Thoughts About Guitar Theft

Just when you think you've seen it all, a quick slap in the face comes as a reminder. Last week a customer contacted us out of the blue looking for a Signature Guitar for his son. He seemed informed, convince and prepared, so we arranged to next-day ship a beautiful Brazilian/cedar Stand Up Signature to his home in Long Beach, COD cash/certified funds. This is a pretty common way to sell a guitar, and we have done this many times over the years.

Within two days we got the certified check and about the same time he called us to say his son loved the guitar, couldn't put it down. He loved the guitar too and did we have another? I did have one Brazilian spruce Stand Up remaining, the last one, and he checked out the pictures on line, and we negotiated for him to buy this second guitar. He worked me for a discount, and in view of the situation I agreed, and we sent the second guitar, same deal.

Larry and I debated over the security issue, and I decided that in view of his knowledgeability, his seeming genuine appreciation of the first instrument, and even the fact that he asked for a discount (who wouldn't) we should go ahead and sell him the second (and last) guitar. After all, tax time is coming. We concluded that the only real risk would be that the certified checks would be counterfeit.

I'm sure you have already guessed the ending. The certified checks were counterfeit! Jeesh! I've always operated on the hypothesis that the traumas that life serves up are never what you expect, that they come from some place you're not looking. Well, this time I was wrong.

The peculiar part of this to me is that this is a lot of trouble just to get a couple of guitars. Forgery is a serious crime, FBI territory, and there are many other scams that could net such a conspirator a much better cash position. I suppose he can put these on ebay, but fencing classical guitars must pay about one penny on the dollar. The only way to get the real value out of the instruments is to play them, and it seems that that's what he and "his son" were doing, all the while scheming a significant five-figure rip off. And, he even talked me into a discount! Why?

Nothing like this has happened to me before. My dear wife Roberta, God bless her, has often asserted that I am naive about security, and at this point who could argue? Maybe this is the most troubling part of the story. I like being naive, it gives me time to focus on other things, like guitars, music, family, the garden. In retrospect I see a number of warning signs, and I chose to over ride them. To be sucked into a new class of worry offends me. Maybe it's a sign of the times, but I still assert my right to be part of the "up", not part of the "down".

This guy could be reading this blog right now. What a turkey. I've tried to imagine what it would take for me myself to pull a stunt like that, but I just can't. I've got a lot of faults, God knows, but I just can't conceive of getting any joy or satisfaction out such a scam. I enjoy a good heist movie as much as the next guy, but this one is pretty tawdry.

He should just send the guitars back and walk away. At this point, if I get them back I think I'll give them away to some student, someone who deserves them. It would even be better to go on a pilgrimage and throw them into the volcano. Then, maybe the gods of doom would back off for another day.

The two guitars are Hill Signature Stand Up model guitars, #2687 and #2684. Both are Brazilian rosewood, one with spruce top, one with cedar.The customer ordered them by phone and paid COD with counterfeit certified checks seemingly from Bank of America. The checks were very convincing to me, but the bank was not convinced.

The perp's name is:
Jonathan Silk
1915 San Francisco Ave
Long Beach CA 90806.

213-446-4206
213-446-0862

Of course the phone numbers don't work. Of course, avoid this person.

If you hear anything about the guitars or Mr. Silk, please contact us, or contact local law enforcement. If someone offers the guitars for sale cheap, buy them and I'll buy them back. Or just buy em and enjoy em, but please let me know.

Kenny Hill
Jan. 28.2009

Postscript, 3 days later: A few things. First, I talked with the REAL Jonathan Silk, and he is a very nice guy now living in Netherlands. He was a Professor at UCLA, but is now working near the Hague. He had nothing to do with this. I don't know our con man's real name,but I'm guessing this isn't it.
Second, I've contacted several law enforcement agencies, and even a private detective at $90.00 an hour, and none of them have done anything at all. It seems we're on our own out there. And third, Traveler's Insurance, my soon to be EX insurance company, says they sympathize but there is a tiny exclusion carefully written into my policy, so coverage is denied. They are very good at writing exclusions it seems. They are also good at taking money year after year, tens of thousands of dollars, and providing no service. This is at least as frustrating as the original rip off, in fact in a way it feels worse.
Nevertheless, the guitar community has been amazing, and indeed reminds me why I'm in it. It is magnificent to hear from friends and strangers alike, and feel how close knit we are in fact. So good, heart is not lost.

Designing/Building a New Signature Model #1

Today I'm attempting to build a new model of Signature guitar. This may be a crazy idea, because my current design is only 2 or 3 years old, and it is doing very well. It sounds and feels great and many fine players are seeking it out. It even keeps getting better. So why mess with it?

I guess I'm just going for more extreme. My current Signature Model guitar has a beautiful sound, it's strong and well balanced, and has a rich tone palette, easy to control, easy to explore. At least that's how I feel about it - I absolutely love it. What I'm trying to build now is something for the person who simply wants the loudest guitar on the block, who chooses power over anything else, the Hummer or dragster of classical guitars. I'm going to try to deliver that power, but at the same time try to coax some beauty and sweetness out of it too. I don't really know if this is possible, but I'm going to try.

I'm throwing in the kitchen sink. I'm ignoring the usual "scientific" admonition to change one thing at a time, so one can measure or evaluate the effect of each change. Instead I'm making many changes at once, trusting the seat of my pants, or my chubby Buddha belly to whisper to me what's what. Anyway, I'm not patient enough to go through that kind of method. At least not today.

It's wacky also because I'm getting ready for the NAMM show next week, so I'm having to squeeze this work out of stolen moments. Too much to do, but still, it's exciting.

One of the main elements I'm introducing is lattice bracing. I've never been fond of the sound of lattice braced guitars. Although it is capable of producing tremendous volume, and often super resonant bass, I usually find the sound two dimensional, quick to fatigue and unappealing. I have heard some exceptions. I'm not using the usual materials of balsa and graphite for the lattice, but rather red cedar, in hopes of squeezing more warmth from the bracing.

I am going to attempt to blog a diary of this process. I've already begun the work, by replacing the tops of some existing instruments, working out some of the preferences of the bracing, listening to the results. But now I'm starting an instrument from scratch. Making a new model is always a big undertaking, building new molds and jigs, making a lot of mistakes and finer and finer adjustments. It will inevitably take several instruments to "get it right", or at least stable.

The real story here is that I may well fail at it. I could produce something horrible, or I might make something that appeals to some constituency, but not to me. Then what? I might confuse my already satisfied customers.

If your interested, follow along. With the help of my associate Larry Darnell I'll try to get pictures and some narrative as this process unfolds. I've developed new models like this many times before, but I've never documented the process, nor have I gone public with it. There will be a lot of more-or-less standard guitar making techniques shown, although by no means comprehensive, and many techniques that are unique to my method, and others that are different than I've ever done. I'll have to work fast, in spurts, and write quickly to make this happen, so please forgive sloppy writing and poor housekeeping. At least it's sincere.

So keep in touch, and wish me luck!

Kenny Hill
Jan 7, 2009.

to see this article compiled with photos click here or to download a 10mb pdf file Building.pdf

Scott Tennant Plays Hill Signature

I've known Scott Tennant since 1995. I met him at the GFA festival in Northridge, when he came up to my display table, picked up my guitar, and blew my mind.

Scott can really play. His right hand has a strength, suppleness and confidence like no one else. His left hand moves with perfectly natural speed and accuracy, and his musical ear and taste are exquisite. As a founding member of LA Guitar Quartet, as a virtuoso soloist, and as a teacher Scott's playing has touched not just me, but tens upon tens of thousands - or millions of people around the world. He's smart, and funny, and he has exposed me to all sorts of music that has added to my repertoire and changed my several times over.

So, last year when he contacted me wanting a guitar, I was thrilled. Over the years I have shown him instruments, absorbed his comments, and now with the Signature model it seems I've made some instruments that grabbed his attention. I took him 2 or 3 guitars to try out, he bonded with one, and the next morning he took off with it on tour of Russia, China and Japan, both with the quartet and as a soloist.

For some time now Scott has been real wrapped up with his Daniel Friedrich guitars, and no wonder. Friedrich has been making stellar, world class guitars for decades. They are some of the most prized instruments of any living builder. Now that he has chosen to include a Hill Signature guitar as a working axe I'm proud, and excited to hear him playing on it as much as possible. I absolutely love these guitars, but then I'm kind of biased. When an artist of Scott Tennant's stature chooses a Hill Guitar and plays it so beautifully, I am very, very happy. We must be doing something right.

Sylvan Music Now A Local Santa Cruz Dealer

We at Hill Guitar are delighted to add Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz to our esteemed dealer group. I've known owner Al Markasky for decades, as long as Sylvan has been around. I've watched the store grow from a tiny repair and sheet music operation to one for the strongest retailers and service centers in acoustic guitars anywhere. They've got an remarkable selection of steel string instruments, old and new, and they have a respectable collection of classical guitars. With the addition of Hill Signature instruments and New World Guitar Player series and Estudio series, their selection got better!

The first Hill Signature guitar that went there lasted less than a week. This has been a trend all over, keeping the Signature Models in demand, and in short supply. Production of these guitars is very limited. We delivered a cedar/Indian rosewood Signature Model (double top) to Sylvan Music just yesterday, and if your interested in such a thing you should go try it, because it probably won't be there for long. There are very few of these instruments available for sale at this time, and demand is strong.

Although we are in the same region, Sylvan Music and Hill Guitar have never tried to work together, but I think this is a good collaboration. They are close to the University, close to downtown, and on a main route in and out of Santa Cruz, and they have so many instruments and accessories to look at they are a real destination. Playing Hill guitars in the context of many other instruments gives you the chance to compare, and hopefully get a sense of what is so good about our guitars. Sylvan has a nice sound room dedicated to just classical guitars, so the acoustics and privacy are ideal for trying out guitars.

So I'm very happy to finally hook up with our home-boys at Sylvan Music. You should visit them soon!

Kenny Hill
December 18, 2008

I didn't get into this line of work to be in business. It was more of a mystical choice, a compulsion, based on love of the sounds, shapes, smells and feelings that swirl around these guitars, both playing and building guitars. Yet, somewhere in the course of family life and many children I understood that I would have to accept some kind of role in business to allow me to pay for my guitar habit, so I could keep on doing what I love, and keep my kids somewhere out of musician's poverty. I reluctantly embraced "business" as part of what's needed for guitar making and guitar playing. It hasn't been easy, and it's definitely a work in progress, but I consider myself among the lucky ones to be working at something I love, and surround by talented and insightful people.

Now along comes a meltdown. It's very annoying. It seems that while I and a host of colleagues have been spending our best efforts to do nice things and make the world a little better, other mammoth forces have been extra cynical and greedy - or epically careless - with the big world of economies, and it threatens to unravel much that we've done over the last five or thirty five years. Thankfully, life at Hill Guitar is still chugging along. People still need guitars, maybe now more than ever. Although I am quite aware of the power of world, national and local economics, it's not the only thing I think about, and we are still holding on to our plans and hopes in this special world of guitar. We're still making some truly great guitars, and we're even expanding our lines of student instruments, trying to provide our customers the very best instruments possible for their money and for their music.

As musicians we're a little lucky at this moment, because we're practiced at hard times. We didn't get into this for the money. We got into it for the beauty, for the human contact, for the inspiration, for the personal and spiritual challenges that go along with it every day, regardless of what level of player you are. There is always something valuable and ongoing in the growth and communion that comes with music, and this is always available to us - in good times and in bad.

We musicians are part of the solution, not part of the problem. We already know something about sacrifice. Through music we make the world better, through our passions and attention to detail we improve ourselves and our surroundings. This is why I actually feel a bit optimistic at this time, in spite of grinding catastrophic news. Sometimes it takes disappointment to remember what is really valuable in life. In a recessionary climate I see an opportunity to calm down a little, look around and rethink what's important, what offers lasting contentment and quality of life. This is our opportunity to re-assert real personal values.

So I'm not giving up, not even letting up. This is a very good time for music. Musicians always have to deal with tough economics, it's the norm. We're used to it, grudgingly at home with it, adaptable. So let's keep it going. Here at Hill Guitar we're we try to make make instruments that make our musicians lives a little better. As musicians we all make music to make our daily world a little better. Keep it going. It's more important now than ever.

Kenny Hill

First 2009 New World Guitars Arrive

Our first 2009 New World models have arrived. Standard classical models in the Player and Estudio guitar series. These full-sized guitars have 650mm string length, and are available with Englemann spruce or Western red cedar soundboards. All of our New World instruments have lightweight adjustable 2 way truss rods and come standard with an allen wrench.

The Player series guitars are all solid woods with ebony fingerboard. The Players are really beautiful and sound terrific. These will be available in 628mm scale, cutaway and fingerstyle with cutaway and narrower fingerboard. Later next year expect to also have 640mm scale as well.

The Estudio series guitars feature solid soundboards, laminated Indian rosewood back and sides and rosewood fingerboard. These are available in 628mm scale, cutaway and fingerstyle with cutaway and narrower fingerboard. There are also smaller body sizes coming in the Estudio line: 615mm, 580mm and 480mm, as well as 640mm.

All our New World models are now available with a premium arched hardshell case.

For more detailed images of our new models, please check out the Showroom at our website.

GFA Youth Division Winner, Saki Kato Plays Hill Signature

I was pleased to exhibit in the Guitar Foundation of America festival in San Francisco this past August. A lot of good things happened, but I have to tell you about one thing in particular. Saki Kato came with her parents from Tokyo to compete in the under 14 year-old division. I was delighted to meet her because I was aware that she plays on a Signature Model guitar of mine that she acquired in Japan a few years ago. I had heard of her when I was in Tokyo last year, but we were unable to get together then.

Saki is 11 years old and has been playing since she was about 3. During the last four years she's been studying with the great guitarist Shin Ichi Fukuda, He was one of the featured performers in the GFA this year, and probably because he was going to be there, he encouraged her to come and compete.

Fukuda is a great player, a great personality, and obviously a great teacher, and it was a pleasure to hear him play and get to know him a bit as well.

Saki is small and shy, and speaks almost no English. When she sat down to play, the guitar looked big for her, but when she actually started playing everything transformed. She completely commands the instrument. There's nothing she can't do - effortlessly. I was amazed, and so was anyone within ear-shot.

On Saturday night it was announced that she was in the finals, and I knew I had to be there. So at 9:00 Sunday morning I made it to Herbst Theater to hear the junior finals.

Unbelievable! She played the Grand Solo by Sor and Fuoco by Roland Dyans, and she dominated the music and the room. The shy young girl who was staying up past her bed time the night before, was now a fully poised and confident virtuoso, but not just a virtuoso, an artist. Her playing and interpretation was flawless, and later that Sunday when the results were announced the judges agreed. They awarded her not only first place, but they announced that she also achieved the first-ever perfect competition score!

I was so proud of her, and thrilled to have been there. I was proud of my guitar under her hands as well. I look forward to hearing her magnificent playing many times in the future. At 11 years old I don't know how she can plan for the future, really, but she has a talent that is without peer. I can't wait to see where it goes.


Kenny Hill with Shin Ichi Fukuda.