"I want to create something that pulls at your heart strings, and plays with your emotions, and inspires creativity in return."
~ Glenn Nichols (via the Fretboard Journal)
The Retrograde name might be new to you, but Glenn Nichols’ work is anything but. With nearly a decade leading the finish department at Santa Cruz Guitars, French polish restoration work for Kenny Hill, and years as Bill Tippin’s right-hand man, Glenn brings unmatched skill to each of the roughly ten instruments he handcrafts annually in his Pawtucket, Rhode Island studio.
Retrograde Guitars explore the potential of the electric laminate-top design, drawing from early jazz boxes of the ’30s and ’40s through the catalog guitars of the ’50s and ’60s. Using vacuum-pressed, acoustically voiced tops, hand-wound pickups, hand-rubbed colors, and a warm, broken-in varnish finish, Glenn blends modern techniques with old-world lutherie to create light, lively, and deeply responsive instruments.
Mastery & Provenance
Every Retrograde guitar is the work of Glenn Nichols. His depth of experience, combined with his own design sensibilities, means each Retrograde is not just well-built - it’s informed by decades of hands-on, high-level lutherie.
Laminate-Construction Focus
Drawing inspiration from the jazz boxes of the ’30s and ’40s and the catalog guitars of the ’50s and ’60s, Glenn uses vacuum-pressed, multi-layered tops that are voiced like acoustic instruments. The result is an electric guitar that’s light, lively, and incredibly responsive under the fingers.
Old-World Finishing
Every Retrograde is finished with a hand-rubbed varnish - a technique that adds warmth, character, and a broken-in feel from day one. Glenn pairs these old-world finishes with modern building methods, hand-wound pickups, and carefully tuned tops, creating instruments that merge vintage soul with contemporary playability and reliability.
Retrograde Guitars FAQ
Common questions about Retrograde Guitars - the builder, the design, and where to find one.
Where can I find a Retrograde guitar near Boston?
The Music Emporium in Lexington, Massachusetts is the only authorized Retrograde Guitars dealer in the world. Glenn Nichols builds Retrograde in Pawtucket, Rhode Island - making him one of the few boutique electric builders in New England - and we carry his work at our showroom near Boston. Because Glenn builds roughly ten instruments a year, inventory is limited and rotates accordingly. Reach out to our team directly if you want to know what is in stock or arriving soon.
Who is Glenn Nichols and what is Retrograde Guitars?
Glenn Nichols is a luthier based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island who spent nearly a decade leading the finish department at Santa Cruz Guitars, did French polish restoration work for Kenny Hill, and served as Bill Tippin's right-hand man before launching Retrograde as his own line. That depth of high-level lutherie experience informs every aspect of his work. Retrograde builds roughly ten instruments a year, entirely by hand, focused on the electric laminate-top guitar as a serious design category.
What makes Retrograde guitars different from other boutique electrics?
Glenn focuses specifically on the electric laminate-top guitar - a design that traces back to jazz boxes of the 1930s and '40s and the catalog guitars of the '50s and '60s. His laminate tops are vacuum-pressed and acoustically voiced, meaning they are built to move and respond like acoustic instruments rather than serve as a rigid shell. Paired with hand-wound pickups and a hand-rubbed varnish finish that gives the guitar a broken-in feel from day one, the result is an electric that is unusually light, lively, and responsive under the fingers.
What is the laminate-top approach, and why does it matter?
Laminate construction has a reputation in acoustic guitars as a budget compromise, but that is not what Glenn is doing. His vacuum-pressed, multi-layered tops are deliberately voiced for responsiveness - the same principle applied to an acoustic instrument's soundboard, carried into an electric context. The construction keeps the guitar light while giving it a liveliness and warmth that a thicker solid body often does not produce. It is a specific, well-considered design choice, not a cost-cutting measure.
How do I get one?
With only about ten Retrograde guitars built each year, availability is genuinely limited. The Music Emporium carries them when Glenn has completed instruments available, and we are well-positioned as a New England dealer to receive them. Contact us and we will keep you informed - or visit our Lexington showroom to see whether anything from Glenn has recently arrived.