Sparrow

Sparrow

Also known as: Sparrow Guitars, Sparrow Guitar Company

Unclaimed

Sparrow Guitars was a Vancouver, British Columbia–based electric guitar maker founded in 2004 by Billy Bones, a former furniture maker who took up guitar building after a course in Calgary. The company operated out of a converted greeting-card factory in East Vancouver, where a small team imported bare-bones guitars from overseas factories and rebuilt them with new hardware, fretwork, electroni...

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Sparrow Guitars was a Vancouver, British Columbia–based electric guitar maker founded in 2004 by Billy Bones, a former furniture maker who took up guitar building after a course in Calgary. The company operated out of a converted greeting-card factory in East Vancouver, where a small team imported bare-bones guitars from overseas factories and rebuilt them with new hardware, fretwork, electronics, paint, and artwork. The aesthetic leaned hard into mid-century Americana and hot-rod culture, with finishes featuring pinstriping, flames, iron crosses, and other greasy '50s rock 'n' roll iconography.

The lineup centered on four core designs: the Big Daddy, the Primitive, the Rat Rod, and the Twangmaster. Bodies and shapes evoked 20th-century American electrics — single-cuts, offsets, and hollow/semi-hollow twang machines — but each instrument was customized in the Sparrow shop, with prices typically running between roughly $450 and $1,500. Guitars were distributed through dealers across North America, Australia, and the U.K.

Sparrow built a following in the punk and rockabilly scenes, with instruments turning up on stage with bands including Anti-Flag, MxPx, and NOFX. The company wound down its operations in 2012, and remaining "new old stock" instruments continue to circulate on the secondhand market.

Sparrow has 3 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Solid Body Electric Guitars, Guitar Amplifier Heads, and Ukuleles. Their gear is featured by 2 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock. Notable users include Duff McKagan and Kurt Ballou.

Artists Who Use Sparrow

Duff McKagan uses 1 Sparrow product

Duff McKagan

Singer, Guitarist · Guns N' Roses

Kurt Ballou uses 1 Sparrow product

Kurt Ballou

Guitarist, Music Producer · Converge

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