Hello, everyone!
Yes, it's been a long time since I've written on these pages, and I thank Peter for keeping my column active.
Anyone can reach me via my website, which has a "Contact Me" page, which forwards all of my mail to my email address, or you can try me at
rickacoustics@me.com. My managing_director address is still active, but I'm phasing it out; they are falling further and further behind on their software updates.
To address things generally, I don't post life updates generally, but the last 18 months have had more going on than the entire 64 years preceding them. Yes, I lost my Mom in August, 2013, the day before what would have been her 85th birthday. We always thought Dad would be the first to go--his work ethic was pretty incredible--but Mom suffered a stroke and it was only a few months before she passed away. Dad, who was 86, seemed to kind of lose his will to live, and he died last Memorial Day.
My divorce took two years and was finally finalized in early September. That cost me much of my collection, as those of you who watch Ebay know already. Juliana went to Brazil with Dalia in September of 2013, and her private school there was very expensive; another reason for the sale of many of my Ricks. She's back living in California with me now, in her Senior year at George Washington Unliversity Online High School, and doing well.
As you might imagine, all of the trips back East to Chicago to see my family and deal with funerals and personal family business were expensive and time-consuming. I had to give up my house in Mill Valley, which meant moving both my house and my workshop, the first 4 months of 2014, and another 2 months to get my new shop wired, set up, and running. I was finally settled in in June of this year, and have been cranking away ever since.
Last February 1, due to budget cuts and reduced enrollment at my university, my position was terminated and I am now teaching, but not managing a department. This gives me more time to work on guitars, but also meant I took a 50% pay cut, which means I have to work harder on guitars. Fourteen hour days are the norm, usually 7 days per week, interspersed with chauffeuring Juliana into San Fran, as she is still singing with the San Francisco Girls' Chorus, which practices frequently. So, time is precious, but I'm doing the best work I've ever done.
So, job change, pay cut, divorce, death of both parents, relocation 30 miles to Vallejo, CA, and also the passing of my two best friends, all in the last 18 months or so. It's slowed me down and made communication spotty, and for that I apologize to anyone who has had any doubts as to my ability to carry on! It's been my guitar work and teaching that have kept me focused and positive.
Next, good general news: My eldest daughter, Andrea, who is 44, gave me a grandson, Benjamin, in Madrid, Spain, last September 16th. He's doing very well as are Mom and Dad, who have moved to Copenhagen and are living in the apartment above the one formerly owned and occupied by philosopher and doomy Dane Soren Kirkegaard...strange tidbit...I began tooling for the Madeleine Strings line, just before my move, and that is finished now. Madeleine was Andrea's first born, and she was born with HLHS and passed away after only two short months of life.
More good news: Juliana is applying to something like 20 colleges, and received her acceptance letter for Quest University in Squamish, BC, Canada, and will be attending next year, if she doesn't take a gap year. If she does elect to take a gap year, it will be because she's a finalist in the State Department's NSLI-Y program, and would be going to Morocco for a year to study Arabic in an immersion setting.
OK, enough personal chit chat. I know you guys are wondering, or you wouldn't posted, so let me address each case individually, and then speak generally about my guitar work and new shop.
Erik (480) and Rick (Coronado)--Both your projects are on my bench right now. Erik--you will be in paint later this week. Rick--just finished your refret, set up is next, along with checking out the harness and getting it playing like it should. Len--tell your friend that his bass received its last clear coat on Monday and will be going out as soon as I get it strung and set up. Jim Blake: Your truss rods are next up, perhaps 2-3 weeks.
With regard to acoustics, I took a couple of months this Summer to re-tool a good deal of the acoustic stuff--necks, headstocks, and body molds, and to cut lots and lots of ribs, tops, sides, and backs. I'm finishing the acoustics now, one by one, in the order that they were received. Although I can build the bodies and necks in batches, when in comes down to the point where neck meets body in a semi-permanent glue joint, I work on only one at a time, so things are necessarily slow. I have only finished 2 acoustics this year due to the situations mentioned above; Ron O' Keefe got one and he reports back that he's enjoying it very much. The second ias going out any day now, and it'll be time to start Brian's, which is the next-longest wait, and I do appreciate your patience, Brian. I hope to get an acoustic out every 6 weeks during 2015, now that things have settled down on the home front.
Guitars in general: I currently have at least two dozen projects on my calendar, and am steadily working on at least 6 at once. I am doing my best work, and will not compromise or rush now.
I was building in three separate workshops, nearly 60 miles apart (Mill Valley (set ups, assembly and detailing), Sausalito (paint and woodwork), Healdsburg (acoustic bodies)), from 2008 until this past March. As of June, everything has been moved into one location, and I took that opportunity to build my new shop from scratch, and also to re-organize and re-tool, as I've mentioned. Working in three locations happened due to growth and opportunity; space in Marin and Sonoma Counties was expensive--about $2 per square foot per month--and these were small shops that were nowhere near as efficient as they could be. I also had a storage container up in Sonoma where my wood was kept. I literally drove 14,000 miles in 2012, traveling between locations, and as you might guess, if I needed something in Sausalito, it was in my shop in Mill Valley, etc.
Now I'm in one location--my shop is literally on premises, ten steps from my home. Efficient. I continue to enjoy building guitars and restoring, finishing, etc., and have no plans to retire, though I hit 66 in September.
As for the RRF: I have not checked in for a long time, and was sort of waiting until I had a bit more free time before getting back into the fray. But I heard about this thread and of course, now's a good time--it's 10 years this month since I joined the RRF, and I will check in now every day or two. As Erik, Brian, and Sean have said, I can be reached through my website, too, and most customers have my phone number, though when I'm in my spray booth or otherwise occupied, it's hard to answer the phone. And, believe me, I do appreciate emails instead of interruptive phone calls.
Thanks to everyone for the call to arms. I'll be checking in frequently as before. And, of course, I'm on Facebook, too.