Matt Slater's red Rickenbacker guitar would have cost $750 in 1977, but now the instrument is worth almost twice that amount.
So when the Ohio University senior discovered his vintage guitar needed work, he knew where to take it to ensure its appearance would match its mature sound.
For the last two years, Gene Imbody and Erick Coleman have been fixing and restoring guitars, and other stringed instruments, at their Jacksonville workshop United Lutherie.
The craft of lutherie - repairing or building string instruments - is divided into working with two main categories, strummed instruments such as guitars and bowed instruments such as violins.
At their 102-year-old workshop, located about 10 miles from campus, Imbody and Coleman specialize in guitars from the '50s and '60s.
Slater said he found out about the luthiers the way most of their clients do - by word of mouth. His roommate recommended them after he got his vintage bass fixed at the shop, Slater said
Over the years
guitars get abused modified and taken on the road Imbody said. But now that (vintage guitars have) soared in value
people want them restored.
The luthiers usually only build one guitar a year. Most of their work consists of repairs, Imbody said.
Imbody and Coleman are friends with Frank McDermott, the owner of Blue Eagle Music, 40 N. Court St. Owners can drop their instruments off for simple repairs at Blue Eagle, and the luthiers take them to their shop.
Although these bread and butter repairs make up a significant part of the shop's workload, Imbody and Coleman devote most of their time to custom restorations.
Projects usually take between nine months and two years to complete. Prices vary but restoring a guitar worth $8,000 would probably cost about $2,000, Imbody said.
The way we do it takes an extraordinary amount of time
he said. You don't come to us because you want something quick and cheap.
A native of Marion, Ohio, Imbody grew up tinkering with guitars, building his first one after high school. After attending OU for three years, he took a job in 1993 at Stewart-MacDonald, 21 N. Shaffer, an Athens company that supplies tools and parts to luthiers.
Imbody left to work for a lutherie in Colorado, and Coleman replaced him. A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Coleman also began working with guitars at an early age.
The two luthiers began working together when Imbody returned to Athens, and they decided to turn their mutual appreciation for old guitars into a business.
Older instruments sound better as they age
Imbody said. They develop character over time
and it's hard to duplicate age as sound.
The biggest challenge of restoring a guitar is to make it look like it would if the guitar didn't need to be restored, he said.
To do this, the luthiers use a variety of tools, some made by Stewart-MacDonald - where Coleman still works - and some they make themselves.
Luthiers need to be adept at woodworking and metalworking, but being a musician also makes it easier to know what instruments are supposed to sound like, Coleman said.
Although the economic downturn has hurt some of their friends in the guitar-building business, Imbody and Coleman said they've seen business increase in the last few months.
People who play guitars really want their stuff to work right
no matter what the economic situation
Imbody said.
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