Article by archtop builder Erich Solomon in the latest Fretboard Journal

[Wade Hampton]

I just got my favorite stringed instrument magazine Fretboard Journal in the mail today, and lo and behold there was an article written by Erich Solomon in it. Erich got his start building guitars up here in Anchorage, and writes about that in the article. He actually name checks some of the folks who helped him get started, all of whom I happen to know.

So that was kind of neat. It's not often that an arts-related article that mentions Anchorage gets any sort of national circulation, much less mentions people I know and occasionally deal with on a professional as well as personal level.

Erich was a boy wonder builder when he still lived up here, still in his early twenties and making remarkably fine guitars even then. A brother of his (who also gets mentioned in the article) is a good jazz guitarist, but has an odd predilection for extremely thick, bulky necks. So that's how Erich was making his first guitars, with massive, oversized necks. At that time Erich could tune the guitars and play a few basic chords and patterns, but was essentially a non-player then. So he relied a lot on his brother for a player's input.

My multi-instrumentalist friend and musical colleague Karl Wilhelmi and I talked a lot to Erich back then about making the necks sleeker and more player-friendly, and by the time he departed for points south he was making guitars more along the lines of what he's making now.

Having said that, it's clear his skill level has continued to progress immensely.

Anyway, check out the article when you get a chance. Erich's a great guy and a very fine builder, and my guess is that he's in the process of becoming a great builder.


Wade Hampton Miller