Chuck Lee Guitar Company. Who knows?

Chuck Lee guitars? Well, I hope so! I've been suggesting to Chuck that he should build some guitars for several years. And he has been pondering.

When a few weeks ago he started staying up most of the night studying guitars, and talking mysteriously of variations of "braces", "carbon graphite", and new and wondrous jigs, I knew it was getting closer. When he spent his 51st birthday, April 15th, fully immersed in the project, he was clearly "all over the top of it".

This picture shows two of the jigs he has labored over; they're for an OM sized guitar.

Would you believe he already has 6 or 8 people wanting one? Chuck says, "Let's see how the first one comes out". I believed in the banjos and I'm believing in the guitars as well.

James Reed & his Chuck Lee Cottonwood Banjo

This distinguished gentleman is James Reed, of Waco, Texas. James wanted something a little different, so here's his custom Cottonwood Vintage with mesquite fingerboard and peghead overlay. What beautiful wood! The neck and rim are made from Cherry. The hardware is all brass.

We've known James a long time. We first met him over 10 years ago, when he made "house calls" to give some of our family members music lessons. He was the first to inspire our Nate to play the mandolin.

We always enjoy a visit from James, who can play a number of instruments and also teaches and plays with various bands when not busy with his "day job" or family. He has taught several of us lessons. We are pleased that he now owns two Chuck Lee Banjos.

What's next? He has expressed interest in adding a Chuck Lee 17 fret Irish Tenor with resonator to his collection.

Time to ship banjos

This image in the shop tells us it's time to ship banjos! Our banjos ship to any of 12 U.S. music dealers, or to a customer who has ordered a custom. We love to have visitors in our shop, but unless they arrive on a day like the one shown above, they may be disappointed to find very few banjos to hold and see. However, at any time, there are 50 or more banjos in progress to be seen.

Left-handed custom Chuck Lee banjo

This delightful lady arrived at our doorstep a few months ago, desiring a left-handed banjo. Sharon Mullins is a Texan who frequents Old-time and music festivals, and she wanted a new banjo.

They're a little tricky to build when you're working "backwards". As a luthier, you have to resist your instincts and overcome habit to accurately build in reverse. But no mistakes here, everything went smoothly, and we were pleased with the result.

Chuck Lee 19 fret Tenor up close

Here is my Tenor, the prototype, up close and personal. It has the Chautauqua peghead shape and Vintage inlay, but not our Vintage tuners (peghed brand), instead it has Waverly planetary tuners, with ivoroid buttons. The fret wire is the smaller vintage banjo/mandolin style wire. Neck and pot are walnut, but the rim has a double rim cap of ebony then walnut---really sharp looking! This is a 19 fret Tenor. I can't wait to try the next Tenor in process, a 17 fret. Chuck thinks I may like it even better than this one.

Cottonwood Vintage Banjo with Dobson Tone Ring

Lee Thomas, shown above with Chuck, came over last week to help us out for a magazine photo shoot. While he was here, he tried out the prototype of our new Cottonwood Model! This one is a Vintage, and like all future Cottonwoods, has a Dobson tone ring.

For this neck Chuck chose select curly walnut, and a walnut rim. What does the Cottonwood sound like? It sounds great! It looks pretty cool, too! This very Cottonwood is scheduled to be in the hands of Zepp Country Music today.

Lee is a wonderful banjo player, and he, his wife and son, are all part of the talented and friendly Old-time band, Salt Rock Rounders,of Fort Worth.

Lee is also our consulting attorney and doesn't even mind lawyer jokes! If he looks familiar, you may have seen him featured in the Chuck Lee Banjo episode of Texas Country Reporter. Lee is pretty handy himself with Banjo assembly and setup, and owns 3 Chuck Lee banjos. (He tells me his favorite is his Custom A-scale with wood tone ring).

Four String, 19 Fret Tenor Banjo by Chuck Lee

Well, if we're not blogging, at least we've been building! This week we finished several orders, including a left-handed custom, the new Cottonwood, and my new Tenor! Watch for blogs of all of these during the next week.

Here is my new Tenor, which I have been pestering Chuck to work on for two years. I figured since I can play a few mandolin tunes, I can do them on the tenor as well. I just love it! The sound is incredible. It is the prototype, it turned out nicely.

We'll have more close-ups and technical detail in a blog to follow. Meanwhile, I'll be getting in touch with my Irish side.