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News & Notes

 

 

This is my space for general ramblings and current events – You’re also welcome to check out My Blog…

 

 

October 30th – More great news!  I’ve become a Dealer for the whole line of Access Cases & Bags and the Access Stage 3 case will now be the standard case for Aerie Guitars, (And the truly swanky Stage 5 will be the designated upgrade case)!  If you’ve never checked out their stuff, do!  Several factors weighed into this decision, those being quality, feature, company, and price.  Cases really ruin the gamut from crap to platinum and everything in between.  The biggest issue I’ve found over the years is that reasonably priced cases just didn’t have the quality a handmade guitar deserves, and on the other side of the equation, even for a handmade guitar a lot of folks balked at $300+ for a case, no matter how good it is!  The Stage 3 case is what I put my own guitars into.  I am a working musician, and anyone who knows me well also knows that I don't travel without one:  I’ve flown, trucked, trained, and shipped my guitars all over the world and I’ve never had a problem when they're in the Access case.  My eldest case is something like 15 years old, and it looks like a working musician’s case, but it’s as good as new when it comes to keeping my go-to axe safe.  I am proud to offer that same quality to you.  Access Stage 3’s have heavy duty coverings, very high quality fittings, ample quality padding, and arched, multi-ply shells that stand up to hard use and abuse; those are the features I expect, so that’s what I’ll get for you.  Access Products Group is based on Bainbridge Island Washington, where my mom and sister live.  It’s a great community and a great company.  Access stuff is only available through independent music stores and builders; you won’t find an Access product at MeguitarMart or any other big box retailer, only us little guys.  To me, that’s huge, and with products as high quality as these, that’s a no brainer as far as who I sell and endorse – I’m a huge believer in buying and supporting small local businesses, and Access makes that possible for me.  Finally comes price; the only thing remarkable about Access products is how little they cost for how much you get.  The prices are commensurate with products far more expensive than these cases are, believe me!  Usually what you’d find for what I am able to pass these on to you for would be nothing but inferior  quality junk; instead, you get high quality, full featured, very durable cases worthy of my guitars:  Can you say win win?  I now have the full range of Access cases, gig bags and musician’s stuff bags available for you at very good prices, so if you need anything, just ask!

October 27th – Thank God that we’re almost through with this election craziness!  I don’t care who y’all are for, you gotta be ready to be done with this interminable monstrosity of a campaign!  Well, enough about that.  NEWS!  Some new builds coming, including my first ever resophonic, which I am really excited about.  Also gonna be trying a new thing, called FlexiAb, which is a new purfling and binding product that Kevin Ryan developed and I am very excited about, so look for that in the near future!  Also have opened a Needless Schwag Division of Aerie Guitars – You can now get T-Shirts, cups, and other stuff you absolutely do not need – check it out at http://www.zazzle.com/aerieguitars

October 20thWow, wiped out from a long day yesterday, but great rehearsal for SceneShop show coming up Saturday; get to play with some of my favorite folks, (And especially the magical Harris Kirby) and flash some electric chops on a few tunes; always a good time, so if you’re in the area of Arts 5th Avenue, 7:30 pm Saturday night!  Some exciting news coming for you tonewood fans as well.  I am hooking up with a great friend and will be bringing some fantastic wood to the market very soon; we’re talkin’ African Blackwood, Ebony Mun, 3 species of Macassar Ebony, 4 sub species of Madagascar Rosewood, Yellow Sandalwood, Pommele Bubinga, Waterfall Bubinga, Flamed soft maple, figured Makore, Shedua (Ovangkol), flamed Cambodian Cherry, flamed Cambodian Teak, Merbau, Madagascar Black Ebony, Pommele Sapeli, Ribbon Sapeli, Black Walnut, Chinese Grapefruit, and some pretty amazing Carpathian Spruce soundboards – Sound good?  Wait ‘till you see it!

October 8thOctober 8th?!??!  Where does the time go, somebody tell me!  Great things happening at the Luthier Community, check it out if you’ve not!  Building's been steady though not as much shop time as I’d like, but what else is new?  Checked out a very cool 60’s Gibson classic from a friend and I think this is going to make a very cool small body shape, pretty much parlour turf, I’d say.  Keep your eyes peeled for a prototype in the next few months.

September 15th – Well, Ike skated right by us up here, but not so down south – Please keep those folks in your thoughts and prayers.  Lots of cool new stuff up at the Luthier Community, including great tutorials by Hesh Breakstone on everything from A to Z – Check it out!

Sept. 3rd – Off shortly to see the Rangers play the M’s for the last time this season…  A very cool official logo for The Luthier Community has been chosen, and will soon grace the site and cool Schwag like T shirts and hats – Check it out!  http://www.luthiercom.org.  And, just had a commission accepted for my first electric in several years – This one is near and dear to my heart – A faithful yet very sleek and updated Strat copy – Gonna be hot!

August 28th – Well, friends and neighbors, it is done – let me welcome you to my brand new site, The Luthier Community, http://www.luthiercom.org – This site was created by me, Randy Baker, Bill Bertolino, Grant Goltz and Dennis Leahy.  It is already a vibrant site, with 60+ active members and hundreds of posts in under 3 days existence!  It will be, hands down, the most unique and comprehensive site dedicated to the building of stringed instruments.  Come and see, come and see!!

August 20 – Biiig doin’s, big doin’s – Look for yours truly to launch a new dynamic website dedicated to the building community – It’s chugging forward as we speak – And yes, I am still building!

August 1st - Well, big thanks to Mr. Paul Carroll of www.jedistar.com!  Paul was kind enough to include me in his incredible website of guitar and guitar maker links - I am honored and humbled, Sir!  make sure you check out his excellent site, and bookmark it; it's a wealth of info about many, many guitars and builders, especially the harder-to-find stuff!

July 18th - Arggghhhh!  All my guitar making friends are up in northern Minnesota at the Annual Luthier Gathering - I soooo want to be there!  Sigh....  Ah well, guess I'll drown my sorrows in guitar making - A guy could have worse options!

Hey, check out my newly revamped links section - I finally got the brains to put all my builder friends on there, and I've written some little vignettes about them and their work - Check it and check ALL of them out - Remember:  I may not be the right guy to build your next custom axe, but I'll bet you dimes to dollars that someone I know is - And rest assured, I will hook you up!  It ain't about me 'capturing business;' it's about you getting the right guitar from the right maker!

July 7th - Back from a wonderful vacation and visit with ever'body up in Washington State - Muchas Thanksas to Terry, Suze and Dog-Dog and our families - And Happy 85th Birthday to Ma!

Hand continues to heal slowly but surely - Can only work for about a half hour, then gotta let it rest for a commensurate amount of time - Hopefully, and expect, that this ratio will shrink over time - I'm only two weeks post-op, so maybe I'm too pushy?  Nah!

June 18th - Well, another one leaves the nest...  Oh, a guitar, not a kid!  Ryan Brankin took possession of a custom SJ cutaway in glorious Maple and Spruce, with a Bird's Eye Maple, Walnut, and Purpleheart neck and fretboard - She's raw at first, but is gonna be a cannon when she settles in.  Off to Washington State for mom's 85th Birthday and a family reunion, so more when I get back - Lots of new guitars coming very soon!

June 9th, 2008:  Well good news and other news...  The good news is that I'm re-doing this website with help from my wonderful good friend Elinor Normand, the finest Webmeister I know and a truly patient teacher!  So, I'm learning a little but of HTML and trying rebuilding page by page, with an aim of making it less...  wordy, shall we say, and easier to navigate through.  Feel free to let me know what you think!

The other news is that by this time tomorrow, I'll have had carpal tunnel release microsurgery done on my ailing right wrist - So keep those prayers and good thoughts coming!  More soon!

May 24th, 2008 - Whoa my gosh, I've been away from this site in an active sense for a while! Well, I'm back and will be making concerted efforts to stay current; so long as it doesn't interfere with guitar building, that is...

 

 

 

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