Could one acoustic hold more than one honest voice?
The work began as a thought experiment about structure, resonance and what becomes possible when post-build voicing is treated as a design goal.
Punkle Guitar Company
Respect the tradition.
Question the limits.
Punkle exists at the point where a luthier’s ear meets an engineer’s refusal to accept that a finished acoustic must have only one structural voice.
The beginning
“What if the guitar could still be voiced after it was built?”
Punkle Guitar Company was founded by Preston Wagoner from equal parts player curiosity, builder instinct and a career spent in automotive quality and operations—work where a promising idea eventually has to survive measurement, repeatability and the real world.
The idea did not begin with a plan to digitize the acoustic guitar. Preston loved what makes a great acoustic feel alive: vibrating wood, air, structure and the touch of the player. But he kept returning to one question: why should the instrument’s structural voice become permanent the moment the box is closed?
That question became Lattice Tone Systems. Early retrofit prototypes were recorded, changed and tested again. Repeated A/B sessions demonstrated distinct, repeatable voices from the same instrument. The result was not simply a tonal experiment; it was the beginning of a new kind of relationship between the player and the wood.
Today the dream is bigger than the mechanism. Punkle is being built to create serious, handcrafted acoustics from the ground up—guitars a professional would choose for their feel, character and musical integrity, with LTS quietly expanding what each unique soundboard can become.
From question to company
The road to
Punkle No. 001.
The Punkle story is still being written in prototypes, recordings, test patterns and the stubborn belief that tradition can move forward without losing its soul.
Different voices. Same guitar. Repeatable results.
Early retrofit prototypes produced audible A/B changes across repeated tests, turning a workshop idea into a proof of concept worth protecting and developing.
A patent filing and a company built around the idea.
With the provisional patent filed, Punkle moved from experiment toward a disciplined product vision: document the system, test the claims and build for real players.
Founder Prototype No. 001—built from the wood up.
The next chapter is a complete Punkle acoustic: individually Chladni tested, mapped through LTS and delivered with its own Adjustment Receipt.
What guides the work
Tradition is the foundation.
Tonewood, geometry, joinery, setup and the builder’s ear remain central. Innovation earns its place only when it serves the acoustic instrument.
Engineering should be felt, not advertised.
The best mechanism disappears into the musical experience: secure, intuitive and light enough to protect the behavior it is intended to shape.
The player is part of the design.
An instrument should respond to the person holding it. Build requests begin with touch, repertoire, emotion and the sound the player cannot stop chasing.
Start a conversation
Talk guitars.
Talk possibility.
Send a private inquiry about a Founder build, LTS, player evaluation or a future collaboration. Your message goes directly to Punkle Guitar Company.