Official Luthiers Forum!

I have never heard of him, seen his guitars that I would know of, or anything else about him. What I don't understand is the dumping on him.
Which one of any of us wouldn't take the money, make guitars for Clapton and for that matter, any other of the prime players out there to get the endorsement. I sure as hell would and not think twice. If folks in the forums or other players didn't think guitars my builds worthy (if I was a known and exposed builder with a rep), I would just refere to the folks playing and paying the price for my guitars and had a book written on them an getting the press for folks to see and get more orders, I would say "when you get here, I will care what you think". I imagine even the best builders here or elsewhere get the same kind dumping when they sell for higher price, get the credit in various media etc. What ever ones opinion of his guitars (good or bad) he is doing and has done what we all I(or at least most) would want to achieve as a builders. He has done something right, he is getting the price and exposure and most of us are not.

And how many of us have had Clapton commission a guitar?

Amazingly (to me) I dug out some old photos I took of Wayne back in about '72 - I hope this works:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=ho ... 559&ref=mf

Well, I don't think it's really people "dumping on him" as you say. They're just demystifying him, which is fine. It'd be nice if skill and recognition always went hand in hand, but that's rarely the case in any artistic field. It's one thing to appreciate the man for who he is and what he has accomplished, but it's something completely different to take these things and assume that his work should be put up on a pedestal and revered because of it. I'm sure there are more than a couple people on this forum that have just as much skill and can consistently produce instruments on the same level as any of the big names out there.

I've not heard any of his guitars nor do I know anything about him so I can't really say anything on the matter. I'm just chiming in to say that I think there's nothing wrong with criticizing his work or stating that it's probably overrated if you believe it to be because it may very well be. And if it is, I believe nothing good can come of blind admiration of something that really isn't all that great.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

From all I’ve heard about Wayne I’m sure he is a humble guy that doesn’t go around tooting his own horn and proclaiming himself the worlds greatest luthier. I would guess he builds excellent instruments but would be the first to admit that they are not better than any other good builder with similar experience. I read the book and have seen the author on a film clip of a book signing event playing his guitar. The guy seems to take himself incredibly seriously and was obviously totally blown away with watching the process of guitar building in a folksy romantic setting. There was a lot of hyperbole. I found myself rolling my eyes quite a few times reading the book as he described stuff we all do as not really achievable by mere mortals. I read somewhere that after bugging Wayne to complete a second guitar the author found the word “asshole” engraved in very small letters buried in the headstock inlay. He took it as a joke but I wonder if it really was.

TJK

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

The reason Clapton was involved was because a studio owner he knew had one right there, I would agree, that that could have been alot of luthiers, especially 15 years ago, or whenever this happened. Maybe it was good adi, and brazilian, who knows.

Sounds like Wayne was a bit peeved at a 'second' request' LOL...

It's still a great story, partially because of the Forrest-Gump, hillbilly factor. But alot of hillbillies have been making fiddles, mandos, etc for a long time.

_________________
Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Yeah - just another hillbilly who has made over 400 guitars, over a hundred mandolins, and a bunch of fiddles and banjos too - and whose reputation as a builder is all folklore -

Over the smell of all that moonshine I am smelling some sour grapes too -

D.