Month: January 2017
Gallagher Guitar
Wartrace, Tennessee Stephen Gallagher’s 2002 GMC Duramax ignored the horse trailer behind it. 368,000 miles, and just getting started. Another customer delivery for Mr Gallagher. Grandson of J.W. Gallagher and heir to a guitar-making dynasty, Stephen splits his time between family, horses, pushing livestock with Waylon, and building some of this country’s finest guitars.
J.W. Gallagher, with only a 7th grade education, was the smartest man in the country. When the Army gave him an intelligence test in the 1930s his result was so high the Army gave it to him again. J.W. scored perfect the second time. He went on to spend his military hitch learning everything he could about everything. Engines, construction, woodworking, machinery, everything.
Slingerland, the percussion company, asked J.W. to set up a guitar production line in 1963. J.W. had a history of reproducing any bit of woodwork necessary; he promptly cut a dreadnought in half to figure it out. J.W. soon applied a second element, that of physics – sound and vibration. He went on to build his own line of acoustic guitars.
J.W. Gallagher never intended to own a large guitar-making concern. Family lore has it that 1,000 units was his goal; he had so many other interests, he once plainly told a customer a special order guitar was not done because there was a river full of fish nearby just waiting to get caught.
But continue and prosper it did! The famous Doc Watson received a Gallagher early on; in 1974, Doc made a request for a different shaped neck. The result is a guitar named after him, and a Gallagher best seller.
What brought on my new fascination with Gallagher guitars? After spying an image of James King on the D’Addario twitter feed, I ask the bluegrass circle of his attractive guitar. Turns out, Gallagher guitars have been nearby all my life, as close as my turntable and stack of Doc Watson records! I had to find one of these guitars …
We visit the finest music store west of our Atlantic seaboard, the inimitable Acoustic Vibes Music. Jeff Looker has two Gallagher guitars in stock, including a Doc Watson model. Over several visits I become acquainted. First impressions? Very solid. Durable. Not a dainty boutique guitar; rather, built for tone, year after year. Decades of on-the-road touring? This is the guitar you want. Reminded me of an old Gibson I played years ago …
A guitar of persuasive warmth, the Gallagher is a picker’s delight. A clear, mellow bass, uncluttered of unpure tone, accompanying a punchy upper end. As J.W. Gallagher’s website puts it, you get a deep bottom end perfect for playing those hard G runs. Which I love ❤ to do! From Tyler Grant, flat picker extraordinaire, the Gallagher is a perfect country guitar … not pop country, but an old country blues.
I begin with a typical bluegrass rhythm, an alternating bass in front of a strum. With clear full tone, the room disappears, I’m on stage, the Gallagher is doing all the talking.
“Gallagher is a builder in the great tradition of independent luthiers, that were way ahead of their time. Before Taylor and Collings and Santa Cruz hit the map, Gallagher was building guitars that rivaled the mainstays of Gibson and Martin. Notables such as Doc Watson were early adopters of the Gallagher “mojo” that still provides an appealing choice for guitarists around the world.” – Jeff Looker
With little keeping me from a custom Gallagher order, I email 3rd generation Stephen Gallagher to enquire, “Can you make a 000 short scale Doc Watson model?” I’m surprised to get a call back so quickly, not about the order, but with additional information for this article. Thanks, Stephen!
A few tidbits: On the headstock is a stylized “G” for Gallagher? That Olde English G came from the Shelby Times Gazette newspaper … pre-internet. The Gallagher headstock design is called a French Curve. J.W. was looking for something original. This simple design spied on an obituary spawned another weekly installment of American Toolbox!
Hicks Original Leatherwork
As happens, a company discontinues a great product in pursuit of profit. A Bosca two-pocket bifold card case I acquired in new condition at a rummage sale twenty years ago? No longer made.
At the time, it was unneeded by me. In a drawer it sat until my decades-old wallet was deconstructing. Out of the drawer, loaded with a thin stack of plastic and business cards, with cash folded between, this Bosca became the perfect minimalist wallet. Fine leather, super thin. Easily a $90 bifold card case.
But when this “wallet” can no longer take daily abuse, I find it is no longer manufactured! Bosca now does all their assembly in Asia. Thank you, no. My American cash is more comfortable in an American wallet.
Michael Hicks Design
Within the orbit of American Toolbox the right craftsperson enters. Michael Hicks Design, starting up his leather craft business in ernest, listens to my needs. Offers multiple combinations of the finest ¾ oz Horween Chromexcel horse leather. Sends a couple sample card cases for comment. In no time, the finished product. How timely!
The USA-made Bosca, no longer available, gave a final rip along the seams mid-week. Without hesitation, my gear slipped into the Hicks. A perfect fit. This card case / wallet will work forever. Plus, it is completely recraftable. Like my Aldens.
Uvex Safety Googles
In 2010 Honeywell, the American multinational conglomerate, made one of its best business decisions. They acquired the French firm Sperian Protection, thus adding to the portfolio of Honeywell superiority an amazingly designed and constructed set of eye protection, Uvex Safety Goggles.
Tough enough for the professional, inexpensive enough for Harry Homeowner, Uvex Stealth go into every house-warming gift I give, a stocking stuffer at Christmas, and an anytime gift for the masses of kids in our extended family. Mud-flinging games, Tinker-Toy battles, tobogganing with reckless abandon, favorite kiddie pastimes made more safe with Uvex.
Digging out a crusty wall to expose fractured cast iron pipe, dropping a weak ceiling, Estwing demolition or Craftsman grinding, none would be complete without Uvex safety gear. After all, we live by the motto – and Rule #3 of Plumbing:
Safety Is Not An Accident
Along with North respirators & Hoppes ear protection, a trilogy of safety always with me. This bag of protection with spares, easy to store and carry, treated with as much importance as any tool in the box. Replacement Uvex lenses always available, new eyes, not so much …
Boonton Ware / Melmac
Long before Mr. McGuire gives young Benjamin unsolicited career advice in the 1967 movie The Graduate, plastics were making their mark in American manufacturing. Six decades earlier, Bakelite made its world debut. This synthetic plastic was invented in New York by Leo Baekeland, who coined the term ‘plastics’.
A few years later melamine formaldehyde was discovered. Plastic had arrived to the dinner table. Nicknamed Melmac and churned out by the ton. Cheap, durable, 
colorful, just what a growing nation wanted and needed. Highly fashionable in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Melamine resin kitchen utensils are a favorite rummage sale find. Durable, functional, lightweight, perfect for a generation or longer.
Every childhood meal was eaten on Melmac. This
collection made its way to an attic for a few decades, but it is back in the cabinet, my first choice for sandwiches and snacks.
Not safe in ovens or microwaves, but that barely dampens the utility of vintage Melmac! The name Boonton Ware? Melmac was made in a small New Jersey town, Boonton, for many years.
Y.M.C.A.
Pre-dawn, water in the kettle halfway to steam. It’s New Years Day. I’m waiting to pour 195˚ water over somewhat fresh coffee grounds. Standing before the hob in a quiet kitchen, the flame, the gathering water, my cat happily crunching through breakfast. When a ghostly voice rises from the folds of my robe …
Message from 692- … It is my credit card company, telling me there has been activity in excess of $0.01 … The first CC charge & text of 2017 is from an institution overlooked, ignored, forgotten, and rediscovered. Part of the daily schedule three-four times a week. Our local chapter of the Young Men’s Christian Association.
Their short story? Industrialized London was a bleak mess in 1844. A farming lad went to the big city to work. This 22-year old and eleven friends organized a refuge of bible study and prayer, an escape from the streets.
Years later, retired Boston sea captain Thomas Valentine Sullivan, working as a marine missionary, noticed a similar need to create a safe “home away from home” for sailors and merchants. Inspired by the stories of the Y in England, he led the formation of the first U.S. YMCA at the Old South Church in Boston on December 29, 1851. ∆
Todays schedule includes 30 minutes in the pool. The YMCA pool. YMCA staff will receive special thanks for providing a reduced 9am-3pm schedule as the rest of the country rests.
Youth Development Healthy Living Social Responsibility
American Toolbox 