Category Archive: Interviews

Lukas Schwengeler Artist Interview

November 7, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

Lukas Schwengeler is the no.1 session guitarist in Switzerland. We talked to Lukas about his guitars, amps and his taste in music.

Hi Lukas thank you for taking your time to speak to us. Could you please tell us a bit about how you got into playing music in the first place? Do you remember any specific moment that sparked your interest in music?
Since I was the youngest of 6 kids and all of them played an instrument I was elected to start up playing the violin with 6 years of age and enjoyed playing this instrument until I was 12. During that time my hippy neighbor gave me her guitar because she moved abroad. I picked up that lovely instrument and I was hooked. From that moment on I started to play and play and play. I stumbled into some old blues tunes and worked my way up.

Could you explain to us why you initially got into the genre you’ re currently playing? What musicians or bands inspired you in the beginning?
Blues and old hippie stuff was the start up. The first band I started to admire was the Spencer Davis Group. My first guitar hero was definitely Eric Clapton. Later I got into the tunes of Jimmy Hendrix, Duan Alman and Gary Moore. Today one of my favorites is Robben Ford.

Can you tell us about the gear your using, and why?
One of my favorite guitars is a custom made from Claudio Pagelli. Next in line is my 62 Fender Stratocaster Relic from the custom shop. I also have a Gibson Les Paul Slash Sig and I also use a Gibson Les Paul R6 . And sure enough I also play the standard Fender Tele. Besides that, I have a full set of acoustic guitars. The amp I mostly use is Fender Deluxe Reverb and Bogner Extasy.

Can you please tell us about your collaboration with Good Tone Pickups?
Claudio Pagelli made my guitar and we started to discuss possible pickups. He told me about a small swiss manufacturer that handwired pickups. We decided to give it a try and I got into contact with Ralf from Good Tone Pickups. He was open to all my suggestions and really created a pickup after my desires.

What kind of Good Tone Pickups do you prefer in your guitars?
I am using the customized pickup Ralf created for me. He made a Humbucker with low output in order to do coil tapping without significant loss of output . The result is amazing. This Good Tone Pickup is now selling it under the label Lukas Schwengeler Signature Pickup.

Does the gear you play live differ from the gear you’re using in the studio?
The guitars are pretty much the same. But the amps, stomp boxes and other stuff can vary. In the studio you can include some gimmicks in order to specialize the sound. On stage you need to stick to the stuff that definitely works.

Are there any special guitars, brand or a model, that fit your specific sound or genre better than others, and if so, why?
Sure. If the music requires the sound of Strat I use a Strat . If it requires Les Paul … I will use that guitar. I do have no matrix to show.

How important do you find the gear to be, in relation to the sound you’ re trying to produce?
Absolutely elementary. I only use the best gear I can find, because this is making the difference of the output.

Any famous last words?
There will be guitars in heaven.

Visit Lukas here:

http://www.lukasschwengeler.ch/

 

Eternal Guitars Interview with Dave Walsh from Eternal Guitars

November 3, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

Dave Walsh owns a small one man workshop in Britain where he builds authentically aged, “relic” electrical guitars. We had a little chat with Dave about Eternal Guitars and his working methods.

Hi Dave, thank you for taking your time to speak to us. Could you tell us a little bit about how and when did you start Eternal Guitars? Where are you located?
Hi there. I’ve been a luthier for almost 20 years – I originally did an apprenticeship in Denmark Street in the west end of London but in that time I’ve also worked in other areas of the guitar world, including writing for Guitar & Bass Magazine in the UK and a stint at Guitar Institute in London, but I’ve always loved repairing and making guitars. I moved away from London a couple of years ago down to the south coast of England and I had to start my business again, so I decided to do something a little different. I love vintage guitars and being a creative person with a bit of an art background, I found that I really enjoyed the relic process on the few guitars that I had done for customers in the past so I decided to begin making them. The first review that I received was very positive and now people are beginning to love the guitars because they sound as good as they look!

What motivated you to begin building aged “relic” electric guitars in the first place? And what type of guitars do you build? Standard models? Custom orders? How does it work?
The primary motivation was a love of the process. I’d seen plenty of relic guitars on the market – some very nice and others not quite so good! So I wanted to make aged guitars using high quality components and nitrocellulose lacquer which in my opinion sounds better than modern poly finishes and combine the look with my experience in setting up vintage guitars so that they play as well as possible and of course also sound amazing within a realistic budget. I offer standard models based on well known instruments but I also build hybrid, custom or totally one-off models.

Please describe to us how do you come up with the names for your guitars?
To be honest I can’t really take the credit or the blame for that! My wonderful girlfriend usually christens them depending on how they look. I don’t think she sees them (or anything else) as inanimate objects – and I think she’s right… : )

You are currently building your first bass guitar. How did that come about?
To be fair, it’s not the first bass that I’ve ever made but it is the first Eternal. I’d been wanting to make an aged bass from the beginning but time and constant guitar orders conspired against me! My good friend Chris (who also helps out with the marketing) is a bass player so we collaborated to make a special one for him. He has a particular style and sound that he needs so that’s why it ended up as a bit of a hybrid with modern hardware and his choice of pickups. It sounds thunderous though and he’s very happy with it. Next up will be a stock early ‘50s T-Type bass in butterscotch blonde…

Can you describe to us the process, from idea to conception, of building a great relic guitar or bass?
It may sound obvious, but it really does start with the wood. Every guitar – even electric ones – are acoustic in nature and if it doesn’t sound good unplugged then put it back on the wall and walk away! Ash, alder and mahogany bodies all sound very different too as well as maple or rosewood fingerboards so I go through a very long process of determining exactly what tone a customer is seeking before settling on the right wood combinations. Some are tried and tested like ash and maple for an early ‘50s T-Type sound but sometimes like on my T-Type Jr which is actually a hollow mahogany design it can be a bit more experimental. With the T-Type Jr I was looking for a fat, warm sound without the associated weight of a Les Paul for example and the result is a very lightweight but incredibly loud guitar. The pickups are only there to amplify the core tone and colour the sound to a point – we have a saying here that you ‘can’t polish a turd’ and with pickups that’s very true as they will never make a terrible guitar sound great. So once I know what a customer wants in terms of tone, the rest is about making it feel and of course look great by using the right finishing products, hardware and professional set-up.

Do you have one instrument that is your favorite or that makes you the most proud in terms of craftsmanship, sound, look, and so forth?
Oh, I love them all but the Blonde S-Type ‘Betsy’ is a truly wonderful guitar – as is the Custom T-Type that I made for Sound Venture Guitar Boutique. I also love the T-Type Jr as well as the new Olympic White over Three-Tone Sunburst J-Type that has just been christened ‘Lola’.

How do you consider musical styles and genres when building your guitars in terms of selection of pickups, woods etc.?
That’s good question. Usually a customer will have at least a vague idea of what they want, but not always, and some people are embarrassed by a lack of knowledge. Sometimes I have to coax it out of them but by asking the right questions I can usually narrow it down. As I’ve mentioned above, some wood and pickup combinations are classics that will work 99% of the time whereas sometimes I have to be a bit more creative and interpret what a customer needs and wants into a workable design. The Eleanor E-Type guitar is a good example – it’s owner Mike approached me to make a one pickup T-Type relic but with the feel and sound of an Ibanez Jem… On the surface, it looks like most of my other guitars but the neck profile is copied from one of Mike’s own Jem guitars, there are 24 frets on a 16” radius fingerboard with a bullet truss rod adjuster at the headstock. The lower cutaway on the body is deeper than normal for better access to the top frets and on the back the heel is sculpted away and there’s also a ribcage contour. The pickup is a DiMarzio Evo2 which is coil split and makes a great T-Type twang as well as all the usual hi-gain grunt. Oh, and there’s a kill switch and an angled jack socket like a Jem too…

Are your guitars especially common among musicians playing a certain genre?
Not especially. Obviously the more classic vintage designs lend themselves to certain styles of rock, jazz and blues but a great sounding guitar can work in any musical environment. Ultimately, I’m happy to build whatever the customer wants and if that means installing a Floyd Rose on a banjo then I’ll consider it..!

When building a custom guitar or a bass for a particular player, what considerations do you make?
It’s up to me to get it right first time so I ask A LOT of questions and nail down the exact spec. before picking up any tools. My guitars represent a fair investment for most people so they have to be right in themselves and for the individual player. Everything from fret size to the capacitor values can be specified and decided in discussion with the customer. Once the build is completed I then go through an exhaustive set-up procedure to ensure that the instrument plays at its best for the style that the player requires and most importantly how he or she plays because we all play differently…

Any interesting new relic guitars or basses on your workbench right now?
I’ve just finished a Reverse J-Type in Sea Foam Green that is a killer one pickup guitar and I’ve also been commissioned by a gentleman in Sweden to build a VERY obscure Jeff Beck S-Type which has been a lot of fun as no one anywhere has any real knowledge of the instrument except some footage from a German TV show in the early ‘70s.

Any advice for players looking to order a custom relic guitar or bass?
Don’t be afraid to ask! Almost anything is possible be it a straight copy of a classic vintage guitar or something hybrid or totally unique – drop me a line through the website or give me a call. I love a challenge too…

Given that this is for a blog, what role has technology (the internet, your website, etc.) played in the success of your business?
It’s vital in creating awareness if nothing else. Technology plays a huge role in marketing a brand or business and for a one man business based on the seaside in England it means I can reach customers worldwide as well as locally. I’m currently building guitars for customers in Sweden and Japan too – and that would never have happened without the internet…

Any famous last thoughts?
Thank you so much for talking to me! I now have to return to repairing guitars and refitting the bridge to an old 12-String acoustic  – it’s not all glamour here… ; )

Boutique Bass Guitars Equals The New Vintage

October 28, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

By Mike Ippersiel

So what’s the big deal about boutique basses?

Perhaps this is something that you’ve thought to yourself as you’ve looked at high resolution images of handmade or highly customized basses that cost $3,000 and up.

Are they worth more than triple what you can spend to pick up a decent bass off the shelf at your local music store?Do all those exotic woods do anything besides look, well…exotic? Are they really just over-priced pieces of furniture fashioned into the shape of a bass guitar?

Yes and no.

You see, any particular bass guitar is going to be worth more or less money from one person to another. Some instrument collectors will pay outrageous sums of money for rare instruments because they happened to be owned or even were only played a few times by someone famous like Paul McCartney or Jaco Pastorius.
Others may pay to have a bass guitar built by hand that many may feel is either ugly, or even unplayable. It’s true that one man’s trash is another
man’s treasure!

For me, it was the price tag that really put boutique basses on a pedestal for me.

Here I was, a modest rock bassist playing covers and original music who was happy to go home after a gig with $100 bucks in his pocket – what right did I have to daydream about a high-end custom bass guitar? The ‘realistic’ side of me said that I could own a bass like that ‘one day’ when I ‘made it’.

While there is a market for boutique bass guitars that look like furniture and that span 5, 6, 7, 8 strings and beyond, a significant chunk of the high end bass guitar market is devoted to what I’ll call ‘modern vintage’ instruments.

Luthiers like Sadowsky, Mike Lull and Alleva-Coppolo (just to name a few) offer modern takes on the classic Fender Jazz bass guitar – that cost several times more than it would cost to just pickup up an actual Fender bass yourself.

So why pay more for a ‘copy’ than buying the original bass from the actual manufacturer?
The reality is that the art of creating a bass guitar has changed dramatically in the last few decades.

Basses are now mass produced and outsourced to overseas operations all in the effort to keep them as affordable as possible. While this is great for the typical musician, the professionals and perfectionists among us have often lamented that many of the instruments just don’t feel or sound as good as the basses made back in the 60s and 70s.

Part of the reason for this could be using inferior woods, rushing the manufacturing process and not allowing even the quality woods to age sufficiently.

Perhaps in an effort to trim back costs to compete in the global market place, wages were reduced to the point where it’s not as economically viable for master craftsman and women to be employed at some of the bigger name companies?

Whatever the reason, the best advice I’ve heard and often repeated when it comes time to buy a new instrument – especially one that’s mass produced by one of the more popular brands out there – is to play as many as you can and let your hands and your ears tell you which one to buy.

In a perfect world, you should be able to just walk into a store and pick the model you like the best and get it in your preferred colour and walk out. You wouldn’t worry about another bass sounding better because they’d all sound the same right?  However, even among the most reputable manufacturers the consistency may fluctuate from bass to bass.

With Fenders I’ve heard of some people exclaiming that Made in Mexico basses were as good or better than Made in America basses – but you’ll only find that gem of a great sounding bass at a more affordable price if you’re willing to hunt for it. So again the advice, play every bass you can get your hands on, play every bass in the store and buy the one that sounds and feels the best to you.

Do you see where I’m going with this?Advantages of using a luthier?
Time is a huge factor behind why many people are more than happy to pony up the big bucks for a modern take on a vintage classic. They can chat with the luthier about what they’re looking for and get it made to order – the finish, the string spacing, the woods, the hardware – whatever.

Compared to hitting every music store in every neighbouring city within an hour’s drive; or camping out on Ebay or classified ads sites waiting for a certain vintage bass to come up for sale, the amount of time saved can be tremendous…and we all know that time is money right?

Plus, who’s to say that when you finally do find that vintage Fender that you’ve been pining over for years that you won’t pick it up and find the dreaded ‘dead spot’ after plunking a few notes?

Going the custom route alleviates a lot of those difficulties; many of the luthiers have exceptional warranties to go with the instrument. After all, it’s their name on the headstock and they want to make sure every customer is going to speak highly of their products and customer service.

Then again…
Boutique basses aren’t really about a particular style of music, or the status of the player – you don’t have to be a celebrity to own these high end basses (and I’d argue that the vast majority of owners are nowhere near famous)– the instrument just needs to offer that something that you can’t easily find elsewhere to make it worth the cost.

For some, it’s a replica of a vintage bass guitar that they always loved but could never find. For others, a boutique bass is where they get to tailor things like the weight, the neck shape and depth or the number of strings that the mass produced versions just can’t do in an economical fashion. Still others want the best of traditional styling and a 20 fret fingerboard along with modern features like a low b string and active electronics.

Whatever your reason, boutique basses are worth a closer look whether you find modern instruments lacking or covet extremely rare vintage bass guitars that are in short supply.

In the end you might find the biggest pain is not how much the custom basses cost, but the agony of waiting for your boutique bass to be built!

You can learn more about boutique bass guitars and more by visiting http://bassguitarrocks.com/how-do-i-buy-a-custom-boutique-bass-guitar
– thanks for reading!

Rumble Seat Music – Vintage Guitar Dealer Interview

September 28, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

Rumble Seat Music was founded in 1993 and since then has focused mainly on supplying demanding customers with only the finest quality vintage guitars and used instruments.

We here at Vintage&Rare.com were lucky enough to catch owner Eliot Michael from Rumble Seat Music for a quick word.

Hey Eliot. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Could you please tell us a little bit about Rumble Seat Music and where you are located? How long have you been in the business?
We are located in Ithaca, NY approximately 4 hours north of New York City. We have been in business over 20 years.

What initially led you to set up shop, and when did you get started in the guitar business?
The desire to sell the best Used and Vintage Guitars to players locally and internationally.

Do you deal more in higher end vintage guitars or more recent issue used guitars?
We deal in both high end Vintage and recent used guitars.

How about amplifiers and effects pedals?
We have a large collection but we do not sell them as our main focus.

What are some of your personal favorite guitars and amps and why?
We love 1958-60 Les Pauls for their beauty, craftsmanship, and unsurpassed tone. Pre-CBS Fender’s, early Gretsch‘s and Rickenbacker’s are also some of our favorites. We also love the sound of early 70′s Marshall amps.

What kind of instruments and gear are you carrying in your shop?
We carry only the highest quality Used and Vintage instruments.

Are you a guitarplayer yourself?
Yes…..all of us in the store play guitar.

Are there a general trend to the people who purchase from you?
We sell to all types of players……..from beginning guitarists, collectors, and professional players. We have dealt with many top touring and recording artists.

How has the Internet impacted vintage guitar collecting?
The internet has opened many doors to buy, sell, and trade vintage guitars worldwide.

What advice would you give to somebody who would like to collect vintage guitars?
Only purchase guitars from dealers who have a solid reputation and sell quality instruments that they stand behind. Most importantly buy guitars that you like!

Great. Thank you again for speaking to us.

Check out Rumble Seat Music here, on their own site, on Facebook, and on Youtube.

Interview with Nick Matsikas from Matsikas in Athens, Greece

September 23, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

Dionysios Matsikas is a small luthier and guitardealer in Athens, Greece, specializing in traditional hellenic instruments. Here at Vintage & Rare.com we caught up with Nick Matsikas to ask him a few questions about the shop.

Hey Nick. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How and when was your company started?
The company was established in 1979 from Dionysios Matsikas. He started making instruments as a hobby and from his great love for music and instrument construction, he started building Hellenic instruments at a small workshop in Athens.

What initially got him into building guitars and why specifically hellenic instruments?
Initially Dionysios Matsikas was infatuated with the idea of making these instruments and when he saw other luthiers building them, the whole idea began. He choose hellenic traditional instruments because of the impact they had on customers with their sound and because of the difficulty of making them.

How do you think your work is different from other guitar builders?
The work is very different because though these instruments may look like a guitar but they are totally different. From construction up to playing them.

Do you have one piece that is your favorite or that makes you the most proud in terms of craftsmanship, sound, look, and so forth?
We do have some custom instruments that are above the rest production and their body is made and look like a fishbone. Made from 4 different woods it is very hard to tell how all these small pieces actually builded and glued together.

Do you consider musical styles or genres when building your guitars?
We do concider hellenic style of music when building them but mainly the instrument is Ethnic and solo instrument so you can play what ever you feel like with it. Each instrument makes it’s own sound. Even of you build to instruments from the same woods the result will be still different, in sound.

What accomplished musician would you most like to see play your guitars, and why?
I would like to see all types of tringed musicians play with it because of it’s playability.

Any last thoughts?
Just try playing it and you will love it. Just as every new musician does.

That recommendation is hereby passed on. Thank you again Nick for speaking to us.

Check out Matsikas here.

Interview with Baker Rorick from the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase

September 21, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

In Oct 2010 we had the pleasure of attending the Luthiers Invitational Showcase located in beautiful Woodstock, NY.

Here we met with alot of the greatest luthiers from US and had a splendid time. Here is an interview with show founder, Baker Rorick on the upcoming 2011 show.

Hi Baker, thank you for taking your time to speak to Vintage&Rare on the forthcoming Woodstock Invitational show in Oct 2011.

Could you give us a brief history of Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase, and how the show originated?
As a steel-string journalist, I was working on an article about Ken Parker Archtops in 2008. At the time, Ken’s shop was only an hour away from Woodstock, and he asked me to help him arrange a showing of his radical new guitars to the Woodstock musicians and builders community. Some other instrument makers asked to be included, and then we invited a few more, and assembled a small group, 8 or 9 luthiers. Cooperative effort, everybody pitched in a $100 each and we rented The Colony Café for a Saturday afternoon in October for a private party, show & tell, meet the makers, play some guitars, hear some music, fresh apple cider and pumpkin pie. The party was by invitation only, thus the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase. We expected 40 or 50 people to come, over 100 showed up. Our local paper The Woodstock Times published a 2-page color article about it afterwards, and people started asking me if would be an annual thing, maybe with concerts and clinics and workshops and open to the public? With thirty years of experience in the guitar business, some connections and good will, and no real idea of what I was getting myself into, I decided to give it a try.

At January 2009 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim I floated the idea around and met with potential sponsors. Michael Gurian introduced me to Tom Ribbecke, a founder of the original Healdsburg Guitar Festival, who said, “count me in!” Dick Boak of Martin Guitars encouraged me to join ASIA, the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans, publishers of Guitarmaker Magazine. In June 2009 I attended ASIA Symposium, four days of builders workshops and colloquia in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Ken Parker introduced me to Julius Borges, founder of the Newport Guitar Festival, and Linda Manzer and many other great builders I knew only by reputation, who were all supportive. I introduced myself to John Monteleone and asked if he would consider showing at a small event in Woodstock, maybe 20 exhibitors? He said “yes”! My thought was to try for something different, small, select, a party and celebration of the luthiers art and the music inspired by the instruments.

A few weeks later I attended a concert by Laurence Juber in Woodstock, and was telling a friend (a fine jazz guitarist with a fine collection of fine guitars by notable makers) about my plans and who was getting involved, and the woman he was sitting with said, “You’re doing what, with who? This is my life! How can I help?” And so I met Sharon Klein, a singer/songwriter, classical and fingerstyle guitarist who also plays lute and oud, with her own collection of handmade acoustic instruments by notable makers, and she became my Production Partner and Music Coordinator. Sharon has toured extensively in the Middle East, and she attracted the interest of Faruk Turunz, the master oud maker, and Suleyman Aslan, a maker of baglamas and flamenco guitars, who came from Istanbul, Turkey to show their instruments in America for the first time. With their participation we were able to get Ara Dinkjian and Haig Manoukian and other great American Middle Eastern musicians to play concerts, promoting musical diversity and setting the Woodstock Invitational apart from the other handmade acoustic shows that usually only feature fingerstyle guitarists and a little jazz. Sharon Klein’s wide-ranging network also brought in classical and flamenco builders and performers – including her old friend Vicki Genfan, and she also insisted that we present instructional clinics and workshops, and she made it all work. The Bearsville Theater seemed the perfect small venue, with room for a couple dozen exhibitors in the theater, and performance space in the adjoining Lounge, and we set the date again for the third weekend in October, 2009, resplendent in the full autumn color of the Catskill Mountains. Jeff Doctorow brought close to a dozen significant instruments from his large collection for a Special Exhibit, including vintage harp guitars and the multiple-neck 42-string Pikasso that Linda Manzer had built for the late Scott Chinery.

People came! They bought guitars! Faruk Turunz sold every oud he had brought. The music was fantastic, luthier mini-concerts and special appearances, high-points being Vicki Genfan, Ara Dinkjian Trio with Tamer Pirnarbasi on Turkish kanun, hard be-bop jazz guitar by Eddie Diehl and Ilya Lushtak, and Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams closing the Showcase Sunday evening with Happy Traum and John Sebastian sitting in, magic, and only in Woodstock. All the luthiers said “How are you going to make it bigger? Please don’t move it; we love the venue.”

So for 2010 we added a second venue next door in Todd Rundgren’s old Utopia Soundstage for vendors, sponsors and some overflow luthiers, and another Special Exhibit. Tonewood dealers and tool and parts suppliers did particularly well. We presented a “String Sampler” concert featuring Vicki Genfan, Ara Dinkjian Trio with Tamer Pinarbasi, Bill Keith & Mark Patton, and Vic Juris. We were able to get Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo to play for an hour Sunday afternoon, and they brought Julian Lage along with them and tore the roof off the place! Woodstock resident Steve Earle showed up and bought a radical new nylon-string flamenco guitar from Michihiro Matsuda. And once again, Larry & Teresa closed the show, this time with Happy Traum and Doug Wamble sitting in.

VintageandRare CEO Nicolai with master luthier John Monteleone at the 2010 show

What would you consider to be the shows focus and direction?
The Show’s focus is HANDMADE, ACOUSTIC guitars and stringed instruments, by only the best contemporary builders. No factory guitars, no solidbody electric guitars. The other main focus is the builders and players community, the music made that inspires the builders and the musicians who get to play their instruments. It’s about the hang and the vibe. We also try to provide musical and instrumental diversity; not just steel-string fingerstyle folk blues Celtic and DADGAD, but Jazz, Middle Eastern, African, Latin, and anything wonderful we can find that no-one’s ever heard before.

What do you envision for the future growth of the W.I.L.S?
I’m growing it slowly, learning by doing, taking advantage of opportunities presented more than planning ahead. It’s incredibly fluid. I’m gratified by the success so far; the venues and location and time of year and proximity are all factors, especially the intimacy of the thing. I don’t want to move it to a convention center or something to make it larger and destroy the vibe.

How many builders do you anticipate exhibiting at this years show? Please tell us a bit about the range of guitars that will be on showcase at the show?
We’ve got about 35 luthiers and 15 vendors and sponsors exhibiting this year; luthiers only in the Bearsville Theater, more luthiers and vendors and sponsors in the Utopia Soundstage, including The C.F. Martin Custom Shop this year, very exciting.

Archtops, Classical and Flamenco and steel-string flattops, hybrids, cross-over guitars, 12-string baritones, high-tuned unison 12-string mando/guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, claw-hammer banjos, African koras, mbiras, ndungus, and cookie-tin diddley bows. I’m hoping that Michi Matsuda will bring his radical, experimental Cubist-deconstruction ukulele. Oh, yeah, and harp guitars, Michel Pellerin from Quebec, and Linda Manzer, whose 42-string Pikasso made for Scott Chinery will be there.

Any special attractions you have planned for this years show?
This year we’re hosting Kinobe & The African Sensation. Kinobe is a young Ugandan kora player and maker, and an international touring artist. David MacCubbin, a fine steel-string flattop guitar maker from Maryland, has been co-building some contemporary koras with Kinobe while Kinobe and two of his brothers are in the USA . We hooked up. Kinobe will be playing as part of our String Sampler kick-off concert, with Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo Guitar Duet and The American Guitar masters – Larry Pattis & Peter Janson. Plus, he and his brothers will be showing and playing some of their instruments (the brothers make and play n’dungus, mbiras and other traditional African stringed things) at the Showcase itself.

And there is always a “Special Exhibit of Significant Historic, Vintage and Contemporary Guitars and Stringed Instruments”, loaned by collector and authority Jeff Doctorow and other collectors and institutions: North American guitars from the early 1800s to the present, including harp-guitars, Sympitars, cello-guitars, oddities and innovations, plus antique and vintage lutes, ouds and stringed-exotica.

What has the public attendance been for past shows? What do you anticipate for attendance at this years show?
Miraculously, we had close to 1500 paid attendees last year. I expect the same or maybe more again in 2011.

Three Tom Ribbecky guitars on display

Thank you Baker for taking the time to talk to us. Hope all goes well with this years show.

Interview with Kim Kix of PowerSolo

March 11, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

Yesterday VintageandRareTV went to Kødbyen in Copenhagen to meet up with Kim Kix of Danish band PowerSolo. Kix and PowerSolo held a release party for their fifth album “Buzz Human” at the venue Bakken.

Kim shows us his vintage Höfner guitar and talks about his live setup of pedals and his amps and reveals a couple of future plan for the band.

“Buzz Human” is out on Crunchy Frog on Monday, February the 14th.

Enjoy!

Kari Nieminen/Versoul Interview

January 27, 2011

| Author: Vintage & Rare

At Vintageandrare.com we would like to introduce a new feature on our blog: The V&R-interviews. The purpose of this is to give a slight introduction to some of the amazing people, who build, sell or just plainly love their instruments as much as we do.

Our first headliner is the renowned Kari Nieminen, who is the mastermind of  the magnificent Versoul, residing in Helsinki, Finland. Karis stringed instruments has attracted a lot of attention from some cool customers, and here, Kari lifts the shroud on what lies behind his success in the business.

Raya6_Baritone_electric_guitar_Versoul-2

A closer look at the rockin’ custom made Raya for Billy Gibbons – Photo by Versoul

Hello, Kari, and thanks for taking your time for this interview. Could you tell us, what initially made you become a luthier?
I started carving wood at age of three in 1963 and when I built my first guitar in 1973 it was technically an easy switch. I have been addicted to music since early 1970′s. Music has been a generator for my career; rock, blues and soul are the most important styles. At 17 I got my first guitar order and after since I have been experimenting with materials and technics. At 20 I built my first acoustic influenced by The Everly Brothers guitar sound.
I’m educated as an industrial designer and a self learnt guitar builder, so my approach to guitar building is different compared to traditional luthiers. I’m always searching and developing new concepts and ideas for new instruments, which are based on deep knowledge and analysis of guitar history and evolution.

Raya6_Baritone_electric_guitar_Versoul-1

What has been your biggest challenge?
You have to be very patient since it takes at least 10 years to get more renowned and establish your brand at certain level. When you are a one man company you have plan your time and resources carefully. A major part of my work is communicating with clients and travelling to meet up with musicians and media for Versoul promotion.

What is your biggest dream of building someday?
Well, I’m only trying to make better instruments for open-minded musicians who would then use them as tools in the creative process of making immortal music.

Which was the first instrument you made?
I was about 13 years old in 1973 when I built my first guitar, an electric solid body at home. You may find a picture of it at my website’s gallery. (We did, red).

Kari and his first, selfmade electric guitar – Private photo

What instrument have you been most proud of?
There are several instruments, actually.
There are the Kenny Burrell Jazz Models: A “Kenny Burrell Jazz Model 6-string” and a “Kenny Burrell Jazz Model 12-string” acoustic guitars made for jazz-guitar legend Kenny Burrell. I have also made a series of custom Raya electric guitars for ZZ Top-guitarist Billy F Gibbons, which made him so pleased that he named the models as ‘Raya Billy F Gibbons Blue Light Specials‘. Also I have built three custom 10-string guitars for Keith Richards during the last three years. Dusty Hill of ZZ Top bought my one of kind Raya Blue Light Bass in 2009 and keeps it at his living room with his favourite basses. My first important customer was Amancio Prada, a well respected Spanish artist, who ordered and plays my Touco Classical guitar. We have to remember that Spain is the home of the classical guitar and Amancio already owned the best, historical Spanish classical guitars. That order meant a lot.

What type of wood is your preferred, when building an instrument?
Of course the quality is important, wood have to be well seasoned and cut right. I use East Indian rosewood for fingerboards, back and sides & parts for acoustics and electrics. Also a bit of ebony fingerboards and parts. Red cedar and spruce for acoustic tops. Alder for electric guitar and bass bodies. Maple and aspen for neck material. Also curly and very rare visa birch for electric guitar tops. During last ten years I have been experimenting with domestic woods: alder and aspen. We have to remember, ecological aspects are more and more important, since certain tropical hardwoods have been over cut and are in danger of disappearing and have fortunately been protected. Therefore I do not use mahogany anymore.
The most essential thing about building guitars, is to use the right construction materials in balance with lightness, stiffess, resonance, flexibility, all combined with aesthetic aspects.

How did you get in touch with people like Ronnie Wood, Roger Daltrey and Billy Gibbons?
Around 2000 I got a great dealer, Westwood Music from Los Angeles. The owner, Fred Walecki, had very nice contacts and plenty of hi-end customers. Roger Daltrey was one of them. He got very excited by my Buxom acoustic guitar and wanted to help me, so he called Alan Rogan, a highly respected guitar technician. Alan has worked with George Harrison, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, AC/DC, John Fogerty, Joe Walsh, Keith Richards; etc.

Kari and Ronnie Wood – Photo by Alan Rogan

So, I sent two guitars to Alan and he was very impressed. First he introduced Versouls to Ronnie Wood. According to Rogan, Ronnie hardly even get excited by guitars, but after checking the Versouls, he immediately wanted to buy both. Since then, Ronnie has bought 6 other Versouls.
In 2006 I bought Billy Gibbons’ book ‘Rock’n’ Roll Gearhead’ and that inspired me to build a special Raya guitar with a Blue Light and perforated steel sides in a gold leaf finished body.
After one round of trying to get in touch with Billy, his long time friend Elwood Francis contacted me by chance. Elwood was working for Rich Robinson of Black Crows. Anyway, nice timing, so I sent some photos of the Raya Blue Light to Elwood and immediately afterwards, Billy wanted to buy it.

Were they demanding customers?
Yes, after all guitar is a communicating tool for them. Ronnie knows exactly what he wants; not only sound wise, as he is a visual artist himself, who understand aesthetic values a great deal. Also Billy Gibbons has played hundreds of guitars, and he’s very hard to please sonically and visually. Besides this, Billy has very creative ideas of guitars.

What did they like about your specific style of building guitars?
Ronnie and Billy both like the Versoul uniqueness: The sound and playability & ergonomics combined with unique artistic features.
Ronnie Wood has bought two Raya Electric Baritones 6 string models, Raya Blue Lite Electric Guitar, Buxom 12 Acoustic Guitar (my gift to Ronnie when he turned 60) and a Henry Gold Leaf Top Electric Guitar.
These Versouls he used on the Bigger Bang Tour with The Rolling Stones.
In addition to this, he has bought Buxom 6 String Acoustic Guitar, which he for example used in the BBC Documentary about him. Also he has bought Resosun 6 String Electric Acoustic resonator guitar and Raya Electric and Buxom Acoustic Baritones, both 12 String Models.

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The custom made Raja guitars for Billy Gibbons – Photo by Versoul

The first guitar, Billy bought, was the above mentioned Raya Blue Light. a solid body guitar in gold leaf finished body. Right after that, he ordered two Raya Custom versions with chambered bodies and Les Paul scale length and all gold leaf finish, body and neck with chrome hardware. Billy was so pleased with his new Versouls that he named the model as Raya Billy F Gibbons Blue Light Special.
A year later he bought a Baritone 6 string version of the model concerned. In the summer of 2010 Billy then bought a Black finished Raya Billy F Gibbons Blue Light Special with gold hardware.
Billy has used his Versouls both on ZZ Top Tours and several other performances, like at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK in 2010 with Jeff Beck and Jimmie Vaughan.

Visit Kari and Versoul at his website and have a look at the awesome craftmanship. It made Ronnie Wood and Billy Gibbons turn their heads, and yours will too. You should also check our current list of our associated dealers at Vintageandrare.com.

Interview with Moollon Musical Instruments

July 22, 2010

| Author: Vintage & Rare

Moollon is a company producing a range of effects pedals that will guarantee to catch your eye and stop you in your tracks. With a number of leading guitarists using their products, Guitar Jar catches up with Moollon manager Andreas Roselund to find out more about the company, its products and their fascinating artwork.

…the artwork etched on Moollon pedals and guitars are inspired by existing traditional Korean art pieces found in palaces, temples, and various preserved works, the rest being original designs…

Hi Andreas, before we discuss the range of Moollon products in more detail, can you give our readers a rundown of the history of the Moollon company?
Moollon was founded in 2002 by Young Joon Park and CG Ji, who were both active musicians and guitar builders that had gone to art school together back in the 1980s, studying sculpting. ‘As individuals who had quite an expansive collection of vintage guitars and amps along a penchant for traditional Korean art, they had in mind a plan to start building pedals and guitars together early on.’ After a several years of planning and testing, the first pedal (Moollon Overdrive) was released, along with a few custom guitars. Winter NAMM 2004 was pretty much the debut of the gear for international release, and things have expanded since.

Do Moollon focus on producing a particular type of effects pedal or do you like to cater for most types of effects?
Although there are now about a dozen and a half Moollon pedals in production, drive pedals of different sorts have primarily the focus of Moollon designs. Young Joon especially wanted to get some of the best vintage overdrive tones he’d enjoyed from the 1960s into a very convenient package, hence the early release of the Moollon Overdrive, along with the Distortion and various vintage-spec fuzzes, even leading up to the rather unique Class A Boost, which is a point-to-point wired 3-band silicon transistor boost.

Which effect is your best selling pedal?
Although we’ve had fairly steady sales across the line, the Overdrive has pretty much been the consistent seller worldwide, although the Compressor is remarkably popular here in Korea and is slowly gaining respect abroad.

I’ve been aware of your effects pedals for a number of years, mainly due to the stunning artwork engraved into the units. Can you tell us where the idea came from to engrave your pedals? Do you use the same artist to create all the designs for the complete range of Moollon effects?
Young Joon and CG told me years ago how they wanted to produce a line of products that had an exterior that was just as impressive as the effect itself, so decided to employ their skills as artists to create an effect that could only be done by hand, albeit a labour-intensive process. They both had learned chemical etching in college and had done it enough to apply the art in fine detail on aluminium alloy, so it seemed only logical for them to try things out on commonly-used aluminium enclosures used for effect pedals. The artwork etched on Moollon pedals and guitars are all CG’s designs as well, many derived from or inspired by existing traditional Korean art pieces found in palaces, temples, and various preserved works, the rest being original designs. CG comes up with a design concept, and has it sketched and rendered in detail on his PC before he has the design printed to a silkscreen and subsequently etched, buffed, and inked. They had considered laser engraving and other methods early on, but felt that the “hand worked” idea shouldn’t be limited to just the circuitry. As a result, due to the inconsistent effect of acid on the aluminium surface and how each enclosure takes to buffing, no two pedal enclosures are exactly alike and we admittedly have to discard quite a few along the way, but we’re satisfied with the final effect with those that make it into the hands of the customers. I guess one could say that each pedal is unique.

How have you found the recent global financial crisis and is it difficult to compete against the mass produced manufacturers like BOSS?
We’re a team of 5. Young Joon designs and wires the VintAge Series pedals, winds the Moollon pickups, and builds the Classic series of Moollon guitars, CG builds the Custom Shop guitars and does all of the etched designs, electronics engineer Hyungwoo designs digital pedals, wires the BufferAge Series pedals and forthcoming models, and full-time builder Suhyun works on BufferAge Series Pedals and does domestic sales. As the newest member of the team (I’ve been with Moollon just under 4 years now), I get to do this-and-that and handle dealer/distributor/customer service, along with artist relations.

As a low-volume pedal and guitar builder company that still hasn’t received that much exposure in the world market, the past few years have certainly been a bit trying for us, and the temptation to diverge from Moollon’s original pursuit of “everything vintage” tone-wise has no doubt been on our minds, especially when we see fantastically innovative pedals consistently coming from some of the bigger makers. However, Young Joon and the staff have never thought of companies like Boss as “the competition”, and have candidly expressed that despite the fact that their goal has been and will always be “quality vintage tones”, there can always be lessons learned from companies like Boss. Case in point, we’ve been more than satisfied to see an esteemed guitarist as Derek Trucks using the Moollon Compressor, and were very happy to hear the nice things that Blues Saraceno also had to say about it at Winter NAMM 2009. Just the same, I have a feeling we’re not the only boutique pedal maker who both appreciates and knows the value of the influence that a giant like Boss has had with the design and endearing qualities of the CS-2. There always seems to be something to learn, and there’s a certain degree of unspoken respect around the Moollon shop for those who have gone before us, be it Pete Cornish or an unknown electronics engineer in Hamamatsu.

How do you maintain your motivation and enthusiasm in driving the business forward?
I’d say the majority if it all stems from the feedback we get from artists. When a guitarist we’re fond of give us a chance and tries out our stuff, we’re already smiling, but if he or she tops that off a few weeks later with some words of approval, we’re quite chuffed. It definitely can make those slow days coming into the shop worth more than it might seem.

Moollon has an impressive amount of guitarists using your products. Do you approach them for endorsements?
Yes we do, although as of yet we’ve never had the budget for an all-out endorsement of sorts. We may make just a handful of pedals a day, but nonetheless feel grateful to pass on a couple or more to those we’re musically fond of, given the opportunity. Most of this goes on either at the Winter NAMM show or (granted that we know the right folks) when an artist on tour passes through Asia and does a show here in Korea. As primary builder and president, Young Joon makes a concerted effort to meet them in person and answer questions directly when given the chance. It’s otherwise a little bit of this and that, as we also get a fair amount of regular email from guitarists looking for endorsements.

Crispian Mills (Kula Shaker) is one of the most recent artists to have custom shop pedals created in his honour. Can you tell our readers more about these pedals?
It’s been such a pleasure to be in touch with Crispian Mills and hear him make good use of Moollon pedals on his recent recordings, and we’re most certain he is one who shares a lot of appreciation of classic rock tones that inspired Young Joon and CG’s founding of the company in the first place. This past year, Crispian made an interesting proposal about a pedal idea, and after several months we have a few special designs now headed toward regular production, including a signature Fuzz 14 and VintageWah in the works, hopefully ready for release sometime this year. While this was all going on, CG also wanted to build him a one-of-a-kind “Strangefolk” guitar, that united both an etched guitar face of Moollon patterns, paired with some personalized images and ideas from Crispian himself, and we were pleased to work closely with him on the custom design that resulted. It’s definitely one of the more impressive things CG has done, combining red and black ink on the recessed etched areas for a really unique look.

How long does it take to design and manufacture a pedal once you receive a request from a guitarist?
Since all staff members are hands-on and have little reserve time outside of what we do, custom pedals (and guitars, for that matter) can take quite a while, and it is honestly very rare that we can actually accommodate a custom request. R&D time with circuit design is half of the work, the other being the enclosure design, which can take several weeks for CG to render before being satisfied with a final design.

Can we purchase the custom shop pedals from dealers or do we have to order directly from Moollon?
The Custom Shop OD/DS and 3-Plus are regular production items and can be both ordered from our dealers or (if no dealer is in one’s country) direct from our shop. As for the Custom Shop guitar line, due to the one-off nature of each model, they are usually ordered from us direct but can also be purchased through Ludlow Guitars in New York.

Can you tell our readers more about the guitars and pickups Moollon produce? Are you seeing an increasing amount of guitarists opting for Moollon guitars?
Young Joon has a massive collection of vintage guitars and amplifiers from the 50s and 60s in his private studio, and spent many years with CG in research while trying to hear what exactly was going on with those early production instruments in the context of how they were being used, all the way from a guitar’s wood and how many layers of lacquer they were finished in, to tone that could only come from less than perfect transformers used in old amps, even the surprisingly odd output resistance pairings in pickups from late 1950s Gibson Les Pauls we’ve chanced upon (more on that later!). Young Joon calls such factors the starting point for Moollon’s raison d’etre in regard to guitar building, and has repeatedly stressed how one must never assume that “shape equals tone”, regardless of assumed materials used: there are simply too many variables involved that need to be attended to in order to have a guitar behave like a vintage piece.

The Classic Series, for example, is an effort to simply do nothing more than be faithful to some original designs that resulted in some historically authentic tones, all topped off with Young Joon’s own handwound pickups based on vintage units from his collection. As a part of this process, he also asserts the importance of nitrocellulose lacquer being applied in micro-thin layers, in order to preserve the wood’s natural resonance characteristics, and takes his time with the application of 15 coats or so over several weeks time with each guitar. The Classic Series debuted this year at the Winter NAMM show.

When CG builds a Moollon Custom Shop guitar, the variables take a slightly different turn with the addition of the aluminium face that goes on most of them, which not only provides excellent shielding from single coil pickup noise but also can slightly darken the overall tone of an excessively bright ash body, for example. There are also more options with the Custom Shop line: As we have no CNC machines in our shop, each neck is shaped by CG to a customer’s preferred grip, and is mated to a custom wound set of pickups that best suits the tonal personality of guitar at hand (not just the kind of wood) , usually testing with a few slightly different winds of the same Moollon pickup series to see how the guitar best responds, also taking into consideration what kinds of tone colours the customer tells us he/she is after during our in-shop consultations. All in all, there is a little more study that goes into each Custom Shop guitar to come up with a result that will satisfy both us and the customer who has placed the order.

As for interest and sales, the Moollon Classic series has become a very popular option here in Korea for those who can’t afford a high-end import guitar but would still rather not compromise on quality and tone with an otherwise more affordable product. We have local musicians come into the shop almost daily, spending time to test demo models with different woods and pickups, and talk about the options available with Young Joon and CG, factors no doubt which influence them to buy a Moollon guitar or not. On the other hand, things are admittedly a wee bit quiet in the international scene. The fact that we have built and exported abroad so few of them certainly adds to the lack of knowledge about them, but we get regular emails about each guitar line and have seen a definite increase in interest in Moollon guitars over the past few years.

…the next 12 months, we’re looking at the debut of a “modern line” of pedals in all-new diecast enclosures, including the Modern Distortion and Modern Overdrive (both with boost circuits), in addition to a digital chorus and simplified delay…

The pickups Young Joon winds are very era-specific and are based off of his own personal vintage collection. One unique thing about how they are paired is that he never specifies the position of each when we ship out a set in a box (listing only the specific output resistance of each), much to the surprise of numerous customers who have asked why. He’ll often reply with a curious answer, firstly how factory-specified pickup positions are a rather contemporary option that is not necessarily true to vintage, and elaborates with the following story: Many years ago, he had the chance to handle a dear friend’s original ’59 Gibson Les Paul “Burst” and check the output of the factory pickups in original positions, and contrary to his expectation was surprised to find the guitar came out of the factory with a neck pickup wound nearly 1k ohm stronger than that of the bridge. A good amount of additional investigation revealed it wasn’t an isolated case among late 50s Gibsons by any measure, and he soon felt that one’s preferred tone in modern instruments with vintage-spec pickups should not disregard something as simple as pickup height in favour of pickup output. Long story short, Moollon pickups are made to encourage a player to use them in the positions one seems fit and to play about with pickup height to achieve one’s desired tone, rather than us dictating how they should be used. That being said, Young Joon always pairs a set with specific tones in mind.

Although relatively unknown due to limited orders from our dealers, we’ve seen a rather favourable response to the pickups so far, the latest being an exciting interaction with veteran L.A. session guitarist Michael Thompson this past year, who was having a guitar built for him by luthier Greg Back. They dropped by at our booth at the Winter NAMM show and Michael asked us for a set of Moollon VS-64 pickups to specifically put in it, and we were more than happy to oblige. Suffice to say, he later told us some overwhelmingly nice things about them that really got the staff buzzing.

The Moollon factory is burning down. If there was a pedal and guitar you had to save, which models would go for?
I’d grab the first Class A Boost I could see, and if I didn’t burn up first, I’d run back to CG’s workbench to see if I could save a Narcis NC Feldge, though I’m well aware that we don’t keep a regular stock of Custom Shop line!

Lager or Cider?
Can I cheat on this one? I had a Wychwood Hobgoblin while at the pub in the UK Embassy in Seoul a little while ago and have been itching for an ale of equal calibre ever since. With just weak pilsner brews locally being the mundane standard of the masses here in Korea, sometimes a decent lager isn’t even enough!

What’s the future for Moollon? Are there any new pedals in the pipeline? What lies ahead for 2010/11?
The next 12 months are set to have has some of the biggest additions we’ve had since the addition of the Classic Guitar Series, as we’re looking at the debut of a “modern line” of pedals in all-new diecast enclosures, including the Modern Distortion and Modern Overdrive (both with boost circuits), in addition to a digital chorus and simplified delay with nearly all of the bells and whistles featured in our popular Delay (names pending). Built in-house with the same high quality parts used in our BurfferAge and VintAge line, we’re able to cut costs and work time significantly by using non-etched enclosures.

We’re also looking forward to the release of a quality power supply as well. Using a toroidal transformer with no less than twelve independent DC outputs (all switchable from 9v to 12v), three will feature higher amperage ratings for modulation/delay pedals, etc. We have gotten so many requests at the NAMM show over the years to make available the power boxes we build for use at the show (with etched enclosures of a thorny vine), that we felt it was time to finally get to work, each one being hand wired by Moollon engineer Hyungwoo and featuring an all-new etched design on the aluminium enclosure. The first batch will be for the locals over here (220V), but if requests come in from others around the globe, we’ll probably start making them in 240v and 110v as well.

Young Joon has also hinted at a new guitar line for 2011, but that’s news even I’ve yet to hear! Stay tuned, I’m sure we’ll have more info on the Moollon site as new items are released, and any of CG’s new designs and works in progress are usually posted on his blog well before he finishes them: http://blog.naver.com/cgjee.