Karna chelluri by Freestyle Academy

Bring It On Home Karna Chelluri 1

Acknowledgements Thank you to Freestyle Academy, Frank Ford, James Hingston, Steve Peterson and all of the kind staff at Gryphon Strings. I’d also like to thank Brad Guesman for giving me his insight and introducing me to the world of guitars in the first place. Thank you to Amanda Mell for making sure I spelleded everything in the book good so people can read it good. Lastly, I’d like to thank my father for not making me have to listen to Radio Disney in the car on the way home from preschool. The time was much better spent listening to Pink Floyd in our turbocharged Volvo. You’re the reason why I wrote this book.

Table of Contents Preface...........................................................................................................................7 Introduction.................................................................................................................9 Chapter 1: What is this stone you speak of? Why must it roll, Mr. Dylan?.........11 Chapter 2: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for...............................................15 Chapter 3: Gryphon Stringed Instruments...............................................................17 Chapter 4: Music Goes Corporate.............................................................................22 Conclusion....................................................................................................................24 Works Cited..................................................................................................................26

Preface I

chose this topic because of my lifelong love of rock and roll. A lot of finest memories from my childhood are of my listening to classic rock on the way home from school. I chose to use Gryphon Stringed Instruments as an example because of how local it is. Ever since I started playing guitar two years ago, I’ve always gone to Gryphon to try out guitars and have my guitars serviced. A big challenge I faced while writing this book was changing my false impression that the younger generation was losing respect for the guitar. This is simply not true. After my interviews with Frank, James, Steve, and Brad, I realized that corporatization

of musical instrument sales and the music industry was to blame and not a lack of respect. Popular music is just so much better advertised than rock and roll. The lyrics and themes presented in pop music are just so much more pertinent to people living in the present. I also struggled with the realization that rock and roll isn’t dead. Not only did this change my entire perception of how music has evolved, it made me have to go through my entire book once again and make sure I changed “rock and roll was” to “rock and roll is”. I want the reader of this book to take away that small guitar stores are essential to the culture of rock and roll and that

they provide a more authentic buying experience for anyone looking to purchase a guitar. I also want the reader to see how instrument sales have now become more important than the instruments themselves.

Introduction

he process of buying a guitar is one that all guitar players experience. We all look out for the best deals on the best guitars when shopping for a new axe to add to the collection. We’d all love to have a gem to show off, play, and love. In this day and age, one can shop at an online store or go to a big box guitar store to find our newest guitar. Stores such as Guitar Center are great places to find high quality guitars at discounted prices. They’re also great places to find everything you might need to take care of your guitar and keep it in pristine condition. Some Guitar Centers even offer recording studios and music lessons so you can learn to play and record what you’re playing. Guitar Center is also expanding, so more people can

have access to these premium features. This is why one should always go to a large guitar store to buy his/her instrument right? Wrong. There is one key thing that I have found that large guitar stores can’t offer: a personalized buying experience. To me, only smaller, community guitar stores can offer this. At these stores, it is more likely that the people who work there will remember your name every time you go there. I am not the only one who feels this sentiment, though, many rock and roll stars of the past also preferred to shop at small stores where the employees knew their specific tastes. Notable examples range from guitarists like The Edge from U2 to Jimi Hendrix of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The positive interaction that is

felt between store employees, to me, is exactly what the culture of rock and roll is all about: friendship and enjoyment. Small guitar stores are pivotal to the culture of rock and roll, which is why they should be given more attention from consumers than larger guitar stores.

Chapter 1: What is this stone you speak of? Why must it roll Mr. Dylan?

ock and roll isn’t just a genre of music, it is a social movement. What made rock music popular fifty years ago wasn’t the virality of the songs, but the messages that were carried within the music and the musicianship that was required to produce it. But first, a history lesson: The late 1950s / early 1960s were when rock and roll truly began. The 1960s saw the emergence of the electric guitar as the weapon of choice for artists who wished to electrify the blues to perfection. Before long, masters of the electric guitar such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton emerged to national and international stardom. By the end of the decade, there was a guitarist on every

street corner because of their influence. In the 1970s, rock and roll hit a jetstream and was propelled upward by bands such as Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, and The Who. These bands sped up the blues and gifted the world with a new genre of music: hard rock. Guitar players like Eddie Van Halen advanced the vocabulary of the electric guitar and hard rock with his signature sound at the start of the 1980s. The 80s saw the rise of bands such as Van Halen, Guns N Roses, Poison and U2. These bands justified their flamboyant personalities by making equally showy music. The 80s spawned the creation of glam metal. Glam metal was an

amalgamation of arena rock and punk rock accompanied with face-melting guitar solos and big hair. This decade’s musicians played hard, fast, and unforgivingly, but their offstage lives also fueled the fires of their fame. The 1990s saw a transition from showy arena rock to a rise in the popularity of grunge. Bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam encouraged people, especially teenagers, to be rebellious and angsty. Power chord driven riffs and brutal vocals showed people the darker side of life. After the nineties, rock’s presence fell significantly, and only a few bands were able to make it to the mainstream. A revival of the blues brought

about an interest in the music of The White Stripes and The Black Keys. Even these bands relied heavily on synthesizers, though. In the past decade, guitar driven rock has fallen significantly in influence. Now, the dominant form of music in the industry is hip hop. (“Music Bands And Artists over 70 Years.”) Although its popularity has shifted throughout the years, the culture of rock and roll has stayed the same. Rock forces people to analyze the world we live in and ask ourselves whether we are pleased with what we see; it encourages us to be free and express our emotions; it asks us to go crazy and have a good time. It doesn’t matter what sub 12

genre the music is a part of, be it delta blues, punk or even thrash metal – these same messages resound throughout. I know that in order to say that I must have a reliable source to back up my claim because I gave the culture of rock and roll a definition, but in all honesty, it can’t be described. The fact that I just defined it that bluntly is heresy to others who appreciate rock and roll. Defining rock and roll would undermine everything it stands for. What that might be, I don’t know. Many might move to call me cheesy for acting like rock and roll is some mystical entity, but to them, I offer this challenge: You define it.

But one thing that can be defined is the attitude of the people who appreciate rock and roll by playing the guitar or any other rock instrument. The media mainly perpetuates the stereotype that rock guitarists are mean people. If one were to look at Guns N’ Roses’ biography on Spotify, it says in the first line, “They were not nice boys, nice boys don’t play rock and roll.” But Brad Guesman, my close friend and an experienced guitarist, proves this stereotype wrong: “When you meet another guitarist who isn’t as good as you are, provided they aren’t a complete asshole and actually seem humble, you kinda feel inclined to help them... It just feels right to help them play better,” says Guesman. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, rock guitarists aren’t all mean people.

Brad Guesman’s Gibson Explorer. This is the same model of guitar that U2’s guitarist bought at the music store in New York City Brad Guesman’s Gibson ES-175

Chapter 2: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

n the past, small guitar stores were a crucial part of supplying and repairing the tools necessary to create the sounds of rock and roll. For example, if a young Irishman named Dave Evans didn’t walk into Stuyvesant Music Inc. in 1978 to buy his first real electric guitar, the band U2 would never have been the same (“Iconic Axes”). He bought a 1973 Gibson Explorer, which fueled their fire with the edgy tone that makes U2 what they are today. Evans, now known as The Edge, would go on to become a household name after U2’s wild success. But Stuyvesant Music Inc. was a small guitar store buried between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in New York City, not a large chain. Could The Edge have found the same Gibson Explorer at a large guitar

chain? Absolutely. However, in an interview with the BBC, Evans stated that it was the charm of the store that drew him (Eriksson). As someone who has bought instruments in the past, I can personally relate to the exhilaration that Evans felt when he walked into the cute little store and immediately fell in love with the first guitar to catch his eye. Many other guitarists share this sentiment: “There’s just something about walking into a small store that makes everything seem almost mystical,” says Guesman. One of Guesman’s most prized possessions is a Gibson ES-175 that was bought at a small guitar store. “Sometimes you just walk in and see something you love,” he says, “ I saw that the ES [175] was on con-

signment for a super great price, so I bought it. It was seeing it in the setting I did that drew me to it though. It was just a much more personal buying experience than one would get at say... Guitar Center.” Small guitar stores provide a buying experience that is unparalleled because they take a personal approach to helping the guitarist rather than giving them a catalog and telling them to bring back the guitar they like most. In my personal experience, employees at small guitar stores have always had a better way of connecting with me than large guitar store employees. Since employees at large guitar stores usually have a larger area of the store to look over and more customers to interact with, they won’t always have the time 15

to sit and have a full conversation with you.

Chapter 3: Gryphon Stringed Instruments

ryphon Stringed Instruments is in Palo Alto, California. When you walk in, you are immediately greeted by the sight of a plethora of fine guitars. The wood and glass checkout counters contain effects boxes, capos and other guitar related accessories. The warm light reflects off of the bodies of the brand new Martin guitars in the display cases. Often times, there is the sweet hum of an electric Gibson being played through a VOX amplifier coming from the small room of electric guitars in the corner. As you continue through the shop, you can see a great number of boutique, quirky guitars among the vast number of vintage and more mainstream guitars. At the back counter, store attendants and customers chat about repairs and restora-

tions. Their conversations are unlike conversations heard at most guitar stores; they sound like friends, not just sales associates and customers. Gryphon Stringed Instruments was founded in 1969 by Frank Ford and his friend Richard Johnston. After college,

Mr. Frank Ford

Ford, a recent graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, teamed up with Johnston, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, to repair guitars in their garage. They started by repairing guitars and mandolins, but as they got more attention and received guitars to sell, they decided that they should open a shop. Ford explains,, “We started in Palo Alto, so you could say that we are a Palo Alto garage start up...We haven’t moved out of the garage since, really. We opened a retail shop in ‘73, but then moved to this building in ‘76. We went from being a small, two-man operation to having fourteen or fifteen full time employees.” Gryphon specializes in selling Taylor and Martin acoustic guitars as well as

zona. The school is actually an banjos, mandolins and other accredited trade school,” says special stringed instruments. Its long tenure in Palo Alto can Peterson. He decided to become be linked to the continual sup- a luthier after realizing that he was unhappy working in the port they’ve received; among tech field and wanted to work the guitar playing community, with his hands. After graduatthey are considered masters ing from the Roberto Venn at repairing acoustic, electric, and special instruments. “Anyone can open up a storefront and sell “Anyone can something, but it’s something else when you can offer up a very specific service like fixing open up a guitars” storefront and sell School of Luthiery, he came to something, but it’s something work at Gryphon. While he is else when you can offer up a very specific service like fixing well versed in all forms of luthiery, he enjoys fixing acousguitars,” says Ford. People who fix stringed tic guitars the most. “There is just something about pulling instruments such as guitars, mandolins, banjos and violins, the neck from an acoustic guiare called luthiers. The majority tar or making adjustments on an acoustic guitar that I love of luthiers are found in small because it’s so intricate and guitar stores, such as Steve Peterson, a member of the luthier requires so much attention to detail,” he says. Just like Orville team at Gryphon: “In order to Gibson and Leo Fender, foundbecome a luthier, I went to the ers of Gibson Guitar CorporaRoberto Venn School of Luthiery down in Phoenix, Arition and Fender Musical Instru-

ment Corporation respectively, Peterson is practically an engineer rather than a musician. “Instead of playing music to relax, I actually think about and research problems that I’m facing with guitars,” he explains. James Hingston, also a member of the Gryphon team, is a fan of heavy metal and enjoys fixing up electric guitars. His passion started after he fixed the severed headstock of his first guitar at age sixteen. Hingston can often be heard singing or humming in Gryphon’s workshop and also enjoys playing music when he’s not working. He explains, “I play drums for the band that we have of just Gryphon employees, but I also play guitar in a metal band. I love playing drums in the band because its a great way for us to bond here. As much as I love playing with them, my real passion lies in metal.” The interaction between em19

ployees and customers represents the unique music community that convenes at Gryphon: “Everyone who comes here has their quirks; we get a lot of fine instruments, but also some interesting people,” offers Hingston. These “quirky people” are found mainly at small guitar stores like Gryphon, rather than large, more robotic stores.

“Everyone who comes here has their quirks; we get a lot of fine instruments, but also some interesting people” -James Hingston

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is just something about pulling the neck from an acoustic guitar or making adjustments on an acoustic guitar that I love because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so intricate and requires so much attention to detailâ&#x20AC;? -Steve Peterson

Chapter 4: Music Goes Corprate

disturbing trend in the music industry is the shift towards a more corporate approach to selling music and musical instruments. Guitar players and sellers alike are noticing that companies like Gibson Guitar Corporation and Fender Guitar Corporation are marketing their guitars towards the older generation. “The thing is that people who grew up watching their favorite guitar heroes like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck are now older and wealthier than they were when they were younger. It would make sense for the guitar companies to start selling to older people who can now afford the guitars––to make profits––rather than sponsoring and attempting to sell guitars by showing off younger artists. Guitars can also be seen

as a status symbol among older players. They’ll pay high prices to get a guitar that was played by their favorite guitarists, and they’ll show it off,” adds Guesman. While there are many young, skilled guitarists performing nowadays, guitar companies wish to reap the benefits of selling their products to the wealthier demographic, rather than showcasing new talent. Back when guitars were first becoming popular, they were much less expensive, but over time, companies have adjusted their prices so that anyone who wants an iconic instrument has to pay a premium price. Take the Gibson Explorer mentioned earlier for example. The Edge bought his Gibson Explorer in 1978 for $248.40, which would be worth about $890 in today’s money. On the Gibson Guitar

Corporation’s website, a brand new Explorer is listed at $1,999. This new version costs $1,109, more than the original did in 1978. Smaller guitar stores have a reputation for selling instruments that are more expensive. For younger people who can’t afford to pay a premium for a guitar, the only option is to go to a bigger guitar retailer, or to order guitars online. “We live in a world where discount rules,” says Ford. “We’ve been taught as consumers that we’ll be happier when we get more stuff, so in order to give people that illusion, big box guitar stores put heavy discounts guitars because they know that lots of people are going to come in and buy one.” Small stores like Gryphon can’t physically carry stocks as large as stores like Guitar

Center, so they must charge a premium price for every guitar they sell. The resulting issue is that guitar companies charge high prices that are meant to attract older guitar players, and big box guitar stores place heavy discounts on those high prices, so that they will attract younger consumers. This takes a significant amount of business from the small guitar stores. Pricing isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only thing causing trouble for small guitar stores, though; the other issue is that big box guitar stores are simply getting too big. Guitar Center has moved to corner the market for buying and selling guitars by adding features to their stores that small guitar stores simply canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. They hope to add recording studios and large areas for music lessons at their stores by 2017 (Wahba). Stores like Gryphon have spaces for teachers to use, but they cannot match the sheer size of

stores like Guitar Center. Guitar companies and guitar retailers use their size, resources, and reduced prices to increase sales.While this practice is sound from a purely capitalistic standpoint, these stores are taking customers from the small guitar stores. Big box stores corner the market of guitarists by offering them a one stop shop for everything that they might need.

Conclusion T

he culture of rock and roll is one you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be sure theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll remember your name when you come back. that breeds friendship, but the rapid closing of small guitar stores is leading to a decline in that sentiment. The corporatization of the guitar world is leading to an unsettling trend of companies putting profits over the quality of the services they offer and the atmospheres of their stores. Nothing beats the feeling of walking into your local guitar store on a Saturday morning, and coming out of it that same Saturday afternoon with a brand new guitar. Shopping at a small business also benefits the local economy and supports the members of the community who work at the store. Supporting your local guitar store by going there for repairs and for purchases not only helps the guitar store itself, but also gives you a more personal and warm guitar buying experience. Although the discounts you will receive at larger stores might lure you in, remember that

Works Cited “About Gryphon Stringed Instruments.” Gryphon Stringed Instruments, n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2015. Eriksson, Daniel. “How The Edge Created a Classic Guitar Sound.” Gibson, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. Ford, Frank. “Interview with Frank Ford.” Personal interview. 7 Mar. 2015. Frith, Simon. “Rock as a Reflection of Social and Cultural Change.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 May 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2015. Hingston, James. “Interview with James Hingston.” Personal interview. 7 Mar. 2015. Lane, Chris. “7 People You Might Meet at a Guitar Store.” 7 People You Might Meet at a Guitar Store. RFTmusic, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. Leovy, Jill, and Debora Vrana. “Ready to Rock : Guitar Center Going Public, Cranking Up for Nationwide Expansion.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 1997. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. Lindvall, Helienne. “Behind the Music: What Do Record Labels Actually Do? You’d Be Surprised.” Behind the Music. The Guardian, 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2015. McKay, Brett, and Kate McKay. “So You Want My Job: Luthier (Guitar Maker).” So You Want My Job. The Art of Manliness, 28 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. 26

“Music Bands And Artists over 70 Years.” Music Musicians Bands Players Instruments Clubs Disco Memories from The People History Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. Peterson, Steve. “Interview with Steve Peterson.” Personal interview. 7 Mar. 2015. “Rock Music Timeline.” Rock Music Timeline. Rock Music Timeline, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. Townshend, David N. “Changing the World: Rock ‘n’ Roll Culture and Ideology (Summary).” Changing the World: Rock ‘n’ Roll Culture and Ideology (Summary). N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. Wahba, Phil. “Bucking Trend, Guitar Center Plans Big Expansion, Overhaul of Store fleet.” Bucking Trend Guitar Center Plans Big Expansion Overhaul of Storefleet Comments. Fortune, 07 Aug. 2014. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. “We Buy Guitars History.” We Buy Guitars History. We Buy Guitars, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. Williams, Michael. “The Music Industry Today - ArtistshouseMusic.” The Music Industry Today - ArtistshouseMusic. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2015

About the Author Karna is a Junior who attends Los Altos High School and Freestyle Academy. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, jamming with his band, and learning new things. He is a self-taught guitarist whose love for rock music came from his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love for rock and roll. During his childhood, the only music he was allowed to listen to was whatever his father had in his iTunes library. To the horror of many, but to the pleasant surprise of some, this meant that young Karna was forced to listen to the likes of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin. This is how parenting ought to be done. When he grows up, he wants to work in investment banking and eventually become a venture capitalist, but his guitar will never be more than a shot away (A Rolling Stones reference, for those who do not understand). 31