Mobius Guitars

Welcome to Mobius Guitars! Mobius is the work of Luthier Kris Yates, based out of Oakland, CA.

These are high end, hand crafted instruments with a focus on ergonomics and balanced tonality that allow you to feel and sound your absolute best.

11/28/2024

My hand isn’t tingling, yours is tingling!

11/11/2024

Let’s get caught up on this build, eh? Knocked out the headstock & electronic cavity cover inlay work with the Origin. A bit different vibe for this one, using a sheet of the ivoroid binding material I use from . Looks pretty clean if you ask me! Then, always satisfying, the final glue up of the build, the fretboard! Home stretch!

09/07/2024

Not exactly Mobius related, but I’m way too excited for this silly project to not post it. I recently came upon a 2005 ESP Eclipse, a guitar I’ve wanted forever. This specific guitar was originally fitted with the Seymour Duncan passive pickup option, a JB/Jazz set. Previous owner wasn’t thrilled with them & installed some Fluence Moderns. I’m not thrilled with those, so I’m taking it back to basics!
Thing is, there are SO many possible EMG setups now! Back in my EMG days, I was an 85 in the bridge guy. Lucky for me, EMG’s are so cheap on the used market now, I just bought all of them to test out! Up for testing:
81, 85 & 60 to run at 9, 18 & 24v
81x & 85x
57 / 66 set.

I have my predictions of what I may & may not like, but we’ll see!

09/06/2024

Gotta love seeing a project come together. This summer has been a rough one, but being able to come back & focus on a build has been really nice. This 7 string Jenova for .does_stuff will be a special one!

01/30/2024

Obligatory NAMM summary post!
This year was actually pretty sick. Dare I say, better than expected.
It was an incredible surprise to have one of my builds at the booth. That thing is around four years old, has traveled the world & plays it into the ground, yet it was still somehow show-ready! Huge thanks again to those dudes for letting my stuff infiltrate their turf!
Aside from that, it was really incredible to just see a lot of faces I hadn’t seen since the pandemic. A lot that didn’t make it into photos, I’ll try to do better next year! I am incredibly lucky to have found this small but amazing segment of the music industry. Time to dive back in & build some guitars!

01/26/2024

To my surprise and delight, I will have a guitar at NAMM! Check out shred his Jenova at the booth! Word has it the guitar will be out the rest of the day as well, go check it out with some of the rad stuff Aviate is doing! I’ll also be cruising the floor today & Saturday, come say hi!

08/15/2023

Hey friends! Alex & I finally have a new podcast episode up! We got to interview the radical badical dude Daniel at ! Available wherever you listen to podcasts 🤘

07/17/2023

This morning has been rough. Dave of Equilibrium Guitars had more of an influence on me than he likely realized. I remember the first year I went to NAMM, back in 2017 or so. I did not meet Dave then, as I was just there as a guitar nerd excited to see as many exhibitors as I could. On the last day, I caught wind that a friend of a friend was building his own custom, high-end guitars. Dave was that dude, and in that moment I was introduced to the entire concept of building my own guitars from scratch.
Fast forward to NAMM 2020 & after years of messaging here & there, we finally met & hung out in person. What a genuinely kind, enthusiastic and inspiring guy. Fully welcoming & encouraging to anyone looking to dive into building guitars, play guitars, shoot the s**t, whatever. A master at his craft & one of the kindest people to ever do it. RIP my friend.

06/20/2023

Just finished refreshing this absolute beast of a Jenova for ! I love getting guitars back to evaluate after they’ve been in the wild for a while. This one has been extensively toured with , so I was definitely excited to check it out!
I’m happy to say it’s held up extremely well! I made a few small tweaks, like updating the neck carve & changing the finish on the back & sides. The big change, however, is a new set of Valkyrie pickups, straight out of the .pickups oven! These things are incredible. I’ll go into further detail about them in a later post, but if you play any sort of technical metal, you should absolutely check them out.

02/24/2023

Episode 5 is up!! Come listen to me awkwardly accept adoration from , and in this special episode of Don’t Fret, all about Mobius! Here we gooo!!!!

02/23/2023

https://youtu.be/uPVM7UZ0yH0

Very stoked on how this video turned out! My good friend Ben McSherry just posted this, a new single from his project Oceans In Silhouette. It also features the legend Chris Johnson, both ripping it up on their Mobius builds!!

01/27/2023

When two iKea shop lights result in the best lighting of any other photos lol. This thing came out insane. Lots more to come!

01/27/2023

What an absolutely killer couple of days with great people. Upon finishing up ‘s build, he and made the trek from San Jose up to Sun Valley to snag it!
I couldn’t be happier with how the build came out. Definitely the most elaborate build I’ve done & super unique. Purple guitars in the snow are magical, so we went on a couple adventures to snag some epic photos here in Idaho!

Specs:
1-piece Black Limba body w/ half- depth chambering
Figured maple top
Wenge / roasted flame maple & Padauk neck with Padauk headstock
Roasted flame maple fretboard with inlay
Wilkinson tremolo bridge with custom KGC brass block & Schaller claw
BKP Polymath humbuckers
Hipshot locking tuners
Graphtech Tusq nut
Stringjoy strings.

This build is insane, can’t wait to see what Ben does with it! More pics & vids to come!

01/09/2023

I don’t always make purple guitars, but when I do….

01/07/2023

A certain Jenova for just got it’s first coat of oil finish on the back & sides. MAN is it ever looking good. 1-piece black limba body ftw! Color on the top tomorrow!!

01/01/2023

See ya, 2022. You were…. fine I guess. Here’s to a more productive / interesting / inspired 2023!!

11/26/2022

What up, Instagram? Been a bit! I’ve been keeping busy in the shop, working on a first for myself. A big ‘ol fretboard inlay for mr !

I managed to do this whole thing with my Origin. So, kind of half CNC, half by-hand hybrid style. A big hang up I ran into while making this was finding the smallest bit possible that would stand up to the hardness of Mother of Pearl. That stuff is HARD! Snapped about 6 bits clean off in the beginning, finally found some bits made specifically for MOP & I was off to the races!

So then, did I bite off more than I could chew for my first ever fretboard inlay? Almost!
Did I learn a lot in the process? Yep!
Am I happy with how I turned out? Indeed!
I’m mostly just glad it’s done so I can get on with the rest of the build!

07/15/2022

Happy to me! Shout out to for the heads up on these goodies. Very stoked to have a dedicated socket set for the shop. No more stealing from the garage for me! Also gotta give it up for this sick 18v wireless / USBc phone charger that just snaps onto your drill battery. Perfect for camping!

Side note- I managed to fracture my elbow & grid up some of my meaty appendages eating it on my OneWheel earlier this week. Might be a bit before I get to comfortably resume guitar crafting, so I’ll be ogling my new gear in the mean time!

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Emeryville, CA

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http://www.mobiusguitars.com/

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Videos

Quite possibly the most satisfying part of the whole build! #flushtrim . . . . . #guitar #wood #woodworking #woodworker #routertable #dustcollection #customguitar #diy #handmade #radiantools #festool #woodpeckers #woodpeckerstools #mft3 #mobiusguitars

Just posted to the Mobius YouTube! This is 2 of 2 sick videos we got to shoot with @a_ri_a_na__ . Click the link in bio for a full jam from @realkingbenji ! . . . . . #mobiusguitars #jenova #guitar #studioshoot #2020

New vid up on the Mobius YouTube! Huge shout out to @thetigerlovesjazz for shredding the Cetra on this one. It’s been a minute since we shot this, but I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Wouldn’t have been possible without the crew: @a_ri_a_na__ for providing the studios & cam-op @realkingbenji on audio assist @staciesellsriver for video editing @soundwoofer_official on audio mixing And of course @monica_the_scientician helped as PA during the shoot Head to YouTube.com/mobiusguitars or follow the link in bio for the full vid! . . . . . #guitar #youtube #demo #metal #shred # mobiusguitars #oilcitypickups #hipshotproducts #graphtechguitarlabs #temperedtonewoods #tone

Loving this little teaser from @realkingbenji jamming the Jenova 8! Posted @withregram • @realkingbenji In all honesty I can’t say I’ve ever played a guitar that is as comfortable or inviting to play as this @mobiusguitars Jenova. I’m far from being extremely comfortable on an 8 string but this guitar makes it soooooo easy to feel relaxed enough to really let my imagination go wild. 😏🤫🙃 #guitar #guitarist #guitarplayer #guitaristsofinstagram #8string #8stringguitar #extendedrange #ff7 #finalfantasy7 #mobiusguitars #neuraldsp #abasi #getgooddrums #djent #djentlemen #metal #guitarsolo #guitarporn #musician #musiclove #rockguitar #progrock #prog #lickwars #riffwars #guitartonedaily @neuraldsp @getgooddrums @lickwars @riffwars @guitartonedaily

Okay, last one for now- a little Pau Ferro / Sapele action 👌 . . . . . #wood #woodporn #satisfying #woodworking #woodworker #luthier #guitar #guitarbuilding #diy #builder #pauferro #sapele

Here we have some Wenge & Padauk! . . . . #wood #guitar #padauk #wenge #red #racingstripes #woodporn #woodworking #woodworker #luthier #mobiusguitars #diy #happyfriday

Peruvian Walnut & African Mahogany neck blank for the Cetra Thinline build 😃 . . . . #wood #woodworking #woodworker #wanut #mahogany #peruvianwalnut #africanmahogany #luthier #builder #diy

Dear Walnut: I love you. This one may be destined for a Cetra 7 build 😎👍 . . . . . #mobiusguitars #walnut #sapwood #wood #woodworking #woodworker #luthier #reveal #transform #transformation #guitar #guitarbuilding #woodporn

Been wood shopping like a madman this week, just inboxed the top for @ajncle ‘s Jenova 6 build. Loving the way the converging grain lines run perfectly parallel to that beautiful flame! . . . . #mobiusguitars #guitar #jenova #maple #flamemaple #flamemaplefriday #curlymaple #wood #woodporn #top #guitartop #beautiful #itbegins #luthier #woodworking #woodworker #happyfriday

Mobius Guitars

11/28/2024

11/11/2024

09/07/2024

09/06/2024

01/30/2024

01/26/2024

08/15/2023

07/17/2023

06/20/2023

02/24/2023

02/23/2023

01/27/2023

01/27/2023

01/09/2023

01/07/2023

01/01/2023

11/26/2022

07/15/2022

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