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Building Community… One Guitar at a Time: Interview with MRWS Instruments
While following my own passion for Roots Music and homemade Roots instruments around the world, I often run into other builders, players, and enthusiasts who are committed to offering their time and talents to expanding the limits of the Roots Music Revival and the Folk Art traditions that encircle it. During my last Australian tour, I met Mark Wilmot, a talented luthier and pioneer in the global Roots Instrument scene. Wilmot epitomizes the concept that the right combination of humility, talent, honesty, and community-minded work will resonate with a market of artists, crafters, and music lovers. What began as a hobby of building instruments at home for friends grew quickly into a full-time job, and gave rise to three separate companies.. MRWS Instruments, which offers an extensive array of guitar parts and accessories in support of the burgeoning global community of Roots Instrument builders, as well as sister companies Raven Box Guitars and Mortal Coil Pickups. Here’s what Mark has to say about how he got started and how he turned his love of music and woodworking into a business that serves as an oasis for those seeking quality parts, beautiful guitars, and some of the coolest looking electric guitar pickups available.
Check out www.MRWSinstruments.com
Q: What first inspired you to start building guitars?
A: You know what? I’m going to have to be honest about this: I haven’t a clue. At the very least, I don’t remember the catalyst. I do remember my first build, though: a paint can diddley-bow. And the only reason I built that was because I hadn’t built one. In general, I’ve always enjoyed building whatever I can build. From the first time that I picked up a guitar at thirteen years old, I knew I’d eventually build one. So I guess what inspired me to keep making them was the immediate interest from others to make them one as well.
Q: What defines your style of instrument building?
A: I love wood. Yeah, that’s right, you heard me. There are some amazingly beautiful timbers in Australia and I love to showcase them in my builds. All of my necks are between three and seven laminations and of at least two timber species. I also put a lot of emphasis on the shape of my heels.
Timber plays an integral role in guitar building, not only in sound but also in general aesthetics. I’m very specific about how things sound. I spend a lot of time on setting up my instruments to make sure I get the action and intonation as close to perfect as possible.
Q: Your instruments seem to be designed from a player’s point of view. Do you have a background in musical performance?
A: I was in a few bands when I was younger. I was never a professional, but I understood how the instrument I was playing worked and I knew from the first time I built a fretted 3 string guitar that the intonation was going to be an issue. The action was never a problem, but in my first few creations, I just couldn’t get the intonation right. So it was the bridge that was letting me down. To combat this problem I developed a multi-piece timber bridge that allowed me to move each section to get the right compensation for each string. This only worked for me up to a point as I tend to be heavy handed when I hit the strings, which gave the bridge a tendency to move. Then I had some electric guitar bridges manufactured for 3 and 4 string instruments. I do believe there are others who now stock this as well.
Q: What inspired you to make the leap from building guitars, to distributing parts and kits?
A: Australia is a long way away from anything. Depending on what and how you purchase parts from overseas, shipping can be exorbitant. I knew there were other builders in my part of the world, and if I was having this shipping dilemma, they were as well. This is the reason I chose to start MRWS. This way I could keep the prices on parts and shipping affordable. The first few items I stocked were kits, machine heads, and various guitar electronics. The kits were a natural progression from selling parts. There’s nothing better than having all the parts you’re after available in one place without going on a treasure hunt.
Q: I find that the guitar parts you sell through MRWS Instruments are affordable, but not “cheap” in quality. What process of quality control do you go through before offering your parts for sale?
A: I sample all of the parts that I stock before they’re available on my site, and I rigorously test them. If they don’t make the cut, I don’t order them. Simple.
Q: By distributing parts around the world to luthiers, you must see trends come and go. Where do you see the guitar building market going?
A: When I started MRWS, I was met with a fair amount of resistance from some already in the industry. Was this because the industry was too small, maybe only a trend itself? Luckily, no. It has grown quite a lot since I began. Certainly the needs of builders change, whether they are building cigar box guitars or 3, 4 or 6 string solid bodies, resonators, kalimbas or amplifiers. I do my best to add products as I see the industry evolve, as well as my own needs as a builder. I always try to keep the core parts for beginners as well as the more seasoned CBG builders. Regardless of where the market wanders, I hope to always be a part of it.
Q: You offer some amazing hand-wound custom pickups through your brand, “Mortal Coil.” Tell me a little bit about how this brand came to be, and what you offer through your line of pickups.
A: Like I stated before, I love making stuff. I made a conscious effort to build an entire guitar from scratch. This included the electronics. Unfortunately I don’t have the foundry to turn ore into metal, but I can make some of the components from already manufactured parts. I also have a lot of timber off-cuts and I tend to horde the nicer species. There’s only so much room in a person’s workshop, so I used the smaller of these off-cuts to make the bobbins for the pickups. After winding a few for myself and finding that they were successful in making the sound I was after, I thought I’d make a few more and offer them to the public to see what happened. I’m glad I did. I’m only offering single coil pups at the moment, but I am developing both humbuckers and low-profile pickups.
And the brand name? Mortal Coil just sounds cool.
Q: What advice would you give to luthiers who are just starting out building their own stringed instruments?
A: Make it your own. Take time to evolve your techniques. Don’t rush. Focus on the sound, not the look. It should be an instrument first and art second. There’s nothing worse than spending time and money on the finished look of a guitar, only to end up with an unplayable wall hanging. Keep your first build. It will be a reminder. Both good and bad.
Thanks for reading, and for being part of keeping the Roots alive! If you like this blog, please SHARE.. and click FOLLOW at the top right of this page.
~Justin Johnson
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What is the Best Way to Learn Guitar?
One of the questions I get asked the most in my guitar workshops is, “What is the best way to learn how to play guitar?” It is such a simple question, but it is one that has so many possible answers, each one being just as true as the other. So.. how do I answer? I tell them that the best way to learn the 6-string guitar is by learning the 3-string guitar.
There are countless guitar legends that started out on homemade guitars, most of them only had a few strings and were built out of found objects, or pieces of old, broken instruments. Jimi Hendrix started out on a one-string Ukulele, Bo Diddley started out on a Cigar Box Guitar… so did Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, Elmore James… the list goes on and on. Not only do you not have to learn guitar on a 6-string, but it can be liberating, inspiring, and more fun to start on a Roots Instrument like the 3-string guitar. Plus, it is a much more affordable investment for a beginner.
Learning to play 3-string guitar is just as valuable, whether you are a total beginner or have been playing for years. Let me tell you why…
Total Beginner?
1) It is easier to begin to learn guitar on 3 strings! I find that the #1 reason beginners stop playing is because is it hard to have fun on the 6-string guitar the first day you pick it up. The 3-string guitar, tuned to an open tuning, can make music without the guitarist even fretting a note. Every time I put a 3-string guitar in a kid’s hands, and they hit that first chord, it puts a smile on their face, because they have already made their first “music!”
2) The 3-string guitar teaches you the muscle memory that you need to play the 6-string. When a beginner learns to play on a 3-String, they are still learning the proper left and right hand technique they will need to play the 6-string. They still build callouses on their fretting fingers, they still develop proper strumming and picking techniques, and they still build the musculature in their fretting hand that will help them push the strings down. The benefit with a 3-string is that these challenges are less frustrating, and allow the player to have more fun and get more instant gratification than they would if they were trying to juggle 6 strings throughout this developmental stage.
3) You can still play all of the same songs on the 3-string, it’s just simpler. It is possible to play the same songs on the 3-string, but the arrangements are generally simpler and less intimidating. Most chord changes can be simplified and broken down into one-finger chords. These chords may not be as lush as a 6-note chord, but they will give the player the enjoyment of being able to strum their favorite chord changes, while building up their fretting hand muscles. Learning barre chords (chords where you lay your index finger down across multiple stings) can be the most frustrating stage in a beginner guitarist’s development… But the 3-string makes this process fun and much less painful!
4) You learn music, not patterns. This is the one I love the most! If you learn on an instrument like the 3-string guitar, you will be learning how to develop your own sound, style, voice, and patterns much more so than if you learn on a traditional 6-string. You will have to learn how to use the entire fretboard, not just the first 5 frets. You will have to learn open tunings, not just standard tuning. You will have to learn how to make your own arrangements of songs instead of learning songs and riffs note-by-note. In a sense, you will be learning how to play like yourself instead of learning to play like someone else. Moving on to play 6 strings will be a very easy transition from the 3-string. All you will have to do is learn some new patterns and chord shapes, but your fingers will be stronger, they will have more stamina, they will be know how to strum and pick, they will know how to run up and down the fretboard… and you will have had more fun along the way!
Already a Proficient Guitarist?
When I got my first guitar, I devoured every lesson book, tab book, DVD, concert video, and dexterity exercise I could find! I studied the classic riffs and tones that were accepted as traditional, acceptable, and cool. I learned the right bends for the right Rock song, the right pickup setting for the right Country twang, and the right vibrato for the right Blues moan… but I missed something else completely… I wasn’t listening to myself enough. I had learned so many traditional ways of playing that I wasn’t breaking outside of my comfort zone and creating sounds that had never been made before.
The day I picked up my first Cigar Box Guitar, I had no idea how to play it.. I didn’t know how it was tuned, it wasn’t properly intonated so it could only be played with a slide, and I had never heard anything with that kind of tone before. It ripped me out of my comfort zone and took me straight to the edge of my ability. It made be rethink the way I approached guitar and the fretboard patterns I was used to. It took away all of my safety nets, and made me have to become a musician, not just a guitarist… and it was the best lesson I ever got!
In Other Words…
From one guitar player to another, roots instruments such as the 1-string diddley bow and the 3-string or 4-string guitar are the best personal trainer I have ever found for 6-string guitar. If you try one, buy one, build one, or have one hanging on a wall, tune it up, and watch these videos. You’ll be happy you did!
Keep on Pickin’, and don’t forget to click “Follow” on this blog to catch future articles!
~Justin Johnson
VISIT STORE for CDs, DVDs, Books, & More!: www.JustinJohnsonLive.com/store.html
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