Stepping inside Sarah Hicks' workshop one is immediately struck by the meticulous order of the space.
It was clearly a busy workshop, but there was no clutter, no shavings on the floor, tools were racked up on the wall, everything ship-shape.
What would be striking to anyone who doesn't know Sarah were the rows of guitar necks and bodies hanging above the work bench.
Sarah, from Batemans Bay in NSW, has a serious habit. One that involves collecting off-cuts of wood and lovingly shaping them into electric guitars.
What started as a form of therapy for depression, grew into a full blown obsession and then a burgeoning business.
From the time Sarah was a teenager she was aware she should have been a girl, but Sarah was born with male anatomy.
It had been a struggle to reconcile the way her body was to the way she felt, and was the source of much heartache and considerable mental health issues.
"I over-compensated - I was hyper masculine," she said.
"I was built. I was tattooed. I rode motorbikes and raced speedway cars and all that sort of stuff.
"I was this whole alpha male thing, over-compensating for the fact that I really believed I should have been a woman."
At the height of her anxiety, Sarah taught herself to play acoustic guitar. Having always considered herself competent with her hands, she set her mind to building solid body guitars.
"What they ultimately turned out to be for me...I call this my mental health, this is my escape from all my woes and troubles," she said.
"When I transitioned, that was a monumental thing to do, and of course a revelation and that made me feel amazing.
"So the guitars then ceased to become a distraction from my woes and instead became a joyful obsession."
That obsession has seen Sarah craft more than 100 electric guitars. Some of these she gifted or sold through word of mouth, but many of them were yet to find a home.
Inflicted with macular degeneration, Sarah said she was also legally blind. While she does have some vision, it will degenerate over time, but this had not prevented her from pursuing her craft.
When ACM visited this week she opened the door to her spare room and guitars filled every corner, and from under the bed she pulled more.
"If you want the perfect guitar go and buy one from the shop, you can get 10 Fender Stratocasters lined up and they are all going to be perfect, perfect finish, all look exactly the same," she said.
"Every single one of my guitars is unique - I solely try to use recycled, reclaimed timbers - I can give you the provenance of every guitar."
Sarah's friend Jane had been a prolific source of off-cuts of wood and wooden objects that have made their way into her craft.
Sarah picked up a guitar with a bright burnished finish and metal knobs, that turned out to be the remnants of old wagon wheels, gifted to her by Jane, with shotgun cartridges for the volume and tone knobs.
Although some of the finishes were exquisite and flawless, others wore their provenance proudly with the knots in the wood features in the design.
Sarah referred to the Japanese custom of Wabi Sabi, whereby the imperfections of an object were appreciated and celebrated.
While some may be destined to be "wall hangers', purchased by collectors who just want to own a Sarah J creation, ultimately Sarah wanted the instruments to be played.
"Do they sound as good as a Fender? Well I might think they sound better than a Fender, but you might not.
"They all make different sounds and what might be pleasing to my ear might not be pleasing to yours.
"The thing with electric guitars is, the sound is highly manipulative...so little things can make a difference.
"The pickups under those strings, well you can adjust the height of those and it will affect the sound.
"The string gauges will affect the sound, and how much tone and how much volume used will affect the sound and then it goes into an amplifier and equaliser that will affect the sound."
Sarah used good quality hardware in her guitars, but emphasised that these things were easily upgradable or replaceable depending on the player's preferences.
The end goal for Sarah was to move from Facebook Marketplace and find a retail outlet to showcase and sell her unique Sarah J guitars.
She believed that for the right space her guitars could offer an eye-catching and distinctive opportunity for a shop.
To view Sarah J guitars visit her on Facebook Marketplace.
