1998-2001 Wechter Guitars, setup

2001-2005 Marshall Music, repair

2002-2003 Heritage Guitars, sandout/setup

2003-2005 Driftwood Guitar Shop, owner

2005-2008 Wechter Guitars, built Florentine model, R&D

2008-2011 Charters Guitars, owner

2011-2014 Dusty Strings Seattle, repair/restorations

2014-2022 Kal-Tone, owner

at Heritage Guitars - Bugnaski photography

I started my first job guitarmaking at age 19 working with Abe Wechter in his new factory. Previously he was an individual custom builder, and before that an R&D man at Gibson having apprenticed with Richard Schneider. I did 1,000 nuts, fret dresses, bridge glues, etc during those three years. Wanting to further my education, I started repairing for a local store while also working at Heritage Guitars for a year before opening my own repair/retail shop - Driftwood - where I first began to build instruments from lumber.

After getting a first hand lesson in running a small business open to the public, I returned to Wechter to build his “Florentine” model as well as assist with R&D. Several years later the business was sold and I opened Charters Guitars in 2008 where I continued to build and repair for several years.

In 2011 I took a position at Dusty Strings in Seattle. I loved this job. Besides the wonderful working environment, the level and variety of instruments that came in helped me to refine my craft to the higher level. It also brought me to work with the MoPop museum where I worked on the guitars of my musical heros (Dylan, Hendrix, Muddy, Wolf, Hooker, Atkins….). But despite all this, I couldn’t see putting roots down there, and returned to Kalamazoo in 2014 to open Kal-Tone.

Along with my co-owner and friend Jay Gavan, I tried to make a little Dusty Strings of my own. Besides my string instrument repair/making repertoire, we offered instruments/accessories/parts sales, consignments, amplifier repair, handmade pickups, and had a live music venue. We took on employees, we made guitars for other guitar businesses, and a host of other endeavors, perhaps too many. It was hard work, but it was good work.

The pandemic hit our business pretty good. We’ve lost several live music venues in our city. Jay had left the business, and I was slowly but surely losing steam over the following years. After 8 years of daily work, Kal-Tone closed at the end of 2022.

The next year was spent making the guitars in process and rediscovering my passion for the craft. Now my lutherie shop is simply that - my place to design and make guitars, take on occasional restorations that are of interest, and most importantly to experiment and continue to learn as much as possible.

It wasn’t easy trimming down 25, no….26 years next month, into highlights and bullet points.  Maybe someday I’ll write the book.  All the customers, over 20,000 instruments on my bench, the music, helping people with their beloved musical expression tools…  I’m grateful and I’m shaped by these experiences.

-Ry Charters, March 2024