For twenty years,
a session player's
best kept secret.

James Tyler Guitars grew entirely by word of mouth inside the LA studio world. The guitars reached the public only because Michael Landau, Dann Huff and Neil Stubenhaus kept turning up on records playing them. Still built to order in Los Angeles, one at a time.

See the guitars

The guitars

The models that built the reputation.

Every Tyler is built to order. These are the shapes the session world reached for.

James Tyler

The players

The brand that spread by being played.

Michael Landau

Dann Huff

Neil Stubenhaus

Shawn Tubbs

Dean Parks

Abe Laboriel

Steve Watson

Buzz Feiten

The full history of who played them →

Since 1980

No partners. No investors. No compromises.

James Tyler opened his first repair shop in Reseda in 1980, fixing and hot-rodding the guitars of LA session players. The reputation grew by word of mouth, one instrument at a time, until the Studio Elite made it a brand.

All the work is still done in Los Angeles, in the same spirit as when it started: a small, dedicated crew building each guitar to order, doing as much by hand as possible. Read the full history →

For twenty years,a session player'sbest kept secret.

The models that built the reputation.

Studio Elite HD

Black Classic

Mongoose Special

Mongoose Retro

Burning Water Finish

Dann Huff Black Classic

The brand that spread by being played.

No partners. No investors. No compromises.

For twenty years,
a session player's
best kept secret.