“Summertone” Amp Cabinet
I recently picked up a copy of Ashley Kingman‘s new EP, Guitar Blasters Vol. 1. It had a great photo of a well used amp cabinet that I built 20+ years ago. I originally made two cabinets, one for myself and the other for Lee Jeffriess. Lee didn’t end up using it so it landed in Ashley’s hands. He put a Vox AC30 in it and it’s been his main amp ever since. I like the way his looks now, after being on the road for twenty years!
In mine I used a modified Showman head. For detail, I used my late grandfathers belt. He had a carburetor business called “Summertimes” which was hand tooled on his belt. We have a great story about my grandfather Denny and his “53” Buick that we’ll share soon.
Its nice to see that both cabinets have withstood the test of time!
Monthly Motivation-George Barnes
It’s always a surprise to me when I mention guitarist/arranger George Barnes and people don’t know who he is, especially if it’s a guitar player! Mr. Barnes was playing an electric guitar even before the great Charlie Christian. He is by far my favorite player of all time.
I remember the first time I heard the George Barnes Octet recordings. It made me feel like I needed to spend allot more time practicing. Twenty years later, I still feel the same.
I can’t imagine any well-known-so-called-guitar-hero today trying to follow George Barnes on stage or in a recording studio. It would be a joke! If you’re serious about becoming a better guitarist, do yourself a favor and get the full Octet recordings here.
Custom Fabrication
For the past three plus years, TK has been custom fabricating various projects for artist Andrea Zittel at A-Z West. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the work that we don’t take the time to get good photos. AZ recently gave us some great photos taken by photographer Jessica Eckert for the Andrea Rosen Gallery. All furniture designed by Andrea Zittel, built by TK Smith.
The Elrod House Tour
Even though we’ve posted allot of info about guitars and guitar equipment recently, we still make our living from design and fabrication. TK and I never loose interest in architecture, design and the builders/craftspeople who make it happen. We had the opportunity last week to tour The Elrod House by architect John Lautner. Privately owned, the house has never been open to the public. In conjunction with the Los Angeles Conservancy and MAK Center for Art and Architecture, the current owner opened it up for the public to tour. Built in 1969, we jumped at the chance to get inside this iconic house that we had only seen in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds are Forever.
Many people know the Southridge area of Palm Springs from looking up at the home of Bob Hope, another project that Lautner was hired to design, but according to a local Broker who spoke at the beginning of the tour, walked away from mid way through the project. Story has it that Lautner and the Hope’s just couldn’t see eye to eye. Arthur Elrod, who was a prominent interior designer, purchased the first two lots in the development. He said to Lautner, “Give me what you think I should have on this lot.” Elrod gave up complete creative control and before construction began, then entire site was excavated eight feet to expose the bedrock that forms the ridge. You would never be allowed to do that in today’s world. As you can see in the video from the film, and the photos, the rock formations are integrated into the house, coming in through the windows and up through the floors. At 8901 square feet, even with the soaring concrete ceiling of the main living area and the amazing views of Palm Springs below, the house still feels really grounded.
The current owner was at the house when the tour began and had great stories to tell about the history. My favorite was about the complete simpatico between client, architect and builder. That probably rarely happens. The builder had worked with Frank Lloyd Write and came out of retirement in his 80’s to work on The Elrod House. The house being made mostly of formed concrete, when one of the roofs was being poured, the angle was too steep and they lost the entire load of concrete down the hill. Oops! I would imagine that if you hike in the hills around the house today, that the layer of concrete still lives on that hillside?
There are so many interesting facts about everything involved with the history and building of this amazing property. If in the Palm Springs area, there is an exhibit of Leland Lee photographs at the Michael H. Lord Gallery through March 12, that were the first taken of The Elrod House. Lee, who was an apprentice with Julius Shulman, became another great architectural photographer. He is in his 90’s and still living. The photographs were displayed around the house the day of the tour and are definitely worth seeing.
