About Severus Guitars

Crafted with precision, inspired by music.

Severus Guitars was born from a lifelong connection to music, craftsmanship, and the need to create something meaningful.

Jayson “Jay” Licciardo has played guitar since he was ten years old. He has always been creative and drawn to working with his hands. Tools, woodworking, wiring, and understanding diagrams, blueprints, and schematics all came naturally. With no formal training, Jay developed an instinct for how things fit together, how they function, and how thoughtful design can turn raw materials into something extraordinary.

During the COVID shutdowns, with more time at home and few ways to fill it, Jay decided to build his first kit guitar. The project was fun, but the kit itself fell short in quality and attention to detail. It planted the idea that he could build a better instrument - one in which every choice, from materials to final setup, was made with intention.

That idea took on a much deeper purpose when Jay’s father began battling pancreatic cancer. Guitar building became a place to focus his energy and creativity through an unimaginably difficult time. It also gave Jay and his father something else to talk about: new ideas, different woods, designs, and the work taking shape in the shop. Those conversations created meaningful moments of connection and a welcome distraction from the cancer.

What began as a way to fill time became an obsession. Jay designed and built a dedicated, fully equipped workshop, found exceptional wood suppliers, identified trusted sources for the components he uses, and dove in headfirst.

He became intensely focused on precision craftsmanship, ease of playability, and uncompromising tone - building guitars that look exceptional, feel right in a player’s hands, and perform at the highest level. Each Severus guitar is made to be admired at first glance and trusted every time it is picked up.

Jay is drawn to woods with distinctive grain and character, and he builds each instrument to let those natural qualities stand on their own. Just as important, every detail is approached with care and held to an exacting standard - never rushed and never compromised before a guitar is put into a player’s hands.

The name Severus comes from the Latin word for serious, strict, and unwavering - qualities that Jay closely associates with his father. It reflects the values he carries into every instrument: integrity, discipline, and an uncompromising commitment to doing things the right way.

Jay’s father passed away before he could see the guitars Jay would go on to build under the Severus name. But the work is rooted in what Jay set out to create from the beginning… instruments his father would be proud of.

That commitment is the foundation of Severus Guitars.

The inspiration...

...The craftsman