17th Street Guitars - Builder Profile

Interview from Musicians Hotline

MH: Dave, 17th Street Guitars is a brand new guitar company making quite a name for themselves very quickly. Tell us how and when the company was formed and what is the vibe of the instruments?

DAVE: The company was formed around August of 2004, when I approached John Carruthers and he agreed to partner up. I had been doing session work here in Los Angeles, as well as playing in two bands, The Big Angry, my metal band, and Erin-Ann Scott, an introspective, crossover country artist. I had to use different guitars for each because the ones I played in the metal band had a look and sound that was just too hard rock, but the guitars I played in Erin-Ann's band didn't play as well. It bothered me that I couldn't find an instrument that played like my "metal" guitars, and yet looked like it could crossover into any style.

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MH: John Carruthers, you are not only the master luthier at 17th Street Guitars, you are also a founder. Please give us a brief history of your career.

JOHN: Well, I have been in the music business since my early teens, over forty years now. I started with a shop in my garage, and worked on guitars for Frank Zappa, Lee Ritenour, and many others. I was a consultant for most of the major manufacturers including Yamaha, Fender, Music Man, G&L, Martin, and EMG. I was involved with the revitalization of Fender, and worked with Leo Fender at Music Man on the Stingray Bass and Sabre Guitar. At Yamaha I helped develop the BB Series basses and worked with Ibanez on their first seven string guitar. I was a staff writer for Guitar Player Magazine from 1977-1987, and since 1976, have operated my own business servicing and building custom guitars.

MH: John, given your history, what made this company so attractive to you?

JOHN: I have developed the capability to produce very high quality instruments using my accumulated knowledge and skills. I have always been a good craftsman, but just not the best businessman. Dave sold me on the idea of this company, and had specific agendas for the guitars in each series. He approached me as a businessman and a player, yet was willing to listen to experience and was open to suggestions. So while I initially entered into this partnership very cautiously, when I saw the first few reactions from the players, I knew we had something special.

MH: Dave, tell us about the guitars, "Playability of a modern instrument with a classic look and sound"?

DAVE: Our instruments feature all the modern amenities found in recent guitars. We use a 14" radius on the neck, offer wide and narrow nut widths, use a satin finish on the back of all the necks, and we set them up to play with ease. All of our guitars offer the Buzz Feiten Tuning System as a standard option. Buzz developed this tuning system that intonates the guitar to a tempered tuning. If you haven't played it, you really must. It's the most in tune your guitar will sound. {Feel free to contact us with questions about Buzz Feiton Tunung Systems. We can retro fit your electric!}........ We feel a guitar should be available with all these features but have a sexy, professional look to it. It seems in many instances, if a guitar has a more conservative look, then you're sacrificing playability and feel. The strange thing to me is that people are willing to settle for one thing or the other, because it typically isn't available all together in one guitar. I have always been the opposite. I was willing to look out of place with the pointy headstocks and what not, just so I could play something that felt right, regardless of the style of music. We make a guitar that offers features and sound universal to all styles of music. After extensive research and many brand and model comparisons, we have honed in on a few select DiMarzio pickups. Our main pickup, the "Fred", we feel closely resembles the original "patent applied for" pickup. The "Air Classic", recommended to us by Buzz Feiten, lends a warmer, more traditional tone and is found in our ML Classic and RL Studio models. The "Virtual 2 Bridge" is our standard, single coil pickup that we found works best in the middle and neck position.

MH: How many models are currently being built, and please briefly describe each.

DAVE: Options aside, there are basically 8 different guitar models, and two bass models. The ML Series is our 22 fret, full body series. These guitars feature the 1 3/4" nut width, and have a standard "C" taper. The ML has two humbuckers, while the ML Classic is more like a vintage pickguard guitar with a hum, single, single configuration. The DL Series is a 24 fret guitar that has a smaller sized body. This guitar has the 1 3/4" nut width, and the neck taper is asymmetrical. The DL Series includes the standard DL and the DL SPYDER. The SPYDER has a custom pickguard, and has one humbucker and one single coil. There is no tone knob, just a volume, a three way toggle, and a series parallel switch for the humbucker. Our RL Series features an offset body & an optional scale length. They are available in 25.5 or 24.75 scale lengths. There is the standard RL, The RL Studio, which features a Tone-Pros bridge and tailpiece, the RL Shorty, which is an RL with the lower horn very much reduced, and then the RL Studio Shorty, which is the Studio with the smaller lower horn. These guitars are all 24 fret, and feature a 1 5/8" width and slight V taper. The JL Series is our bass series and comes in a 4 or a 5 string version. Each one is also available fretless. The 5 string has a slightly tighter string spacing but not as drastic as some other 5 string basses on the market. It also has an extra 1/2" inch of scale length over our 4 string bass. The 34.5" scale length centers the low B string without adding too much tension to the remaining strings. All of our models are available left handed at no extra cost.

MH: John, tell us more about the bass line of 17th Street, and why you have expanded into this market as well?

JOHN: I have had a long history of working with basses. As I mentioned before, I was directly involved with Fender, Music Man, the Yamaha BB Series, and my own Carruthers SUB 1. I have made custom Carruthers' basses that have been played by Leland Sklar, and countless other artists. With all this going on, it was only natural to come out with a 17th Street bass line. We wanted to do something a little different from the custom basses I have made in the past, so we brought in some seasoned bass players, including John Leftwich from Lyle Lovett's and Rickie Lee Jones's band, and we had them tell us about things they would like to see in a bass. We basically utilized the things that I had perfected in my bass, combined that with the minor changes that were suggested, and our bass series emerged.

MH: John, what do you feel are the most unique aspects of your guitars and why?

JOHN: We have a very high quality, American made instrument for a very reasonable price. The guitar looks great, it feels great, and the sound is incredible. These guitars have all the playability and features that you would normally find requested in a custom made guitar.

MH: The company is also producing "limited edition" instruments such as the six and seven string Sky Guitar. Dave, please elaborate more on this guitar and what, if any, future limited models can we expect to see?

DAVE: Well, once the idea set in that we were moving forward on starting a guitar company, I thought it was only natural to want to make the one guitar I always wanted. Growing up I was a huge Eddie Van Halen and Uli Jon Roth fan. But by far, I wanted to own the Uli Jon Roth Sky Guitar more than anything. The thought of all those frets, and being able to reach notes with ease that would be otherwise impossible, was exciting to me. I approached Uli and expressed to him that we would like to make a final version of the Sky Guitar. We understood that the guitars built for him by master luthier, Andy Demetriou, were prototypes, and I wanted to make Uli a refined version of his guitar. That was helpful in starting our relationship because Uli wanted to work on the guitar to perfect it. So the instrument that we are making available to the public isn't a copy of his existing guitar, but a newer, improved version that Uli himself will now use and endorse. Every year, guitar companies always introduce new lines and personally, it just gets so confusing with all the different models. We want to keep things simple by maintaining our line, and periodically introducing special or limited runs of guitars to keep things interesting and exciting.

MH: 17th Street Guitars has a targeted dealer network. What do you look for in a dealer who represents your line?

DAVE: We look for independent dealers who carry unique guitar lines. They may specialize in guitars or be a full line store with a strong guitar presence. An honest partnership is essential. We have a minimum price policy that ensures our product's worth, and really puts the emphasis on each dealer's ability to provide great service for repeat customers. Personally, I prefer to buy a product knowing that the price is the same no matter where I get it. I just like to know the bottom line, and more importantly, we want the consumer to know the bottom line. Our National Sales Manager, Marc Laham, has been a rep for Gibson and Paul Reed Smith. Through this experience, he has developed sensitivity toward the needs of dealers. Marc's passion for 17th Street Guitars is infectious, and we feel he is an invaluable asset to the company. Marc may be contacted for any dealer inquiries at marc@17thstreetguitars.com. You can currently find our guitars at West L.A. Music, Musician's Outlet, Jim's Music Center, Hi-Line Music, Adirondack Guitar, Starr's Guitars, Keepers Music, Evan's Music City, Atlanta Bass Gallery and Stockdale Music in the U.S. & Full Moon Guitars in Japan.

MH: Any new production models on the drawing board that you can talk about?

DAVE: We just added two guitars to the RL Series. The RL Shorty and the RL Studio Shorty are now currently available. We are also planning on coming out with a 7 string version of the DL, which should be available before Christmas. All the guitars will soon be available as an import model as well. We really want to focus on making great American guitars, however we feel it is good to import guitars for players who can't afford our domestic lines. John is currently developing a deluxe line of guitars for 17th Street. The working name for this series is the Chambered Acoustic Series or the CA Series for short. They will be completely different from our current line & have their own appeal detailed with set necks, chambered bodies, and carved tops,. These guitars will be available in both scale lengths, and ready for purchase at or around the winter 2006 NAMM show.

MH: Dave, who seems to be a typical player of your guitars?

DAVE: I don't think we have a typical player. At the NAMM show this year, we had Mike Kenneally from Frank Zappa's band and Steve Vai's band, Mike O'Neil from George Benson's band, and the legendary Chuck Rainey, all playing our guitars. If you look at our list of endorsed artists, you'll find it is very diverse and interesting. If I had to say who our typical player is, I mean if I were forced toŠI would say it is anyone who prefers a great playing and sounding instrument, yet doesn't want to visually advertise what style of music they play.

MH: In closing Dave and John, 17th Street Guitars is off to an amazing start. To what do you attribute your early success, and how do you plan on further building your current momentum?

JOHN: Early success? I have been doing this forty years. Haven't you been listening? (laughs) Basically, it comes down to the right idea, the right people making it, and getting it in the right hands.

DAVE: John is right...we make guitars that may be perceived as "understated" in appearance, but once players get the guitars in their hands, it all clicks, and they realize what 17th Street Guitars is all about. As far as building on the current momentum, I feel we should just keep on doing what we are doing and just get the word out. 17th Street Guitars is a working man's guitar. Whether you play jazz, country, metal, punk or pop, we offer a versatile guitar that doesn't pigeon-hole you to that style. Hence our motto: "What kind of
music do YOU play?"

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