the terminology many, many
times—I believe we do actually
build a better mousetrap.
Will you ever consider offer-
ing custom options?
As far as custom options go, I’m
a little bit wary, because I don’t
believe we can always give our
customer the sound he’s got in
his head. He comes to a custom
builder and says, “Well, I’d like a
double-cut bolt-on with a swamp-
ash body, and a maple neck with
an ebony fingerboard, and I want
it to have this style of pickup in
the bridge, and I want it to have
this style of pickup in the middle,
and I want this vibrato bridge or
this fixed bridge.” When that gui-
tar goes together, I don’t believe
it can possibly deliver the sound
that’s in the player’s head. Instead,
I prefer that the player looks at
our guitars, plays our guitars,
and then chooses something that
suits what he wants to do.
We shouldn’t leave the
novice out of the equation
because why should
beginners have to play
something sub-standard?
flame-maple top. That is not a
reason to buy a guitar for me.
That’s a reason to buy something that you have on the wall
to look at. I don’t believe guitars
should be hung on the wall and
looked at. I believe they should
go out and earn their living.
You’ve created so many useful
innovations in the industry.
For someone who’s not at avid
guitarist, how are you able to
see the picture so clearly?
Well, it started with the Roller
Nut. That started me on the
path. I was looking for a purpose. I’ve played in bands, I
know what it’s like to play
onstage, and I know what its
like to go onstage with a guitar
you don’t trust. It’s a panic. So
when I developed the Roller
Nut, I could then actually take
a guitar with a vibrato system
and know that when I used
that system—if I went to a lead
break, or if I decided to do an
