Heights Music Shop offers new line of Cleveland-made guitars

Locally made Atilla guitars on display at Heights Music Shop.

The Heights Music Shop, located at 2174 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights, is the only store in Greater Cleveland to carry a new line of guitars, Atilla custom guitars, which are made in the Cleveland area. 

The guitars are created by Atilla Csapo, who lives in Parma. "He makes all of the guitars by hand," said Greg Hido, general manager and partner at Heights Music. "The guitars are definitely high-quality and custom-made, and his attention to detail is up there."

The pickups on the guitars are made by a man who lives in Rocky River.

Csapo began building guitars as a hobby about 20 years ago, and began making them professionally about a decade ago. Hido said that Csapo is open to any design. Some of the guitars that Heights Music carries have more traditional shapes, like Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters and Gibson Les Pauls. 

Hido added that the Atilla guitars are made from various types of wood: "He'll use wood like mahogany, ash and maple, and he often uses diffferent types of wood that you don't usually see in a guitar." The guitars range in price from about $1,100 to $2,600.

Hido stressed that none of the Atilla guitars are made on an assembly line: "They are all hand-made and custom-built." 

James Henke

James Henke, a Cleveland Heights resident, was a writer and editor at Rolling Stone magazine for 15 years. He is also the author of several books, including biographies of Jim Morrison, John Lennon and Bob Marley. He is on the board of FutureHeights, and is co-chair of the Heights Observer Advisory Committee.

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Volume 10, Issue 5, Posted 10:15 AM, 05.03.2017