Rick Kelly Bowery Telecaster

[Kschloz]

Hi all!
I just ordered a Rick Kelly Bowery Telecaster. Chumley's pine body, fat double D shaped neck. If anyone has photos of their Kelly guitars, experiences, sounds, etc. please post them! I'm curious and fascinated about a pine tele, and made of such old wood...Thanks!

[VicAjax]

love mine, it's a special guitar. Chumley's body, Chelsea Hotel fir neck, Don Mare Hayrides:

[vanguard]

i'm about 1/2 through my wait. rick just started cutting wood for my guitar. mine's gonna have a chumley's body, but i'm going exotic on my neck. it's gonna be finished in gibson L-00 sunburst, and have Don Mare EnglishGuard pickups. the wait for these is brutal!

[Freya]

That is a trippy looking fretboard. Really cool!

[Kschloz]

@vicajax: beautiful guitar...I am thinking hard about a fir neck also...I'm having a humbucker in the neck position, as I play alot of jazz...Have you had any problems with no trussrod? I travel alot and wonder....BTW, I met my wife at Chumley's in 1995...one of the sentimental factors for the guitar!

[VicAjax]

Originally Posted by Kschloz

@vicajax: beautiful guitar...I am thinking hard about a fir neck also...I'm having a humbucker in the neck position, as I play alot of jazz...Have you had any problems with no trussrod? I travel alot and wonder....BTW, I met my wife at Chumley's in 1995...one of the sentimental factors for the guitar!

my neck has been pretty darn stable. and i keep the guitar sitting out in my pre-war apartment, on a stand next to a window and a few feet from an A/C and a radiator. so it's pretty much exposed to all sorts of temperature changes.

it's almost always in tune when i pick it up. occasionally a half-tone off, but rarely. i will say that if i didn't live in the same city as Rick, i would be more nervous about having a trussless neck.

[xtrajerry]

You Rick Kelly guys really like his guitars, so do I just don't see myself waiting for him to feel like making it.

Ron Kirn made me what I wanted In 6 weeks, 1 week sooner than expected.

[vanguard]

Originally Posted by xtrajerry

You Rick Kelly guys really like his guitars, so do I just don't see myself waiting for him to feel like making it.

Ron Kirn made me what I wanted In 6 weeks, 1 week sooner than expected.

Ron's a great builder to be sure, but he doesn't build a guitar like Rick. Conversely, Rick could never build a guitar like Ron. Ron's builds are too "clean" and nearly antiseptic to me whereas Rick's builds just ooze their hand-made, centuries-old vibe. Fans of precision would hate Rick's guitars; fans of weirdness and originality would not be into Ron's work. I think just observing the fonts they choose to put on their headstocks says it all.

[brbadg]

Mercy,so this Rick Kelly got is act together,huh?

[neatone]

that's one of the nicest teles i've ever seen..fantastic grain..and i think i recognize it from my old end of nights at chumleys!! head to floorboards!! hahaha

kelly knows his wood!! and a good guy

cheers

[VicAjax]

Originally Posted by xtrajerry

You Rick Kelly guys really like his guitars, so do I just don't see myself waiting for him to feel like making it.

Ron Kirn made me what I wanted In 6 weeks, 1 week sooner than expected.

The wait and uncertainty are tough, and can be frustrating. It's a trade-off.. You'll end up with a beautiful, unique instrument, made by a single person by hand, for about half of what he should be charging.

Ron makes amazing guitars too; I'd be proud to own one. But Rick built me something that has personal meaning to me and is literally a piece of NY rock and literary history.

[Ramblin Ray]

One thing about Rick--you know he builds the bodies and neck from scratch. Ron is also upfront about what is aftermarket and what he builds. Other "builders" would like you to believe they make the necks and bodies, when they actually don't. I have no problem with that, as long as it's revealed upfront--you should'nt have to ask.
I always try to visit Rick's shop when I'm in the city. It has the old New York feel that I love.

[Longer]

Is Tele-ish ok? Most amazing guitar I've ever played. I can't thank Rick enough.

[Ramblin Ray]

Whoa! What a bunch of cool ideas put together! Were they all yours?

[Longer]

There was some back and forth. I wanted a Strat with a thick no-contoured Tele plank feel. Then I fell in love with the slotted snakehead. Yet we both agreed that it would look out of place on a Strat body.

I saw that Rick makes a hornless Tele, so I asked if he would incorporate that design on a Strat body, and was surprised that he hadn't done that before.

But I dig a Tele bridge pup more than a Strats', and then found that Don Mare does Strat/Tele hybrid neck pups, which led to a Tele 3 saddle bridge...

That was the cool thing about working with Rick, he was open to doing something new. I also didn't want to micro manage the artist, so I left a lot open.

Anyway, Rick gets all the credit, he is the man. At the end, he thanked me for letting him build such a neat guitar! Can you believe that? I just can't say enough good things about him! And boy, do I love my baby.

[StratBluesRock]

Really cool geetars!

[Kschloz]

@ LONGER: effin' fantastic! Beauty!
What neck profile did you take?

[Longer]

Thanks! Double D, 1 3/4 at the nut, no truss. Once he cut the basic neck outline, I asked him to keep it as thick as possible. He offered to start another board, to get crazy thick, but by that time I figured I had caused enough trouble! Anyway, it's at least 1 1/8 thick, but I think a touch thicker.

[JackStraw]

Originally Posted by xtrajerry

You Rick Kelly guys really like his guitars, so do I just don't see myself waiting for him to feel like making it.

Ron Kirn made me what I wanted In 6 weeks, 1 week sooner than expected.

If you don't want a Ron Kirn guitar it doesn't matter if it's 6 minutes or 6 years, you don't want a Ron Kirn guitar.

[xtrajerry]

Originally Posted by JackStraw

If you don't want a Ron Kirn guitar it doesn't matter if it's 6 minutes or 6 years, you don't want a Ron Kirn guitar.

You're right about that I suppose.. Been meaning to take a trip into the city, stopping at Carmine St will be on my list along with Johns Pizza on Bleeker and Washington Square Park.. It's been 12 years since I've been over there..