Steve DeVries

Transcription

A lot of times luthiers build the instruments they want to build or instruments that they think players want to play. As luthiers we should be building instruments that players want. This is why I have asked my good friend Steve Devries to sit down and talk with me about what exactly he desires or looks for in a handmade instrument. Steve is in a unique position in that not only is he a professional player but he sells a lot of guitars so he not only knows exactly what the player wants but also what will sell. He has some great advice for luthiers so let's listen to what he has to say. I am here in Santa Rosa California at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival and I ran into my good friend Steve Devries. I asked Steve to answer a few questions for luthiers about what a professional musician, a working musician, looks for in a guitar. Steve has accepted to answer a few questions, So, let's start with, first of all, What does a professional musician want in a tool, I mean this is a tool, what do you look for in your tools?, let's say. — Well, I am not sure a professional musician knows what they want. It changes from day to day. The style of music changes, the type of guitar they want. Primarily they want something that will speak back to them, that will respond when they ask it to. Okay. —Has this ever happened to you, for example, you find your dream guitar, I mean, this is great! You buy it, you work with it for a year or two and then all of a sudden, wait a minute, there's another one that's better. What do you do in a situation like that? —You buy it! You go to Robbie O'Brien and you buy the guitar! —I paid him to say that! —No, what I would suggest to anyone that plays, and we do not fall out of love with a guitar, but we change. Our ear changes, stylistically we are influenced by so many different styles of music. I am the shop manager for Acoustic pro Musician down in Texas and we've run across situations where a gentleman or a lady will buy a really nice guitar and they do fall out of love with those guitars. Occasionally. And we give them several suggestions. Sometimes they have just moved on musically and they have out grown that sound or they have move from that sound of guitar. An example would be a cedar top guitar and they happen to play on a spruce top guitar. They may have a mahogany back and all of a sudden they play on a rosewood back guitar and these guitars all have different voices. So, primarily what we would suggest is change to a different type of string. Change to a different playing style to get you into that guitar the way it was to start with. That and clean the guitar up. Polish it up. Put a new set of strings on it. You will fall in love with it again. —As a musician, is the finish, the appearance of the guitar, is that important to you. —Very much so! Everyone will know that to me aesthetics don't mean a lot but they do! I happen to play on a guitar that is absolutely gorgeous and I do feel like picking up that guitar and playing on it. When I do concerts and play I have individuals that will come up to me, and of the two guitars I have, one is fairly plain looking and the other one is ornate, they will come up and wanna touch and play on that particular guitar and even though I hate to admit it, the one that is just gorgeous, beautiful drop dead with inlay, yeah, I'll reach for it first. —As luthiers, finish work is the Achilles heel of guitar building. Is there a particular finish that you are fond of? Urethane, lacquer, French polish, oil varnish, or does it matter? —Robbie, quite honestly, most players, unless they are a studier of lutherie, they don't know the difference. They want something that plays good, that sounds good and that is the tool they use to create their music. —At the store I am sure you probably get this question a lot. Do most of your clients prefer high gloss or satin? —That is a no brainer. Selling a satin guitar is almost impossible. —Interesting! —Now, if I were a classical player, I lean toward the satin finishes of the French polish type. But on acoustics it is hard as nails to try to sell, from a seller's or a retail store standpoint, it is hard to sell a satin finish steel string no matter how good it is. —So, marketability, luthiers pay attention, high gloss is what the client wants. In acoustic guitar? —Yes, in acoustic steel string. —What is your experience with classical instruments as far as finish work? —The best classicals I have ever played on had satin finishes, French polish. Through Acoustic Pro Musician, one thing I have really learned is that the American public especially, prefer the shiny finishes on everything. I think a true player, if he is an advanced player, especially a classical player reaches into some zone where the French polish is actually more appealing to him, but I would think that to the average classical player the gloss finish is gonna catch his eye first. —As a luthier, in my opinion, the playing public, musicians like yourself are becoming more and more educated about what they want in an instrument and sometimes I will even have a client call me and say I want this, this and this and I think, wait a minute! You have never built a guitar, I have built a guitar. Relating that to the previous question about finishing, is the client becoming more and more educated as far as finishing? Can you influence their opinion? For example, or their buying habits in some way? —Someone who sells handmade guitars can influence but the buying public has gotten so educated because there are more and more luthiers out there that are good and they are willing to share that information and that information is readily available. —Okay, do you feel as a musician that the tonal properties of your instrument are inhibited by one finish or another? —I don't know if I can answer that correctly. Psychologically yes. The number one thing to a musician, a lot of this is psychological. The ornate value of the guitar really doesn't contribute to the sound, but psychologically it does. —Neck shape: It's something that comes up all the time as luthiers. We are carving our necks, we want that perfect neck shape. In your opinion what do you look for in neck shape? —In that I am over 40? I have gone to a lower profile neck. It's given me that extra 1/8th inch in my fingers that I need to reach. The market trend I believe has gone to a little bit thinner neck. Now, I am not talking about the nut width, but a thinner neck, speed necks, for several reasons, one is several of your clientele now are ex electric guitar players. Traditionally electric guitars had thinner necks. So, as they get into acoustic guitars, that generation that is coming up, they are going to look for and feel more comfortable on a thinner neck. —Relating necks back to that previous question on finishing, will the buying public accept a satin neck because perhaps it feels like a faster neck? —I would and I think satin is faster. —So, a satin neck on an acoustic guitar would be appropriate then? —I think to a player that can actually sit down and play on the guitar I think he can feel the difference. —Now we are kind of mixing two things here. I am asking you questions like a professional musician, What do you want? But you are also the store manager for Acoustic Pro so you are also thinking about a marketability issue. We are kind of bringing in both topics here. —Well, I will tell you this. It is kind of like my wife. My wife likes sparkle, she likes sparkle. Players like sparkle. There are traditional players that we come in contact with through our store because of the clientele that we draw and the inlays etc. you know, they are not real sparkly people but just from a wild guess if you took 9 out of 10 clients they are gonna go to the gloss on the neck even though personally I prefer the satin. So Steve has given us luthiers some great advice about what professional musicians and the guitar buying public look for in a guitar. In part II, he will give us advice about pickups and amplification.