04/23/2026
Meet the Makers: Andrej Pilopovic
Duluth MakerSpace member Andrej Pilopovic knows trees. And he knows music. Knowing wood is a different story. As it turns out, there’s a path connecting trees and music, full of things to discover about wood, and Andrej is having the time of his life walking it.
His formal training is in forestry science; he works for the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) in Duluth. His training as a musician was informal. He’s been playing since the age of 16, but he’s mostly self-taught. “I had a neighbor who gave me a few lessons when I was a teenager, but after that it was just me,” he remembers. He loved to jam and was in a few bands, and now as an adult, he plays blues, jazz and rock guitar at open mics at Dovetail in the Craft District, and elsewhere in the Twin Ports. Occasionally, he performs with his daughter, who is a singer and beginning guitarist.
Andrej found the MakerSpace via the popular “hey you should check out the MakerSpace” route. During a lunch break at NRRI, he mentioned wanting a place to build guitar bodies, and one of his colleagues said, you guessed it, “hey you should check out the MakerSpace.” This was a little over a year ago, and Andrej has built two guitars at DMS and is working on a third. His guitar-building, like his music, is self-taught. He builds electric guitars exclusively, and is focused on building the guitar bodies “...for now. Guitar bodies are simple shapes. To make a neck takes more skill, more expertise,” he muses. “My goal is to make a whole guitar, the hardware, the electronics, everything.”
He finds it somewhat ironic that someone like him, with granular-detail knowledge of trees, had never done actual woodworking. “But I like growing plants, greenhouse experiments, creating things. It’s the best feeling of all, to create something with your hands.” He finds guitar-building every bit as satisfying as gardening. “The natural warmth of the wood, doing the sanding and cutting, it relaxes me,” he smiles. “When you have so many things going on in your life, so many worries, doing things with your hands is calming. It makes me feel proud of myself.”
He enjoys creation for its own sake. While making money or being profitable is fine, it’s not necessarily Andrej’s goal. In the same way that writers often say that their characters tell them where a narrative should go or how a story should develop, Andrej finds that the act of working on a project can reveal things. “In my head, I have ideas of what I want to make. Sometimes, while I’m working with the wood, I make decisions based on what my hands are feeling.” He finds that the essence of creation is changing direction and selecting options. “I’m working on a project right now,” he says, “and I don’t know where I’m going to end up. Will it be dyed wood, will it be clear lacquer? It’s art, not manufacturing. Every object I make will be unique.”
He’s experimenting with different types of wood. His first guitar body used two types of wood: European burl poplar and European oak. The next one made use of Douglas fir scrap, reclaimed from a church renovation in St. Paul. He’s currently using some maple donated by fellow DMS member Grant Harrison. “Every piece of wood has a history and a life,” Andrej says. “Using materials like that can drive your project and your decisions. It can be an emotional journey.”
His advice for people who want to take a similar creative journey at DMS? “Whether you are creative, want to be creative, or even just want to repair something, you should join. The people there are so great. The atmosphere, just seeing all the tools and equipment, will open horizons for you. When you’re in a creative environment, it fuels your ideas.”
You never know where a creative path will lead, but there’s an easy way to find out: check out the Duluth MakerSpace website and sign up for a membership, or contact us for a tour of the building. It might just fuel an idea or two.
