By Michael Molenda The massive onslaught of tributes, tears, salutes, and shock that trended all over social media following Neil Peart’s passing from glioblastoma on January 7, is indisputable evidence of not just his formidable talents as a drummer, musician, author, and lyricist, but also of his quiet but titanic imprint on popular culture. But […]
By Aman Khosla In a world where technical prowess, proficiency, and complexity have become well-celebrated pillars of guitardom (no, unfortunately, that’s not a real word), Paul Gilbert lives on the top shelf. Known to most as the co-founder of Mr. Big, he has had a colorful and successful career thus far, including his early affiliation […]
By Greg Jones The year was 1986. The FM radio dial and MTV were uncharacteristically compelling due to the decision to play a sonically startling new record called “Yankee Rose” by newly-departed Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth. As the sound of a talking guitar answered the singer’s opening dialogue with ever-increasing snarling and sneering, […]
By Pat Bianculli On a beautiful, sunny day in late July 2014 (to a New Yorker, every day is beautiful and sunny in the Bay area of California!) I scouted out the legendary steel-string guitar builder, Ervin Somogyi [pronounced: Suh-MAH-jee], at his workshop, a large white house just off Telegraph Ave. at 52nd Street on the […]
by Dave Anderson The path to becoming a guitar builder is one that is both organic and in flux. Meaning the variety of skills one must learn to have a successful guitar company ranges from designer, drafter, woodworker to finish expert, business manager, inventory manager, accountant, the list goes on. Not to mention, most builders […]
By Greg Jones There was a famous TV commercial in the 1980s that used to feature a plethora of mechanical toy animals, all moving or banging away on drums and cymbals in a cacophony of noise, while a voiceover would say “can you guess which one has the Duracell batteries?” But alas there was no […]
By Dave Anderson In the age of the gig economy and the revolving doors of almost every aspect of the current workforce, it’s hard to imagine a person spending their whole life honing a craft to the point of what their peers would refer to as “masterful.” Throw in the internet and tools like Masterclass […]
By Melz Durston They say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – and this seems to sum up a luthier’s life through choice, necessity, and personal enthusiasm, someone who has decided to pursue a career in one of the most enduring, time-consuming trades that exist. Building a guitar is not […]
By Will Swanson The telecaster was Leo Fender’s original electric guitar before the famous Stratocaster came into being, but as we all know, newer doesn’t always mean better with guitars. It’s not a requirement for it to be a mid-50s worth $100,000 to give you the telecaster experience. It can be a Squier, a Hohner, […]
By Christian Hatstatt Introduction “Why did you do that? This means that anybody with a bandsaw can make a guitar!” It is with these words that a famous competitor welcomed the newly launched LP back in 1952. The fact that a guitar brand started to make electric guitars in the form of a solid-body was […]
