Play Through...

How does one set up an instrument too big for the bench? On the assembly room couch, of course!

Yes, the doubleneck is now done. Here are some final pictures; it’s heading out Monday to a dealer. Yes this, and a steady trickle of other unique Birdsongs, can and/or will be found at HD Custom Guitar Supply online, currently the only other place for new Birdsong basses than right here from our own inventory page. Of course with some patience for the process you can dream one up with Scott and have the full experience; this is how most Birdsongs come to be. A call, a connection, some needs or wishes of yours and some answers of ours. Then we have the the honor of making the instrument come to life, and handing it over to you for your part - fun times and good vibrations. 

As announced in the 13th Anniversary video earlier this month, we’re NOT going to take the August break this year like we did last year. There are a group of wild builds in progress and beginning their journeys from wood & parts to playable art and I’d rather stay on them. The sweat? The sweat will do me nothing but good. Listen, balance is important – but there are times in a very lucky life when you feel like the kid in the yard on some imaginary adventure again, only there’s nobody to call you in. It’s not a school night; there IS no school. That adventure? It’s pretty much real and that’s who you are. I am surrounded by music; I’m in deep with the tools of its creation, themselves coming to be. I live it and I breathe it. I don’t have to come in and wash up, and I’m NOT coming in to wash up! So there. I’m going to stay out here and play through supper, I’m going to get this all over me and get me all over it. The world is full of folks who didn’t make it… or less full. Or, heck I don’t know but I DO know I DID. I woke up with a list of things I want to do and the sun is shining and I can put on some tunes and make it happen. Everyone has their bad days and not everyone makes it off that ship; another rocker was just among them and I’m sad for his circle. I’m sad his dream went sour. 

Chester’s no different than you or me – he just took a different ride, that’s all. He went on HIS adventure. We can judge from the sidelines all we want but not everybody continues to feel the magic and the sunshine and the meaning. And without those you’re lost and no amount of caring hands or crisis numbers are going to put it back the way the rest of the pieces stay together. If you’re in this world you know damn well it loves to steal your magic, time will shadow your shine, and there’s never any shortage of other damaged beings to tell you that you mean nothing. It can be that kind of place to whatever degree you sink in. But every day there are gardens in bloom, beauty coming to be, magical adventures, inspiring beings to associate with, and things to do you KNOW fill a void and are of service to the best in others’ lives, and life – at least certain significant chunks of it until the wheels come off – can be THAT. I suggest you find that; I know what works for me, but that’s all I know. You’ve got to seed that garden for yourself, every day. Feed it the good. Weed out the bad. Sometimes it’s easier to just stand there and sink; sometimes you get convinced it’s even more comfortable that way because (sigh) at least you know what to expect. 

Oh HELL no. You go where the sun shines for you and sing a song that means something. Clean up the mess from there! The others can follow if they want; or not. We’re here now and we’re alive and there’s SO much productive good stuff to do and you ARE needed. You have a place to be and light to bring. Find them. The sun’s out. Shut off the device, step back from the screen, go outside, get dirty and go have an adventure. That’s not a car, it’s a spaceship. It CAN take you to another world. Trust me. I’m light years from where I’ve been and judging by the sky here there’s plenty of sunshine to go around. I don’t want to miss a day… not now. Not now.  

Listening to: The Don Felder autobiography audiobook. Despite being read by a man who sounds halfway through a Rohypnol sandwich, we’re getting to the good stuff. Don couldn’t have read this? This sounds like one of those goofy guided meditations minus the Australian accent only they’re talking about the Eagles. That and some good acoustic Delta blues from Jack Owens and RL Burnside.
 

Come Together

Music brings us together just long enough to remember “Oh yeah, that guy’s human too – he knows the words to this song too.” There’s a great video circulating on Facebook of an entire Green Day crowd waiting for the show to start, singing Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody together. 65,000 of them. A stunning video – this is the power of music and why some of us devote our lives to serving its happening. It’s a far more precarious trek through the human journey to define each other by our differences rather than have them be a footnote and some color in with our dealings and workings together. Music tilts things back in that proper perspective for a while. If these people matter to each other a little more after the music stops, then all those involved in the making of and bringing to that moment those people and that music – whatever else may factor in – are a part of some seed of solution in a world awash in its troubled gardens. 

I remember years ago I stopped to ask about an old converted school bus in a yard with a for sale sign on it. The door was answered by a young guy my age. He had hair like mine. He had a Fender Stratocaster on the couch. It quickly became apparent he was visiting from points far south of Texas or Mexico, so we had no common language to get in the way. But there were two guitars, and we jammed like members of the same band. The bus was cool, but I was a broke-ass musician young & hungry, living the dream, renting a room, writing my future verses by bare bulb on the tricky side of town. So I didn’t buy it and I don’t know if this guy’s sister is still with the hip cat that owned it and traveled in it now 28 years later, and I don’t know what became of Jorge Quintana. But it was one more lesson the music taught me along the path between finding that John Lee Hooker record in the basement as a kid and “being here now.”  

These thoughts were written while the song “Four Cornered Room” off of an old album by a great band called War played in the background. The three somehow tie together through harmony of notes and hearts and the threads of lives taking their paths through each other winding together like some kind of tapestry being woven of us as we go.  

Listening to: Steppenwolf Monster; War The World Is a Ghetto; Donny Hathaway Extension Of a Man; Don Felder autobiography audiobook; dub reggae compilation CDs.
 

Afterglow

Birdsong Guitars wishes to thank everyone who read, shared, commented, liked, followed, watched, friended, and participated in our 13th Anniversary event this past long weekend, and we hope you had a fun 4th of July. It was really something! Some more instruments will be flying the nest to their waiting hands & homes over the next couple of weeks; they thank you all too! For all new, welcome to the family - for old friends, as always thanks for flying Birdsong. There's no way to express our love & gratitude, so we'll just build it into year 13's instruments and let the ripples do their good work. Thanks for being with us and all the best to all of you from the little green workshop in the Texas Hill Country. 

To recap the big news for anyone who missed it (with links to the videos), I have recovered from the Official 13 Announcements video and my appearance no longer suffers from Resting “Ahh Geez That Sauce Was Hotter Than You Thought” Face. I answered 13 questions here. The new PBOne bass definitely seeded its own garden (and the introductory price of $1995 is being held over for a bit). The bass I designed for my friends over at Thin The Herd Guitars has done the same – it’s different than what we do here at Birdsong, but it’s got the Birdsong touch so it’s a great playing, responsive, HUGE sounding short scale bass and if you want that in something more traditional looking but with a twist, gig ready and for short cash, go check them out!  AND there are still some great basses here in inventory & some already cut body blanks we can build your next little gem from.

Dawn is reverse-fading into another day of blue skies, birdsong, Birdsongs, and a fun list of nexts to do in the workshop and in assembly on them. I’ll be in here all weekend and I couldn’t be happier right now. So if you want a known cure for Resting “Good Lordy That’s a Beautiful Bass And I Deserve a TREAT For Surviving Fourth Of July With All Them Rug Rats” Face, gimme a call and order yourself up a heapin’ helping of high end low note short 'n comfy bass goodness, served up fresh out of the plank with a side of Texas backwoods workshop mojo and a BIG tall frosty mug of gratitude! 512-395-5126

Listening to: Aerosmith Get Your Wings, Toys In The Attic; Don Felder Heaven & Hell - My Life In The Eagles audiobook; McCoy Tyner Solo.
 

The 13th Anniversary Brouhaha!!!

RE-UPDATED SUNDAY (DAY 2) JULY 2nd!

Here are what's left of basses ready to string, set up & ship - we'll DEAL on these to make some room in assembly! The walnut Corto4 is the LAST 13th Anniversary Special bass.

Here are instruments in process - ALL SALE PRICED through the 4th, can have any of these finished up for you in a matter of weeks.

Here are bodies waiting to be built into basses - 20% OFF all Birdsong special orders through the 4th! Shortbasses $50 off & free shipping.

And there are NINE pieces of woodcraft left. INFO & PICS on ALL of these is on the INVENTORY page, or call 512-395-5126!

(Here's the original post from Saturday...)

Well here we are folks! First off have a happy & safe 4th of July weekend. Welcome to the official 13th anniversary celebration here at Birdsong Guitars! I can’t BELIEVE it’s been 13 years since we pushed the button and launched this site on July 4th 2004, how many instruments we’ve had the honor of crafting, and how many really great people we’ve had the privilege of serving and satisfying with a heaping helping of wonderful basses that just happen to be short scale. Guitars and lap steels too… at any time, right now somewhere in the world, odds are there is someone playing a Birdsong and filling the air with music. That just blows my mind. 

First some quick news since I have you all gathered, I will NOT be taking August off this year – there is steady work that needs me here in the workshop more than I need the time off this year. I did it last year, I’ll DEFINITELY do it next year, but this year I’m working straight through until early December. I have a few “Artist” builds on the docket I’ve been gathering woods for – those are the wild, all-out, super fancy, highest-end stuff we do and they’ll start coming together this month. Watch on the “Builds” page in the Artists section.

The anniversary time also marks the halfway point in the work year more or less, and it’s the weekend I come up for air and get to talk to so many of you swingin’ on in to the site to see what we’ve got going on. Well… a BUNCH! So thanks for being with us and let’s get to it, shall we? BEST WAYS to contact me this weekend at any time day or night: CALL 512-395-5126, but don’t text – I don’t text. It’s a flip phone, calls only! OR email me at scott@birdsongguitars.com, OR PM me through Facebook. In all cases I’ll try to be available or get back with you ASAP. If you see something you want, CALLING is the quickest way to be sure you get it. I might get calls in a row before I can check the email again. OK! Heeeeere we go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d3asjgANtI
THE OFFICIAL 13 ANNOUNCEMENTS VIDEO – hilarious half hour with ALL the info on new models, anniversary builds, etc., all announced while I eat increasingly hot sauces for each one. Classic.
((LOTS OF FEEDBACK ON THIS, GLAD YOU LIKE IT!))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v4DCLm1Y_A
Q&A VIDEO of 13 of YOUR questions!

(Here are some things I mentioned I’d post in those videos and stuff that ties in – the first guitar I built in 1997, a picture with the Whatever Shop sign over my head, the world map from the original workshop now, Scott long ago when the way was not so clear, Maggie answers whether she’s picky about pizza, and the old BC Rich that made me see guitars as wood shaped by hands in 1986.)

OK! The NEW MODEL, the PB-One, a classic reborn with Birdsong balance, sustain & attention to detail – all the vibe, none of the quirks, twice the tone! ((BIG INTRODUCTORY SALE ON PB ORDERS TODAY))
Info on the BIRDSONG page.
Demo video HERE.

SALE PRICING ON EVERYTHING, including stuff in INVENTORY we just posted, check the inventory page! I’ll try to keep it updated during the weekend. A CALL is a quick way, day or night, to find out if what you want is still available! 512-395-5126.

((20% OFF special orders on Birdsong builds!!!))

ANNIVERSARY BUILDS! We crafted 7 from selected pieces of walnut, some wild with natural character. Maple boards, black hardware, vintage tortoise control plates & rosewood knobs! Scott & Jamie will sign the back of the headstocks. If you’re out of the USA, I can ship these to you but I’ll swap the rosewood knobs for ebony. There is a Fusion, a Cortobass, a Cbass, a Corto4 and 3 Shortbasses (Shortbi??) all at special pricing. Tell me rounds or flats and I’ll have them off to you in a week. Individual pics & pricing on the INVENTORY page.
((ONE LEFT! DEAL OF THE DAY ON THE CORTO4 - CALL 512-395-5126))

AND… very exciting, Birdsong has designed a bass for Thin The Herd Guitars up in Round Rock, TX. Their Custom Build line of guitars is “Tradition with a twist” and now they have a bass to go with it that fits right in. It ALSO happens to be great playing, fantastic looking and AMAZING tonally too – there isn’t a Mustang that can TOUCH this. They take care of the manufacturing in small batches and then set them up in the USA right at their shop. Super happy with the prototypes and these guys will treat you right. These are just $795 WITH hardshell case!
Demo video HERE.
www.custombuildguitars.net
INFO & ORDERING YOURS: brent@custombuildguitars.net
*** I think there are still a couple of prototypes available, I signed the backs of the headstocks when they came in and I had them for testing & approval - if you're into that, ask the guys at Thin The Herd ***

So much more, all in that first video. I’ll close out this summary with these – in honor of and in the continuation of the work of my woodworking mentor John C. “Uncle Johnny” Kirtland, I have 13 pieces of woodcraft made from scraps & cutoffs of the instrument making process. These are miniature oil lamps, and the hand rubbed finish will darken everything a shade or two. Details / prices on the inventory page. ((9 pcs left!))

THANK YOU SO MUCH! This weekend sale brought to you by… YOU! Without you, there is no US doing THIS. So THERE! Have a great weekend everyone, and I look forward to talking / typing with you. 

Rock on,

Scott Beckwith
Captain of The Ship


Listening to: Rolling Stones Majesty’s Request; Maron’s WTF Podcast with Derek Trucks; Bob Seger The Distance; Grateful Dead Great American Music Hall August 13, 1975; Bob Dylan Blood On The Tracks; Doug Raney Back In New York; Kenny Burrell.
 

JUST THINKIN'

NEW models & announcements
BIG sale on inventory and special orders
MORE basses in inventory – in process AND READY
SPECIAL Anniversary basses – READY
AND videos

COMING Saturday July 1st at 12:01 AM RIGHT HERE on the news page! It's Birdsong's 13th Anniversary!

I can’t believe it’s been 13 years since Birdsong “officially” launched on July 4th 2004. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely feel like we’ve built somewhere over 800 instruments, moved the shop 3 times, and grown into something. It just seems like all of that was packed into three or four years. 13? Amazing. You know what they say about time flying. And get this – it’s been 17 since the first Birdsong brand guitar was made by yours truly in the back corner of a friend’s workshop. It’s been 20 since I cut my first body out – sawdust and sore arms being the threshold where we graduate into something more than an assembler, and when this journey of design and craft began to walk ME. That was 1997.

I started tinkering with my guitars in about 1987 – that’s 30 years. I started playing in 1982. Music has been my life, through many chapters of both they entwined like the fibers of a rope; never did I doubt it would lead me somewhere and take care of me if I offered it all I was and all my faith, and tried my best to use all I was at any given time. Just about everyone in my life now came to me – or me to them – through this path of music. The Birdsong experience has been, though manifesting as wood and wire, curves and balance, tools of tonal vibration, more than anything a journey of people. It has been a great honor to work for you all, even those just interested who watch – you’re family too. And it has been a high blessing to have worked with those who helped out along the way. The absolute most sacred relationship, however, has been to be able to honor my teachers and continue good work in their stead, sometimes with their tools. In the case of the little building I write these words in now, even in their very workshop torn down and rebuilt here, where the instruments we craft get their final assembly.

There are a lot lesser men to add up to than whatever I can contain and work forward of the greatness of my mentors. I don’t know how it happened but I am a tireless soldier crafting tools of creation in their honor as ripples outward from them through me. Wood becomes instruments. Their woodcraft is now in my luthierie. Paths intertwine. Lives intersect. It all changes as we go and we change as it goes. It happens through us, and we through it. I just know I grew through the growing of this garden. Somehow I was given the gifts, shown the path, surrounded by angels, and with borrowed tools and some new ideas, magic happened… and still does every day. I feel the miles but I feel THAT so much more. I had no idea where that kid with the B.C Rich guitar would end up and I’m very grateful we wound up here. It was a long, strange trip that could fill a book and maybe even inspire more people than the basses. But here we are, and I look forward to carving these things out until I pitch off the workshop stool. To be the guy that takes part in the making of musical instruments for you is more than I ever imagined I could do, or offer, or be. Thank you for this journey.

THIS is what makes a Birdsong, and this is what Birdsong makes. 

Tune in SATURDAY July 1st, RIGHT HERE. 

Listening to: Temples Sun Structures; Bruce Springsteen autobiography audiobook read by the author; lots of live Grateful Dead.
 

Anniverse Approacheth!

ANY QUESTIONS? Life, luthiery, Birdsong history, anything else you’d like answered in videos? Send them to me: scott@birdsongguitars.com or PM them to me on Facebook. Just be sure you let me know they’re for video discussion or I’ll just answer them right away like I usually do, and though it makes me happy to know you had a question and I was able to help you with it, that WOULD defeat the purpose of asking for questions to be answered in a video for the upcoming 13th Anniversary weekend July 1st!

Yes, we are closing in on the 13th Anniversary weekend, starting Saturday March 1st this year (since the 4th is on a Tuesday). It’s almost time to announce some fun stuff… and the anniversary announcements video this year should be a real hoot!

One thing that happens on July 4th (again, the 1st this year) is announcing the new model into the Birdsong line. For 2017 it’s the completion of a circle, something I’ve wanted to work up since the beginning, something I’ve tried to work up for others, something I finally said “Well F this, I’ll just do it - it's time!” and it worked AMAZINGLY well. I knew it would work, it’s so obvious, it’s such a natural thing… but it’s magical. You’ll see it shortly; I’ve been jamming on it for the past two weeks already. Now, for a new model to have some breathing room, it’s time to prune the garden. 

There is only so much menu a small workshop can service. There will always be Cortobasses and Fusions, etc., the mainstays. But other side menu items that needed to happen and did, or sprung up on their own and had their day, these come and go. It keeps it fresh and keeps it fun. Very few are ever gone for good; if you called tomorrow and said “I need a Skyrider with Odyssey horns and Corto3 pickups built like a fretless Mesquito” I’d probably dust off the old templates, open up the build notes and do it up. But the reality is there may be a handful who even know what that would be, and it’s certainly not going to be the new model I’ll be showing in 2 weeks. 

Point being if all of that was still on the menu it would be ponderous. I like having (to use the food analogy again) 6 or 7 main offerings and a few side surprises. If one you love and lust after pops off the radar, just make note of it and I’ll build it for you when the time is right for you to place an order. There was nothing wrong with it (it wouldn’t have been offered in the first place if that were the case), we don’t hate it, it’s just not getting enough play to stay actively on the menu with new models happening. 

Speaking of which, I have a metric crap ton of work to do so I need to stop wearing my right index finger (my typing finger, which I swear is a good 25 to 30% more muscular looking than my left, which only hits the shift key, after typing endless amounts of updates over the past thirteen years) down to a nub and put it to work putting together these anniversary basses!

Well there's a clue! Walnut bodies, maple necks, black hardware, and a variety of models - even Shortbasses! Let's see what the 13th Anniversary basses look like NEXT week, shall we? What?... the new model? Mmmm... no. No clues. Maybe next week! Stay tuned.

Ta ta for now!


Listening to: Boyd Rivers You Can't Make Me Doubt; Jack Owens; Bruce Springsteen autobiography audiobook, read by Bruce himself.
 

Coming up on the Birdsong Anniversary

Well well, we are here in an amazing time that happens every year. I am very very grateful for the luck I’ve had with this whole guitar and bass building thing; some may say it’s all luck, but no – I’ve never worked harder or risked more than I have the past 13 years. Some would say there’s no such thing as luck – well, no to that too - one could easily work this hard, make all the right moves, never stumble and get hit by a bus anyways. Or get taken out by a flood. Or have their hands stop working. So I’m very lucky but very grateful – July 4th marks 13 “Official” years of Birdsong as a real little company with its own workshop, website, and cosmic marching orders to fill the world with its own comfy little basses that sound big and honor the wood… and somehow life would fall into place behind that. 

This is the time of year we introduce a new model, offer some special “Anniversary” builds, and do a big sale. Never wanting to be the “Ha ha, you should’ve waited ‘til today for the sale price, thphphphp!!!” guy, as we approach the OFFICIAL weekend celebration, if you know what you want already the sale is officially on so you don’t have to wait. Oh you’ll have to wait for the announcements and new stuff, but if your heart is set on an all blonde Sadhana with gold hardware or a standard Cortobass or what have you, or something's gone up on the inventory page that's "The one", just call now. 13% OFF and FREE SHIPPING in the continental US through July 4th.

The scheduling is weird this year with the 4th being on a Tuesday, so the actual big announcements are happening at midnight coming into Saturday the 1st on the news page, with the big stuff happening Sat & Sun the 1st & 2nd. I’ll run the sale through Tuesday the 4th and who knows – there might be a last minute surprise on the actual 4th too. 

MEANWHILE, there is a lot to tell you and it’s time to spill a few beans! Not tipping the whole pot, mind you, just a few beans as we go. The Anniversary builds this year are a particular “visual” applied to a selection of models. A couple of years ago I made a bass with a look that I found particularly striking and filed it away in my head for future use. Now is that future – seven basses are in process including some Shortbasses (“Shortbi?”) – you might see your favorite model. Here are six of them just before sanding. So the first clue, the bodies are walnut! Another bean for you... right now there are a buh-huuunch of beautiful all-maple necks hanging in finishing...

I’m hoping to have all seven READY TO GO for that weekend, headstock backs signed by Scott and Jamie. And hey – the info is out now, they’re fair game as of NOW at sale pricing – call for model details & pricing – you don’t have to wait for the Anniversary weekend to claim one! You DO have to wait for it to see them all together, to hear about the new model and see that, hear about the rest of the news and see any surprises that may come up, see the videos, and be a part of any lunacy over on the Facebook page where I’ll be going back and forth with you all ALL weekend! WhatWHAAAAAT??? You’re not friends or following Birdsong Guitars on Facebook? Got to take care of that, we post fun stuff! It’s worth it just for the “Throwback Thursday” posts alone. 

So we’re in high gear here in the little workshop in the woods, and every day is exciting, and every day we’re grateful… but never so exciting or more grateful as the weeks heading up to an Anniversary weekend! Thank you for the opportunity to work with the wood and to serve through music, my friends. Stay tuned, FUN STUFF COMING UP!

Listening to: Aerosmith Rocks; Mississippi Fred McDowell I Do Not Play No Rock And Roll; Marc Maron WTF podcast with Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers; Dave Brubeck Trio – Berlin 11-4-72; Jerry Cantrell Boggy Depot.