Guitars
Norman Treitl’s grandfather was Otto Josef Klier, who established the Klira company to be the third largest music instrument production during Bubenreuth’s boom years. Norman Treitl can tell how Klira started out producing violins, soon thereafter adding guitars and electric guitars to their...
Hagen Weise was born in Dresden. He shares his experience of his apprenticeship at Musima in a state run production in East Germany before 1989. Per day, four-hundred classical guitars were built until the material allotted for the day was used up. The guitar makers sometimes finished their work at...
Hank Marvin and his buddy, Bruce Welch, formed the instrumental rock band The Shadows in 1958 in England. The highly influential group pioneered the four-member rock band format consisting of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. They were the backup band for Cliff Richards for 35 of...
Johnny Smith played drums professionally with the Oak Ridge Boys and Travis Tritt, among others, before a group of investors approached him to help create the Songbirds Guitar Museum. Johnny was first asked to find the perfect city for the museum. In 2013, he traveled all around the states before...
Vic Russelavage was hired by Chuck Levin as a repairman while Vic was playing his trumpet professionally. Chuck became a mentor and encouraged Vic to focus on the details and to take as much time with each customer as needed. As a result, Vic was inspired to open his own repair shop, which became a...
David Davidson’s uncle, Bill Nimmo, was a professional drummer who opened a small music store on Long Island, New York in 1966. David was exposed to all sorts of instruments at an early age and for as long as he can remember, he was fascinated with the guitar. He learned all he could about vintage...
Ozzie Yue started a group with school friends who later went on to be known as the band, The Hideaways. The Liverpool based band played in the Cavern more times than the Beatles – in fact they played the Cavern five times in one day! Besides playing for the Hideaways, Ozzie also performed in the...
Chet Roberts attended MTSU where he earned a degree in engineering. He was honing his skills in a studio when he met members of the rock band 3 Doors Down. Chet acted as an assistant in their Rivergate Studios in Tennessee before he was asked to go on the road as their guitar tech. It was an...
Steve Gibson repeated, “I’ve been blessed,” which acted as a recurring theme throughout his NAMM Oral History interview. The sentiment comes from a review of his extraordinary career as a studio musician, producer, and musical director based in Nashville. At 19 years old, in the early 1970s, he...
Guy DeVillez has always had a passion for music. At age 12, Guy started playing guitar and would collect odd guitar picks that he found here and there. He found colorful and unusual picks in music stores and after gigs in local clubs. As his collection grew, so did his knowledge of pick history....