Max Ferry, a freshman at CU Bloomsburg, has been giving the campus a new musical experience with his hand-built guitars. Throughout the semester, the musician has been popping up on campus benches, playing his modified instruments and sharing with the community. 

Ferry comes from Milton, Pennsylvania. He plans on choosing a history education as his major, with a minor in music. When asked why he is deciding on an education major, Ferry states “I just think teaching would be interesting… I took some classes in my high school, and I realized presenting is my thing. When it’s something I can confidently talk about, I can like it.”

The instrumentalist’s musical journey started around the age of 16. However, music has been with him since childhood. Ferry’s inspiration stems from artists introduced to him by his father. This includes bands such as Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard and Poison. As time went on, Ferry’s tastes developed as he branched out and was introduced to new things from friends.

Ferry’s grandfather was an influence in getting him to pick up playing when he gave him a guitar to practice with. “He gave me this cheap acoustic guitar. So I’m like ‘okay, this thing is going to break in two days’. As a matter of fact, it broke in about a week.” 

At the time, Ferry was going through extreme hardships, but learning the instrument gave him a new way to fill empty time. 

“It gave me something to do for a good couple of months,” talking about when he first started learning, Ferry continues to say “don’t get me wrong, I play every day, but for the first three months it was nonstop.” 

As Ferry grew more passionate about guitars, he became more interested in modifying them. When asked why he got into this, he said “I got really into high end guitars, but they’re expensive. So I wanted to see if I could make my guitar sound like that.” Ferry goes into how he has altered his Stratocaster guitar that he’s had since he started playing, and now he can make it sound like anything he wants with the right tone.

Soon, he started building instruments. A teacher from his high school got him into it, and it took him only a few afternoons to get the hang of. Ferry has built two guitars out of cigar boxes out of what he says was “sheer boredom”. One he has on campus, the other he keeps at home. One is a box and half a guitar neck, the other he describes as “a ton of junk thrown together to make it sound and play like an electric.”

“I wanted a Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar, they’re maybe four to five grand,” Ferry segways into how he then built his own. “I got this kit online that has everything, you can build your own Rickenbacker for $400.” He explains that he then got the kit for Christmas, and his father helped him make the DIY Rickenbacker come to life. Building and modifying became something he shared with friends and family. 

Ferry has brought his love for music into college with him. As mentioned, by playing his hand built instruments around campus. Also, by playing in the marching band. 

When asked what motivates him to keep pushing, Ferry stated, “It’s fun. It fills up time, and it’s just for me.”

Ferry would also like to credit Bryan Noaker and Sean Farley of Guitarleys for their help in modifying and building guitars.