Originally Posted by
bhogue
I'm Ben Hogue. I had a workshop in Austin from 1975-83, and I built about 80 guitars and mandolins. I was afflicted by 2 things: the bug to build instruments, and poverty. Eventually, my aversion to poverty led me to finish college and go to graduate school at Pitt. Following that, I worked in Massachusetts and Memphis before returning to the Austin area in 2000.
In Austin during those years, lots was happening in the music scene, of course. Ed Claxton, the legendary guitar maker, had recently gone on to boat building. Stephen Wise was putting out a limited number of very fine guitars. Jim Hamilton came down from New York, and I subleased him space in a large shop area on 16th Street, on the second floor of the old Half Price Books building. (Down the hall was Sheauxnough Studios, and well-known musicians and artists tramped through there day and night. The Flatlanders, Lucinda Williams, Ray Benson, Billy Gibbons, many more.) I had built 2 instruments for Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and after introducing Jim and Billy, Jim built about a dozen "ScrotchTone" electrics for Billy, Stevie Ray, Jimmy Vaughn, and the other local blues guys.
Tom Ellis showed up at my shop with his first mandolin, and it was easy to see that he was extremely talented. Bill Collings came to town during that time, and set up shop with my friend Kent Castellanos, a fine craftsman who started his career in my shop. Kent died way too young. Other luthiers working back then were Mark Erlewine, Newman Jones, and Michael Stevens, who got tapped to start the Fender Custom Shop. I'm probably leaving out somebody important, so I'll end this, although it's fun to remember those days.
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