Neighbors strike a chord with their labor of love

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Joe Filipovich and his neighbor Mike Jenson started making guitars out of vintage motor oil cans last fall.

"I think they are fun. It started off as a project for fun. Its nice to see other people enjoying them and playing them, so we love it," Filipovich, Hayburner Guitars co-owner, said.

They say the metal boxes are perfect to transform into electric guitars because their size and artwork makes each instrument a unique work of art.

"Each one of the cans has this history and this story behind it. If you look them up, there are companies that made these cans that don't exist anymore. Just imagining where these cans came from, what kind of farm work they were doing in the 50's or whatever, it's really cool, " Jenson said.

He says the hardest part is cleaning and sanitizing the oil cans they get on eBay.

He says not only do the oil can guitars have their own look. They also have a signature sound.

"I was shocked by how much of a difference the oil cans make with the sound. We thought it was going to look cool but it was mind-blowing how much warmer and how much more dynamic the sound is," Jenson said.

So far they've sold about half a dozen guitars to customers across the country.

"If we can afford to keep selling them to happy customers, we'll keep going and going and keep rocking and rolling," Filipovich said.

The pair say they've gotten requests to make ukuleles and banjos or "can-jos" out of oil cans too.

They've started their own company Hayburner Guitars to sell them on the Internet.