Guitar Gavel

“I told my career advisor when I was 16 that I wanted to be a rock star. And he said I had to choose something more realistic.  So, I didn’t.” Early in his musical career he was a jack of all trades, Tour Manager, sound tech, and t-shirt salesman extraordinaire. That eventually led into “looking after the band’s guitars”.  Dave goes on to share his experience as a professional touring guitar tech...

In this Guitar Gavel podcast episode I have the good fortune to sit down with Scott Olson and hear his guitar stories. Me: “Scott, what was your first guitar, when did you start playing?” Scott Olson: “It was actually the drums that started…” Had it not been for the wall of guitars behind Scott in the video frame I thought for a split-second this podcast was DOA :-).  Scott goes on to show off his...

In this week’s podcast I sit down with the one and only Darko Grubisic and we talk guitars and metal.  METAL- Right down to the skull and crossbones tuners on his Kramer Baretta.  Darko has some great stories which include still playing with his original band from high school.  It’s a lovely conversation and Darko shows off several sweet guitars! Darko, thanks for your time and wonderful spirit, i...

In this episode I sit down with Will Ray, a founding member of The Hellecasters and longtime “Bottom Feeder” columnist for Premier Guitar Magazine (among many accolades). Sporting a skull bolo, slide rings, and cowboy hat we talk guitars, guitars, and more guitars starting with his very first, a Gretsch Country Gentleman he bought when he was 16.  Right out of the gate we take a look at his namesa...

Beginning with a no-name classical guitar "purchased" with S&H Green Stamps to having a well rounded collection Rob Bernstein shows off some beauties in this Guitar Gavel podcast episode.  A sign of the times... Rob upgraded from the unbranded classical to a Harmony dreadnought and then to a 72 Telecaster he bought in 1974 for $210 with the case! Several of Rob's teenage musical...

I am so excited for the latest episode of the Guitar Gavel podcast as we journey to Italy and have a tour of Franchin Guitars.   A special thanks to Mattia Franchin and Pierantonio Cantoni for their excellent tour! In the show Mattia gives a full tour of the company’s “lab” and walks us step-by-step through the build process.   Franchin specializes in reliced and hand painted bodies to complete gu...

I have the pleasure of sitting down with Bryan Toney in this episode and we discuss his journey of starting on the piano and transitioning to the guitar as a young teenager  Though Bryan has played the guitar since he was a teen, including a couple of garage bands, he got serious in retirement which has led to a couple of albums and gigging his way from North Carolina to Utah to visit his son. &qu...

Steve brings his wonderful spirit, infectious smile, and addicting Irish accent to this week’s podcast episode.  Steve’s go-to guitar is his 1997 Les Paul Studio and he shares his buying experience stateside in Orlando, FL and being scared to death making it back with the guitar in one piece.  Being the same age we have a lot of common musical tastes and discuss some of our favorite bands.   Now S...

In this episode I sit down with Christos Fragias and he talks about his guitar journey that really began at age 7 when he heard Detroit Rock City for the first time.  In his own words, KISS' Destroyer album was seminal in his life and Christos wore out several record player needles rocking to their vinyl's.  Of course we talk guitars and hear about Christos' first electric, a Torch,...

Frank Jeckell learned to play guitar by way of the accordion... sort of.   His first guitar was a Kay acoustic and the action was so high he could slide his hand between the fretboard and strings at the 12th fret :-). Frank was progressing well on the guitar as a teenager in the early 60s and when The Beatles hit, it was all over.  Frank taught himself all their songs within days of buying each al...

One night when he was 12 or 13, Wyatt watched one of his dad's friends play "Stairway to Heaven" and he's been hooked on the guitar ever since.  The one that really changed him was an Ibanez 2228, 8-string.  It was also the one that got away.  We connected on the sentimental aspect of guitar ownership and how a purchase can be reflective of what's going on in your life at...

Who's the dork that kept saying "so cool"?  In this episode Natasha Nyxx shows off some incredible guitars representing most of the color palette.  The recurring theme between the two of us is "to die for" and "that's so cool".  Natasha's guitar collection is diverse and absolutely stunning.  Plus, she has a great story about each one. Natasha started a...

This week we hear from Ian Cowan who currently lives in Scotland. “If you want something you can’t afford learn to make it. If you want something you can afford learn to make it better.” Those were the words Ian heard from his dad when he was just a child. So with help from his dad Ian made his first guitar (a classical) at the age of eight. Ian is “kind of” a strat guy and since that first build...

"The first guitar I got was a Harmony student sized acoustic." -Ron Chaudhuri From that first guitar to "several" guitars later Ron found himself having a couple of custom guitars built in India by Erisa Neogy  Video for all podcasts available on our YouTube channel Do your research, visit guitargavel.com for hundreds of cool guitar stories.

"I laugh and I cry.  Nobody knew that guitars would actually become a higher guaranteed profit investment than stocks." -Steve Kuykendall  Video for all podcasts available on our YouTube channel Do your research, visit guitargavel.com for hundreds of cool guitar stories.