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Gallery: 2016 Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration

Showcasing hundreds of drool-worthy, handcrafted instruments, a new U.S. guitar show makes its successful debut.

Egan Custom Guitars

Those searching for a modern-looking axe would be hard-pressed to top this futuristic 7-string by Joe Egan, who builds his instruments on a farm in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. In addition to its radical shape and post-modern f-holes, the hollowbody electric offers fanned frets.
egancustomguitars.com

The inaugural Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration was held September 29 to October 2 in sunny coastal California. The event brought hundreds of top luthiers and players who displayed their craftsmanship, gave seminars, and held intimate concerts. The Earl Warren Showgrounds served as a fitting venue, as in decades past it hosted concerts from such acts as Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Beach Boys, the Doors, Cream, the Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin.

The show pulled widely from Canada and Europe, with heavy representation from the U.S. West Coast. Also on sale were top-grade woods, inlay materials, and custom bindings. Luthiers were open with their time, and many fans enjoyed hearing builders talk shop. Among the visitors was Santa Barbara resident and guitar pickup guru, Seymour Duncan, who could be seen checking out all the beautiful instruments on display.

OM-balance and comfort suited for the fingerstylist on a budget.

Comfortably, agreeably playable. Balanced dimensions. Nice fretwork.

Lighter mahogany top looks less classically mahogany-like. Some compressed sounds in heavy-strumming settings.

$299

Guild OM-320
guildguitars.com

3.5
4
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The Premier Guitar crew is spoiled when it comes to hanging out with nice flattops. But while those too-brief encounters with acoustics we can’t afford teach us a lot about the flattop at its most refined, they also underscore a disconnect between the cost and the acoustic guitar’s status as a true folk instrument of the people.

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Barry Little’s onstage rig.

How you want to sound and what makes you happy are both highly subjective. When it comes to packing and playing gear for shows, let those considerations be your guide.

I was recently corresponding with Barry Little, aPG reader from Indiana, Pennsylvania, about ā€œthe Oneā€ā€”that special guitar that lets us play, and even feel, better when it’s in our hands. We got talking about the gear we bring to gigs, and Barry sent me the photo that appears with this column.

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While creating her new solo record, Kim Deal was drawn to exploring the idea of failure.

Photo by Kristin Sollecito

The veteran musician and songwriter steps into the spotlight with Nobody Loves You More, a long-in-the-making solo record driven by loss, defeat, and friendship.

While Kim Deal was making her new album, she was intrigued with the idea of failure. Deal found the work of Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader, who disappeared at sea in 1975 while attempting to sail by himself from the U.S. to England in a 13-foot sailboat. His boat was discovered wrecked off the southern coast of Ireland in April 1976, 10 months after Ader departed the Massachusetts coast. Ader’s wife took one of the last photos of him as he set off on the doomed journey from Chatham Harbor: Ader, wearing a blue tracksuit and a bright orange life jacket cinched around his neck, is beaming.

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Whores Rig Rundown [2024]
- YouTube

The Georgia-based sludge slingers rely on a Tele-to-Marshall combination for their punishing performances.

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