Clyde Reid. Clyde
operated a music store in Donelson, Tennessee, right outside of
Nashville. Billy knew he would need the help of an experienced luthier
to build
his flat top guitar. He contacted J.W. Gower, a Nashville resident who
came from a family of luthiers and wood workers.
With Billy at the helm, Clyde with his managerial skills, and J.W. with
his guitar-building know-how, all the pieces were in place. They
approached a Nashville lawyer named General Howard Butler and under his
legal representation, established a corporation. The new company would
be called RG&G Musical Instruments, Inc. (Reid, Grammer, and
Gower).Billy told me "that his name by chance looked the best on the
headstock hence the name The Grammer Guitar was chosen".
Eventually some problems did occur and with the help of Fred Moore (see this link) some financial help did arrive in time to keep the plant afloat. With the help of Ampeg to infuse capital and produce and distribute his guitars, Billy's factory stayed alive. Many people are under the impression that Ampeg owned Billy's guitar factory , but according to Billy that was not the case. There were changes to the guitar ,but the same experienced luthers still produced the guitars. Some of the changes are what I call the transitional Grammer guitars in which the "railroad track" inlays on the finger board were still there but the Ampeg logo was on the headstock are the earliest examples, other notable changes was the blue label being replaced with a black and white inner label bearing the Ampeg logo on the right side of the label as well as the lettering changing on the headstock from capital T,G and G to lowercase letters .
Some model number discrepancies as well as serial numbering also came into being ,and as Billy stated "I didn't even know what serial numbers were being used at this time" can only lead to confusion among followers and collectors alike. In the spring of 1968 a fire decimated the factory and almost everything was lost. By 1972 the last of Grammer guitars were produced and with the influx of cheap guitar from overseas the Grammer factory close its doors forever with left over inventory and parts being auction off to the highest bidder(s).
Many people like myself have developed an almost cult like following of these fine American made vintage acoustic guitars. Many dealers are also becoming interested in these guitars and can be seen listing several for sale at any time. Ebay will have one or two for sale from time to time as well. The Grammer guitar has even finally been listed in the Vintage Guitar Guide, It must be noted that Billy himself once told me that after the auction several loads of unfinished guitars and guitar parts were sold , so buyer beware .Billy Grammer is still alive and I have the chance to chat with him from time to time and is still active in the music industry, He has just completed filming for several installments to be aired on the RFG channel sometime in March of 2010. Billy has even been so kind to allow me to use the Grammer guitar headstock outline as part of Greg's Guitars logo.



In
considering this months installment of The Vintage Guitar News and
Views I found myself thinking not only our freedoms we enjoy, but also
the pursuit of ambitions, dreams and the protection of our country and
the sacrifices that have been made by the many that have came before us
and those that are serving now, not only in the service to our country
through the military but also serving our country through the shining
example(s) of the dedication that they brought to the business world
and in particular to the industry of guitars and what (if anything)
could be learned through the exploration of the two icons in our
industry (I think so at least ).
The
two men I have chosen for my own guitar hall of fame are who I consider
(and many will agree) the two most important men in the history of
guitar manufacturing. Leaders, visionaries and capable men who through
trial and error, listening as well as leading ,have brought us(guitar
nuts) the items we consider the best of the best ,in guitar
enthusiasts,players and collectors circles.
These
two men not only developed skills in electronics and business at an
early age . in the development of their products they listened to
their clients, they participated in the development process and most of
all these two men set the tone of their respective companies with their
caring demeanor, thus insuring great products for musicians around the
world then and in retrospect for us now.
Not
only were they educated they were also dedicated. They were dedicated
to their jobs and the jobs and lives of their subordinates, this last
observation is what I feel is and shall always be the building block or
stumbling block of both any company in the past, present and future.
So let us take a brief look at the two“founding fathers” of our guitar nation and see what I mean, Ted McCarty ofGibson guitars and Leo Fender from Fender Musical Instruments.
The
similarities are spooky to say the least,Mr. McCarty at a young age had
an aptitude for business, and in elementary school he started a school
newspaper was very athletic and showed an interest in radio, not just
for the entertainment they provided but also the inner workings. He
built many a radio and experimented with the internal workings from
kits. Excelling academically, athletically and socially off to college
he went. Mr. Fender born to a farming family showed interest in the
tools of the trade rather than the trade itself also interested in
electronics and inner workings of things he tore apart radios to see
how they worked, interesting enough he also built an acoustic guitar at
the age of only 16.After an unassuming early education Leo went on to
Jr. college where he worked as a bookkeeper and then became an
accountant , learning the practices of making a business work through
checks and balances ( no pun intended ). Still the everdying tinkerer
he was always drawn to his love of electronics and working on musical
instruments. Catching the notice of a local bandleader for his ability
to work on P.A. systems he was given a chance to build several systems
under contract and this led the way for what we know today as the great
Fender Musical Instrument company.
Mr. McCarty after elementary education went onto the
Both
Leo and Ted learned the business of business from the bottom up, inside
out and most importantly learned that their product(s) were only as
good as the people that made them and that the people that made their
products were only as good as the leadership at the helm of operations.
This aspect I feel was fundamentally lost after they both relinquished
their leadership to others and most people in the guitar world feel that the golden age of guitars(the
first anyways) was over by the time both of these men left the
companies that they had either run or founded. These men put their
passion of what they enjoyed doing combined with the passion for
guitars out in front of everyone to see, they purposely made and
improved their products for the end consumers .Sure they wanted to turn
a profit and succeed but they also believed in what they were doing. I
wish that companies today would take the lessons these two gentlemen
taught us both in the desire to produce superior products and act
independently of market conditions instead of depending on past
successes to invigorate sales. Also in the way these two men listened
to not only their clients but also their genuine
care for the people they employed . Enabled them to create the guitars
that we today so covet. Both these men although taking different paths,
followed their desires and interests that they cradled at an early age
to build what most consider the most successful instrument(s) we think
we have ever seen.
So many of us as parents seem to try to mold our children instead of letting them mold themselves (I ‘m guilty). Granted they(our children) can not run amok , but there may be something to the innate abilities that one is born with that can lead us all to success in one form oranother. After all look at the two iconic guitars ever produced by the two men that independently followed the path that led them to their place in history.Well this like always its just my news and views, so until next month, may all your friends stay true all your days be memorable and all your riffs be killer,Greg at Gregs Guitars.

October Edition of
Vintage Guitar News and Views.
The June edition of Vintage Guitar News and Views
The 1960’s – An Era of Change
So what were some
of the changes? Well, first to come to
mind was the fretboard – Fender went from a maple fretboard to a rosewood fretboard
,with the maple as an option, the Rosewood which throughout the 1960’s got progressively
thinner, and in late 1962 even had a bottom radius to match the arch of the neck’s top
radius. The black fret position markers
were also changed to clay dot markers on the fretboard face. Also, the trussrod which was placed through
the backside of the neck, and gave us the skunk stripe inlay was placed via under
of the rosewood fretboard, thus eliminating the skunk stripe itself and doing
away with the pegheads plug inlay. As a
result, I am probably correct to assume that it also facilitated speed in
production and less articulation on the builder’s part – remember, Leo was a
“bottom line” kind of guy. But being
cost conscious why go from an 8 screw to an 11 screw pickguard cover that was now
introduced ? ( obviously for better
coupling) and Fender replaced the thinner one-ply pickguard with a
triple-laminated (the mint green coloration, according to Fender, was a
mistake) and often a shielded one. Yes Leo was known to shave a dollar here and
spend a dime there all the while listening to his field of test players in the
trenches, the raves and the complaints were all a grand part in Leo’s quest for
perfecting his “girl” the Stratocaster.
The 3 color “bursts” were phased in over the standard 2 color s( although some 3 color one do appear as early as the later half of 1958) Some of the production models in the earlier 60’s had a strange combo of older and newer parts (again Leo saving a dime) until all the old inventory was used up and production was ramping up. Also we see on dealers charts of the day an array of colors appearing and disappearing, choices such as Lake Placid Blue , Sonic Blue, Sherwood Green , Foam Green, Shoreline Gold Metalic , Olympic White , Surf Green , Burgandy mist , Black,Blonde , and The Sunburst were some of the custom color choices as a customer you would have had. Interestingly enough Shell Pink was one that was discontinued and Candy Apple Red was introduced.
Because of undercoat “primer” changes from silver to gold in 1965
/ 1965 we can also see a wide array of coloration discrepancies all within the
same known colors of a particular
guitar.(especially within the reds) At times due to a lack of guitar for a
customers color order, a desert sand or sunburst that didn’t quite take well
was over sprayed the custom color , again to save inventory and probably speed
thing up a notch ,we will never really
know. So by 1964 Leo and the gang was kicking out some mighty fine guitars, progress
was being made, expansion was constant and changes were taking place. Then another turn in the house of cards was
to take place. In 1965 the sale of Fender to CBS, making what some argue the
most highly desirable (PRE CBS) and prized guitars in the market as we know it
today. But , That is just another piece to the puzzle and another story for
another day and as always this is just my opinion here at "Vintage Guitar News and Views", all brought to
you courtesy of Greg at www.Gregsguitars.net. So may all your days be fair all your friends stay true and
all your riffs be killer, Thanks and I will see ya next month .Greg.
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