When Texas teenager Frank Helsley heard Johnny Winter playing acoustic blues on a resonator it signaled the start of a lifelong obsession, both as a player and designer. In 2007, frustrated at the affordable options available to the modern resonator enthusiast, Helsley founded Republic Guitars.

In 2009 Helsley came up with the Highway 61, a travel-sized guitar with a single cut-away, loud, highly playable, and with surprisingly rich tone for such a small instrument. A year later Helsley won a U.S. patent on the design. Republic has already attracted celebrity names such as the Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, and Johnny Winter himself.