A few weeks back on October 18th, we had a pretty significant day…in fact we had the Solo Guitars Customer Appreciation Day. There is no business that can exist without the support of it’s customer base, and one of the things the guys here at Solo are very proud of is the customer base they have built…in fact the Solo Family they have built. From the humble beginnings in a much smaller space, with just the dream and aspirations of our fearless leaders, we have grown into the massive retailer that we are, and the also massive warehouse/sales floor that we have. We are accessible online, on your phone or in person and the mind-boggling stock we have in everything guitars, is just that…. mind-boggling.
The reality of this however, is that we would be nothing without ‘you’ the customer. Customer Service has been the heart of Solo Guitars from the beginning, whether finding the right parts you want, helping create the ultimate guitar of your dreams or just helping you build your first stringed instrument. You, the customer, are the heart of this business. As such, we wanted to say thank you and hosted our Customer Appreciation Day to help show you how we feel. Free food, and several sales and discounts greeted all those who attended, and even though we kind of felt it might not be very well attended, it was! From the line-up at door opening to a fun-filled day of chatting, shopping, eating and getting that extra discount at checkout, we at Solo Guitars felt the day was a great success….and it won’t be the last one. There are tons of photos on social media and we have included a couple here. So, thank you, from everyone here at Solo Guitars to you, our faithfull, our supporters and our customers.
Now, on to new business. Keep your eyes focused on the New Arrivals pull-down in the next while as there are a whole stack of new products coming in including a few you might not be expecting! One of the truly interesting facets of Solo Guitars Customer Base is the different demographics that we serve. Sure we have the guys and girls who have been around for years either players, tinker’ers or tech’s, but we also have the new crowd, the new kids on the block building kits and discovering a whole cool world of guitar. So being a bit of a dinosaur myself, I always think it is interesting to share the history of guitars and sometimes my personal history where I have encountered icons in the industry. So here are a couple news items from the guitar industry you might have heard, or not…..
G&L Guitars. For the new kids, do you know anything about this company? G&L Guitars are among the nicest guitars on the market and have been since Leo Fender (yup, that Leo Fender) George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt formed the company around 1979. After Leo sold Fender to CBS in 1965, he longed to start a new company that would allow him to be more creative and innovative. Some of his innovations included the Dual Fulcrum Vibrato which offered smoother operation better tuning and therefore more expressive playing. The PTB Tone System which had both treble and bass cuts and gave musicians greater tonal versatility. The MFD Pickup System was also renowned for its clarity and range of tones. The artist list is a virtual who’s who in the guitar world. Sadly it seems that Dave McLaren (CEO) had begun the process of dissolving the company in October with Fender Guitars buying the intellectual rights and the machinery and stock being sold off. By the time you read this, the facility will be empty and G&L will be no more. There’s a bit of a mystery in where Leo’s lab contents ended up, his prototypes, templates etc….no doubt they will turn up in some auctions or collections over the next few years.
October 5 of this year another icon of the guitar world passed…. Ken Parker. Ken started his company Parker Guitars along with Larry Fishman in 1993. Ken was already well known for his avante garde arch-top guitar designs, and the Parker Fly would bring him the same notoriety for its unusual design and innovation. Ken wanted to build guitars that were weight conscious, easy to play and offered huge sound variations. He used carbon fibre to reinforce necks and bodies which allowed him to use atypical materials like basswood and spruce for electric guitars. He was the first to incorporate piezo pickups along with magnetic pickups so his guitars were multi-functional on stage sounding like both acoustic or electric. His unique trem system allowed the player to choose between a floating trem or a dive-only style and he was the first builder to use stainless steel frets glued to a man-made fret-board.
If you have ever picked up a real Parker of which there are several models from the Fly, the Nite Fly, the Concert Fly the Maxx Fly and the Fly Bass, you will know the guitars are unique, extremely easy to play, with super quick necks and possibly the easiest access to the upper frets of any guitar on the market.. I personally wish I would have kept the one I had many years back as I believe it is iconic in the history of guitars. I met Ken back in 1995, only a couple years after he started the company, at an ASIA (Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans) Symposium along with Larry Fishman. Ken was a tall man, very present and took control of the space around him, where Larry was very much like your pal from next door. Both men were rather inspiring as far as their vision and knowledge. They had just built the first Concert Fly (I believe with Joni Mitchell in mind) which looked much like the other Fly’s but had a spruce top, a Fishman Power Bridge and no magnetic pickups. Like so many other encounters I had, I wish I had a recording or our conversation, but sadly this was before smart phones, selfies and pocket computers…I just felt lucky to have met the people I did including Ken.
As always, I only get a few lines to chat about this month’s subject, so now we get to look forward to the December Blog, which will feature new products. Remember, Solo is now open to the public every Saturday! Yup, I’ll repeat OPEN SATURDAYS!!!!!! So if you are looking for a few hours away from the casa, drop in. Spend some time in the store to actually see the products you usually just look at online, plan your next build, check out the clearance stuff, or just hang out and have a chat. I’ve suggested putting in a pickle barrel and a few chairs so we can sit around and tell stories, but that hasn’t been ok’d yet….check us out online at www.sologuitars.com or stop in and say hi….can’t wait to see you!
