Apprentice to one of the most influential luthiers takes the guitar world by storm.
Gabriel Currie is a man with deep roots in the guitar building world. He is also a man on a mission. He began his quest as a young man in California, doing work on his friends’ instruments, and soon ended up working for Leo Fender at G&L. Rising through the ranks, Gabriel explored the ins and outs of production guitar techniques, but that wasn’t enough for this intrepid tone chaser. He transitioned to study with master builder Tak Hosano, learning how to craft high quality instruments by hand. He became intimate with species of wood and came to know exactly what he could coax from their hidden grains. Years later, Currie is at Echopark Guitars, fulfilling a dream to build new instruments that encompass the feel, looks, and tones of prized vintage guitars.
Guitar Connoisseur: Would you say that you got an early start with guitars?
Gabriel Currie: I think it hit me like a brick when I was 7 or 8 years old that the guitar was the most amazing thing in the world besides girls. So now I can say it was early enough to look back on my life and honestly not be able to remember a time in my life without the guitar or its influence in my decision making in some way. Is that totally crazy?
GC: What prompted your interest? Were there specific moments that moved you in the direction you eventually were to take?
Denne historien er fra The American Guitar Issue - Summer 2016-utgaven av Guitar Connoisseur .
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Denne historien er fra The American Guitar Issue - Summer 2016-utgaven av Guitar Connoisseur .
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Gales Force Warning: Here He Comes...
Read any of my other pieces on GC and you’ll know that I usually open with some sort of elaborate description of the artist I’m writing about – and often end up struggling to reduce their essence into a paragraph or two.
Antonio Rey: Two Sides Of Me
Flamenco is one of the most beautiful and challenging forms of music. For your standard run of the mill flamenco guitarist, there are no amps, no pedals, no special effects. Your tone is the end result of fingernail, flesh, and angle of attack on the string.
Chelsea Williams: From Street Musician to Studio Recording Artist
Digging in her heels and staying true to her artistic vision: Chelsea Williams bounces back with Boomerang.
Steve Helgeson MoonStone Guitars
Steve Helgeson has a long history of craftsmanship with his moonstone guitars. The man who pioneered the use of quilted maple in luthiery and supplied esteemed players such as j.J. Cale chose long ago not to go the production route. Instead, Steve has focused on constructing the finest handcrafted instruments from top quality materials, combined with dazzling inlay work. Moonstone provides players with a wide range of selections in acoustic and electric instruments including many baritone scales.
Michael Schreiner: Modern Day 19th-Century Luthier
I Once Had A Sick Guitar. Not Just Any Guitar, Mind You. This One Is Truly Special. My Instrument Was Made By The French Builder, René Lacôte, In 1823. Paul Pleijsier In The Netherlands, A Classical And Electric Guitar Player, Also A Researcher Of 19th-century Guitars, Tells Me That Although There Is A Substantial Number In Existence, He Has Cataloged And Documented Only 84 Of These Instruments.By The Early 1800s, Paris Had Become A Center Of Instrument Making And Many Of The Ateliers Churning Out This Newly Popular Instrument Modeled Their Construction After The Instrument’s Coming From Lacôte’s Shop. Of All The Great Instrument Makers Living In Paris At That Time, It Was René Lacôte Who Was Dubbed The “stradivarius Of The Guitar”. He Was A Student And Apprentice To The Famous Pons Family Of Instrument Makers. Joseph Pons, Born In 1776 And Son Of Cesar Pons, Was Commissioned By The Wife Of Napoléon, Empress Marie Louise, To Make A Guitar For Her Favorite Court Musician, Mauro Giuliani.The Many Lacôte Guitars Remaining Today Are All Different, A Fact That Reveals The Master’s Constant Quest To Improve Performance And Playability, Through Developments In Manufacturing Technique, Innovative Features, And Rare Materials.I Found My René Lacôte At A Dealer In Rochester Ny. I Tried About A 6 Or 8 Other 19th Century Guitars, Many Without Labels, And Even A Panormo. You Might Call Panormo The London Rival Of Lacote. The Lacôte Was Not In The Greatest Shape, The Victim Of Numerous Dismal Repairs, And Sporting A Poorly Matched Spruce Patch Under The Bridge. This Was The Result Of A Repair Needed After One Of The Owners Tried To Use Steel Strings On An Instrument That Was Made To Be Played With Gut Strings. The Tension Of The Steel Strings Pulled Off Not Only The Bridge But Most Of The Wood From The Soundboard Below It. It Wasn’t Pretty.
Echo Park Guitars
Apprentice to one of the most influential luthiers takes the guitar world by storm.
The Next Ones the Best One an Interview With John Monteleone
The Galloup School of Lutherie is where I found myself as a student in 2006.
Gildas Dasviken Absolute Luthier
Coming From A Long Line Of Engineers, He Has Been Working In The Corporate World, And He Has Had A Strong Interest In Building And Customizing Instruments. “dasviken” Comes From The French Dialect “breton” From Brittany (Brittany). Gildas Found It On An Antique Wedding Ring That Read “a Tao Feal Das Viken” (Yours For Eternity). His Books Are Inspired By Classics From The Past And Inspiring For Generations To Come Dasviken Also Builds Pedals And Cabinets, All Of Which Abide By One Of My Favorite Quote Of His “Can You Tell Me About The Acoustic And Sonic Quality Of Plastics? No? Me Neither.”
Robben Ford Purple House
In The World Of Blues Guitar, There Are A Million Great Players Yet Few Standout Head And Shoulders Above The Rest Like Robben Ford. Robben Was One Of The Very First And Most Influential Players For Me Personally Since I Was A Young Boy. We Both Grew Up In The Same Rural Area In Northern California’s Coastal Mountains Just Above San Fransisco. He’s A Hometown Hero To Many That Live Here.He Has Given Back To Our Community Greatly Over The Years With Free Local Performances And Even Did An “artist In Residence” Stint At Our Local Junior College (Mendocino College) For A Semester Years Ago. His Brothers Are All Fantastic Musicians As Well And They All Played Together On And Off For Decades As The Ford Brother’s Blues Band. The Amount Of Natural Musical Talent That Runs In The Blood Of The Ford Family Is Astounding To Me. This Assignment Was Finally My Opportunity To Pick The Man’s Brain One On One About His Guitars, Amps, And Pedals. Robben Recently Relocated To Nashville Tn And Is Looking Forward To Spending More Time In The Studio And Less Time On The Road. His Latest Album, Purple House, Was Recorded Much Differently Than His Previous Efforts And You’ll Find Some Very Interesting Information About How He Found The Right Guitars And Amps For This Record Inside This Interview.I Think Many Of You Will Be Very Surprised To Learn That His Telecaster And Dumble Ods Are Nowhere To Be Found On Purple House! This Was A Shock To Me And I Think That It’s A Great Lesson We Can All Learn From The Maestro: Remain Flexible And Always Experiment Even If You Have A $150,000 Holy Grail Dumble Ods That You Need To Put On The Shelf Because It’s Not Working For You!
Unvailing Randy Angella
Randy Angella Of Concord California Is A Self-taught Luthier Who Has Been Crafting Classical Guitars Since 1975. He Is Known To Make Some Of The Very Finest Sounding Classical Guitars Available Today. Randy Has Built Instruments For Many Of The World’s Top Classical Guitar Players. His Studies Are Deep Reaching Into Areas Not Necessarily Specific To The Guitar. Randy’s Designs Go Against The Grain Of The Strict Orthodox Rules That So Many Classical Builders Adhere To. Here Are Some Thoughts He Shared With Me During Our Conversations. “thickness Of The Timbers In Many Guitars Are Very Thin And Lightly Formed. The Operating Theory Being The Law Of Conservation Of Energy. A Given Mass Acted On By A Known Quantity Of Energy, Will Be Accelerated Faster As The Mass Decreases. Inversely, Acceleration Decreases As The Mass Increases. Guitar Makers Reason, Therefore, That To Produce Maximum Volume, Lightly Built Instruments Will Provide The Maximum Sound. You Can Build A Guitar Thinly And Light And It Will Have Some Very Loud Notes. The Problem Is That A Guitar Built With Only That Concept In Mind Will Have Great Volume But May Not Have Great Tone. They Are Different Ideas. I Know A Man That Can Yell So Loud You Can Hear Him From 200 Yards Out. But He Can’t Sing. To Build A Guitar That Sings You Have To Go Deeper Into How It Makes Music And What Is Musical Sound, Then Match Them” Randy Explained. So How Does The Man Go About Doing This? Let’s Find Out...
