Butch Boswell learned guitar repair while studying structural engineering at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, and although he finished his degree, he’s never worked as an engineer.

Instead he continued in the craft of guitar repair, working at the Taylor Guitars headquarters in El Cajon, California, and then Rudy’s Music Stop in New York City before opening his own shop in 2007 back in San Luis Obispo. Boswell, 41, is not shy about his luthier skills. He said he’s torn down vintage guitars valued at $65,000 and rebuilt them to look as though they’d never been touched.

Even after he had his own shop, however, he would encounter players who didn’t trust him with their instruments because he’d never built a guitar from scratch. So six years ago, he designed and built a prototype acoustic guitar, which now hangs on the wall of Boswell Guitars, the shop he opened in Bend this month.

“It was more just for the purpose of instilling confidence in certain customers,” Boswell said. “I had customers start playing it, and before I knew it, I had people saying, ‘Well, how can I order one?’”

Boswell has since built more than 30 guitars, which start at about $6,500, and received attention from industry press, including Guitar Player and Guitar Aficionado. When he and his wife decided to relocate to Bend last year to be nearer her family in Washington, Boswell thought his long-standing repair business was about to shift permanently into guitar building. He soon found out custom-building luxury products is a fickle business.

“Financially, it ended up being more of a strain than I anticipated,” Boswell said.

He’d opened his first Central Oregon workshop in Sisters because he couldn’t find a space in Bend. Sisters seemed like a fine place to build guitars, but Boswell said it didn’t generate the repair business that he needed to carry him through the lulls. After seven months, he was stressed to the point that he nearly liquidated his tools and wood supply and started looking for work as an engineer. Boswell asked his wife, Katrina, to help him find a new space in Bend, and that night, she found a garage for rent.

“I totally get a kick out of being here,” Boswell said.

Boswell, who also repairs other stringed instruments, faces competition in Bend from the long-established Bend Instrument Repair and Guitar Medic. Boswell said his goal is simply to continue doing high-end repair and restoration and building his guitars. He also has a side business, selling a device called TruPlug, which allows people who own Taylor guitars to replace their pickup systems without leaving gaping holes in the instrument’s body. Boswell patented the device several years ago.

Boswell said he’s never regretted finishing his engineering degree, which he said was invaluable as he was designing his first guitar. He’s even gone back to Cal Poly to give pep talks to students who are having second thoughts about finishing their degrees and working as engineers.

“Finish it,” he tells them, “because it’s likely it’s going to help you potentially in another job.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7860, kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com

Q: Do people ever seek your advice on buying a guitar?

A: Butch Boswell: Constantly.

Q: What do you tell them?

A: That’s a long conversation. There are a lot of good guitars out there at a huge array of price points.

Q: Do you still have time to play guitar?

A: Yes, but there’s a lot of other things I choose to do.