As the weather warms up, so do many music festivals in New England. Wondering about places to find great music? The Arts and Ideas Festival in New Haven, CT runs June 12-26. Hosting mostly free performances, musicians include Dan Zones Ensemble, Conor Lovett, Amir Elsaffar and Two Rivers Ensemble and different concerts/choirs. This festival also hosts dance, poetry and the Children’s Film Festival. In Portland, Maine, the Portland Chamber Music Festival had originated in 1994. Being community-based, this local summer concert series features a harp, violin, flute, oboe and a children’s concert.
In downtown Lowell, MA a home is held for the Lowell Folk Festival. Held July 23-25, it features free performances of different cultural music/dance. Since 1990, this event hosts urban dance, Irish Jamaican reggae western swing, piano, gospel, R+B and parade band. Being quite older, Newport RI hosts the Newport Jazz Festival, originating in 1954, as the first outdoor music festival of jazz. Taking place August 6-8, this festival features Ahmad Jamal, Amina Figarova, Harry Allen and many other talented musicians.
The 29th annual Rockport Chamber Music Festival occurs June 10-July 18 in Rockport MA. This festival features flutes, oboes, horns, violins, cellos and pianos celebrating the musical genius of Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, ect. The 13th annual Vermont Festival of the Arts occurs August 1- September 5, along Mad River Valley. Featuring exhibits, performances, workshops and demonstrations, this festival features a diverse spread of arts. This festival displays visionary/culinary/literary arts, community media, performing arts, demos and art shows. Celebrating the expression through these arts, music is brought to life.
Keep up with the latest guitar news on playing, vintage collecting, and innovative new guitars like Wallpusher. The art of guitars today is “tuned” to several publications. Here are the best places to go for info. Acoustic Guitar is a magazine
founded in 1990. Consisting of magazines, e-newsletters, digital services and books, it made the leap to an online companion in 1995 (acousticguitar.com). This site hosts sheet music, song transcripts, reviews and interviews. Guitar World (guitarworld.com) is a magazine located in New York, NY; offering tuning advice and products. This magazine prints articles on artists/guitarists, rock albums and videos; also blogging on different brands.
Finger Style Guitar (fingerstyleguitar.com) covers all styles and music types of guitars. Located out of Bedminster, NJ; this magazine is in fact connected with Facebook and Twitter. While covering all musical genres, Finger Style Guitar features a style of playing that consists of plucking strings with fingers. Vintage Guitar Magazine (vguitar.com) has been published monthly since 1986. It consists of information/history on instruments, entertainment, interviews and famous players. Connecting with maintenance, it contains descriptive articles on instruments, gear, music and artists.
TC Guitar Magazine (tcguitar.com) connects musicians to types of playing, tuning, accessories and tips to left handed players. This publication gives links to buying guitars and guitar lessons. Canadian Musician (canadianmusician.com) has covered Canadian artists, technique, gear and new releases/products since 1979. This publication covers guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, brass woodwinds; also featuring vocal, song writing, recording, artists, blog and schedule of events.
We are so excited to be featured on the Etsy blog, it is such a fantastic community of people, and we love seeing what they all have to offer. We are honored to be chosen as one of the quality items in the “Leather and Lace” category, we love both media, and are always striving to create a quality product!!
Another happy customer: Jim Trick, came to the shop for his custom adjustable guitar strap the other day.
What’s in a strap? Your guitar strap is perhaps the most important accessory to your guitar playing, and should make your playing easier, not harder. Wallpusher Guitar Straps are designed to give maximum flexibility to the player, so they can change the height of the guitar at anytime during play. If you want to make your playing easier and more fun, you can order your own handmade guitar strap on our etsy page.
Jim Trick with his Wallpusher Guitar Strap
We had fun with Jim, showing him the shop and many guitars in different stages of production. He played us several of his newest songs, and really loved the ease with which he could change the height of his guitar for solos or rhythm playing.
He was impressed by all the stages of making a guitar, and loved seeing the tools we use. He tried his hand at a Japanese Pull Saw, and did a great job! We ended the night with a ceremonial trashing of the old guitar strap, Jim was so happy with his new Wallpusher strap, he won’t need the old one again!
We love sponsoring our favorite musicians, and Jim is definitely one of them. We met Jim and his wife Alison at Soulfest 2009, were impressed by his playing and stage presence. Jim is an accomplished acoustic guitarist / singer who is able to weave real life stories into melodies ranging in style from contemporary folk to acoustic rock. Jim sings and speaks at concerts, retreats, colleges, churches, Mens ministries, Singles groups, keynote addresses, leadership training, workshops and youth groups. Find out more about his work and talent at www.jimtrick.com or listen to his latest album on myspace.
If you want to make your playing easier and more fun, you can order your own handmade guitar strap on our etsy page.
Happy Monday everybody! So to wake up this week, we started playing music in the shop, OF COURSE, but since we’ve looped our ipod several times in all the weeks of carving, gluing and clamping, finishing, guitar setup and electrical, we were at a loss as to which album to start out with.
Google to the rescue! Or more specifically, Digg. I grew up saying “dig it?” and still do when talking to interns about my patterns and ideas for guitars, but I haven’t gotten around to using the program too much…until today.
I came across (stumbled? how can you stumbleupon digg?) a list of the 50 best guitar albums of all time, with Led Zeppelin IV being named #1. 50 greatest guitar albums Since I had decided to play my luck this morning, I went with it without questioning the order.
What do you think? What IS the best guitar album? REALLY tough question, maybe subjective, maybe impossible, but for a Monday, this article got me thinkin’ and did the trick.
Thanks for reading! I’ll be adding more how to make guitar, how to play guitar, and more, so do subscribe and send your friends to wallpusher!
Welcoming Spring with Whimsical Cow Pattern Straps! Find out more at our Etsy page!
This guitar strap is like no other in that it can be adjusted during play. The design offers one handed adjustments for the player to raise or lower the guitar in seconds. This guitar strap is so simple, so basic – yet so perfect. The price is perfect too. Musicians everywhere love the ability to effortlessly adjust the guitar or bass higher to solo and then drop down easily on stage. Light, beautiful, easy to clean, easy to store, not big and bulky. Handmade by artisans from 100% organic leather.
Sometime you just have to get back to the basics. Sometimes, it’s the simplest design that works the best.
Have you heard about the Wallpusher Intern Program?
Wallpusher is a private business offering solutions for musicians. Our interns come to us from multiple sources, from Art Schools such as Montserrat, the MFA and MassArt, traditional colleges such as Gordon College and Endicott, and the occasional highly motivated highschool student. Many other professionals take time out of their week to learn the skills that are offered at Wallpusher. All of our interns are motivated, enthusiastic, and work hard. So far in the Wallpusher Intern to Learn Program, we have been focusing on the ancient woodworking and guitar working techniques of making guitars and guitar straps. We are interested in branching out in other directions, and seeking individuals with basic electrical guitar wiring skills who would like to experiment in creating new possibilities for wiring and tone options. Email info@wallpusher.com if you or someone you know is interested in this opportunity
If you are interested in attaining the skills to create things you think should exist, then Wallpusher is the place to look.
The interns assist in several tasks at Wallpusher that will teach them the more refined elements of wood and leather working including preparation of the wood or leather, basic cutting and sanding, shaping with dies, etc. On-site, interns work with the master woodworker or leatherworker on prototypes, assist with the setup
and dismantle of projects; create designs, and complete tasks as assigned. The purpose of this leather working internship is to acquaint the individual with the coordination and implementation of certain aspects of leather working and through experience with a professional leather worker at Wallpusher in Ipswich, MA. M
Woodworking Interns
atthew Rogers has taught at the MFA, MassArt, and Gordon College. His guitar making classes are of the highest quality. Matthew has collaborated with world-renowned designers and tailors on innovative designs. Alongside the creative so
Wallpusher leather interns
lutions that Rogers has introduced in his design company are prototypes for leather products that unleash its potential. For more information visit interntolearn.wordpress.com.
Emaiil info@wallpusher.com with your resume and cover letter if you are interested, please be sure to put “Wallpusher Internship”.
Here are a few more photos of the interns hard at work. Enjoy!
Our guitar straps have gone INTERNATIONAL!! Just recently, they were reviewed by Guitar Wink, where he described their innovative function and the ease with which they can help the player to change the height of the instument effortlessly!!
Just so you remember, these straps are featured TODAY on Etsy, so if you have a minute, we’d love it if you could go and heart our guitar straps, tell you friends, or order one.
So how do they work?
Wallpusher adjustable straps have been designed to solve a single problem inherent in every other strap they’ve used: the ability to vary the
height of the instrument up AND down during a musical performance. Sometimes a certain section demands more technical work and we would like the instrument to be higher on the body while other times we like the instruments to rest lower and more relaxed. The guitar straps Wallpusher has designed function QUICKLY and EASILY to allow a player to raise or lower the instrument almost instantaneously.
They’re so basic and easy to use!!
So how do we make them?
Depending on the type, we make sewn, riveted and chain mail models, the construction could take anywhere from 8 hours to 24. The sewn straps are made on our refurbished Singer 3115. A leather sewer from the 1800s, we refinished it with gold leaf and tractor paint and now it is used by several interns and employees to create the straps.
Of course the first step is to choose the leather, which is tricky because it has to be stretchy, but not so much that it’ll fall off the guitar, and tight, but soft enough to be comfortable. Once the leather is chosen at the local store, or reclaimed from recycled goods, it is cut with dies made custom out of cast iron to make the shapes necessary for the strap.
Determining the perfect functional components of the strap took years, but now that we have the size of the rings, the type of material, and other factors under our belts, we have to sew!
Rivets are best hammered together on an anvil, and the chainmail is made by hand from recycled metal.
AMAZING SALE: 50% off our Guitar Straps!!
Previously $80, the straps are now only $33 through March 14th!
Product Features
* Our guitar straps offer easy one-handed adjustments in seconds!
* 2″-wide guitar strap
* Classic look comes in black, red, yellow, and green to suit your personal style.
* Provides a comfortable fit while you’re playing guitar
* Colors Available: Dark Red, yellow, black, brown, green, cow
* Organic Leather
* Perfect tool for solo gigs and all musicians
* Made in MA, USA
* Wipe with damp cloth
* Item Weight: 1.5 pounds
This guitar strap is so simple, so basic – yet so perfect. The price is perfect too. This guitar strap is like no other in that it is adjustable and can be altered during play. Musicians everywhere love the ability to effortlessly adjust the guitar or bass higher to solo and then drop down easily on stage. Light, beautiful, easy to clean, easy to store, not big and bulky.
Sometime you just have to get back to the basics. Sometimes, it’s the simplest design that works the best. Sometimes, all those fancy, additional features offered are just not worth it.
Each strap comes with a tag stating the number in the series, date of creation, and my signature. As always, being a handmade strap each one is unique, and the color and cut may vary slightly.
If you have any questions about how to make guitar straps, or would like to order one, please contact us at info@wallpusher.com or contact us via our Etsy Shop. We’re happy to create custom or wholesale staps, just let us know what you’re interested in!
Our guitar straps offer ONE handed adjustments in SECONDS. This guitar strap is so simple, so basic – yet so perfect. The price is perfect too. NOW through March 14th these beauties are on sale for only $33.oo! We have a limited number of these handmade leather straps in green, yellow, red, black and brown– find them on Etsy but hurry, they are going fast!
The guitar straps by Wallpusher have been designed to solve a single problem inherent in every other strap they’ve used: the ability to vary the height of the instrument up AND down during a musical performance. Sometimes a certain section demands more technical work and we would like the instrument to be higher on the body while other times we like the instruments to rest lower and more relaxed.
The guitar straps Wallpusher has designed function QUICKLY and EASILY to allow a player to raise or lower the instrument almost instantaneously.
As you can see, Wallpusher has developed this unique strap to work as a pulley system. These straps are hand made, and cannot be duplicated because the type of leather that will grab or slip according to the player’s needs is carefully chosen by hand.
This guitar strap is so simple, so basic – yet so perfect. The price is perfect too. NOW through March 14th these beauties are on sale for only $33.oo! This guitar strap is like no other in that it is adjustable and can be altered during play. Musicians everywhere love the ability to effortlessly adjust the guitar or bass higher to solo and then drop down easily on stage. Light, beautiful, easy to clean, easy to store, not big and bulky.
Sometime you just have to get back to the basics. Sometimes, it’s the simplest design that works the best. Sometimes, all those fancy, additional features offered are just not worth it.
Each strap comes with a tag stating the number in the series, date of creation, and my signature. As always, being a handmade strap each one is unique, and the color and cut may vary slightly.
Please visit the guitar strap page for more views. If you’re interested in other products such as furniture, kitchen tools, and other solutions, visit our product page for more views.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, dreams, designs, shipping concerns,
or comments of any kind, always feel free to email us
info@wallpusher.com and we’ll do anything we can to help.
Where does guitar wood come from?
Historically, there’s been a lot of debate about what types of wood are best for resonance, which woods “sustain” sound better or if making instruments from different woods make different types of sounds.
Companies that now mass produce guitars frequently use plywood, which is wood chips held together with glue- no wonder your mass produced guitar is so heavy! Look out for back problems!!
SO what are handmade Wallpushers made of? We use RECYCLED hardwoods that have traditionally been used by guitarists for centuries, from wood that was previously furniture, houses, church pews, and more!
Little did you know that the wood that’s been cluttering up your backyard, basement or attic is prime material for guitars! We just launched a recycling site, Reuse Wood which is intended to help people find a home for their wood with Wallpusher. If you have a friend that pays DUMPSTER FEES monthly to dispose of their extra wood, do them a favor and send them to us, we’d love to turn their wood into guitars!
This post is about some Locust wood given to us by a recycler, Thank you!This is some wood given to us by a friend that has no sign of water damage or rot. Here is the wood before jointing…you can see that it is unique in that it splits straight, and is therefore the wood of choice that guitar makers have used to make guitar parts for centuries
This is a jointer, a machine that gives the wood a 90 degree flat edge
here is the wood after being jointed, or flattened. Gorgeous!!
Now it’s ready to be stored in a humidity controlled environment and stabilize for guitar making!
Thanks for recycling wood with us! ###linkharvest###
Love is in the air….and Valentine’s day around the corner.
I heard that 2010 is the year of the tiger, but this Valentine’s day it seems to be the year of the guitar. They’re all over the cards, saying
“you rock” and other messages, and this year the #1 gift is the heart shaped guitar hero guitar. Who knew.
We love cards and gifts too, so decided to give our cards away for free! Feel free to grab our free valentine’s day card with the unique Wallpusher Bass featured. We’ll be making a monthly card, all you have to do is click on it to grab the full size image, and then send it to your friends!
Valentine’s day is definitely a holiday where the rubber hits the road, and if love is in the air, it’s time to show it! Whether you happen to hate pink like me, or Valentine’s is your favorite holiday, the day is still on its way. Come the 14th I can’t help remembering Valentine’s day candies with their pastel chalky messages, and cutting out victorian valentines with bare bottom cherubs and very delicate doilies. Maybe like me you’ve been hounded since childhood by memories of the pressure of creating a valentine for everyone you knew, and hoping that someone didn’t (or did) have a crush on you, and feeling very confused all together by the occasion.
Heart Guitar Hero
What does your crush, spouse, date, or otherwise intended really want this Valentine’s day? Yeah sure so the Heart Guitar Hero is a nice gift, not #1 on my list, but cool, so the question is what do they really want? Very few times a year are we able to show that special someone how we feel, and guess what…here’s a day set aside for it!
I’ve always kind of shied away from the subject, but it’s staring me in the face nonetheless. What would I love to receive? What can I give that will make my special one feel as special as they are, and honestly, my mind keeps wandering back to music. I remember getting my first guitar, and how excited and happy and special I felt, as though it were a sign that somebody believed in me, that, although
Wallpusher Adjustable Guitar Strap
I had no idea how to make music, that I would, and FINALLY I had the tools to do it.
Wallpusher adjustable guitar straps are not only an affordable, handmade, one of a kind gift, but also a great solution for musicians that’s never been offered publicly before, that will revolutionize their playing! Check them out at the Etsy Shop. Your sweetheart would LOVE these.
If your loved one would love an instrument, strap, case, or other tool, check out adjustable guitar straps. You could also find a song or album,grooveshark is a great resource for all kinds of music, or if you play guitar About.com has a great resource for tabs and lyrics to great love songs. They offer a great range of songs for everyone.
tar Tab and Lyrics. If you’re not instrumentally inclined, call in to the radio and dedicate a song in the cheezy old fashioned way, or just play it for them on your computer
.
So if you’re lost for ideas this Valentines day, think music.
Wallpusher Guitars look great on paper, in photos and videos; but there’s nothing like holding one in your hand.
Here we’ll be adding to a long list of testimonials about how it feels to hold and play a Wallpusher. If you or anyone you know has something to say about Wallpusher, we’d love to hear it.
We’ll be compiling a list of testimonials not only about Wallpusher Guitars, but also the furniture, home theaters and home remodeling, fine art, and other products and services that Wallpusher has offered over the years. We strive to provide quality in every area, and it’s always good to hear that we’re achieving that quality from the source.
TESTIMONIALS:
“…adjustable guitar straps offer one handed adjustments in seconds!”
We don’t usually give in to the Facebook crazes, but we thought last week’s was kind of neat, so here it is:
Wallpusher’s definition in the urban dictionary is: really awesome striped Bass guitar. Light, ergonomic bass guitars that offer more options for the musician. Wallpusher: made by musicians for musicians.
Wallpusher creates original handmade electric bass guitars engineered as tools for the musician to offer more options on stage. Creativity and quality are easier to achieve with the simple innovations that Wallpusher guitars has to offer. Wallpusher guitars give you the freedom to play in a tool that takes account for many of your creative desires. Handcarved, original organic wood laminates that last, higher sound quality and aesthetic pleasure than anything you can find in stores. Available from www.wallpusher.com, take it further with Wallpusher. Wallpusher offers several pre-designed body and neck styles for easy playability, but for the more creative types, we offer a myriad of choices so that you can choose the shape and length of the guitar you’d like.
So why all the Tshirts? A great band is looking for a new shirt design, so we pulled out all the stops and designed some Wallpusher Design shirts that give a pretty full range of different options– all in classic Black and White.
So– there you go. IF anyone else you know needs tshirts, we got ideas. Send people here for ideas.
Have you heard about Caspian? Check them out, they’re a postrock band from the Boston area local to Wallpusher who have been making a big splash all over the music scene lately. We’ve been fortunate to see them in Boston/Cambridge, but in March they’ll be touring all over the country, and then international, so I’ve heard.
The reviews and testimonials on their Myspace page are quite compelling. Passionate- lots in common with Wallpusher. Here’s a quick taste of why they’re worth listening to, quoted from their Myspace.
“This batch of songs is anchored by brilliant, restless songwriting. No boring twenty-minute crescendos here. Tertia i
s full of surprises… There’s scarcely a better post-rock record on the horizon. 9/10″
- PREFIXMAG
“Tertia” is just as effective when it sparkles as when it storms. Caspian has the instrumental firepower to make a big noise when it feels like it. But the melodies, timbres and harmonics are so fully realized that “Tertia” would be mighty, even without its climaxes.”
- THE WASHINGTON POST
“A dense work of post-rock with purpose.”
- RHAPSODY
They are a great bunch of guys, and we thoroughly encourage you to buy their new album, Tertia. It’s awesome.
Word about the t-shirt template: all the credit for the template of girl/guy shirt goes to Madnessism from Deviant Art, thanks so much for putting it online to share!!
Who’s taking bets on the direction of the critter’s shadow this year?
Considering how cute they are, and how they do give us a fun holiday to mark the beginning of spring thoughts, even if spring is a long way off– I decided to make the little guy the subject of my monthly card. Feel free to download the card and use it as you’d like, or if you have a card idea, we’d love to post it on our website.
I’ve never been able to spell or pronounce Mr. Groundhog’s name, but apparently this year Punxsatawney Phil is being challenged by other groundhogs for his stardom. Poor little guy.
We’ll I guess that I would vote for whichever creature that decides spring is coming sooner. It is a funny tradition, but stranger still is what I found out about groundhogs when I started looking: Continue reading
It’s an interview or special article on an Creative Colleague of ours who deserves attention.Whether an artist, craftsman, musician or designer– our Creative Colleagues are all people with acommon drive, a similar spark that inspires them to create. Contact us if you or other creatives would like to be presented in a cameo!
Walter Stanul is an incredibly famous guitar maker and inventor of the archtop– a jewel who has lived andworked in the Boston area for decades. The work he has done inventing the Archtop Guitar has innovated the way that acoustic guitars are conceived and made.
Walter Matthew and Beautiful Guitar
We Love Walter as a friend, respect him as a great artist, and an innovative teacher. Matthew first met Walter teaching at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, MA where Walter taught guitar making. When Matthew entered the SMFA Diploma Program in 2000, THE oldest fine arts degree in the country, he introduced himself to Walter and showed him the guitars that he had been making since childhood in New Jersey. Walter was amazed, and hired Matthew to help him teach guitar making.
Walter and Matthew share a similar spirit, their friendship is an intuitive one– they speak the same way, passionate about every subject from their art, to their teaching, to the flow of a shop. Everything is exciting to Walter, who says “I don’t know how much time I’ve got left” but is constantly working to innovate beautiful instruments and share his skills through teaching at renowned universities. His teaching talents are praised Continue reading
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