Photos by Evan Close
FROM DAY ONE,
Joe Naylor and Ken Haas knew that making guitars was going to be their full-time gig. For Naylor, that began in 1980, on the day he brought home his first electric guitar. With a background in woodworking and bicycle mechanics, Naylor felt comfortable enough to take the guitar — a Seventies Epiphone Coronet —down to the proverbial studs just to see how it worked. After completing his degree in industrial design, Naylor graduated from Roberto Venn School of Luthiery in 1987, and by 1994, that curiosity blossomed into Naylor Amplifiers. Handcrafted in East Detroit, the boutique company quickly earned a reputation for quality and versatility.
Still, Naylor wanted to build guitars. In 1996, he sold the amplification company to his business partner, and by the following year, he had shipped his first guitar for his new company, Reverend Guitars. It wasn’t long before pioneers like the Stooges’ Ron Asheton and the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan were playing Reverends on stage and in the studio.