Built to Sound
Jack Huntley features the latest in leading instrument manufacturers.
Dedicated to Tone: Acoustic Image's Rick Jones
by Jack Huntley
As the archetypical guitarist/inventor, the late Les Paul commented more than once about musicians being the consummate tinkerers. Whether it's electric guitar pickups or mic-ed acoustic instruments, so much of one's tone is dependent on someone else's circuitry and may explain why stringed instrument musicians in particular are so curious about customizing technology. A case in point is the founder and President of Acoustic Image amplifiers, Dr. Rick Jones. Jones has accumulated a loyal following by building amps that reflect ...
read moreDan Koentopp: Chicago Manual of Style
by Jack Huntley
Within minutes of talking to Chicago guitar builder and DK Custom Guitars founder Dan Koentopp, it becomes readily apparent what lights him up: this guy is all about getting it right. His knowledge of stringed instrument-making is vast and his conversation flows effortlessly from the Amati violins of Renaissance Italy, to modern tool-making, to the need to understand customer playing styles, to the built-in acoustic limitations of factory made guitars. As with the masters he so admires, Koentopp's instruments artfully ...
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