Products
Village Music stocks a well-considered selection of bowed and plucked instruments, their accessories and amplifiers, as well as a choice selection of hand percussion instrument. These include:
| Larrivee | Acoustic guitars |
| G&L | Electric guitars and basses |
| Höfner | Violins, violas, dbl. bass, classical, acoustic, elec. guitars and elec. basses |
| Strunal | Violins, cello, dbl. bass, classical guitars |
| Meinl | Congas, bongos, hand percussion |
| Crafter | Acoustic and electric guitars, and mandolins |
| Hagstrom | Elec. guitars |
| Loar | Arch-top guitars |
| Stromberg | Arch-top guitars |
| D'Aquisto | Arch-top guitars |
| Kala | Ukuleles |
| Antonio Picado | Classical guitars |
| Calvert | Violins and violas |
| Roland | Guitar and bass amps |
| Laney | Guitar and bass amps |
| JazzKat | Guitar and bass amps |
Underlined product names below will link you to image pages.
Jean Larrivee has been making guitars since the 70’s. His first passion was classical guitars. I recall the strong impression these made on me as a guitar performance undergraduate playing Larrivees belonging to fellow students. These were instruments by someone who had a strong point of view. He subsequently moved into steel string guitars to great success, both in his native Canada, and down here, south of the border. I am very pleased to offer a broad selection of his world class instruments.
G&L is, of course, Leo Fender’s last company which he ran until his passing in 1991. Since leaving the company which bears his own name in the mid 60’s, Leo continued to refine and update his own designs; first with his MusicMan brand, and then with G&L. I (and many others) consider these electric guitars, still made in Fullerton, California, to be über Fenders, representing Leo’s last word on his own designs.
Höfner
This venerable German manufacturer of string instruments has been around for 120 years. Located in the town of Hagenau, they make violin family instruments, elec. Guitars and basses (including the much copied "Beatle" bass), and acoustic and classical guitars. They also have a legendary stash of aged tonewoods from which to draw. Höfner has, in the last few years licensed out some of their more popular designs to a Chinese affiliate for manufacture. All of my Höfner violins and classical guitars are from the German factory. I do offer their Chinese violas, dbl basses as well as their Beatle and Club model basses and guitars. Needless to say, the Germans are pretty strict in their quality control of these instruments, and I offer them with full confidence. Negotiating the area of Chinese instruments on one's own can be a mine field.
For top precision percussion instruments, its hard to beat this German company. Roland Meinl, founder of Roland Meinl Musikinstrmente, was a pioneer in the art of cymbal and percussion manufacturing. During the 1970's Roland built up the cymbal production, while establishing the company's distribution business, becoming a strong wholsale partner for music retailers in Germany and Austria. In 1978 he founded Meinl's first percussion factory in Thailand and began introducing the full range of Meinl percussion instruments. His relentless hard work and continued innovations in cymbals and percussion laid the foundation for his company's success as one of the world's leading manufactures and distributors of musical instruments.
We carry the Artist Series (Luis Conte) congas which won the MIPA Award in the best Percussion Product category, and is the preferred model of our own Percussion Guru, Ian Turner. We also stock a variety of the Headliner Series congas, bongos, shakers, bells and more.
This fine Korean firm was established in 1972, and is still family-owned. It is well known that Crafter is licensed by some er... more prestigious brands to manufacture some of their product models. You have undoubtedly seen Crafter guitars in the big boxes with someone else's name pasted on them. Happily (for me) the "Crafter" label is available only to independents. These nicely finished and fine sounding guitars have been utterly trouble-free. Crafter also appears to have a commitment to produce non-standard niche models, which is refreshing.
Strunal
Strunal is the largest manufacturer of string instruments in the Czech republic. It is located in the town of Luby near the Czech/German boarder. This are, a little west and north from Plzen (of beer fame), has been a center of instrument building for generations. I buy student violins, cellos and dbl. basses from Strunal. I have never been disappointed by their playability, durability or appearance. Their student line of 4/4 and fractional size classical guitars is one Village Music's mainstays.
Here's another one you won't find in the big boxes. Hagstrom rises from the dead. The case of an ailing or, in this case, defunct brand which has had new life breathed into it through the magic of mergers, acquisitions and off-shore production presents a real mine field for the buyer (me) and the shopper (you). We can all point to some well known brand of amp or guitar that continues to by manufactured solely for it's name recognition; the quality having long ago gone south. This is not the case, I am happy to report, with Hagstrom. These are solid, accurate and reliable reproductions o a classy, famous and mourned manufacturer. You will have to take my word on this, as I actually survived the 70's. Their flagship models, the "Swede" and "Super Swede" are particularly well done.
In 2005 Michael Upton, formerly of Hawaii, and now residing in Petaluma, CA launched Kala Brand Music Co. bringing quality, affordable ukuleles to the ever-expanding Ukulele world. There are over 100 models of Kala Ukuleles to choose from featuring choice woods such as Hawaiian Koa, Curley Mango, Flame/spalted Maple, Mahogany, Sitka Spruce, Cedar, and more. Sizes include soprano, concert, tenor, 6 & 8 string, and baritone in traditional, cutaway, and archtop models. Many Kalas are equipped with active electronics to amplify your uke! Pinapple silkscreen, and color finishes are also available.
Stromberg
Of all the $1500 or less jazz guitars I've seen (and I've seen them all come through the repair shop at one time or another), I've chosen to carry Stromberg. They look sharp, play well and will make you sound like JAZZ. The non-cutaway Newport model has the best swing period sound to my ear; aggressive, but not abrasive and capable of bluesy nuance. Charlie Christian would have liked this instrument.
Loar
Made in Korea, the Loar is a reasonably accurate rendering of the Loyd Loar designed L5. This is on of my favorite guitars; that is, one which I like to sneak out of the shop to gig with occasionally. I particularly like the 25.5" string length for strength in the lower registers, and the 1.75" width nut for clean chord voicings.
I met Antonio Picado at the 2007 NAMM show. I was looking for, among other things, a small Spanish classical guitar maker whose work I could directly import. Among the acres of glitzy lighting and artificial environments on the convention floor was an 8' square cubicle, which housed an elderly couple (Antonio and his gracious wife), a younger man (their son, who translated) and half a dozen classical guitars. I did take all three days of the show to make up my mind. There were several other Spanish builders there. In the end I decided that Antonio's guitars were not only very nicely made, and in a style differing from my own instruments, but were excellent bargains as well. I am very pleased to have these quality guitars in my shop.
What can I say? JazzKat makes the finest jazz-voiced amplifiers I have ever played through; small, powerful, well balanced and extremely cool-looking. This year they have added a switchable tube preamp to several of their models giving an added dimension to what I thought was an already perfect design. It's nice to see a company not sitting on its laurels. With endorsers like Bucky and John Pizzerelli and Joe Beck (and me!), it could be time to take a new look at your old amp rig.
Laney
Lyndon Laney still runs this small British amp company after founding it 40 years ago. These are the best of British tube amp sound and design. Their take on the venerable AC- 30 design puts to shame the Korean made amp that sports the original brand name (hint: rhymes with "clocks". It is true; I do sneak a Laney LC-30 out of the store for the occasional R&B gig. This is my equivalent of taking the Jaguar off the lot for a spin in the countryside.
Roland
Roland has really been in the forefront of professional synth, amp, recording and effects design for some years. I'm pleased to carry their "Cube" line of guitar and bass amps. They are compact, punchy and sport a dizzying array of digital amp models and effects. They leave the shop, and never come back with problems.
Village Music at Lynwood Center
4569 Lynwood Center Rd NEBainbridge Island, WA 98110
(206) 842-4120
info@villagemusicalc.com
