Cars and Guitars

[3930dave]

The Made in USA threads I could find were mostly about clothes, tools, and tractors.

I'm good with supporting all 3 of those, but thought this could use a thread of it's own.... most of us like classic cars, and I suspect there are a few musicians around here too.

BBC - Autos - From old cars, straps for guitars

The beginning of the article:

What's made from Mercedes-Benz MB-Tex vinyl, can support Annie Leibovitz's favourite Hasselblad and your cherished AAA-flame maple top Les Paul? Straps for guitars and cameras made from rolls of vintage auto upholstery, that's what.

The Couch company of Long Beach, California is making straps and other gear that meld car culture, music culture, old forgotten materials and forever-hip design.

Dan Perkins started Couch in 1999 because he wanted a distinctive guitar strap that spoke to his sense of design when gigging with his retro British Invasion cover band. His interest in the visuals of the 1950s-'70s led him to favour design and colour palettes of the period. And being in the heart of Southern California, Dan could hardly avoid the perennially cool street theatre of classic cars and hot rods. Dan is also a vegan, and he preferred to look for synthetic material rather than leather.


Great karma, if you can start working on something that you really want to do, and turn it into a successful business.

Rgds, D.

 

[Daver1963]

Made in U.S.A. - Gibson guitars. Memphis, TN You can tour the facility and see how they are made. I did this tour about 14 years ago. While waiting for it to start I browsed through the store on site. They had guitars that started at $2K and went up - way up! After the tour was over I realized why they cost so much. They are inspected at every point throughout the process and double inspected if it is a custom order.
They guide told a story that they had a custom order for Steve Howe (Yes) and it got to the very last stage before shipping and that inspector noticed that the frets were the wrong sort of inlay. At that point they salvaged the metal parts (reusable), fed ALL the wood parts into a chipper, started over, and apologized to Mr. Howe for the delay.

 

[3930dave]

Made in U.S.A. - Gibson guitars. Memphis, TN You can tour the facility and see how they are made. I did this tour about 14 years ago. While waiting for it to start I browsed through the store on site. They had guitars that started at $2K and went up - way up! After the tour was over I realized why they cost so much. They are inspected at every point throughout the process and double inspected if it is a custom order.
They guide told a story that they had a custom order for Steve Howe (Yes) and it got to the very last stage before shipping and that inspector noticed that the frets were the wrong sort of inlay. At that point they salvaged the metal parts (reusable), fed ALL the wood parts into a chipper, started over, and apologized to Mr. Howe for the delay.

Always nice to see the company doing QC, instead of the customer !

Rgds, D.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Always nice to see the company doing QC, instead of the customer !

Rgds, D.

It's nice to see that they survived the EPA.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

The Made in USA threads I could find were mostly about clothes, tools, and tractors.

I'm good with supporting all 3 of those, but thought this could use a thread of it's own.... most of us like classic cars, and I suspect there are a few musicians around here too.

BBC - Autos - From old cars, straps for guitars

The beginning of the article:

What's made from Mercedes-Benz MB-Tex vinyl, can support Annie Leibovitz's favourite Hasselblad and your cherished AAA-flame maple top Les Paul? Straps for guitars and cameras made from rolls of vintage auto upholstery, that's what.

The Couch company of Long Beach, California is making straps and other gear that meld car culture, music culture, old forgotten materials and forever-hip design.

Dan Perkins started Couch in 1999 because he wanted a distinctive guitar strap that spoke to his sense of design when gigging with his retro British Invasion cover band. His interest in the visuals of the 1950s-'70s led him to favour design and colour palettes of the period. And being in the heart of Southern California, Dan could hardly avoid the perennially cool street theatre of classic cars and hot rods. Dan is also a vegan, and he preferred to look for synthetic material rather than leather.


Great karma, if you can start working on something that you really want to do, and turn it into a successful business.

Rgds, D.

Interesting. I have a Rickenbacker that I bought in 1959; it still has the original strap. I wouldn't mind having a strap made from the headliner of a 59 Impala, but the one in my '59 is too nice to rip out!

 

[jerrybob]

Interesting article....thanks for sharing. I own a couple of guitars....including a Martin and Ovation both USA made. Made a strap years ago for the Martin out of an old leather horse buggy harness....came out pretty nice. This guy came up with a nice idea and business.:thumbsup:

 

[3930dave]

I thought it was a pretty cool story... figured a few other folks would too....

Pricing doesn't look unreasonable either...... for anybody that is hard to buy for, and has an instrument or camera, or_____________ they like - makes for a pretty unique gift...

Rgds, D.