico and started gathering materials. With the help of local luthiers and my whole family I started building the body, sitting in my grandfather's room, walking through the design and construction with him. For a week and a half we carved and cut, drilled and cussed. Building a body that would become the first table top solid body accoustic guitar.

He passed away 2 days before I put on the first string.

We called him Lolo.

This is for every person that needs a little music in their life. This is to make sure no one has to go without. Hopefully, this is to help all of us heal, even if it's just a little bit.

This is for our Lolo.