Under African Skies

I was recently invited to a screening of a new film called Under African Skies......a documentary celebrating the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon's Graceland album and tour.  The film focuses on the origin of the music and the political controversy that surrounded it.   It is a wonderful film and I highly recommend it.  The film was produced by my friend Jon Kamen of @radical media and was directed by Joe Berlinger.  There are great interviews with Paul and the musicians, Harry Belafonte, Hugh Masekela, Quincy Jones, David Byrne, Peter Gabriel and others. It is packaged with the 25th Anniversary release of the Graceland CD and is available from Amazon at the amazing low price of $14.19!   It is not available yet on Netflix.

I was intimately involved with Graceland from the very beginning.   I was at Paul's apartment around 1985 doing some work on his guitars and he asked me to listen to a cassette he had on a Walkman.  This cassette was the original "Gumboots" tape of South African Music. Paul was just beginning to write melodies and lyrics to those tracks which eventually evolved into Graceland.   When Paul brought the musicians to New York to record the album, I had the honor of supplying guitars to Ray Phiri and John Selolwane.  Ray eventually purchased at least 5 guitars from me.  Paul had three.  During the Graceland tour, I had 6-7 guitars on stage during every performance.

Ray Phiri

John Selolwane

I saw Paul after the screening of Under African Skies and told him how much I would like to see Ray and John again.  He was kind to invite me to the rehearsals.  He is doing a short European tour with the Graceland band.   We can only hope he will do something here in the States later this year.   

I will always consider it an honor and a career highlight to have been involved with Graceland.

More information available at www.paulsimon.com

Rickey Minor

The first time Rickey came to my shop was about 23 years ago.  He had just become Whitney Houston's musical director at the age of 30 (she was 26).  Rickey began working with Whitney when he was 22 and she was 18.  I remember him coming in with his wife Karen and their son Sean who was still in a baby stroller.  What I remember most about that first meeting was what a consummate professional Rickey was.  He was not looking for any "deals" and treated me with great respect for my work.  

I think "consummate professional" really does describe Rickey well.  There are not too many people who can handle the pressures and get the job done like Rickey.  Whitney, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Ray Charles, Beyoncé, big production shows like the Super Bowl, Grammy's, American Idol, Clive Davis's annual Grammy party and now The Tonight Show Band....... Rickey gets the job done.  His professionalism, and his values (which I share) are featured in his book, "There's No Traffic on the Extra Mile".

I was very moved this weekend by watching Whitney Houston's funeral and spent some time the day after with Rickey.  Rickey spent a major part of his career working with Whitney and they were very close.  Over a drink at his hotel, Rickey shared many wonderful memories of Whitney.  She came to the Clive Davis Grammy party rehearsal two days before her death and Rickey commented on how happy she seemed and committed to getting healthy.   Rickey was asked to coordinate the music for Whitney's funeral and gave a warm and loving eulogy.    

I consider it an honor and a privilege to know Rickey and be his friend.  

The Secret of Stradivari

Every few years, an article appears somewhere in the universe claiming to have discovered the "secret" of Antonio Stradivari.   Sometimes it is the varnish, sometimes the climate in which the wood was dried, and sometimes some other voodoo assumption. I have always maintained there is no "secret".  Just the combination of good materials, good craftsmanship and 300+ years of aging and playing.  This article by Nicholas Wade appeared in the January 2nd edition of the New York Times.    It is the first study of it's type that makes any sense to me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/science/in-play-off-between-old-and-new-violins-stradivarius-lags.html

Inspiration!

I just received the following email from Annie Harris regarding her daughter Aubrey.

Dear Mr. Sadowsky

 

I just wanted to say thank you for providing inspiration to my daughter, Aubrey, who decided 2 years ago to play bass when she learned about Tal Wilkenfeld.  At the age of 12 she fell in love with the instrument, but she didn't think girls played the bass.  A quick internet search fixed that.  She saw/heard Tal with one of your basses and it became her goal then and there to become a bass player.

 

Last week was the very first time she was able to play a Sadowsky (A MIM Fender Jazz is her current bass, but she changed the pick guard to black so it looked like Tal's).  We went to our first Talk Bass Get-Together in Rhode Island.  One of the guys had, I believe, a Will Lee model.  It was love at first sight for her!  She tried just about every bass at the event, but kept going back to the Sadowsky.  Someone even had an EBS amp, so she had her "Disney" moment and hooked up to that so she could be "just like Tal" - even though it wasn't the same model, it was close enough!

Some of the guys were trying to talk her out of wanting one so as not to be a "Tal clone".  You should have seen her go at them, defending her choice like a lion - talking about the tone and feel and how nothing else, for her, seemed to compare.  Besides me, she was the only female there but she was not intimidated one bit.  I was really proud of her. 

 

Aubrey posted her "Just Like Tal" picture on Twitter and your team re-tweeted it and now follow her.  I can't tell you how much that means to her - she was thrilled!!! 

She's BassGirl5809 there and on YouTube.  She started by emulating Tal, but is really starting to develop her own style.   Aubrey has a condition called Synesthesia which means she can literally "hear colors", and she's just learning how to use this to help her with her music.  Tal's playing on your bass really helps trigger those colors. 

 

Great things have happened over the past year, she's been so grateful to have such amazing support from the bass community.  She's had two #1 videos of the month (Feb/Sept) on NoTreble.com (Tal and Jaco covers), her YouTube channel has really taken off with over 200,000 hits and over 900 subscribers, she's had some opportunities to sit in with world-class players and she just received a grant from the state of NH to study the history of jazz and blues as an apprentice.

The project is called "Playing it Forward" and the site is http://bassgirl5809.weebly.com.  

One of the planned features of the project will be for her to interview some people in the music business in a segment she's calling "2,5,1- 2 people, 5 questions, 1 goal - To Play it Forward"  Maybe she could interview you :) 

 

All these great things go back to the beginning, so again, I thank you for helping to inspire my little girl.  At 14 she has big dreams of going to Berklee like her father and grandfather (both jazz drummers) and carrying on the family business.  We're saving up for her to have her dream Sadowsky by then!! 

 

All the Best to you and your team!!

Annie Harris

Go Ahead, Make My Day!

Hello Roger. 


I just wanted to send an email expressing how impressed I am with you as a business owner and person. You always take time to respond to forum threads and are always willing to help. This is a quality lacking in today's society. I do not own a Sadowsky bass as I am on disability and money is just not there. I am a proud owner of a fender and gets the job done. I am simply writing to you to let you know that I am your biggest advocate and tell people when possible just what a great product you make and that you are an even better person. Thanks for being such a big help on TalkBass.

Jon.....AKA "stuntbass77"

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

A letter worth sharing....

May 30, 2011

 

Roger and Crew,

 

For the past five or so weeks I have had in my position a wonderfully crafted LS 17. The guitar is everything that I could have hoped for and more. The attention to detail is beyond anything that I have every owned in my 35 plus years of trying to play the instrument. I truly feel that I'm not worthy of having just a wonderful guitar at arms reach anytime I desire to play. The neck is as comfortable as my favorite pair of jeans.

A quick story: When I decided I had interest in one on your guitars, I called the New York shop to try to get more information about the LS 17. I called and a gentleman answered to phone, so I proceeded to go down my list of questions, (understand  I am from Indiana and have never had a Sadowsky Guitar in my hands) all my questions were answered in a fashion that a "hick" from Indiana could comprehend. As the conversation carried on, I wondered, just who was on the other end of the phone? With the expertise that my question were being answered, I asked," Is this Roger that I'm talking to?" The answer was yes, and the order was placed, believe me I had no intention of ordering a guitar that day, but I'm so happy that I did. It is uncommon in this day and age business can still be done of such a personal level.

 

THANKS SO MUCH,

 

Joe Jones

Keith Richards

In 1990, I had just completed my first Electric Nylon guitar when Pierre DeBeauport, then guitar tech for The Rolling Stones, came to the shop to prepare us for working on their instruments in preparation for The Steel Wheels tour.  I showed the Electric Nylon to Pierre and he thought Keith Richards might be interested in it, so I let him take it to Keith to try out.  Keith loved it, purchased #1 and ordered #2.  He used them on the Steel Wheels tour, including on "Paint It Black" and "Ruby Tuesday".

A few weeks ago, Chuck Loeb sent me a photo of Will Lee wearing the following tee shirt!

To view a clip from this concert, go to the following link and start at 14:00 minutes for "Ruby Tuesday".  "Paint it Black", with a great intro by Keith, begins at 39:40.

http://www.yinyuetai.com/video/202633

CITES, LACEY and Endangered Species Laws

There has been a lot of media coverage of the second raid on the Gibson factory in Nashville by armed U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents on August 24.   I was asked by the local NPR station, WNYC, to be a guest on their program "Soundcheck" to discuss these issues, along with Fretboard Journal contributor John Thomas.  John is a professor of law at Quinnipiac University and a guitar enthusiast.  Please check out the articles and listen to the program through this link:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/2011/sep/14/wood-101/

John Abercrombie

I go back a long time with John Abercrombie...and was very proud when one of the T-style guitars I made for him became his main axe for many years:

This guitar has a basswood body, a flame maple top, and a HSH pickup configuration.

Here is a good video of John playing this guitar:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zts2_john-abercrombie-jazz-guitar_music

Unfortunately, the guitar was lost several years ago when John's house burned down. Fortunately, John and his wife escaped personal injury.    Although John had another guitar I had made him (a strat with mini-humbuckers), as well as one of my first Semi Hollow archtops, neither of these guitars made it to "main ax" category.

I am pleased to say that John has fallen in love with another Sadowsky T-style guitar.

This one has a very light and resonant Paulownia body, a Sadowsky humbucker in the neck and a humcancelling T-style pickup in the bridge.  Both pickups split to single coil on the push pull tone knob.

Welcome home, John.

Jonnie Miles

During the late 80's, one of the guitar magazines was doing an article on me and sent Jonnie Miles to do photography.  I recently came across his website and was blown away by what a great photographer he is.  His website is www.jonniemiles.com

Check out his music section under "Portfolio".  This photo was taken at my 1600 Broadway shop and I am going to guess it was the late 80's.

Bob Mann

Bob Mann has been a studio giant for decades......producing, arranging and playing guitar with Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Steve Tyrell and many more.   Bob recently acquired a road worthy Jim Hall model to replace his L-5, which had been destroyed by one too many airline handlers.  

Bob performed with the guitar for the first time at the Blue Note this week, with Steve Tyrell.  Bob has co-produced and arranged all of Tyrell's nine albums and now that he is an "empty nester", has joined Tyrell on the road as well.   Tyrell has taken over the spot that Bobby Short used to have at the Carlyle Hotel and performs there for 9 weeks a year every holiday season.

It is a pleasure to welcome Bob to our roster of artists.  Thanks to Craig Snyder at CR Guitars for turning Bob onto Sadowsky archtops!

Paul and Julia Adamy

Long time Sadowsky player, Paul Adamy, was recently featured with his daughter Julia in the AFM magazine, International Musician.

I go back over 25 years with Paul and he has been holding down the "bottom" at Mama Mia for many years.

Link to the article here:
http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/AFM_IM/international-musician-july-2011/2011070401/?key=fdf4b9329958f3fa1a808d18a853b38d#24

Bass Northwest

I was in Seattle two weeks ago and paid a visit to my friend and Sadowsky Metro dealer, Evan Sheely, owner of Bass Northwest.

Evan has a great little shop in downtown Seattle, in a historic area.  If you are ever in Seattle and have the time, you should visit Bass Northwest!  Tell 'im "Roger sent you"!!

http://bassnw.com/

Jeff Golub

I go back with Jeff Golub to the early 80's and my first shop at 168 Madison Avenue.  I just discovered this letter on his website, dated July 1, 2011 in which Jeff discloses that he is losing his vision.  While this is incredibly sad, Jeff's letter is a great example of being up-beat in the face of tremendous adversity.   My heart goes out to Jeff and at the same time, I am totally inspired by his attitude.

http://jeffgolub.com/newsletter.html

UPDATE:

Here is an update on Jeff's condition and an opportunity to make a contribution to his medical expense fund:

http://jeffgolub.com/golubmedical.html

Happy Birthday!

I celebrated my 62nd birthday today!

Given that I just signed a 10 year lease on the new shop, I'm not going anywhere.   I love my work, I love living in NYC, I have a son in college, I don't play golf and I don't want to move to Florida.

I have no idea what the word "retirement" means!

Roger

IRVING SLOANE

In 1971, while working on a doctorate in psychobiology, I purchased the Whole Earth Catalog. They had two pages devoted to guitar making, including a feature on the book "Classical Guitar Construction" by Irving Sloane.  This was essentially the only book at the time on how to make a guitar.  I purchased it and devoured every word, many times over.   Irving went on to write several more books including "Steel String Guitar Construction" and "Guitar Repair".

In 1981, I met my wife, Robin Phillips.  Robin was looking at some books on my shelf and when she got to "Classical Guitar Construction" she exclaimed, "I know him!  I grew up across the street from him".  Robin recollected watching Irving build guitars through his basement window.  She also remembered him serenading her when he finished a new guitar.  Fast forward a couple of years and I get a call from Irving!  He had been living in Brussels and had returned to visit his old neighborhood in New Jersey.  He visited the library and ran into Robin's mom, Zelda, who worked at the library.  Zelda told him that Robin had married a guitarmaker and gave him my contact info.

So I finally got to meet Irving and Robin had a nice reunion with him and one of his sons.  He soon invited us to visit a home he had kept in northern Dutchess County in NY.  It turns out he was single again and Robin and I suggested that he ask Robin's mom to have dinner with him.  Well, they did go out and ended up falling in love like a couple of teenagers and eventually married.  They had many good years together until Irving passed at the age of 72 from kidney cancer.

From left to right:  Jimmy D'Aquisto, Zelda Sloane, Irving Sloane
(photo courtesy of Jay Hostetler)

Irving was a true Renaissance man.  A graphic designer by training, he designed record album covers, product packaging, books, etc.  He did professional quality product photography, made fish prints, made jewelry, and became expert at the process of lost wax mold making.  At the time he returned to the States, he had designed a very high quality tuning gear and began making gears for classical guitars and upright basses.  He eventually licensed the guitar gears to Stewart MacDonald and the bass gears to David Gage.  Using his lost wax mold technique, he developed a line of small planes for violin and cello makers that are still very popular.  He sold these and other tools he designed under the name "Ibex Tools" which were distributed by Metropolitan Music.

I was very fortunate to have had Irving as part of my extended family for many years.  I don't think there is a guitarmaker in his 50's or older who does not owe a big debt to Irving Sloane and the influence his books had on all of us.

Here are some additional links, if you are interested:

New York Times Obituary
Guild of American Luthiers Memorial
Sloane Guitar Tuners
Upright Bass Tuners
Ibex Tools

NEW SHOP!

We are finally settling in at our new shop in Long Island City.

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted but the move consumed me for two months....I think I took a total of two days off during this period.  Although we still have a "to do" list to finish setting up the new space, it feels like home and we are back to full productivity.

We have a luxurious amount of space, especially showroom space.  We have created a separate bass and guitar showroom.  In addition to our workshop, machinery room, storage room and spray room, we also have a long hallway where I have all of my precious wood, which I am currently in the process of sorting.

You can view some current photos of the new space here:
 New Shop Photos

Farewell to 20 Jay Street

We had a good 9 year run at 20 Jay Street.  Thanks to all of our customers who visited during these years.   Here is the shop as we left it a few days ago.

Steroids!

As we wait for a verdict in the Barry Bonds trial, I remembered something my amazing webmaster, Kevin Drexler, made for me during the original congressional hearings on steroids in baseball.  Enjoy!

New Economy Model

Thanks to Megan Blythe and her Dad for developing this new economy model:

Dear Roger,

I have been pining over a new bass for months now, and so I asked for a Sadowsky bass guitar for Christmas. But because of our lack of funds, my dad found a much more cost effective way for me to play. I suggest you add it to your next line of basses for a truly unbeatable price. Two dollars! Meet the new Sudowsky!

Sincerely, 
Megan Blythe

Premier Guitar

Thanks to Kevin Borden for including me in his Premier Guitar article "Milestones In Vintage Bass Evolution":


Roger Sadowsky: When I was entrenched in NYC retail between 1977 and 1978, pre-CBS basses were hot. The ’70s products from the major manufacturers were lousy out of the box and required a major setup, and possibly fret work. (Dave Edwards, who was one of the first luthiers to really understand bass setups, told meevery bass really needed a fret job to meet his standards.) Music Man basses were really taking off, as was the aftermarket replacement parts business. Roger Sadowsky was the first guy we all knew who was hotrodding basses. Onboard preamps, great fretwork, deadly setups—he had it covered. He’d swap hardware if that was needed or desired. Back then, pre-CBS Fender basses were just used basses that retailed for slightly over what a new, comparable model sold for, and Roger was the Jedi master at hot-rodding these things. Sadowsky was the pioneer. ’Nuff said.


Read the entire article here:
http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2011/Mar/The_Low_End_Milestones_in_Vintage_Bass_Evolution.aspx


Check out Kevin's shop www.kebosbassworks.com

Jim Hall Begins West Coast Tour

A very nice post by Terry Liberty on the Jimmy Bruno Forum:
http://www.jimmybruno.com/forum


I got a chance to see and hear Jim Hall last night at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in Seattle.  I had my misgivings about going since the 150 mile drive and late evening are not to be chosen lightly.  I also wondered if Jim would enthrall or disappoint, being 80 years old and all.  Besides, Jazz Alley food is... well... I've had better in U.S. Navy boot camp.  I finally decided to go, due to a two-for-one ticket deal.  Besides, Jim was one of the first Jazz guitarists I really paid attention to, along with Benson and Burrel and I'd finally get to see him in person.  Oh yeah, and thanks to Michael Biller of Sound Island Music who supplied the amps for Jim and the bass player, I had a front-and-center reserved seat (the only one in the house).  How could I lose?

As it turned out, my worries about Jim's chops and his ability to make superb music were completely misplaced. The music was excellent.  Jim's solos and his comping for the group were spare, wonderfully dissonant in a Hall sort of way and in just the right places.  There was no faulting his melodic or harmonic sense or his impeccable time.  Funny thing, I had to keep reminding myself that the reason this guy sounded so much like Jim Hall was because he [b]WAS [/b]Jim Hall.

Jim walks with a cane due to some recent back surgery.  He says the cane is temporary but until he can discard it he won't be doing his Gene Kelly dance routines on stage.  At the end of his concert he introduced the band once again only this time as Gene Krupa, Ornette Coleman, Eugene Wright and he said he was Freddy Green.  Obviously back trouble hasn't dampened a wry sense of humor.

I would love to have taken you all there.  It was an enchanting night and when he did a duo with the bass on My Funny Valentine it was an encore that brought tears.

So glad I went.

Juanes Tour begins in Seattle

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/musicnightlife/2014467214_juanes12.html

Special thanks to Suzi Pratt for permission to use her fabulous photos:
http://suzi-pratt.com/

New Juanes Video

I am very pleased to see Juanes use his new Sadowsky in this new video!

Facebook and Twitter

Resistance is Futile!!!

I know this is a very obtuse pun, but this is former tennis star Bjorg Borg.

After resisting as long as I could, we have finally become part of the Borg called Facebook and Twitter.  I had felt that between my accessibility, our website, our web forum and this blog, that we did not need any additional "social networking", but "resistance is futile".  We have set up our Facebook page for Sadowsky Guitars Ltd as a business page.   I enjoy the sense of community it brings to all of our clients and future clients and welcome you to participate.  If you are searching for "Roger Sadowsky" because I got you pregnant 40 years ago, or did something else to either insult you or endear you to me, you have many other ways to find me :-).

The Big Move!

After 9 years in Brooklyn, we will soon be moving to Queens (Long Island City).  We had to move as the landlord is renovating the entire floor of the building. Here is what our current shop looked like 9 years ago!

I had moved from 1500 sq ft in Manhattan to 4000 sq ft in Brooklyn.  I never imagined I could possibly fill up this space, and yet we have been maxed out in this space for several years now.

Next stop, Long Island City.  We are moving into 8200 sq ft into a zoned manufacturing building.  This will permit us to have our own spray booth for the first time.  The new shop is only 10 minutes from Rockefeller Center and the music stores on 48th St via the F train subway.  We are immediately across the 59th Street bridge from the east side of Manhattan.

The construction will be finished this week.  It will take 2-3 more weeks to complete the spray booth and new compressor installation and then we will be ready to move.  We expect to be in the new space by early April.  Photos of the new shop can be viewed on the home page of our website or on our Facebook page.

I hope this will be the last move I ever have to make!  We look forward to having you visit us in our new home.

Early Days

Here is another photo of my early hippy days as a guitar maker....
Here I am with one of my dulcimers which I probably built in 1973.

My Start In Guitar Making

During 1970-1972, I attended graduate school at The Institute of Animal Behavior at Rutgers University.  I was working on a Ph.D in Psychobiology and doing research on the hormones that affect maternal behavior in mammals.  I was pretty miserable in grad school and was obsessed with becoming a guitar builder.  I spent a year writing letters to guitar makers all over the world trying to find one who would take me on as an apprentice....all to no avail.  So in June of 1972, I quit school and took a job as a guitar salesman at Rondo Music in Union New Jersey.  They were carrying some handmade acoustics by Augustino LoPrinzi, who was based in Rosemont, New Jersey.  I arranged to visit him and told him that if I could implant an electrode in the hypothalamus of a rat's brain, I thought I could build a guitar!  He had no clue what I was talking about, but he offered me a job at $65.00 a week (Gurian Guitars also offered me a job at $35 and that was with working in Manhattan!).

I worked with Augie for almost two years, making acoustic guitars.  It was two of the most wonderful years of my life.  Living in the country, building guitars, playing guitar.......I could not have been happier!

I love Augie very much.  He relocated to Clearwater Florida many years ago and works with his daughter Donna making guitars and ukeleles.  He is basically retired from Augustino Guitars and Donna continues to run the business.   Being the Renaissance Man that he is, his newest business is custom engraving: www.LoPrinziandSmith.com.

Here is a photo of us around 1974.

Go Ahead, Make My Day!

Roger,

        Just wanted to pass along some positive info. I am an audio engineer and guitar/bass/string instrument technician. I recently concluded a three year touring run with an act that carried, among the 18 instruments that were on stage every night, a Sadowsky bass. As the FOH engineer and instrument tech I must say that the Sadowsky (5-string, #4 of 12, purchased at NAMM a few years back) was as good an instrument as I have ever seen in my 30 year career and I live in a world of the best of the best. Great bass of superior craftsmanship, extremely stable, a joy to maintain, tough as nails, and even more fun to mix out front.

        Most people don't realize what it means to spend three weeks in the damp Northeast in August then 24 hours later your in Montana for a 10 day run outdoors with an average temperature of 102 degrees, constant 25 MPH winds, relative humidity a whopping 8%. 

       Hat's off and Kudos all 'round from a seasoned (old) veteran (been through the fire) who truly appreciates a great guitar! 

 

 

Greg Keatley

Audio Specialist

Guitar/Sting Instrument Technician

BassPlayer Magazine January 2011

I am very proud of the awesome amount of coverage we received in the January 2011 issue of BassPlayer magazine.

Front Cover: Rickey Minor, musical director and bassist on The Tonight Show

pg 16. Tully Kennedy, bassist with Jason Aldean

pg 20. Greg Lake,    Emerson, Lake and Palmer
pg 31. Rickey again...
pg 47. Sadowsky ad featuring Rickey Minor
pg 74. Small pic of Darryl Jones (Rolling Stones bassist) holding a Sadowsky from an old interview.
Back Cover: GK ad featuring Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith) and his NYC 51 P/Modern Sadowsky

Happy Thanksgiving

For all of you reading this blog who are not from the US, we just celebrated our Thanksgiving Holiday.  Part of this holiday tradition is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which takes place in NYC.  This year, the Colombian singer Juanes was a featured performer.  Juanes has 17 Latin Grammys, more than any other artist.  Juanes played his new Sadowsky guitar which we sent him about two weeks ago!  Juanes has sponsored several concerts under the banner "Peace Without Borders".  This guitar has "Paz Sin Fronteras" written on the headstock.  The guitar was commissioned by Juan Luis Guerra as a gift to Juanes.

UPDATE:
I received the following email from Juanes on 12/3/10:

Hey man ! 
You have no idea how happy I am now with this guitar, in the first place because who gave me the guitar is the one and only Juan Luis Guerra, mi friend, mi angel, mi all brother., and  in second place, because it is the most beautiful guitar I"ve ever tried, in perfect tune, incredible variety of sounds , sweet and hot ! Man, you are the best !    I put a name on the guitar ..  " la guitar de Dios"  

Juanes  

From the Archives! Roger circa 1975

This is a photo of me restoring a Martin C3 archtop that belonged to a fantastic guitarist named Benji Aronoff.   

 

This was during my 5 year stint as head of the repair shop at Medley Music in PA.  This was the Ardmore shop before they moved the store to Bryn Mawr.

Notice the capo holding my pony tail!

Latin Grammys

I am very proud of all of our friends who won at the 11th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on November 11th.  Juan Luis Guerra won three Grammys for his new CD "A son de Guerra" and Gilberto Gil won two Grammys.   We also just finished a guitar for Alejandro Sanz, who won a Grammy for best Male Pop Vocal album.  Congratulations to all of them!!