January 2020 Shop Update

Greetings and Happy New Year!

From myself and this finally complete french polish!

It has been a minute since the last time I sent out an update (or maybe two minutes, definitely much longer than I realized). It was an eventful last half of the year, not the most productive in terms of builds, but things roll on here in the shop. I have had the pleasure of saying goodbye to a couple of instruments, one of which found a new home not far from Oakland, the other made it all the way to Connecticut into the home of the talented Christopher Cavaliere. Check out the videos on his page to see my sunburst rb-0 in action!

Beyond that I have been working bit by bit at my newest walnut guitar, and seeing a reasonable increase in repair work come through the shop. I also took on a second job at the end of the summer, but perhaps most of all, post summer, I have been wrestling with the reality of being a builder still establishing a name in a very expensive city. It is an ongoing balancing act between building work, bill paying work and finding a measure of time to do things other than work.

The year that I spent building full time was really wonderful and I hope to return to that schedule again in the future, but for now it is time to get creative about lutherie work while I am living in Oakland.

I have a few thoughts on how exactly to do this, but zooming out on the problem, a lot of it has to do with becoming more visible in the Bay Area guitar community and in the wider national and international guitar communities. The Vancouver International Guitar Festival was a great chance to step into that wider world, and I really appreciated the experience. Just having the chance to meet so many young and talented Canadian luthiers also establishing themselves and generally being surrounded by many many skilled luthiers was inspiring. Thinking a little closer to home however I have a few ideas moving forward…

Workshops

Over the last year and a half many people have expressed an interest in learning more about building guitars. I have been excited about the idea of offering classes in some format, generally suggesting to those interested that it would be something possible in the future, but that in the present I needed to plan how to do it. With limited space I needed to figure out how to make classes work.

After a lot of consideration I am happy to say that I am now offering one on one instruction in guitar building, in a format a little more familiar to lessons in playing the guitar. Make an appointment and drop by (in person or over the internet) for one on one workshops focused on the specific aspects of guitar construction and set up that you want to learn about! The goal is to provide insights and in depth information about individual aspects of my build process tailored to your individual interests, with a flexible schedule and at a reasonable hourly rate. Check out the workshops page if you are interested in learning more!

Shop Videos

lots of people

of course, do not know what my build process is and unless you have been following me on Instagram (which you should if you don’t…@queencityguitars) you may not know much about how it is I actually put a guitar together. As part of this I am going to begin adding videos and photos detailing a little about my process as I work through my latest guitar and other projects! The first one is up, and I will be aiming to post about a few times a month (for real!). They will appear on the website, but I wont be emailing announcements about them, because I don’t really want to spam your email. They will also be posted to the Queen City Guitars youtube channel for now, and if you do that sort of thing then you might consider giving the channel a follow.

Repairs

I have done a little more work to get my name out there as a guitar repair person, and I have done a little revamping of my repairs page to give folks a better idea of my prices. I will be more actively seeking repair work in the coming months and I would encourage you to drop me a line if you’re in the Bay Area and need some work done. If I have done work for you it would be immensely appreciated if you would take a moment and leave me a review on google. The business should pop up when you google Queen City Guitars. Thanks!

Getting Guitars in the hands of Players

I feel certain that I would like to keep building for the long run, but for now while I continue to live in the Bay Area I face certain realities of the business. As a lesser known builder I find myself in a sort of balancing act about selling instruments. I put a lot of time and care into my guitars and I am confident in the quality of my guitars, and so I want to price them accordingly. I have also built each guitar with the desire for someone to play music on it. Through this challenging last few month I have really appreciated knowing that there are some guitars out in the world that I have made and that are being employed for the purpose that I built them for. For musicians, amateur or professional, aspiring or accomplished (or whatever in between we all might feel comfortable inhabiting), to make music on. I have instruments in stock now which are great instruments waiting to find the right person to play them. I would like to find the balance in finding those people sooner rather than later (they are not making anyone happy living in cases) while still earning enough from the instruments to keep building. Perhaps the best way to gain a reputation is to have those guitars out in the world, sparking joy in the lives of players. As such I am currently offering the instruments I have in stock at a reduced price. I stand behind the quality of each guitar, but the bottom line is that I want them to be used for the purpose to which they were made. My asking price for the guitars currently listed and in my possession (this excludes laurel #6, which is available at Mighty Fine Guitars for $2,499) on the website is $2,000, if you are in the Bay Area I encourage you to drop me a line and come by to play them a little!

That is all for now, keep checking on the website for more updates, and follow me on Instagram and Youtube if you’d like a little more in depth look at my work. Thanks!