I was strolling on the North Shore of Chattanooga, Tennessee today with my wonderful wife. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but a bit brisk due to the windy conditions. Still, many people were out and we stopped at a number of shops. One shop we stopped at was an art supply store, Art Creations, located on Cherokee Drive on the North Shore. This is a wonderful store, stocked with absolutely everything a budding artist would possibly need. They also have a small gallery of paintings, although the mainstay of the store is supplies and all the neat things that people who work with almost any medium would need.
I got to thinking while looking for ideas in the store. How do I make my guitars more unique? Am I building guitars, or am I building art?
I thought it a fair question, so I asked my wife. She said, in her practical manner, that she thought each guitar I built had art in it, and certainly as time has gone by, they are more and more artistic.
So the question begs itself. Could I build a guitar as a piece of framed art? A unit that would be framed, hang on a wall, but be allowed to be detached from its frame when you wanted to play it, and then become a piece of art in a frame when done? A centerpiece in a home of music, and yet a piece of art to describe the owner, to project them as musicians? Why not?
The question is not so far out there, if you have looked into my gallery of creations on the www.tsunamiguitars.com website. To put some of those guitars in frames would be almost natural, an extension of the artistic talent, so to speak. Originally, when I started, I wanted pieces of art, instruments that people would be proud to hold and play, while others looked on and admired the woodworking and colors of the exotic woods I use. Really, such a small step to frame them for hanging in a proper place in a home.
I think this deserves more attention. I think that Tsunami Guitars, as a piece of art, like a lot of luthier's works, is not much different than an actual piece of art designed to hang on a wall. The major difference is my work would actually play when the owner found the need. So in the future, you may see a Tsunami Guitar hanging in a gallery somewhere in Tennessee. I intend to pursue this, as I do believe I build art! So many have told me...What a piece of art! Maybe they are right, and the thing to do is design a way to mount a Tsunami Guitar into a frame, with the capability to pull it down when you want to play, then put it back up for your friends and family to admire when done. Certainly the bracket systems are already readily available to mount a guitar at a suggestive angle inside a frame. I cannot imagine a better calling for a guitar. Dual purpose - music and art, which go so well together. Stay tuned to Tsunami Guitars on Facebook and my website. You just may see my guitars hanging somewhere, framed, for sale as working art...I think it's an idea whose time may be near.
Tsunami
Tsunami SUT Ultra
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Some new things, some exciting things! 02/17/2012
I finished the first Tsunami Floyd Rose guitar a few days ago. It featured a Zebrawood front, Black Limba back, Old Growth Tennessee Dark Walnut pickguard, and maple neck with rosewood fretboard. The pickups were Seymour Duncan style, humbuckers, salt/pepper, four wire, rated at 10Kohms at the neck, and 14K0hms at the bridge. The Floyd was black, along with the nut and tuners. It floated wonderfully, holding tune nicely. I strung it up with Dunlop .010's, and three springs in the back cavity. The cover for the back cavity was made of the same Dark Walnut as the pickguard. Overall, it was just a beautiful guitar, and the owner loved it. The nitro lacquer hand rubbed to a nice, mirror shine.
The day before, Vintage Guitar Price Guide asked me if I would like to have an inclusion into the 2013 Vintage Guitar Price Guide. They asked a lot of questions, and also for pictures. I was happy to send all this along! Although my guitars can hardly be called "vintage", just getting asked to be in the publication is a wonderful thing, and more growth for Tsunami Guitars. You don't get breaks like that everyday.
Sometimes I am just amazed at the way this has taken off. We'll be erecting a formal company this quarter, as sales demand that I now have to become a Sole Proprietor or LLC. Under the laws of my state, I no longer can do this as additional income, it has to become a free standing business, even though I am still part-time. Meet with the lawyer in a couple days. But that is a good thing, since now I will be able to open even more doors and gain access to more of the industry. It's amazing how it all works. When you have a product that people want, you will do well, as long as you keep the Voice of the Customer in mind. So important to listen to your customers. I sometimes run across people who think they know better than their customers. Maybe my doctors, but it probably stops there! I also have watched more than a few of these folks suffer and even go under. The Customer is everything!
People, (customers), have constantly pushed me further and further into making more and more difficult guitars as time has gone by. I look at Number One, which hangs in my basement studio, and I am glad that I kept it because it is number one, and glad I kept it because I am so much better now. I would have to completely rebuild that guitar should I ever sell it. That will not happen, but the quality of that unit is limited to the wonderful sound and sustain, and the cosmetics and quality are not too hot. Boy, have things changed...noise shielding systems, inlaid pickguards, neck chrome bolt washers vs. plates, higher quality wire, capacitors, details down the the thousandths of an inch. It all adds up to better quality, easier to play, and overall, just a better looking instrument.
In this world of beautiful instruments and wonderful sound, you must provide the whole package.
So I listen to what my customers want...and if I cannot provide it, I offer some options, but if they are not willing, I don't push it. You cannot please everybody. That is why there are so many choices out there. We all want to be number one in providing what people want, but that can never happen. There are also many minds, different thoughts, beliefs, and wishes, and no one product or instrument company can satisfy all.
Well, it's about time to go down and work in the shop. I have two on the bench now. Trying to make up the backlog a little. Twenty-one months straight with some kind of backlog. It boggles me.
Thanks so much to everyone........
Tsunami
The day before, Vintage Guitar Price Guide asked me if I would like to have an inclusion into the 2013 Vintage Guitar Price Guide. They asked a lot of questions, and also for pictures. I was happy to send all this along! Although my guitars can hardly be called "vintage", just getting asked to be in the publication is a wonderful thing, and more growth for Tsunami Guitars. You don't get breaks like that everyday.
Sometimes I am just amazed at the way this has taken off. We'll be erecting a formal company this quarter, as sales demand that I now have to become a Sole Proprietor or LLC. Under the laws of my state, I no longer can do this as additional income, it has to become a free standing business, even though I am still part-time. Meet with the lawyer in a couple days. But that is a good thing, since now I will be able to open even more doors and gain access to more of the industry. It's amazing how it all works. When you have a product that people want, you will do well, as long as you keep the Voice of the Customer in mind. So important to listen to your customers. I sometimes run across people who think they know better than their customers. Maybe my doctors, but it probably stops there! I also have watched more than a few of these folks suffer and even go under. The Customer is everything!
People, (customers), have constantly pushed me further and further into making more and more difficult guitars as time has gone by. I look at Number One, which hangs in my basement studio, and I am glad that I kept it because it is number one, and glad I kept it because I am so much better now. I would have to completely rebuild that guitar should I ever sell it. That will not happen, but the quality of that unit is limited to the wonderful sound and sustain, and the cosmetics and quality are not too hot. Boy, have things changed...noise shielding systems, inlaid pickguards, neck chrome bolt washers vs. plates, higher quality wire, capacitors, details down the the thousandths of an inch. It all adds up to better quality, easier to play, and overall, just a better looking instrument.
In this world of beautiful instruments and wonderful sound, you must provide the whole package.
So I listen to what my customers want...and if I cannot provide it, I offer some options, but if they are not willing, I don't push it. You cannot please everybody. That is why there are so many choices out there. We all want to be number one in providing what people want, but that can never happen. There are also many minds, different thoughts, beliefs, and wishes, and no one product or instrument company can satisfy all.
Well, it's about time to go down and work in the shop. I have two on the bench now. Trying to make up the backlog a little. Twenty-one months straight with some kind of backlog. It boggles me.
Thanks so much to everyone........
Tsunami
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Knowledge, Old and Young. 2/1/2012
Last week, I had a great lunch with an up-and-coming luthier from the North Georgia area. He is young and restless, but his talent is undeniable. He is still finding himself in this difficult business, and had asked to meet with me for a little marketing advice at the "cheap and dirty" level. In previous years, he had spent a lot of money on some different types of advertising, but none of it worked, and he wanted to know what I thought, since I've had a backlog of some type for a little over 20 months.
I prepared a small list with definitions of what I thought he should do, and we met for about two hours. At the end, he was impressed, and did find that there are definite areas he needed to work on. I also showed him how to create an online presence without spending the bank. He just shook his head in amazement when I told him what my website cost, and how many hits I take a week. He paid way more for his, and gets way less hits...
Being older, and not too rich myself, I was always taught to do things myself. I can remember my parents telling me that knowing how to speak and write correctly would carry me further than almost anything I could do. Well, maybe not be an M.D., but certainly in most worlds, one of the first things people recognize is your ability to communicate correctly, and how you communicate with folks. It has always been tough for me to listen. I still fight that. But on the other hand, I am pretty good these days at keeping myself in a positive mood, no matter what. That goes a long ways in working with customers, and for sure, when performing detailed tasks on building guitars, it often helps me get it right. I also am well schooled, at least at this point in my life, at working my way through things in a logical step-like manner. Even things I might not be an expert in.
It's funny, but these days, I meet a lot of young people who are very smart in one arena, but once they get into another discipline, they are totally lost. Like programming a website, really good. Changing a tire or learning what noises in a car are bad, not so good.
A long, long time ago, I can remember it not being that way. People had to do things for themselves. At least people without much money, like my family. With no cell phones, pagers, or any advanced communications sometimes it was just all up to you. Here's a good example. If your car acted up, you could walk, hope for someone to come along and help you, or fix it yourself enough to keep going.
I can remember one time, traveling with my parents, we had trouble with our car between Wickenburg, Arizona, and Phoenix. I can tell you back then, that was sheer desert, no interstate, not a good place to be stranded. And we found ourselves a little short on gas, since it turned out our gas gauge was wrong on our Oldsmobile. We needed about ten miles, best that I could tell with our Shell gas station map. (No GPS, either)
My father, MacGiver that he was, remembered that he had a couple gallons of whiskey in the trunk he had bought at a discount. You guessed it - as much as he hated to do it, in the tank it went!
After much choking and spitting, the motor adjusted well enough to the "blend", and we got going, just far enough to make the next gas station. Little herky-jerky, but we smoked and choked that car right up to a gas pump!
My father filled up completely with hi-test gas, enough to dilute the remaining whiskey, and we sailed on home, safe and sound. Total lost time? Maybe 45 minutes.
How many would do that today? Or would you just simply dial 911 on your handy-dandy cell, or hit the Onstar button? It may sound safer, but that technology we depend on has taken away our ability to help ourselves out of pickles, and that is bad.
In my shop, I often do these kinds of strange things. When I told my luthier friend that I cut my neck pockets with a hand router and carving tools, he could not believe it. No jig? Blasphemy!! A few days later, holding my latest build up by the neck, with no screw holes even in the body yet, he finally believed. He pretty much didn't think I could do it...until he held it. Because he can't do it. At least not yet.
He asked me how long it took to make that pocket. Amazed again when I told him about 40 minutes, start to finish. But when you've designed ways to do things for years, and you handle multiple types of necks, it's almost reverse to have to build multiple jigs to do the same thing. So doing it by hand, learning to cut it straight and true, in the end is more rewarding and more valuable than depending on a jig.
So every time you get a chance to learn a little something new...take it.
Every time you see something that slightly interests you...take a look, get curious!
Even in today's world, Knowledge is Power. And being multi-talented is way better than being a one-trick pony.
Tsunami
I prepared a small list with definitions of what I thought he should do, and we met for about two hours. At the end, he was impressed, and did find that there are definite areas he needed to work on. I also showed him how to create an online presence without spending the bank. He just shook his head in amazement when I told him what my website cost, and how many hits I take a week. He paid way more for his, and gets way less hits...
Being older, and not too rich myself, I was always taught to do things myself. I can remember my parents telling me that knowing how to speak and write correctly would carry me further than almost anything I could do. Well, maybe not be an M.D., but certainly in most worlds, one of the first things people recognize is your ability to communicate correctly, and how you communicate with folks. It has always been tough for me to listen. I still fight that. But on the other hand, I am pretty good these days at keeping myself in a positive mood, no matter what. That goes a long ways in working with customers, and for sure, when performing detailed tasks on building guitars, it often helps me get it right. I also am well schooled, at least at this point in my life, at working my way through things in a logical step-like manner. Even things I might not be an expert in.
It's funny, but these days, I meet a lot of young people who are very smart in one arena, but once they get into another discipline, they are totally lost. Like programming a website, really good. Changing a tire or learning what noises in a car are bad, not so good.
A long, long time ago, I can remember it not being that way. People had to do things for themselves. At least people without much money, like my family. With no cell phones, pagers, or any advanced communications sometimes it was just all up to you. Here's a good example. If your car acted up, you could walk, hope for someone to come along and help you, or fix it yourself enough to keep going.
I can remember one time, traveling with my parents, we had trouble with our car between Wickenburg, Arizona, and Phoenix. I can tell you back then, that was sheer desert, no interstate, not a good place to be stranded. And we found ourselves a little short on gas, since it turned out our gas gauge was wrong on our Oldsmobile. We needed about ten miles, best that I could tell with our Shell gas station map. (No GPS, either)
My father, MacGiver that he was, remembered that he had a couple gallons of whiskey in the trunk he had bought at a discount. You guessed it - as much as he hated to do it, in the tank it went!
After much choking and spitting, the motor adjusted well enough to the "blend", and we got going, just far enough to make the next gas station. Little herky-jerky, but we smoked and choked that car right up to a gas pump!
My father filled up completely with hi-test gas, enough to dilute the remaining whiskey, and we sailed on home, safe and sound. Total lost time? Maybe 45 minutes.
How many would do that today? Or would you just simply dial 911 on your handy-dandy cell, or hit the Onstar button? It may sound safer, but that technology we depend on has taken away our ability to help ourselves out of pickles, and that is bad.
In my shop, I often do these kinds of strange things. When I told my luthier friend that I cut my neck pockets with a hand router and carving tools, he could not believe it. No jig? Blasphemy!! A few days later, holding my latest build up by the neck, with no screw holes even in the body yet, he finally believed. He pretty much didn't think I could do it...until he held it. Because he can't do it. At least not yet.
He asked me how long it took to make that pocket. Amazed again when I told him about 40 minutes, start to finish. But when you've designed ways to do things for years, and you handle multiple types of necks, it's almost reverse to have to build multiple jigs to do the same thing. So doing it by hand, learning to cut it straight and true, in the end is more rewarding and more valuable than depending on a jig.
So every time you get a chance to learn a little something new...take it.
Every time you see something that slightly interests you...take a look, get curious!
Even in today's world, Knowledge is Power. And being multi-talented is way better than being a one-trick pony.
Tsunami
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Music Coming From My Shop 1-11-2012
A while back my neighbor who walks his dogs about every night came by. He is an old rocker, a keyboardist. He's pretty good, actually, but like a lot of old time musicians, didn't quite make the transition to the big time, so he has a nice wife, little house, and a few dogs he has to walk after work most nights. He talks about old time rock and roll, NFL football, and of course politics.
He remarked this particular evening that every time he walks by my shop there is a different sound coming from the walls. Don't I have a certain kind of music that I like? What's with Brad Paisley one night, AC-DC the next, and on and on?
I tried to tell him it was my preloaded Ipod, but that didn't sell very well. Why, he wanted to know, is there such a wide crazy scope of music in your Ipod?
When I gave it some thought, I realized it really only had one constant...guitars.
I don't have any disco that I can remember on that Ipod. So all that keyboard and horn music is pretty much somewhere else. I do have a lot of blues, but it is more like old Clapton, Bonamassa, Guy, B.B., those people. Nothing like hearing Buddy Guy do a guitar solo...
I don't know why, because I like a good drum solo, or listening to Steve Winwood wind up his Leslie as much as anyone does. In fact, it almost transfixes me to hear a good Leslie on an old Hammond. But when it's all said and done, if their ain't any guitars in the music, it probabaly is not on my Ipod. And that's about where it stops. Listening to Brad Paisley or Albert Lee is just as good as Steve Vai or even Brian Setzer. It's those vibrating strings that keeps me coming back for more!
I would also be the first to admit that some seem to have lost their mojo. I almost RAN out and bought the recent Mark Knopler release last year, only to find one track on there I liked. It was like this great letdown, and if he continues with the current style, he might find himself listening to his own music in an elevator sometime, but that's just me.
Does it affect my guitar building? I'd say yes. Sometimes, when I am doing a particularly hard thing, I turn it down or lay into an album of lighter music. When I'm sanding, there is just nothing like AC-DC, or Van Halen. Sorry, sanding is such a primal thing. The removal of wood by destroying the fibers, a little at a time. Then resanding and smoothing until it almost shines, bringing the same wood back to life. Very primal, indeed.
Which is why I have no less than four orbital hand held sanders in my shop, and three stationary sanders. Always needing a way to touch up things with sandpaper, even when it's nothing more than a small piece of 320 grit in my hand, caressing a corner or edge, making it just right.
So that's my music. I don't listen to straight radio much in my shop, almost never. I don't want to be interrupted by some guy giving away WWF tickets, or trying to tell you about that great used car deal. I want to hear the music I hope the instrument I am creating will play, plain and simple.
Tsunami
He remarked this particular evening that every time he walks by my shop there is a different sound coming from the walls. Don't I have a certain kind of music that I like? What's with Brad Paisley one night, AC-DC the next, and on and on?
I tried to tell him it was my preloaded Ipod, but that didn't sell very well. Why, he wanted to know, is there such a wide crazy scope of music in your Ipod?
When I gave it some thought, I realized it really only had one constant...guitars.
I don't have any disco that I can remember on that Ipod. So all that keyboard and horn music is pretty much somewhere else. I do have a lot of blues, but it is more like old Clapton, Bonamassa, Guy, B.B., those people. Nothing like hearing Buddy Guy do a guitar solo...
I don't know why, because I like a good drum solo, or listening to Steve Winwood wind up his Leslie as much as anyone does. In fact, it almost transfixes me to hear a good Leslie on an old Hammond. But when it's all said and done, if their ain't any guitars in the music, it probabaly is not on my Ipod. And that's about where it stops. Listening to Brad Paisley or Albert Lee is just as good as Steve Vai or even Brian Setzer. It's those vibrating strings that keeps me coming back for more!
I would also be the first to admit that some seem to have lost their mojo. I almost RAN out and bought the recent Mark Knopler release last year, only to find one track on there I liked. It was like this great letdown, and if he continues with the current style, he might find himself listening to his own music in an elevator sometime, but that's just me.
Does it affect my guitar building? I'd say yes. Sometimes, when I am doing a particularly hard thing, I turn it down or lay into an album of lighter music. When I'm sanding, there is just nothing like AC-DC, or Van Halen. Sorry, sanding is such a primal thing. The removal of wood by destroying the fibers, a little at a time. Then resanding and smoothing until it almost shines, bringing the same wood back to life. Very primal, indeed.
Which is why I have no less than four orbital hand held sanders in my shop, and three stationary sanders. Always needing a way to touch up things with sandpaper, even when it's nothing more than a small piece of 320 grit in my hand, caressing a corner or edge, making it just right.
So that's my music. I don't listen to straight radio much in my shop, almost never. I don't want to be interrupted by some guy giving away WWF tickets, or trying to tell you about that great used car deal. I want to hear the music I hope the instrument I am creating will play, plain and simple.
Tsunami
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
12/28/2011 The Pursuit of SOUND...
Recently one of my customers tried his guitar out on a new amplifier. He really loved the sound. He spoke of having some buyer's remorse on his current amplifier. Up till the point of trying out the new amplifier, he was happy. Now he has an inner desire for a new sound - what he considers to be a better sound. We all suffer this. Sad, huh?
There's nothing wrong with this. It makes the guitar and amplifier world go around, and for those of us who build, provides us with an almost endless supply of customers! And that's a good thing.
To be honest, I also am in that camp. I own way too many guitars and amplifiers, and I also like to hear many, many different tones, always looking for that heavenly one. The trouble is, that sound never lasts too long, and off I go again, looking for another better one. So what makes us keep doing this? Did Chuck Berry change his "sound" once he dialed in that Johnny B. Goode sound, or Maybelline? Not that I can hear. Most of the major bands from the 60's and even 70's dialed in a certain sound, and ran with it. Les Paul always sounded like Les Paul, as did Chet Atkins, and many, many others.
But in this world of thousands of stomp boxes, and hundreds of amplifiers and guitars, players of all types are looking for the sound, forever changing equipment.
Many pro players say that it's really in your fingers, and that any given guitar played by a famous player will sound like that player, not like the guitar. There is some real truth in this, but it's not the whole picture. To put a David Gilmour on a double humbucker Ibanez, or sticking Brad Paisley on a Les Paul with Gibson Burstbuckers would certainly change their sound. Not the style, maybe, but the sound would definitely change.
So there it is. What guitar, amplifier, settings, stomp boxes, strings, picks and finger attack defines your sound? Have you ever even thought of that? Or do you just play the same way, trying out different instruments with different amps, and hope for the true tone/sound you've looked for your entire life?
My job is to build and sell custom guitars to the specifications of the new owners. So far, I'm doing fine. I build all types and manners of guitars, and I also offer a little better sustain and attack with my tonal chamber system. But I would also say that one of the biggest sellers for me is not the sound...are you ready? It's the look.
If 40% of all automobiles in the United States are sold on color, (and they are), it should be no surprise that an awful lot of guitars are sold on looks. Is there any real difference in sound in a flame maple top vs. a quilted maple top vs. a plain maple top? I sincerely doubt it...
Does sea foam green sound different than black? Heck, no...
But if you walk into any guitar store in the country the color palette just hits you square in the face. And that is a wonderful thing! The beautiful woods, the wonderful colors, all make our artistic senses go wild, including our musical senses. Some would even say they play better on a guitar of a certain type or wood style. Maybe so, who am I to judge?
And then there are the style purists. Let me break their bubble a little.
If you are a disciple of the Stratocaster with maple neck crowd, you might be surprised to know how many woods Fender has made Strat bodies out of in the last 60 years. Basswood, Alder, Poplar, Maple, Swamp Ash, just to name a few off the top of my head. And the paint has changed multiple times, from the original old nitro lacquer finishes which were banned in the mid 70's, to the thick, polyurethane finishes we sometimes see today. And in the old days, a lot of guitars were painted with car paint! Today, there is a lot of water based products out there, since the EPA has put their foot down on emissions. If some woods are better at being so-called "tone woods", what do all these changes do to Fenders over the years? And what is your guitar covered with? Red, or white, or natural would probably be a more honest answer. And the wood? Most of the owners of painted guitars cannot tell you. And that's a fact, unless they were told in the owner's manual, or found someone who sanded off their paint and posted the correct answer on a forum. Pros usually always know, but the bulk of us? Not a clue...
So a lot of things change and yet most things stay the same. What to do? I want my sound!!
I recommend the next time you try out a guitar, or commission someone to build one, remember this: Most any sound can be pried out of most guitars...
There are exceptions, of course, but listening to Slash run a high pitched, screaming solo out of his Les Paul tells you that not all of those Les Paul style guitars sound "brown". And examples like that just keep on coming.
It's all a combination, folks, of the things I listed above. How you listen, and what you like, is totally up to you. It's your sound. Once you begin to develop it, you will come back to it again and again. Just like Chuck Berry did so many years ago...
So let your artistic eyes and ears wander. If you love Redheart wood, that's great! If you favor Maple over Ebony, good for you. Tube amps over solid state? Ok with me! It matters not, because given the right situation, and combination of items, your signature sound will pop, and you will come back to that sound again and again.
By the way - what's mine? A smooth, clean high edged humbucker sound with just a hint of reverb. That's my favorite. Sometimes with just a bit of distortion, but just a bit, a teeny bit...
Tsunami
There's nothing wrong with this. It makes the guitar and amplifier world go around, and for those of us who build, provides us with an almost endless supply of customers! And that's a good thing.
To be honest, I also am in that camp. I own way too many guitars and amplifiers, and I also like to hear many, many different tones, always looking for that heavenly one. The trouble is, that sound never lasts too long, and off I go again, looking for another better one. So what makes us keep doing this? Did Chuck Berry change his "sound" once he dialed in that Johnny B. Goode sound, or Maybelline? Not that I can hear. Most of the major bands from the 60's and even 70's dialed in a certain sound, and ran with it. Les Paul always sounded like Les Paul, as did Chet Atkins, and many, many others.
But in this world of thousands of stomp boxes, and hundreds of amplifiers and guitars, players of all types are looking for the sound, forever changing equipment.
Many pro players say that it's really in your fingers, and that any given guitar played by a famous player will sound like that player, not like the guitar. There is some real truth in this, but it's not the whole picture. To put a David Gilmour on a double humbucker Ibanez, or sticking Brad Paisley on a Les Paul with Gibson Burstbuckers would certainly change their sound. Not the style, maybe, but the sound would definitely change.
So there it is. What guitar, amplifier, settings, stomp boxes, strings, picks and finger attack defines your sound? Have you ever even thought of that? Or do you just play the same way, trying out different instruments with different amps, and hope for the true tone/sound you've looked for your entire life?
My job is to build and sell custom guitars to the specifications of the new owners. So far, I'm doing fine. I build all types and manners of guitars, and I also offer a little better sustain and attack with my tonal chamber system. But I would also say that one of the biggest sellers for me is not the sound...are you ready? It's the look.
If 40% of all automobiles in the United States are sold on color, (and they are), it should be no surprise that an awful lot of guitars are sold on looks. Is there any real difference in sound in a flame maple top vs. a quilted maple top vs. a plain maple top? I sincerely doubt it...
Does sea foam green sound different than black? Heck, no...
But if you walk into any guitar store in the country the color palette just hits you square in the face. And that is a wonderful thing! The beautiful woods, the wonderful colors, all make our artistic senses go wild, including our musical senses. Some would even say they play better on a guitar of a certain type or wood style. Maybe so, who am I to judge?
And then there are the style purists. Let me break their bubble a little.
If you are a disciple of the Stratocaster with maple neck crowd, you might be surprised to know how many woods Fender has made Strat bodies out of in the last 60 years. Basswood, Alder, Poplar, Maple, Swamp Ash, just to name a few off the top of my head. And the paint has changed multiple times, from the original old nitro lacquer finishes which were banned in the mid 70's, to the thick, polyurethane finishes we sometimes see today. And in the old days, a lot of guitars were painted with car paint! Today, there is a lot of water based products out there, since the EPA has put their foot down on emissions. If some woods are better at being so-called "tone woods", what do all these changes do to Fenders over the years? And what is your guitar covered with? Red, or white, or natural would probably be a more honest answer. And the wood? Most of the owners of painted guitars cannot tell you. And that's a fact, unless they were told in the owner's manual, or found someone who sanded off their paint and posted the correct answer on a forum. Pros usually always know, but the bulk of us? Not a clue...
So a lot of things change and yet most things stay the same. What to do? I want my sound!!
I recommend the next time you try out a guitar, or commission someone to build one, remember this: Most any sound can be pried out of most guitars...
There are exceptions, of course, but listening to Slash run a high pitched, screaming solo out of his Les Paul tells you that not all of those Les Paul style guitars sound "brown". And examples like that just keep on coming.
It's all a combination, folks, of the things I listed above. How you listen, and what you like, is totally up to you. It's your sound. Once you begin to develop it, you will come back to it again and again. Just like Chuck Berry did so many years ago...
So let your artistic eyes and ears wander. If you love Redheart wood, that's great! If you favor Maple over Ebony, good for you. Tube amps over solid state? Ok with me! It matters not, because given the right situation, and combination of items, your signature sound will pop, and you will come back to that sound again and again.
By the way - what's mine? A smooth, clean high edged humbucker sound with just a hint of reverb. That's my favorite. Sometimes with just a bit of distortion, but just a bit, a teeny bit...
Tsunami
Monday, December 12, 2011
Is there a NEW guitar out there that you would pay $3500 for? 12-12-2011
I was thinking this morning, about the value of things. As I called customers on my day job, I know that some of our services where I work are expensive, but we try to give true value. For some people, it seems excessive, but most of our field techs don't make that much, and we have an excellent reputation in our local area. We work out of a smallish metal building, keep our overhead as low as possible, and try to pass all that along to our customers.
As I think about my Tsunami Guitar business, I think sometimes that I am charging too little. Certainly, no one has ever, ever told me that I charge too much. But then there is the value for the dollar thing, and in truth, I really don't want to feel like I am making more off a person than is fair. And I'm a fairly conservative guy!! But I've always been that way about my woodworking.
Oh, I've seen guys try to charge hundreds of dollars for something made of wood, and since I know how many hours they should have spent, sometimes it galls me a little. But then, beauty...and money, is in the eye of the purchaser. Either way, I also know that people sometimes get the perception that if it's cheaply priced, it must be cheaply made. That is not always the case, trust me...Jags can break just as fast as Fords. You are paying for a name, and a look.
So I decided to ask...is there a guitar out there, (NEW, not vintage), that you think is worth the $3500 or more they are asking? And it could be an assembly line guitar from a major manufacturer, or a custom shop guitar. I have to be honest...for me, no. I'm not a gigging player, so maybe owning a tool that expensive for work would be different. But in all honesty, I just don't see it.
And I know that since I have been in this business now for a couple years, I've managed to get into three organizations that build electric guitars. And I know from my own woodworking and the dozens that I have built what it takes. Although some I've seen are certainly worth more than I charge, I find anything over about $1500 to be a bit much. Fluff going into the pocket of the builder, so to speak.
So I thought I would ask...How about you?
Tsunami
As I think about my Tsunami Guitar business, I think sometimes that I am charging too little. Certainly, no one has ever, ever told me that I charge too much. But then there is the value for the dollar thing, and in truth, I really don't want to feel like I am making more off a person than is fair. And I'm a fairly conservative guy!! But I've always been that way about my woodworking.
Oh, I've seen guys try to charge hundreds of dollars for something made of wood, and since I know how many hours they should have spent, sometimes it galls me a little. But then, beauty...and money, is in the eye of the purchaser. Either way, I also know that people sometimes get the perception that if it's cheaply priced, it must be cheaply made. That is not always the case, trust me...Jags can break just as fast as Fords. You are paying for a name, and a look.
So I decided to ask...is there a guitar out there, (NEW, not vintage), that you think is worth the $3500 or more they are asking? And it could be an assembly line guitar from a major manufacturer, or a custom shop guitar. I have to be honest...for me, no. I'm not a gigging player, so maybe owning a tool that expensive for work would be different. But in all honesty, I just don't see it.
And I know that since I have been in this business now for a couple years, I've managed to get into three organizations that build electric guitars. And I know from my own woodworking and the dozens that I have built what it takes. Although some I've seen are certainly worth more than I charge, I find anything over about $1500 to be a bit much. Fluff going into the pocket of the builder, so to speak.
So I thought I would ask...How about you?
Tsunami
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Odd and Strange Guitars 12-8-2011
When I first started playing guitar seriously in January 2008, I bought a Yamaha Pacifica 112, and a small Line 6 -15 watt amp. For a while, at least, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Then I heard another guitar being played by someone else. It didn't sound the same, and was cooler than mine. Hmmmm.
I began to take a real look at all the offerings available, and to be honest, it was just overwhelming. Sometimes I can see why guitarists have GAS, or guitar acquisition syndrome. Premier Guitar calls it "the relentless pursuit of tone."
Now I know that statement is aimed at them selling more magazines, but there is a truth in that, along with the other major player, looks. A maple cap on a Gibson Les Paul is supposed to slightly brighten the sound. But a flame maple cap is the same, and looks a heck of a lot better! And to finish it all off, a cherry burst coating is the icing on the cake.
All part of the effort to get you to buy that guitar!
But then, most of us cannot afford these wonderful instruments. So there are a whole host of companies that have appeared over the last few decades who have tried to fill that "I can't afford it" gap. And foremost in these offerings are the Asian rim offerings from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, some India, and of course China.
Some truly strange and wonderful designs have come and gone over the years, and my collection is aimed straight at them. I love the oddballs, the misfits, the models that appeared for one or two years, never to be seen again. Strange controls, weird pickups, laminated necks, oddball paint jobs, it's all there. And most of it, even today, is cheap enough for anyone trying to begin a guitar collection.
Some will not gain much monetary ground. They are the ones that either were just too numerous, or possibly turn off so many guitarists even the collectors don't want them. But then there are the special ones that we covet.
I've got a few, tucked away. Nothing very expensive, but all of them restored. I hope they are all gaining in value. Some day I'll find out. My "Musical 401K".
How do I find these? Well, first off, I stay off eBay. It seems like about 4 out of 10 stories I read about eBay purchases the buyers are not totally happy. I have to hold what I am buying, feel it in my hands. At least then I know what I am about to purchase.
So for me, used music stores and pawn shops are my prime sources. Sometimes a quick look at my local Craigslist. But you have to be diligent. You cannot walk into a pawn shop once every six months and hope to find the gold. You should pick out two or three that will seem to pass a lot of guitars thru, and visit them often. Same with music stores. Guitar Center is NOT the place to look at used equipment if you collect. Negotiation is slim, and their pricing is high to begin with. They know exactly what they have, and push that limit. No, I haunt about 6 or 7 shops in my area, and once in a while, bingo!
Let me tell you about one, actually maybe my favorite.
About mid 2009, I walked into this usual pawn shop I favored. Their negotiations were tough. Family owned, the founder sits behind the long, glass counter that runs the length of the store. It's a run down shop, with a lot of junk everywhere. They make much more money in the pawn end than they do in the sale end, so they are used to things hanging on the walls for months, if not years. They put a price on it, and that's that.
I walked in one day, and here was a hollowbody, in the Gibson 335 style, very old. It had held a knockoff Bigsby at one time, but someone had hacksawed off the handle and spring, to leave just the string bar and tailpiece. There was one trapezoid inlay missing in the neck. The body was amazingly in good shape, but by the wear on the frets, you could see this guitar had seen some serious play. But what caught my attention was the headstock. TRUETONE, it said. But not in the usual crown in circle Truetone that we all are used to seeing. These were block letters, inlaid in the headstock, mother-of-toilet seat.
$150 was the asking price. I looked at the knobs. Aluminum tophat with stamped "V" and "T" in the top. One looked a little different, like someone had lost one and made a new one in high school metalshop class. Who knows? Everything else, including the double bar humbuckers seemed original. I passed.
Two months later on a usual visit, I walked in again. The price strangely had been lowered to $120. This was not usual for this shop. I approached them with an offer of $100 and was instantly turned down. $120 cash out the door was their best offer.
Next day I went in with the cash. I now owned a TRUETONE of unknown origins.
My initial research turned up nothing. The entire Truetone universe seemed to rotate around that Crown logo that all collectors of odd and strange are familiar with. My only hint was hand stamped numbers on the neck plate. EG-665-2HR, with 1018 below.
I typed in all types of combinations on the Internet, with no luck. I am pretty good on the Internet. Usually when this happens, either the guitar was so remote and quick to disappear that no one has documented it, or it was so bad no one wants to give it mention. Or.....it was a private label guitar.
In the meantime, I also looked at the entire lineup of Bigsbys, and found they make a "retro" unit that is pretty reasonable. It even had the faux leather inlay circle, where I could take the fake leather out of the remaining piece of the one I got with this guitar, and apply it to the Bigsby. I ordered one and put it on. It fit perfectly. At least they knew how to knock-off properly!
The inlay was another problem. Finding the plastic is easy, getting it to be tinted the same as a very old guitar is another problem. I solved it by heating it very slightly which opened the pores, then dipping it in medium brown stain for about fifteen seconds. As it cooled the pores pulled in just a little stain. It worked, and I cut and inlaid the piece into the neck.
Now I had a complete guitar with lousy frets. I looked over the wire, and it was a strange size. Only five frets were troublesome, so I pulled and reversed five of them so the bad edge was more to the lower strings. A little adjustment and it improved greatly. Not perfect for intense playing, but good enough. Polished, cleaned, with new strings, it looked grand with it's new Bigsby, but what in the world was this thing??
I kept at the Internet until one evening I discovered it. But with a different nameplate. Norma. Same guitar, same pickups, knobs, there was my chopped off tremolo complete. Even the same color. Norma, and in the same block lettering. It was listed for $995US WHOH! The information listed with the offering said that Greco had made a few guitars for Western Auto before Kay and Harmony took over completely in the mid 60's. (Take that with a grain of salt - it's the Internet, after all!) But it sounded right, and the wiring inside matched the era. The seller claimed 1960 as the year. Hmmmm.
I went back a few weeks later to the site and it had been sold.
But later, I found some on eBay. One Norma, one Truetone. They sold for much less, but the conditions were poor. No one was really sure, but most agreed that they probably were very early Western Auto guitars, made by Greco in Japan. One person even claimed early 50's! (I kind of doubt that, but who knows?)
And my four digit serial number, if that is truly one, is the lowest I have seen. 1018.
So mine hangs in my little studio I use for players to try out their new guitars. I have been offered many times to sell it, but it's not for sale. It's part of my Odd and Strange collection, and very special to me. I can't even find a case, the lower bouts are too wide. Probably came originally with a cheap, chipboard case, long gone. I did see one picture of one with a case. When I do plug it up, about once a year, the humbuckers sound just as good, I bet, as they did the day some lucky person walked it out of, (hopefully), a Western Auto store. If it has some other background, I don't care. I have shown it to numerous people, some who have been in the business for decades, and no one has ever seen that logo. My kind of guitar!
I must admit, this is one of the most interesting hobbies I have ever pursued. I keep looking, and I just never know. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you go months without finding anything of worth. That's what makes it so much fun - walking into a pawn shop, or an old music store, you just never know!!!
See any old Samick Artist Editions Series lately? I'm kind of looking for the 12 string model - the rarest one! I've already found the simple black model, and the more rare pink birdseye maple cap model. But I really want that 12 string. Great guitars!
Good hunting, keep on rocking, and watch for my next Tsunami's Ramblings.
Tsunami
I began to take a real look at all the offerings available, and to be honest, it was just overwhelming. Sometimes I can see why guitarists have GAS, or guitar acquisition syndrome. Premier Guitar calls it "the relentless pursuit of tone."
Now I know that statement is aimed at them selling more magazines, but there is a truth in that, along with the other major player, looks. A maple cap on a Gibson Les Paul is supposed to slightly brighten the sound. But a flame maple cap is the same, and looks a heck of a lot better! And to finish it all off, a cherry burst coating is the icing on the cake.
All part of the effort to get you to buy that guitar!
But then, most of us cannot afford these wonderful instruments. So there are a whole host of companies that have appeared over the last few decades who have tried to fill that "I can't afford it" gap. And foremost in these offerings are the Asian rim offerings from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, some India, and of course China.
Some truly strange and wonderful designs have come and gone over the years, and my collection is aimed straight at them. I love the oddballs, the misfits, the models that appeared for one or two years, never to be seen again. Strange controls, weird pickups, laminated necks, oddball paint jobs, it's all there. And most of it, even today, is cheap enough for anyone trying to begin a guitar collection.
Some will not gain much monetary ground. They are the ones that either were just too numerous, or possibly turn off so many guitarists even the collectors don't want them. But then there are the special ones that we covet.
I've got a few, tucked away. Nothing very expensive, but all of them restored. I hope they are all gaining in value. Some day I'll find out. My "Musical 401K".
How do I find these? Well, first off, I stay off eBay. It seems like about 4 out of 10 stories I read about eBay purchases the buyers are not totally happy. I have to hold what I am buying, feel it in my hands. At least then I know what I am about to purchase.
So for me, used music stores and pawn shops are my prime sources. Sometimes a quick look at my local Craigslist. But you have to be diligent. You cannot walk into a pawn shop once every six months and hope to find the gold. You should pick out two or three that will seem to pass a lot of guitars thru, and visit them often. Same with music stores. Guitar Center is NOT the place to look at used equipment if you collect. Negotiation is slim, and their pricing is high to begin with. They know exactly what they have, and push that limit. No, I haunt about 6 or 7 shops in my area, and once in a while, bingo!
Let me tell you about one, actually maybe my favorite.
About mid 2009, I walked into this usual pawn shop I favored. Their negotiations were tough. Family owned, the founder sits behind the long, glass counter that runs the length of the store. It's a run down shop, with a lot of junk everywhere. They make much more money in the pawn end than they do in the sale end, so they are used to things hanging on the walls for months, if not years. They put a price on it, and that's that.
I walked in one day, and here was a hollowbody, in the Gibson 335 style, very old. It had held a knockoff Bigsby at one time, but someone had hacksawed off the handle and spring, to leave just the string bar and tailpiece. There was one trapezoid inlay missing in the neck. The body was amazingly in good shape, but by the wear on the frets, you could see this guitar had seen some serious play. But what caught my attention was the headstock. TRUETONE, it said. But not in the usual crown in circle Truetone that we all are used to seeing. These were block letters, inlaid in the headstock, mother-of-toilet seat.
$150 was the asking price. I looked at the knobs. Aluminum tophat with stamped "V" and "T" in the top. One looked a little different, like someone had lost one and made a new one in high school metalshop class. Who knows? Everything else, including the double bar humbuckers seemed original. I passed.
Two months later on a usual visit, I walked in again. The price strangely had been lowered to $120. This was not usual for this shop. I approached them with an offer of $100 and was instantly turned down. $120 cash out the door was their best offer.
Next day I went in with the cash. I now owned a TRUETONE of unknown origins.
My initial research turned up nothing. The entire Truetone universe seemed to rotate around that Crown logo that all collectors of odd and strange are familiar with. My only hint was hand stamped numbers on the neck plate. EG-665-2HR, with 1018 below.
I typed in all types of combinations on the Internet, with no luck. I am pretty good on the Internet. Usually when this happens, either the guitar was so remote and quick to disappear that no one has documented it, or it was so bad no one wants to give it mention. Or.....it was a private label guitar.
In the meantime, I also looked at the entire lineup of Bigsbys, and found they make a "retro" unit that is pretty reasonable. It even had the faux leather inlay circle, where I could take the fake leather out of the remaining piece of the one I got with this guitar, and apply it to the Bigsby. I ordered one and put it on. It fit perfectly. At least they knew how to knock-off properly!
The inlay was another problem. Finding the plastic is easy, getting it to be tinted the same as a very old guitar is another problem. I solved it by heating it very slightly which opened the pores, then dipping it in medium brown stain for about fifteen seconds. As it cooled the pores pulled in just a little stain. It worked, and I cut and inlaid the piece into the neck.
Now I had a complete guitar with lousy frets. I looked over the wire, and it was a strange size. Only five frets were troublesome, so I pulled and reversed five of them so the bad edge was more to the lower strings. A little adjustment and it improved greatly. Not perfect for intense playing, but good enough. Polished, cleaned, with new strings, it looked grand with it's new Bigsby, but what in the world was this thing??
I kept at the Internet until one evening I discovered it. But with a different nameplate. Norma. Same guitar, same pickups, knobs, there was my chopped off tremolo complete. Even the same color. Norma, and in the same block lettering. It was listed for $995US WHOH! The information listed with the offering said that Greco had made a few guitars for Western Auto before Kay and Harmony took over completely in the mid 60's. (Take that with a grain of salt - it's the Internet, after all!) But it sounded right, and the wiring inside matched the era. The seller claimed 1960 as the year. Hmmmm.
I went back a few weeks later to the site and it had been sold.
But later, I found some on eBay. One Norma, one Truetone. They sold for much less, but the conditions were poor. No one was really sure, but most agreed that they probably were very early Western Auto guitars, made by Greco in Japan. One person even claimed early 50's! (I kind of doubt that, but who knows?)
And my four digit serial number, if that is truly one, is the lowest I have seen. 1018.
So mine hangs in my little studio I use for players to try out their new guitars. I have been offered many times to sell it, but it's not for sale. It's part of my Odd and Strange collection, and very special to me. I can't even find a case, the lower bouts are too wide. Probably came originally with a cheap, chipboard case, long gone. I did see one picture of one with a case. When I do plug it up, about once a year, the humbuckers sound just as good, I bet, as they did the day some lucky person walked it out of, (hopefully), a Western Auto store. If it has some other background, I don't care. I have shown it to numerous people, some who have been in the business for decades, and no one has ever seen that logo. My kind of guitar!
I must admit, this is one of the most interesting hobbies I have ever pursued. I keep looking, and I just never know. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you go months without finding anything of worth. That's what makes it so much fun - walking into a pawn shop, or an old music store, you just never know!!!
See any old Samick Artist Editions Series lately? I'm kind of looking for the 12 string model - the rarest one! I've already found the simple black model, and the more rare pink birdseye maple cap model. But I really want that 12 string. Great guitars!
Good hunting, keep on rocking, and watch for my next Tsunami's Ramblings.
Tsunami
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