Page 121 - FLIPMAG.NET

SHOP TALK
“I DON’T FIND MUCH VARIATION IN THE SOUND OF FRETBOARDS.
WE PICK FRETBOARDS FOR STABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY,
HOW THEY MACHINE AND HOLD A FRET, AND THEN HOW THEY
LOOK. THE LOWEST OF THE LOW IS WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE,
BECAUSE IT’S A ONE PER CENT DIFFERENCE AT BEST”
Honestly, I wish I could have gone back in time and
bought them all, because Nik’s guitars are, what,
about ten grand now, average?
“That same year, in July, I did the Montreal Guitar
Show, which was my first real show as a builder. I
was maybe on guitar 40 or 50 at that point. I walked
into the show to set up and Nik was there, and he
remembered who I was. He was like, ‘I’m so happy
you’re here! I’ve been following what you’re doing
online. I’m really excited things are going well for
you!’ I walked away from that thinking, ‘What other
industry would this happen in? This is insane!’
“I had fun at that show – I think everyone in
Montreal knows I had too much fun – but I also sold a
guitar, everybody was supportive, and I made friends
that I still talk to today. After that, I came home and
quit my job. I wanted to go full-time into this. These
were the people I’d fallen in love with – and almost
secondary was the idea of selling guitars to people.”
WAILING BANSHEE OPPOSITE This Super Chief
In addition to his Daylighter model gathering steam belongs to Doug’s dad and
on the market, Kauer found that a surprising number sports TV Jones T-Armond
of guitarists who remembered his early efforts at the pickups and custom inlays
that pay tribute to the family
Firebird format were now coming back for reverse truck – the 1964 Chevrolet
’Birds of their own. He’d avoided them for the first C10 formerly owned by
few years of the business – “I was very happy to Doug’s grandfather
get our cease-and-desist order!” – but few fledgling
guitar makers can afford to turn down work, so he
begrudgingly heeded the call.
“I have a love-hate relationship with the Banshee,”
says Kauer of the reverse-bodied model that has evolved
from his early shots at the ’Bird. “I love that guitar and
the current version is a different thing but the original?
Yeah, it was a Firebird copy and I just didn’t want to
be that guy. I wanted to stand on the merits of my own
designs. But I’d made some improvements that people
caught wind of and we gained a reputation for making
the best version of that guitar.”
Since the early years of the Banshee, given the
differences that now separate it from the Firebird,
Kauer and Gibson have come to an agreement
that allows him to continue production of his own
reverse-bodied through-neck guitar. For the most
part, though, Kauer is more satisfied when working
on his own original designs, trying to devise lines,
stylings and features that represent something new
but aren’t so unfamiliar that they repel guitarists.
“I wouldn’t say that we’re groundbreakingly
original,” he says, “not by any stretch. But I knew the
niche for what I wanted to do and was dumb enough
to get started and stubborn enough to stick with it.
Eventually people caught on.”
Designing remains one of Kauer’s favourite aspects
of the business but finding time for it is an ever-present
issue: when trade is good there are fewer opportunities
to get back to the drawing board; when business is slow,
it’s all hands on deck trying to drum up customers to
keep both himself and a company of five employees
afloat. Either way, design has to take a back seat.
“We did the Daylighter in some variation for
nine or 10 years and it’ll come back at some point,”
says Kauer. “Then I came up with the Starliner,
which I love right now. I think that’s what helps
keep us going. I always feel bad for – I mean, I don’t
really feel that bad for The Rolling Stones – but I
imagine playing Brown Sugar for the millionth time
must suck, but when you’re making enough to buy
an island, it offsets the pain.
GUITAR MAGAZINE 121