A.C. Lail Guitar Doctor

[Neel]

Hi, I know that he passed away earlier this year. What a great guy always full of life and cool stories. I think of him allot. But, does anyone know how to get in touch with Boddie? I lost touch with him,for awhile. Thanks allot

[woodman]

i don't even recall Boddie's last name, but some of the guys up in LA (Lenoir Area) might can hook you up.

A.C. was a great tech and a teacher, too -- he'd share his secrets and tricks. before he got sick, i used to bring my guitars up to Dudley Shoals from the Charlotte area (about a 150-mile round trip) because he knew more about Tele's than anyone i've ever known personally. i'd just sit there in his shop while he worked and he'd educate me on all things Tele. i miss him too.

[Neel]

Yeah he was one of the nicest guys in music I have ever met. I live about 6 minutes away from him and used to hang out over there allot always allot of smiling faces and friendly people.

[tdowns]

A.C. was a lifelong friend of mine. I miss him so. He was my primary influence on guitar and the Telecaster when I was very young. My dad was a coworker and best friend of A.C.s He went on to quit the furniture factory, and began working on guitars. He built up a thriving business, just working out of his basement. I would visit A.C. everytime I made a trip back home. He was a perfectionist to say the least.

Neel, the person you are looking for is Boddy Fultz. The email address I had for him quit working a couple years ago, and we have lost touch. He had not worked in A.C.s shop for quite a while. I've lost touch with him.

[woodman]

so, Terry -- you got Carolina roots? who knew!

i can see A.C.'s influence in your approach to guitars -- "almost" or "approximately" just isn't good enough!

[Neel]

Thanks, allot I looked for his name in the phone book but, no luck. I was wanting him to work on my tele. I guess, I will have to find another guitar doctor. Thanks allot Terry!

[tdowns]

Originally Posted by woodman

so, Terry -- you got Carolina roots? who knew!

i can see A.C.'s influence in your approach to guitars -- "almost" or "approximately" just isn't good enough!

Yes sir woodman!! I come from so far back in the hills of North Carolina, we didn't get the Grand Ole Opry until Tuesdays.

I was born & raised somewhere between Lenoir and Taylorsville. I moved to Texas in 1980.

I'll accept your comment about "almost" or "approximately" just isn't good enough, and thank you very much saying so. However, I personally must rely on dial calipers, feeler gauges, cauls, gigs, templates, and etc. A.C. seemed to have the talent to do everything my eye and feel, and didn't need to rely on the crutches I use.

He taught me more about musicianship than anything. It made me observe and respect others behaviors. By teaching me to pay attention to those matters back then, I later developed my own thoughts, and collected things I observed in other musicians. Some were good, so I tried to copy. Those that were bad, I tried to learn from, and vowed to never do that. This is my first time to write them down (in no particular order).

• Play fills when the singer breaths. Don't drown out the vocalist, Play fills in the vacant spots.
• Do not let everyone backup the singer at once. Let one instrument play fills in a chorus, and you another. Play soft rhythm when you aren't playing lead fills. Be "fill" polite.
• Don't play too loud
• Don't play too much
• Respect others
• You are not a star
• Less is more
• You will more likely get a good gig by being a person that others love to be around as opposed to being the fastest picker in town.
• Don't just leave your ego at the door, don't develop one at all.
• Be modest, a lot was accomplished before you were born.
• Playing in a band is a team effort. It's not all about you.
• Play more with your heart and soul and not your acrobatic muscular system.
• Keep your amp close and behind you so it is louder to you than anybody else. It is easy to get too loud.
• Don't tolerate unreliable equipment.
• Carry a spare of everything you can, picks, strings, tubes, fuses..and etc.
• Improve your tone by listening to records you admire and try to sound like that.
• Practice everyday, but don't practice too hard.
• Take one thing at a time until you get that one thing down, do not get ahead of yourself.
• It is human nature to overestimate yourself.
• Touch is paramount.
• Nobody cares that you have the best equipment if you are a jerk.
• Never use an instrument that won't stay in tune.
• Use a tuner, and use it often.

[tdowns]

I forgot some.

• You are not likely too good to load/unload equipment
• The guy who books the band and owns/carry the PA deserves more money than you
• Don't whine
• Be flexible when you travel
• Be flexible where you eat
• Don't drink enough that it impacts your performance. If you are not sure where your threshold is, ask one of your band members.
• Don't frown when you play. Smile. The non-musicians out there will not comprehend a missed note, but everybody sees an attitude and frustration
• Treat your patrons like family, and they will come back. Most all of them want to be accepted and liked by you.
• Your fellow musicians always like for you to brag on them when they do a good job
• Any technique you have is not proprietary information

[woodman]

words to live by, Terry! you could publish those tenets and call it "Zen and the Art of Electric Music."

i didn't meet A.C. til '99, and never truly tapped his treasure trove of musical experience (beyond the tales he told). but every time he worked on my guitar, he'd want to jam a while to test it out. i was shy around the old master, but he always complimented me effusively -- the picture of grace. his hands weren't what they once were, but he still had that natural tone i'm chasing to this day.

[BillyC]

A.C was a good friend and my guitar tech for over thirty years.He taught me more about guitars then anybody.
Boddy works on my guitars now and sometimes fills in on guitar in my band,I'll be happy to PM his phone number to you.He does excellent work,A.C.taught him well.

[BillyC]

Boddys e-mail address is
boddysguitar@bellsouth.net

[dhrcaster]

Er, well the first time I met A.C. I was living in Connelly Springs, outside of Hickory. Someone told me a guy lived in Bethlehem, (wherever the hell that was), who had a bunch of old guitars. So I looked it up on the map and went exploring... Needless to say, it was a trip that began a friendship with an interesting guy, who, as I later found out, was a guitar guru. I bought a lot of guitars over the years from AC, which I would use or trade with George Gruhn... and we always had fun hanging out and playing. I remember going to the Rock Creek Fish camp one night to see him play with his band, and it was an "interesting" experience, to say the least for this "city boy" Ha Ha! He played country, and I played blues, and I never could get that "walking rhythm" thing down... He used to laugh and say: you'll get it. (I never did). After I moved away from Hickory, and stopped playing in the band, I found out that my buddy Max Drake, took his guitars to A.C. and he had become a "tech" of some renown! I was surprised! All the time I knew A.C. he was just playing and collecting, I never actually had him work on my guitars... and I had a lot of em' Anyway the last time I saw him was a few years back when I went up there with Max. He was not feeling too well then, and I heard he was really sick later. Meeting him and becoming friends was an experience for me, because I didn't really think I would befriend any of the locals, being a city type with "non-southern" roots... but I realized that what we had in common, the love of music and guitars, made everything else irrelevant! So long A.C!

[chad28681]

I went to church with A.C. when I was a kid in the '70's.
He was a super guy and guitar repairman.
He taught me so much about guitars and how they were to be set-up.
Since A.C. has passed, I would not let anyone else touch my guitar except Boddy Fultz. He is just as much of a perfectionist as A.C. was.
Boddy Fultz lives in Hudson, N.C. and his phone number is 828-726-8110.

Tell him Chad Ritchie sent you.

[DustyDave]

Originally Posted by tdowns

I moved to Texas in 1980.

Thanks for posting all those rules for good musicianship, Terry. I am going to forward them to all the people I jam with.

Sounds like you arrived there a year after I left. I grew up in Abilene. My first job after high school was working at Ken Mahall Music. The Mahall family lived in Wylie. I know Ken has passed, but are any of the rest of the family still around there?

[Ronkirn]

* Play fills when the singer breaths. Don't drown out the vocalist, Play fills in the vacant spots.
* Do not let everyone backup the singer at once. Let one instrument play fills in a chorus, and you another. Play soft rhythm when you aren't playing lead fills. Be "fill" polite.
* Don't play too loud
* Don't play too much
* Respect others
* You are not a star
* Less is more
* You will more likely get a good gig by being a person that others love to be around as opposed to being the fastest picker in town.
* Don't just leave your ego at the door, don't develop one at all.
* Be modest, a lot was accomplished before you were born.
* Playing in a band is a team effort. It's not all about you.
* Play more with your heart and soul and not your acrobatic muscular system.
* Keep your amp close and behind you so it is louder to you than anybody else. It is easy to get too loud.
* Don't tolerate unreliable equipment.
* Carry a spare of everything you can, picks, strings, tubes, fuses..and etc.
* Improve your tone by listening to records you admire and try to sound like that.
* Practice everyday, but don't practice too hard.
* Take one thing at a time until you get that one thing down, do not get ahead of yourself.
* It is human nature to overestimate yourself.
* Touch is paramount.
* Nobody cares that you have the best equipment if you are a jerk.
* Never use an instrument that won't stay in tune.
* Use a tuner, and use it often.

That should be a Sticky and required reading for all burgeoning Musicians, it don't matter whatcha play...

Ron Kirn

[johnporter]

Those rules remind me of A.C. & the many hours I spent hanging out talking with him.
Very much blessed to have had him as a friend.Learned guitar mechanics from him you will not find in any book.
Did not realize then what a treasure it was actually seeing and handling countless vintage guitars coming through his shop.
Saw many incredible pickers come through there as well.