The Lowdown

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This week, we sat down with Richard Doner. He's one half of a part-time father-son charitable enterprise called Doner Designs. They build themed guitars to benefit major national charities. Their most recent project is a 'Back to the Future' inspired Time Machine bass. Past projects have raised thousands of dollars for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and The United Services Organizations (USO).

Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donerdesigns/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donerdesigns/

Website: www.donerdesigns.org

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This episode Frankie and I sat down with Marc Ryan from No If Customs. He started building in 2005, in his 3rd floor apartment in Boulder. 

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Here's his story:

"I just wanted to see if I could pull it off. I had basic woodworking skills, but in my 30 years of playing, I had never tackled much more than a repaint. I had a 50 hour a week job as a systems engineer, so this was definitely a free time project. I had no formal training but had made friends with a couple luthiers around the country. Thankfully, they gave me some great advice and were never against talking shop. I had minimal tools (Dremel, hand files/chisels/saws and a drill) but I had a lot of drive. My drive comes from that sense of accomplishment at the end of a project. Even if that project came with some hard-learned lessons, I had completed it. I had done it and knew how to make the next one better.

Marc

[email protected]

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This week we sat down with Jon from Jon Maghini Guitars. We discussed a wide range of topics from what it's like working from home and knowing who your customer is before you build your brand. We had a blast!

Here's a personal note from Jon:

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Hi All!

Drawing from my years of experience both working on and playing vintage instruments I set

out to design models which capture the look and feel of guitars from a by gone era.

Over the past couple of decades, I have learned it is best for me to keep things simple. I

prefer to build with my own two hands using tools and machinery that would have seen use

during the golden age of electric guitar construction in cities like Fullerton or Kalamazoo. I

prefer to use sustainable woods and sometimes old growth stock when I can find it. I love

the look and feel of lacquer finishes so that is my standard. Mixing most of my colors by eye I can get pretty close to those favored colors of the 50's and 60's. Flakes and bursts are also an option. All my guitars feature some level of distressing of the finish and hardware, no two are alike! All my handmade pickups are scatter wound and flash potted. Wax potting is standard,lacquer is available as an option. In addition to my own line, I also offer pickups by Gemini and a few other select fine makers...

Most of my instruments are built as stock, but I also build to order and that all starts with a conversation, so feel free to get in touch.

Contact.

https://www.maghiniguitars.com

https://www.instagram.com/maghini_guitars/

https://www.facebook.com/maghiniguitars

[email protected]

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Player. Artist. And genuinely one of the most interesting people we've met! Born in Los Angeles into a musical family, Alan Deremo has had a long and varied career as a bass player and more recently as a producer and composer as well. His touring and recording credits include stints with Colin Hay (Men at Work), Belinda Carlisle, Nathaniel Rateliff, John Denver, the Captain and Tennille, Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam, Glenn Frey, Dave Alvin, Eric Marienthal, Vince Gill and Amy Grant, Glenn Branca, Jesse Colin Young, and many others. His scoring work has appeared on CBS Sports, ESPN, Fuel TV, Sierra Club Films and elsewhere. Alan has produced over a dozen independent album releases over the last few years. During the pandemic Alan has stayed busy with various studio projects, contributing bass tracks to projects by artists from all over the world as well as working on ongoing production assignments. The most recent of those is Illuminations from Nashville artist Sean Della Croce, due for release in late February on the Pasadena/Concord label.

In addition to all of the above, Alan has been an inveterate tinkerer from an early age, progressing from hacking up his first bass (a 60’s Teisco) to extensive modification and building and finishing at least half dozen instruments in recent years.