Banker Custom Guitars

Rochness Monster

Another bird flew the coop, see if you can spot it this summer on the road with

We lost a good one this week. William Hughes, my fathers younger brother aka my Uncle Bill passed away late Monday night. He was always quick with a joke or smartass remark no matter how inappropriate the situation may be. He loved fast cars, hunting, rock and roll, and of course guitars. The smell of unburnt fuel and exhaust drifting into the cab of his Chevy C10 Scottsdale will forever be burned into my memory. He was one of the first people who paid me real actual dollars to build him a custom guitar. In fact when I first started showing interest in playing guitar as a 13 year old kid, he brought over his ‘76 Ovation Balladeer and a fresh pack of Dean Markley Bronze strings (the ones that came with the sticker in every pack) for me to learn with. It was the first real guitar I had laid my hands on outside of the nylon string Yamahas we had in music class. I sat in my bedroom and played it until my fingers were raw, because he told me that learning on an acoustic would make me a stronger player for whenever it came time to get an electric guitar. He was right.

So here’s to my Uncle Bill, a man who had a big influence on my life and who I am today. You will be missed.
And they better have Labatt Blue bottles in heaven, if they know what’s good for em’.

Now that’s a bass

Roll Tide

There are only two color stages at work here, a base coat of nitro lacquer with silver metallic powder mixed in (I use “Fine Brilliant Aluminum” from Crescent Bronze), and a second stage of nitro with pure black aniline dye. The blueish halo effect is due to the fact that aniline powder dyes are not lightfast and have a slight fading effect. It’s the same reason why most ‘59 Les Paul’s have varying degrees of a dulled ice tea shade, when those guitars were brand new they were lemon yellow with a cherry red sunburst. The later iterations used a different type of dye that was not as susceptible to UV fading, which is why they held their original color better.

Anyway, as outdated and obsolete as aniline may be, I love the degradation factor that it adds to a finish. The colors really mellow out and blend together beautifully giving it more depth and complexity.

Come for the guitars, stay for the socks.

For those who may not know, this song you are listening to has one of the last guitar solos Brent Hinds recorded. He slept on the living room couch for a week (or two, whose counting) with The Marcus King Band at the house they rented down in Macon, Georgia while they were writing and recording their latest record, Darlin’ Blue at the legendary Capricorn Studios. The final song on the companion release titled “Red Door” was one that Brent collaborated and performed on. Ever the stubborn perfectionist, he managed to do 278 takes before landing on the one he liked best. These are some photos I took while hanging out and watching it all unfold for a couple of days.

I’ll go ahead and say it, and are quite likely the most formidable guitar duo in the game right now. I wouldn’t make the mistake of missing them on this tour, go on out and get your hair blown back. Seriously, next level playing that is as good as it gets.

BUILDERS CHOICE- Blackout Walnut BigsV…this guitar will be available for purchase next week, DM if you’re interested!

Old growth Honduran mahogany body and neck with an insane highly figured walnut top and matching headstock overlay. 24 fret neck and streaked ebony board, vintage yellow tortoise binding and carbon black finish with reverse headstock stinger. Black Bigsby B700 vibrato, TonePros locking bridge and nylon saddles, single Duncan SH16 humbucker, Kluson Revolution 20:1 tuning machines, and blackout headstock emblem. Comes with TKL Hardcase, $6299 plus shipping!