Veleno (guitar)




Veleno Guitars is an American company which specializes in creating electric guitars made out of aluminium, known for their unique sound quality. These guitars were designed by metal craftsman John Veleno, who also built the original models from 1970-1977. In 2023, Veleno Guitars would reissue their Veleno Original model.

History

Throughout the years of 1961 and 1962, John Veleno worked as a guitar teacher, also having a day job as a machinist. In 1963, Veleno would move to Florida, where he would be offered a job by the Universal Machine Company in St. Petersburg, to which he accepted. During his time at the Universal Machine Company, he would be instructed to make aluminum boxes that would be used to hold electronic components on rockets launched from Cape Canaveral.
While working at the Universal Machine Company, Veleno obtained a license which allowed him to give guitar lessons in his house. To advertise his guitar lessons, Veleno decided to create a guitar-shaped mailbox out of aluminum to bypass local ordinances that would only allow him to put up a sign that was one foot by one foot in size. After being approached by his aluminum supplier, asking him "Why not make a guitar out of aluminum?", Veleno would then begin working on the prototype for the first Veleno guitar.
A prototype was completed in 1967. The first guitars were built in 1972.

Veleno Original

The Veleno Original is Veleno Guitars' first guitar model, as well as it's main guitar model. Being made almost entirely out of aluminum, a benefit that comes from it's material would be that the guitar itself is very sturdy. The neck does not contain a truss rod, and the body is able to protect the electronic components from any damage on the outside.

List of notable artists who own Veleno guitars