Peter P.
01-29-2007, 10:46 PM
If you want an inside look into the milieu of the framebuilding world, you MUST read this book-Clapton’s Guitar, by Allen St. John.
For your benefit, here’s the book’s description from the liner notes:
In 1994, Eric Clapton came across a Wayne Henderson guitar in a recording studio and decided on the spot that he had to have one. Rarer than Stradivarius violins, these musical works of art are built from near-extinct Brazilian Rosewood, Appalachian spruce, black ebony, and fine mother-of-pearl. With Henderson’s keen ear for the vibrations of each piece of wood he uses, each note that comes out of them has the power of a cannon and sweetness of maple syrup.
In “Clapton’s Guitar” Allen St. John recounts how a perfect acoustic guitar comes into the world and how an artist gauges perfection. Wayne Henderson, master luthier and genius in blue jeans, will tell you that he simply puts penknife to wood and carves away “everthing that isn’t a guitar”. This is the story of a master artist, set deep in the mountains of southwestern Virginia in a brick, one-story guitar shop, as busy and chaotic inside as it is simple outside. The space is well-lighted, cluttered with power tools, air hoses, and guitar bodies in various stages of completion. It is in this modest shop that Wayne Henderson crafts some of the most highly coveted acoustic guitars on earth, including one very special instrument he built for Eric Clapton.
Normally, there is a ten-year wait for a Henderson guitar, and St. John finds there are no exceptions even for an iconic figure like Clapton. but seeing it as a shortcut to getting his own guitar done, St. John jump-starts the process, and then takes readers with him on a mesmerizing journey into the heart of high-end instrument making with the man The Washington Post calls the “Mad Scientist of Mountain Music.”
Henderson, a small-town wise man, is not only the star of this book as a master guitar maker but also is the star of any stage he sets foot on as a master guitar player, equally at home at Carnegie Hall or the local VFW hall. Around this drolly humorous man circulates a small coterie of colorful characters and inspired musicians, who welcome you for an all-too-brief visit. By book’s end, you will want to be Wayne Henderson’s friend.
In a rich tapestry of folklore and folksiness, St. John tells the story of building the Clapton guitar in lovng detail, from the centuries-old forests where great tonewood grows, to the auction floor of Christie’s where one of Clapton’s guitars commands over $700,000. It’s also a loving look at Wayne’s corner of the world, the Blue Ridge mountain hamlets where American Traditional music was born, and of Wayne’s hometown of Rugby Virginia, population 7, where the winding roads have kept progress at bay.
Whether you love old-time music, unplugged rock, traditional American craftsmanship, or simply gifted storytelling, Clapton’s Guitar is an engaing work that you will want to savor and share with friends.”
What’s Eric Clapton’s guitar got to do with custom frames? The parallels between the custom guitar world and ours is uncanny. I’m not a guitar player or Clapton fan, but when I saw this book I immediately thought of it’s resemblence to our little custom framebuilding world. You will recognize some of the characters and most likely identify with at least one of them. You’ll get inside the minds and hearts of true artisans much like the well known personalities that visit this forum. And after you’re done you’ll have an even greater appreciation of custom frame builders and the work we so love.
Here’s a sample from the chapter, The State of Mind-page 255. Just change “guitar” to “frame” and you’ll see what I mean.
“And once you scratch the surface, you realize the guys who build these guitars have a lot in common too. Wayne and T.J. are both men of integrity. The work hard. They don’t take shortcuts. They know and care about the people they’re building guitars for. And they’re both humble-restoring magnificent preware 000-45s will do that for you.
They also build guitars for the right reasons. Neither Thompson nor Hendeson is motivated by money. They don’t use dollars and cents as a way to keep score. They could build many more guitars each years if they turned away some of their repair work, or farmed out some of the grunt work to assistants. And they could charge far more for their instruments. Neither of them has ever solicitied a sale. Indeed, Thimpson goes out of his way to actively dissuade new guitar customers, insisting that they go out and try the instruments made by other companies and other builders before he’ll consider putting them on his list.
“”I only want to take the order if I’m the last guy on the planet who can do it, “” Thompson admitted to me.
Wayne is less blunt about it, but he tells his customers right up front that there’ll be a wait, and most likely a pretty long one. His metamessage: If you want instant gratification, go to Guitar Center.
And they’re both unafraid to tackle a daunting challenge head-on. Take the best guitars ever buildt, and try to build new ones that may one day sound just as good. Is it an ego thing? What artist-or craftsman-desn’t have a sense of his own place in the pecking order? But really, it’s a community service project.”
For your benefit, here’s the book’s description from the liner notes:
In 1994, Eric Clapton came across a Wayne Henderson guitar in a recording studio and decided on the spot that he had to have one. Rarer than Stradivarius violins, these musical works of art are built from near-extinct Brazilian Rosewood, Appalachian spruce, black ebony, and fine mother-of-pearl. With Henderson’s keen ear for the vibrations of each piece of wood he uses, each note that comes out of them has the power of a cannon and sweetness of maple syrup.
In “Clapton’s Guitar” Allen St. John recounts how a perfect acoustic guitar comes into the world and how an artist gauges perfection. Wayne Henderson, master luthier and genius in blue jeans, will tell you that he simply puts penknife to wood and carves away “everthing that isn’t a guitar”. This is the story of a master artist, set deep in the mountains of southwestern Virginia in a brick, one-story guitar shop, as busy and chaotic inside as it is simple outside. The space is well-lighted, cluttered with power tools, air hoses, and guitar bodies in various stages of completion. It is in this modest shop that Wayne Henderson crafts some of the most highly coveted acoustic guitars on earth, including one very special instrument he built for Eric Clapton.
Normally, there is a ten-year wait for a Henderson guitar, and St. John finds there are no exceptions even for an iconic figure like Clapton. but seeing it as a shortcut to getting his own guitar done, St. John jump-starts the process, and then takes readers with him on a mesmerizing journey into the heart of high-end instrument making with the man The Washington Post calls the “Mad Scientist of Mountain Music.”
Henderson, a small-town wise man, is not only the star of this book as a master guitar maker but also is the star of any stage he sets foot on as a master guitar player, equally at home at Carnegie Hall or the local VFW hall. Around this drolly humorous man circulates a small coterie of colorful characters and inspired musicians, who welcome you for an all-too-brief visit. By book’s end, you will want to be Wayne Henderson’s friend.
In a rich tapestry of folklore and folksiness, St. John tells the story of building the Clapton guitar in lovng detail, from the centuries-old forests where great tonewood grows, to the auction floor of Christie’s where one of Clapton’s guitars commands over $700,000. It’s also a loving look at Wayne’s corner of the world, the Blue Ridge mountain hamlets where American Traditional music was born, and of Wayne’s hometown of Rugby Virginia, population 7, where the winding roads have kept progress at bay.
Whether you love old-time music, unplugged rock, traditional American craftsmanship, or simply gifted storytelling, Clapton’s Guitar is an engaing work that you will want to savor and share with friends.”
What’s Eric Clapton’s guitar got to do with custom frames? The parallels between the custom guitar world and ours is uncanny. I’m not a guitar player or Clapton fan, but when I saw this book I immediately thought of it’s resemblence to our little custom framebuilding world. You will recognize some of the characters and most likely identify with at least one of them. You’ll get inside the minds and hearts of true artisans much like the well known personalities that visit this forum. And after you’re done you’ll have an even greater appreciation of custom frame builders and the work we so love.
Here’s a sample from the chapter, The State of Mind-page 255. Just change “guitar” to “frame” and you’ll see what I mean.
“And once you scratch the surface, you realize the guys who build these guitars have a lot in common too. Wayne and T.J. are both men of integrity. The work hard. They don’t take shortcuts. They know and care about the people they’re building guitars for. And they’re both humble-restoring magnificent preware 000-45s will do that for you.
They also build guitars for the right reasons. Neither Thompson nor Hendeson is motivated by money. They don’t use dollars and cents as a way to keep score. They could build many more guitars each years if they turned away some of their repair work, or farmed out some of the grunt work to assistants. And they could charge far more for their instruments. Neither of them has ever solicitied a sale. Indeed, Thimpson goes out of his way to actively dissuade new guitar customers, insisting that they go out and try the instruments made by other companies and other builders before he’ll consider putting them on his list.
“”I only want to take the order if I’m the last guy on the planet who can do it, “” Thompson admitted to me.
Wayne is less blunt about it, but he tells his customers right up front that there’ll be a wait, and most likely a pretty long one. His metamessage: If you want instant gratification, go to Guitar Center.
And they’re both unafraid to tackle a daunting challenge head-on. Take the best guitars ever buildt, and try to build new ones that may one day sound just as good. Is it an ego thing? What artist-or craftsman-desn’t have a sense of his own place in the pecking order? But really, it’s a community service project.”