Lexington, KY - If you ask Bob Willcutt, owner of Lexington's premiere specialty guitar hub, Willcutt Guitar Shoppe, we may very well be living in the "golden age of guitar building." But Willcutt himself learned the ropes from the ground up, during an era when information did not flow so freely, and master builders were apt to keep the know-how of their trade to themselves.
"Everything was very secretive," he said, recalling the late '60s. "You had to get the specialized tools from Germany; the woods were hard to get; information was mostly with the older guys. And back then, they didn't want to let any of the secrets out - they had to learn how to do it themselves, and they did not do apprenticeships."
The times, they have a-changed. Today,
the Internet is full of guitar builders sharing their methods. That, coupled with advancements in machinery and the availability of fine woods, has created an atmosphere of unmatched productivity and quality. Oh, and perhaps of equal importance, all the "ex-hippies" who grew up through the '60s and '70s, flush with the golden age of rock-and-roll, are the ones running the companies now. "Now, I'm the old guy," Willcutt added with a chuckle.
Willcutt was fresh out of college with a master's degree in social work when he started fixing and building guitars (as well as dulcimers, which were much more popular back then) in 1968. He initially set up shop in the basement of Chevy Chase's Fred Moore Music Company -
side work, as he called it.
While he dabbled briefly with social work as a profession, Willcutt always found it difficult to put aside his "side work" (and passion) with guitars. Eventually, he stopped trying to - in 1979 (30 years ago), he moved his business from Chevy Chase into the Rosemont Garden storefront where his shop remains today.
As the neighborhood has seen some changes over the years, so has Willcutt's shop, which now has a staff of 13. Since first opening, it has expanded into three nearby buildings, allowing space for an Internet store, a guitar museum and a music academy. Though his needs and services have changed and expanded over time, Willcutt never considered moving out of the neighborhood - the area and the customers have been too kind to him.
That doesn't mean Willcutt can't reach an international clientele base from his south Lexington enclave. He established a strong Internet presence over a decade ago, a service that he said has afforded him the opportunity to expand his business dramatically while keeping his prices down for his local customers. Known afar for his quality selection (which includes the one-of-a-kind, Breedlove "Exodus" guitar, hand-crafted and designed by master builder Kim Breedlove and priced at a modest $75,000), Willcutt has seen the likes of Molly Hatchet, Iggy Pop, Steven Stills, Eddie Van Halen and other high-profile customers pass through his doors over the years.
But if you ask him about his celebrity shoppers, Willcutt will likely shrug off the question. While the prices of most of his instruments range from about $100 to $3,000, Willcutt's primary client base consists of musicians who are serious about buying something nice, from a staff that eats, breathes and sleeps music equipment.
"We keep a constant check on (these guitars), and we know how to work them," Willcutt said. "They're right when you get them, and if they need any work down the road, we know exactly what to do."