James Tyler was repairing guitars in Los Angeles by the early 1970s and opened his own shop in 1980. The Studio Elite and that headstock turned up at the LA Guitar Show in 1987, and within a few years the guitars were standard issue in LA session rooms. Tyler died in August 2024 at 72. The shop in San Fernando is still building.
The paint is the first thing anyone notices. Psychedelic Vomit came in 1991, made for Michael Landau. Burning Water followed in 1993, also for Landau, and went into production the year after. The Shmear arrived in 1998 and takes about a week a guitar, layer over layer, done by hand. Alien Guano, Vice Shmear, Tuckerberry, Amethyst, Tequila Sunset, Pink Chameleon, Barn Find.
The Studio Elite is what everything else is measured against. Alder, HSS, five-way, and a midboost preamp you can switch out of the circuit. Around it sit the Studio Elite HD, the Ultimate Weapon with its humbuckers and locking trem, the Classic, the Mongoose and the Tylerbastar.
Lauzon Music is established as a top dealer for James Tyler guitars in Canada. We specced every one of these with Tyler's shop in San Fernando: the finish, the neck wood, the fingerboard, the pickup layout, whether the headstock and neck get painted to match. They arrive one at a time and they leave across Ian Vance's bench. If the Shmear you want does not exist yet, we can put the order in.