Life on the frozen tundra of South Dakota Life on the frozen tundra of South Dakota

In Action

In Action

Instrument Completed On 1/13/2005

Instrument Completed On 1/13/2005

On February 5th, 2005, I drove to LeMars, IA to catch a Remedy Drive show. In case you haven't been reading the whole story, David from Remedy Drive is one of the main reasons I got off my duff and built this guitar, after I had been thinking about it for over five years. I brought the guitar along to show them, and (much to my pleasure) they played it the whole show.

This night was truly amazing. The show was good, which is a given at a Remedy Drive concert, but I wasn't expecting the way I felt. It's certainly a rewarding feeling to play an instrument that I built myself. Watching others play an instrument you built is about 10 times the rush! I wasn't prepared for the wave of emotion that came over me as I watched an instrument that I created produce music. It really was a spiritual experience. I told God that this is what I want to do with my life: to build instruments that people can use to create music. I can't think of anything much more rewarding than that!

Here are some pictures I shot from this night, which I'm offering as evidence that my guitar is actually playable!

About twenty minutes before the show, David and Paul eye my work with cautious suspicion:

Checking out the guitar before the show.

The show kicks off, and they're sounding fine (as usual.) David begins the night playing my guitar.

Kicking off the show.

David starts to play a solo. So far, so good!

Here goes a guitar solo.

Nothing horrible has occurred with the guitar, so David begins to cut loose!

Starting to go gonzo.

To my ears, the guitar was sounding very well. I'm a tad biased though. David hasn't put it down yet, so it must not be terrible!

Still going strong.

David switches to keyboards, so it's Paul's turn to play.

Now it's Pauls turn.

Paul's going to town on the song, "Sapphire" By the way, that's what I decided to call this model of guitar.

Paul playing Sapphire

After the show Paul continued to play.

Shows over, but the music continues.

David gives the guitar a final look.

David's post-show inspection.

Me and the band. Cue the music: "One of these things is not like the other..."

The Tundra Man and his fans.

What a great night of music and fun!

Of course, I learned quite a bit on this project. Here a summary of what went right, wrong, and things I learned.
In case you missed them, click here to see the finished photos.

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This page last updated on 06/28/2018