Vintage Dreams, Modern Hands: A Conversation with PRS Guitars at NAMM 2026 They were literally closing down the show floor when I grabbed Alex Chadwick from PRS Guitars for a conversation I wasn't willing to miss.
Some collaborations make you stop and ask how nobody thought of this before.
At NAMM Media Day 2026, Sean Martin caught up with Adam Buchwald and William Hylton from Circle Strings, a Vermont-based guitar company, to talk about their partnership with Burton. The concept is deceptively simple: matching snowboards and custom guitars built from the same materials.
But the execution is anything but simple.
Buchwald owns a wood company in Vermont. He had an entire tree of figured mahogany set aside, waiting for the right project. When Burton agreed to collaborate, he knew exactly what to do with it. The wood became the centerpiece—the visual and sonic foundation of everything that followed.
Then William Hylton got to work.
Hylton, Circle Strings' designer and CNC specialist, is a backcountry snowboarder. He chose Burton's Alakazam powder board shape as his starting point, drawn to its distinctive tail curve. That curve, he realized, was already guitar-esque. So he wove it through the entire instrument—the fingerboard extension, the pickguard, the bridge tips. The snowboard's DNA lives in every contour.
But here's where it gets interesting.
The core of a Burton snowboard is wood. Lightweight, durable, designed for performance. Hylton took that same core material and built a guitar body from it. The result feels right in your hands—balanced, resonant, purposeful. It's not a gimmick. It's a genuine instrument built from materials engineered to perform.
The acoustic model features a sound hole that mirrors the snowboard's design. Inlays are crafted from Burton's core material, tying everything together visually and conceptually. Both guitars showcase snowflake inlays inspired by Snowflake Bentley, the Vermont photographer who first captured snowflakes in their true crystalline form over a century ago.
It's a detail that says everything about how Circle Strings approaches their work. History. Craft. Place.
Vermont runs through this collaboration. Buchwald and Hylton are snowboarders. They source their wood locally. They build instruments that reflect where they come from. Burton, also rooted in Vermont's snow culture, was a natural partner.
The Burton team, according to Hylton, is thrilled. Many of them are musicians. Some are fans of the artists Circle Strings builds for. The connection was already there—this project just made it tangible.
What strikes me about this collaboration is the underlying philosophy. Snowboards and guitars aren't that different when you strip them down. Both are built from wood. Both demand precision. Both exist to help someone express themselves—whether carving powder or carving a melody.
Circle Strings and Burton understand this. They didn't force a partnership. They found the common thread and followed it.
The result is a set of instruments that belong in a museum and on a stage. Objects that tell a story about craft, place, and the people who refuse to separate their passions.
Snowboards and guitars. Same wood. Same craft. Different ride.
Sean Martin reports from NAMM 2026 for ITSPmagazine.
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This is a Brand Highlight. A Brand Highlight is an introductory conversation designed to put a spotlight on the guest and their company. Learn more: https://www.studioc60.com/creation#highlight
GUESTS
Adam Buchwald and William Hylton
RESOURCES
Learn more about Circle Strings Guitars: https://circlestrings.com
Learn more about Burton Snowboards: https://www.burton.com
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▶︎ Full Length Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#full
▶︎ Brand Spotlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#spotlight
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KEYWORDS
NAMM 2026, Burton, Circle Strings, custom guitars, snowboard guitar, handmade guitars, Vermont, guitar collaboration, Burton snowboards, NAMM, luthier, unique guitars
At NAMM Media Day 2026, Sean Martin discovered an unexpected collaboration between Circle Strings, a Vermont-based guitar company, and Burton snowboards. Adam Buchwald, owner of Circle Strings, and designer William Hylton revealed matching snowboards and guitars built from shared materials and design philosophy.
The collaboration centers on figured mahogany from Buchwald's wood company in Vermont and the actual core material from Burton snowboards—which is wood. Hylton chose Burton's Alakazam powder board shape as inspiration, incorporating its distinctive tail curve into the guitar's fingerboard extension, pickguard, and bridge.
The sound hole design on the acoustic model mirrors the snowboard, while inlays are crafted from Burton's core material. Both guitars feature snowflake inlays inspired by Snowflake Bentley, the Vermont photographer who first captured snowflakes in their true crystalline form.
The electric guitar body is built entirely from snowboard core material—lightweight, durable, and resonant. Burton's team is reportedly thrilled with the collaboration, with many employees being musicians and fans of Circle Strings' artist builds. The project represents a natural fusion of two Vermont-rooted crafts built on wood, precision, and creative expression.
Adam Buchwald:
"I had a whole tree of this wood, so I knew that I wanted to use this for a special project for something like this."
"We decided to collaborate on a project with Burton where we're making matching snowboards and guitars."
William Hylton:
"The body of this guitar is actually made out of the core material as well—it's pretty sweet, light, durable wood."
"I really like this curve to it, because it's very guitar-esque."