We live in an era where everybody with a Stew-Mac catalog and a spray gun considers himself to be a “luthier”, but true luthiers, men (and, with a particular nod to Linda Manzer, women) who can build musical instruments that set standards for tone, construction, and beauty — well, they are rare.
Rarer now, with the announcement that Kalamazoo’s Aaron Cowles passed away last week.
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Long-time readers know my complex relationship with the Jerome Kerns/Oscar Hammerstein piece from Very Warm For May. As fate would have it, I heard an outstanding rendition of it last week, so I thought I’d follow up with a non-outstanding rendition of my own.
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Two weeks ago, the Doctor and I cut a deal in which I traded two Heritage guitars for a Super Eagle jazzbox. The trade wasn’t problem-free; the natural-finish 157 arrived at his house with a few leather-strap-induced “nitro burns” on the finish which I had rectified by his local luthier.
Despite that minor problem, we were both satisfied enough with the trade to try it a second time. Two more guitars from me, one back from him, and another damage issue — but this time it was serious.
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