Handcrafted in Excellence:
The RJ Guitars Custom Shop Process
Yatsuzuka Kei on the RJ Guitars
and Deviser Japan Partnership
With over 35 years of experience, RJ Guitars’ current Philippine facility was set-up and its craftsmen were trained by Japan’s Deviser / Aska—the company behind James Tyler Japan and respected Japanese brands like Momose, Bacchus, STR, Headway, and Seventy Seven. While no longer formal partners, we still receive technical support and regularly consult with Deviser/Aska like a trusted older brother.
Our Filipino luthiers were trained under Deviser's exacting standards. As Deviser founder Kei Yatsuzaka once proudly shared: “The RJ luthiers we trained can rival the best luthiers in Japan.”
The RJ Custom Shop Philippine Standard models come packed with top-tier specs and parts rarely seen at this price. But beyond the impressive features, what truly sets these guitars apart is their build quality—shaped by nearly 80 years of combined experience between RJ Guitars and Deviser Japan.
That legacy lives on in every RJ Custom Shop guitar—handmade with Japanese precision, Filipino craftsmanship, and boutique quality that goes far beyond its price tag.
Tonewood Selection with Purpose
Our process begins with sourcing exceptional tonewoods—each piece handpicked for its resonance, grain quality, and tonal character. But we don’t stop at beauty or sound. Every wood blank used in our guitars is carefully conditioned until it reaches an internal moisture content between 6% and 9%—the ideal range for long-term stability and durability.
We use quarter-sawn neck blanks to ensure superior strength, stability, and resistance to warping—essential for long-term reliability, especially in changing climates.
Wood that hasn’t reached the right equilibrium with its environment can shift, crack, or warp over time. That’s why we only begin working with it when we know it’s ready. This crucial step helps ensure that your RJ guitar won’t just sound incredible today—it will continue to age gracefully for years to come.
Built by Human Hands
Once the wood is ready, our team of experienced luthiers takes over—carving, shaping, and assembling each part with their expert skill. No shortcuts. No mass production. Every neck profile, every body contour, every fret slot is handled with the kind of precision only a skilled craftsperson can deliver.
Playability That Feels Personal
Each RJ Custom Shop guitar is built with the musician in mind. From hand-finished fretwork and precision nut shaping to a tailored setup for effortless action and intonation, every detail is refined to ensure your guitar feels natural, expressive, and responsive right out of the case.
Electronics That Matter
Every RJ Custom Shop guitar is built not just for tone, but for reliability—down to the last solder joint. That’s why we select only the finest electronic components, the kind trusted by top-tier builders around the world.
We use CTS potentiometers for smooth, reliable control and CDE Orange Drop capacitors for warm, musical tone shaping. Each guitar includes a CDE treble bleed circuit for consistent high-end clarity, even at lower volumes. Our switching is handled by an Oak Grigsby 5-way switch, known for its durability and positive feel, and we finish the signal path with a Pure Tone multi-contact output jack for rock-solid connection and improved signal integrity.
All of it is wired together using aluminum shielded wire, ensuring maximum noise reduction and clean signal delivery—whether you’re on stage, in the studio, or just playing at home.
Thoughtful Features, Built In
At RJ Custom Shop, we believe great design is in the details—and we’ve packed every guitar with thoughtful features that enhance playability, reliability, and versatility straight out of the case.
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Straplocks come pre-installed, giving you stage-ready security and peace of mind—no need to upgrade or modify.
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The control cavity is fully copper shielded for maximum noise reduction, ensuring your tone stays clean and quiet even in high-gain or high-interference environments.
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Every body is HSH-routed by default, even for SSS models, giving you the flexibility to swap pickup configurations later without modifying the body.
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A sleek heel contour provides easy upper fret access, allowing you to play effortlessly all the way to the 22nd fret.
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Semi-rolled fret edges offer enhanced comfort, giving each neck a broken-in, played-for-years feel right out of the case.
These are the kinds of features that are often left out—or charged extra—but for us, they’re standard. Because we design our guitars the way we’d want them built.
RJ Custom Shop Pickups – Decades in the Making
RJ Guitars has deep roots in tone—beginning with our founder, RJ Jacinto (born in 1945), one of the first Filipino musicians to perform with electric instruments in the Philippines. As early as 1961, he had a No. 1 hit record playing American rock n’ roll and was the first to release an original Filipino song with English lyrics using electric instruments. That pioneering role gave him a front-row seat to the golden era of electric guitar tone—an experience that shaped his lifelong passion for vintage sound.
That passion became the foundation of RJ Custom Shop Pickups.
Developed through decades of research and experimentation, our pickups are wound using techniques we’ve refined over the years to capture the soul of classic tones while meeting the needs of today’s players. We import high-grade magnet wire from the USA and hand-guide every winding using our own proprietary methods—crafted to deliver clarity, dynamics, and that unmistakable vintage character.
Each pickup is made in-house, one at a time, with the same attention to detail and tone that defines everything we do. Because to us, the voice of the guitar isn’t just about wood and strings—it starts at the pickup
Unmatched Value, Built to Last
Between the thoughtful, premium specs and features—from top-shelf electronics and hardware to smart design touches—and the world-class build quality handcrafted by our Japanese-trained luthiers, RJ Custom Shop guitars deliver a level of performance and craftsmanship that typically costs three to five times more. And with every guitar shipped in a premium hard case, the value offered is truly unmatched in its class.
This isn’t just a great guitar for the price—it’s a great guitar, period.
The Story
of RJ Guitars
Before the Beginning
A Revolution, A Return, A Stage
Before RJ Guitars became a pioneering Philippine guitar brand, RJ Jacinto was on a lifelong quest for tone. Known as the pioneering rock ‘n roll icon and “Mr. Guitarman of the Philippines,” RJ has been playing electric guitar since 1957.
In the 1960s, he developed a close friendship with rock 'n roll legends The Ventures, performing and recording with them during the golden age of instrumental and surf rock. He recorded two songs with them at Hollywood’s iconic Sunset Sound Studios, immersing himself in the vintage tones that defined an era. RJ doesn’t just know vintage tone—he was part of the era that defined it. His deep passion for the warmth, clarity, and energy of that sound has shaped every guitar he’s played and built since.
His iconic venue, Bistro RJ, is known as the Home of Rock n’ Roll and is the longest-running live music lounge in the country where RJ has performed every week for nearly 40 years.
In 1986, RJ’s radio station, DZRJ, played a key role in the People Power Revolution, helping peacefully end the Marcos dictatorship.
After returning from political exile in 1987, RJ resumed performing at Bistro RJ. But switching between his Fender Jazzmaster and Gibson Les Paul mid-set disrupted the flow.
That challenge led RJ to seek a new kind of guitar—one that could do it all.
And that’s where the story of RJ Guitars begins.
1988
The Guitar That Started It All
RJ challenged Filipino luthier Rudy Discipulo to build one guitar that could mimic both Fender and Gibson tones. They worked closely—reverse-engineering pickups, experimenting with wiring and magnets, and refining materials. Their first result: the Series One Roadtone, a versatile guitar that laid the foundation for what was to come.
The true breakthrough came with the RJ Supervintage 5-Guitars-in-1, which delivered 15 unique tones and captured the iconic sounds of the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmaster, Les Paul, and ES-335 in one instrument. It became RJ’s signature guitar on stage.
Impressed by what they had built, RJ said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if someday our guitars could stand alongside Fenders or Gibsons?” Rudy agreed—and his small repair shop became the first RJ Guitar Center. The dream had begun.
1990
A Factory is Born
At a performance in California, RJ met Joe Yui, owner of L.A. Guitar Works and former President of Schecter Guitars Japan.
Impressed by RJ’s playing, Yui proposed a partnership to build world-class guitars in the Philippines. RJ replied, “If you’re serious, come to Manila in two weeks.”
Yui did exactly that. He flew to Manila, signed a deal, and together with RJ and Rudy Discipulo, they opened the Philippines’ first electric guitar factory—a landmark moment in local music craftsmanship.
1990s
Guitars for the People
With no Chinese-made guitars on the market yet, imported brands were expensive and hard to find. RJ Guitars launched models like the Shark, Rokker, and Raven—offering quality and affordability to Filipino musicians. For many, their first guitar was an RJ.
2013
The Supervintage Sound
After decades of experimentation and refinement, RJ finally approved the pickups for the RJ Supervintage—what would later evolve into the RJ Custom Shop pickups. For the first time, the Supervintage was launched in the Philippines with these custom-voiced pickups.
2015
The Deviser / Aska Partnership
RJ partnered with Deviser / Aska Japan (makers of high-end guitars like James Tyler Japan and Bacchus) who built a modern production facility in the Philippines. The goal: combine Japanese precision with Filipino soul and craftsmanship to meet global standards.
2016
RJ Hits NAMM
RJ Guitars made history as the first Philippine guitar brand to launch at NAMM, the biggest music trade show in the world. The RJ Supervintage 5-in-1 wowed international buyers and was featured in Harmony Central (USA) and Guitarist (UK)—a first for any Filipino guitar brand.
2023
Innovation for Every Beginner
RJ Guitars made history again, becoming one of the first guitar companies in the world to feature stainless steel frets in a $99 guitar—bringing unmatched durability, playability, and longevity to beginners and students.
2024
Hello, Amazon
RJ Guitars once again blazed a trail by becoming the first Philippine guitar brand to launch on Amazon USA, bringing Filipino craftsmanship directly to global customers.
2025
The Philippine Standard Goes Global
RJ Guitars launches the RJ Custom Shop Philippine Standard worldwide—a bold new chapter that cements the brand’s legacy as a world-class guitar maker born in the heart of the Philippines.