We’ve decided to start a new weekly feature here on the First Quality Music Blog: Vault Fridays. Each Friday I’ll venture into the Vault with one of our instrument specialists to showcase some of the cool stuff we’ve got hidden away in there.
This week, we’re taking a look at a very special Gibson F-5 Master Model Mandolin signed by a late friend of ours, Charlie Derrington. Charlie was instrumental in bringing about the standard of excellence in the modern Gibson Mandolin, but was tragically taken from us in a motorcycle accident in 2006.
We got a great trade-in yesterday: A 1999 Martin HD-28V in excellent condition. We don’t often list our used instruments in the blog, but this one is an exception, and we’re offering it at $1,799. It’s truly a great deal for anyone in the market for a great Bluegrass guitar. We’re primarily offering this deal via our Blog, Twitter, and Facebook feeds. This one won’t be listed on firstqualitymusic.com! Give JC a call at (800) 635-2021 ext. 7124 if you’ve got any questions.
Click “Continue Reading” for the specs on this HD-28V, and check out JC giving it a test drive below.
We’re featured on Gibson Lifestyle’s “America’s Best Guitar Shops” this week as they make their way across the US highlighting independent music stores. You can check out their entire line of Blog’s at the Gibson Lifestyle Homepage: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/lifestyle/
On Saturday we hosted the 2009 Southwest Rods & Rides Benefit Car Show & Poker Run, benefiting the Masonic Homes of Kentucky. We had a great show, with around 125 cars being displayed raising over $3000 for the Masonic Homes of KY.
I was walking around the building today when I got to really thinking about the history written all over First Quality’s walls. When you walk into our showroom, you’ll notice that behind the instruments our walls are covered in hundreds of signatures from visitors and musicians from around the world.
We thought we’d showcase a small portion of the more ‘famous’ signatures on our walls – and invite you to drop in and check it out for yourself!
We’re gearing up to launch the new sullivanbanjo.com ASAP, but we thought we should share a bit more banjo news with you in the meantime. Eric & Co. have been working on this tone ring for over three years, when we began by acquiring a pre-war flathead, and we’re nearing the ‘end’.
We’re preparing to send six of these instruments out to professional pickers to gather feedback before we begin offering the final version. Much like the prototype seen in the videos below, we’re building these banjos to extremely tight pre-war standards. Everything from the neck profile to the finish are as close to matching the pre-war style as possible.
We won’t be offering these until they are finished, and we’re generally not talking about them – we just thought we’d give you a sneak peak. Stay tuned here, and at the new Sullivan Banjo site when it launches, to learn more.
Just wanted to share a little clip of the Weber F5 mandolin that a customer traded in to FQ. The mandolin has the following specs…
Adirondack Top
Bound F Holes
Maple Binding with Black and Ivory to create a thin black line
Yellowstone Fretboard
MOP/Abalone
Antique Tobacco Sunburst
Gold Hardware
The mandolin was built by Bruce Weber as the prize to the winner of the mandolin contest at Winfield, Ks. Give us a call if you’re interested, a really great sounding and great playing instrument.
Hey folks! Just wanted to drop by with a quick update on several happenings here at First Quality Music. We’ve had a lot going on the past few days, some of it pretty significant!
1) Twitter!
First Quality Music is now on Twitter! Check us out at http://www.twitter.com/1stqualitymusic – we’ll post things that don’t quite merit a full blog post, but are interesting nonetheless! We’re also looking at other endeavors into Social Media – feel free to give me an email at travis@fqms.com if you have any comments or ideas. Stay tuned!
2) The Laser We’ve purchased a laser engraving system from Universal Laser Systems. As you can see, many of us are taking a little break to watch this thing in action. There are a ton of implications for us here, from engraving instrument parts (Truss Rod covers, Banjo name blocks, etc…) to creating wooden or glass plaques. From what we’ve seen today, we’ll be able to make a huge assortment of new, customized products for our customers. We’ll keep you posted on our progress as we learn how to use this thing, so stay posted!
3) Custom Color Matching
Also thought that we would share with you some of the custom work being done in our shop. Today when I went back to see what was going on, Tim was working on a fairly interesting banjo neck. A customer sent us an imported resonator and asked that we create a banjo around it. Check out what Tim has done so far, having matched the colors and the shade of the pearl inlay.
4) The Banjo Room Friends of First Quality Music know that we were originally founded as a banjo supply company, and create the Sullivan Banjo line here at our retail showroom. So, what happens when you combine First Quality Music with an empty room in our building? Something amazing. We’ve collected many amazing banjos and artifacts through the years(Such as our sizable collected of pre-war banjo necks), and have decided to create a haven for the many banjo players who visit us every day. Again, stay posted for more updates on this project!
5) And of course, the same ol’ thing.
So much more to mention, a pre-war tone ring project, our old-growth mandolin, the new Sullivan Banjo site… the list goes on! But, we’re keeping ourselves busy with our true passion: serving our customers. I managed to catch a spy shot of Murrell tuning a guitar while speaking with some customers today – stop by and see us!
First Quality Music is proud to sponsor and be a part of the first Annual Banjo and Guitar workshop hosted by good friend and banjo teacher David Jakubiak (fretmentor.com). David has been telling me how nice Sunny Florida is in early April and he has brought on some heavy hitters to help teach the workshop. Jens and Uwe Kruger, along with David Jakubiak will host this event in April 2010 in Jupiter Florida. This is sure to be an awesome workshop, David has lined up some great sponsors to help him with this event so be sure to check out his website, fretmentor.com for all the details.
The much anticipated Eric Clapton Limited Edition 00028 Madagascar Martin Guitars arrived at First Quality Music yesterday. This edition size of 461 total pieces was an instant sell out at the 2009 Winter Namm show. Each guitar’s label was personally signed by Eric Clapton himself. Part of our allotment of these fine guitars were pre sold but the final two, (one Natural and one Sunburst) hit our showroom today. Please visit the First Quality Music Website for detail information and specs. For those who wish to watch a video, First Quality’s very own Murrell Thixton does a brief demo for you to enjoy. For additional information feel free to call First Quality Music at 800.635.2021 and ask for Murrell, JC or Jeff.
