Luthier · Falmouth, Nova Scotia
Custom instruments, hand-turned accessories and hand-picked tonewoods from the Creative Acoustics shop, serving players across the Annapolis Valley and all across Nova Scotia.
Why Creative Acoustics
In this shop, wood and music speak the same language. Every instrument begins as living material — spruce, maple, walnut — and ends as a voice.
I started building guitars at the age of 14 with my Dad. We built an SG copy since that was my all-time favourite guitar at the time. It was a learning experience for both of us, using a book that my Mom found at a local bookstore. In the end, it turned out pretty well, though I've made a few tweaks to it since then, as my experience and knowledge increased.
As a musician and woodworker, there is no greater feeling than creating a beautiful instrument, putting the finishing touches on it, then plugging it in and playing it for the first time.
And when I receive feedback from happy clients, it's even better.
From the Falmouth workshop, James Omand has become the builder players across the Annapolis Valley come to — for one-of-a-kind guitars and basses, for hand-turned fittings that finish an instrument properly, and for honest guidance in choosing the wood behind the voice.
— James Omand, Creative Acoustics Ltd.
What I offer
Custom guitars and basses built from the ground up: bodies, necks and headstocks shaped to how you play. Four, five and six-string basses, left-handed builds and one-off designs.
Hand-turned wooden parts that finish an instrument properly, made to match a new build or upgrade the one you already own.
The wood sets the look and the voice of an instrument. Choose from figured tops, burls and exotic hardwoods, and get guidance on pairing them for the sound you're after.
Recording spaces designed and built from the ground up, with the wiring run inside the walls to a jack panel at the control area. Plug your amp, mic or instrument into the wall and you're ready to go.
The technical side of sound, handled by someone who builds the instruments and the rooms they're played in. Get your mixers, jack panels and gear connected and working the way they should.
Sound studio design & construction
A full recording studio designed and built by James, from the riveted walls to the wiring hidden inside them.
The entire studio was lined with drywall corner bead on every edge, with screws every 6" to give it a riveted look. There are roughly 6,500 screws in these walls.
All the cables run inside the walls, connecting different places in the studio to a jack panel at the main control area. Plug your amp, mic or instrument into the jack in the wall and you're good to go. With almost no cables on the floor, there's much less chance of stepping on them and breaking them.
One of the studio mics with the guitar amp in the background. Classic.
A custom-made workstation with the jack panel to the right and a small custom rack for the sound gear. The client had a pair of matching CRT monitors they wanted to use, so this desk needed to be sturdy.
The lower mixer, with the jack panel that every cable in the walls runs back to.
The top mixer rests on a custom angled shelf designed specifically for it.
From the shop
Happy clients
I got the knobs today and they are totally awesome… excellent craftsmanship… perfect fit.
I got the knobs and they look great. Exactly what I was looking for.
From first talk to first play
We talk about what you play, how you play it, and the voice you're after — then sketch the instrument around that.
You choose from figured tops, burls and exotic hardwoods, with guidance on pairing them for look and tone.
Bodies, necks and headstocks shaped by hand in the Falmouth shop, one instrument at a time.
The finishing touches go on, you plug in, and the instrument speaks for the first time.
Let's talk
Have an instrument in mind, or want a set of knobs to match the one you already play? Get in touch and tell me what you're after.
Based in Falmouth, Nova Scotia — serving players throughout the Annapolis Valley and all across Nova Scotia.
Find the shop
Falmouth, Nova Scotia — serving the Annapolis Valley & all across Nova Scotia