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Jeff R

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Jeff R last won the day on March 24

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About Jeff R

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  • Website URL
    http://www.thefretshack.com

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  • Interests
    The Fret Shack; Carondelet Guitar and Bass Pickups

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  1. Recap photos and familiar faces ... My surrogate son and Carondelet artist Corban Barnes. Already one of Louisiana's first-call studio/stage utility players (guitar, steel and keys), it's only a matter of time before he ascends to the national stage. Remember his name, kiddos. Greg needs no introduction here. Between his fretted workshop traffic and his own axes' needs, Greg is the highest quantity consumer of Carondelet guitar and bass pickups in our ledgers. Makes me very proud. Wouldn't be a top-tier vintage show if this familiar face didn't surface ... Good pal and Carondelet user Spence Peppard, guitarist for Scotty McCreery. Nashville first-call bassist extraordinaire Jaymi "Pinkbassman" Millard; and Carondelet artist Andrew Gaultier, touring guitarist for Maddie and Tae. Brian Forsythe of Kix and Rhino Bucket Funny story ... the Carondelet "Contour T" Vince Gill and Brad Paisley fawned over on Friday, I jokingly put a sign on it that said "Brad Paisley Approved." This guy inquired about it specifically on Sunday. Turns out it's Gary Hooker, Brad's second guitarist for over two decades! Carondelet artist Eddie Heinzelman, guitarist for Radney Foster. Eddie also owns One Louder Guitar Service in Nashville and he's Carondelet's mini-me in the TN market from a tech standpoint. I don't know what I'd do without Eddie, talk about a MVP. Michael "MBritt" Britt, the king of Kemper profiles and guitarist for Lonestar. Greg Martin of the Kentucky Headhunters. Finally got to meet my longtime phone friend Wolfe "Wolfetone" Macleod. He introduced me to his good pal Jared Brandon (formerly the patriarch of Brandonwound pickups, now a Nashville-based product manager over pickups with Gibson). Wolfe and Jared spent considerable time in the Carondelet booth sampling our pickups and talking pickup- and pickup-maker topics and specifics. Super nice guys and I'm honored to be their peer. Noted Nashville collaborator Billy Henderson, who has penned lyrics for Randy Travis, Jerry Reed, Gretchen Wilson, T. Graham Brown, David Allan Coe, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mindy McCready and Sonny Landreth; and Carondelet artist Brad "The Shredder" Davis, longtime sideman to Marty Stuart and Billy Bob Thornton. Good friend and mentor and Carondelet guitars collaborator Grover Jackson I'm just the brawn, she's the brains ... my darling dear Vonnie. This was by far the biggest and best Amigo Nashville in ANY veteran attendee's recent memory, including the Amigos themselves. They were turning away prospective vendors in the final weeks due to no more room on the exhibition floor. The Amigos are already planning to creatively annex space within the same arena's upper level for more booths next year. We already bought our booth for next year to make sure we get the same square footage in the same prime spot on the main floor. Amigo Nashville 2025 will likely be the biggest guitar event east of the Mississippi River. Plan NOW to attend it.
  2. This is two straight years I've put a cool Tele in Vince's hands. Brad Paisley liked that same one too ... here's Brad in our booth with my good pal and Carondelet artist Corban Barnes.
  3. Both days are heavily trafficked. You can't pick wrong.
  4. Yes, it's definitely worth attending ... vendor booth space is sold out, and the exhibition floor is the fullest I've ever seen it. We are booths 307-308, with 23 custom guitars and basses for hands-on test drives. The show begins at 10am Sat and Sunday at the AgExpo Center. Come make noise with us!
  5. This crossed my FB feed this morning and I immediately sent it to Rechts. Never have I seen a more fitting photo for his social media profile. Reminds me of the sh!t we did on the HFC days of old ... love you guys.
  6. Grover's current in-house brand is OG (Original Grover) and he does do one-off customs. https://www.groverjackson.com/Build-your-own-Guitar_c_11.html He also has his in-house Habanero pickup line that a few small-scale builders use. He and I talk pickup theory and recipes as much as we talk guitar build theory and recipe. In order to not divulge possible NDAs with other notable builders, let's just say I personally saw a few familiar headstock shapes on the "freshly cut" racks in my time at the factory, brands I had no clue were collaborating with G. I didn't ask about them, he didn't divulge details. Fine by me. As for his Carondelet collaboration, I was just the opposite - I told Grover I was going to absolutely scream from every mountaintop every op I got that I am making guitars with Grover F'ing Jackson. He chuckled and smiled, I could tell he was genuinely appreciative. On a related note, for anyone going to the Amigo Nashville Guitar Show later this month ... Grover will be in the Carondelet booth on Saturday, March 23, at a time TBA.
  7. From the wall outside Grover's office ... B-roll outtake from the famous group shot session ...
  8. Here's some modern Grover palate cleanse for you, Jim ... no fake wear ha.
  9. I know from personal experience both WD and Chandler will make the guard you describe. You just have to supply a tracing of the original guard, its mounting holes, and where you specifically want all the pickups/drivers, pots, switches and any other holes located. Be sure to include hole diameters. Then instruct the selected fabricator to drop-ship the completed guard to whoever you commission to populate it. That will save you a week of extra turn time and a second shipping expense.
  10. Along with WD, Pickguard Planet (Chandler) has been doing great custom guards for decades. I got my first custom guard from them in the 1980s. More recently they did the guard for my time capsule resto '55 Junior. https://www.pickguardplanet.com/ I don't know of anyone who actually cuts/fabs custom pickguards AND populates them under the same one-stop-shop roof. What specifically are you trying to get done?
  11. Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. And glad to be of help!
  12. If you like what you hear on this vid, there are a lot of options from which you and I could pick. Outside of bobbin colors and/or metal cover alloys, you can spec ABS or butyrate, 2C or 4C (I designed these to split beautifully), long or short plate legs, different steel alloys for screws and slugs ... or even built around an A3 (sounds a touch woodier but still articulate and sparkly IMHO.
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