Westside 'lutherie' hand-builds/repairs guitars, other string instruments
Andrew Scott moved from Oklahoma to Colorado Springs 13 years ago in hopes of starting a restaurant. It was in keeping with his college background in restaurant administration.But in the back of Scott's mind a very different plan was taking form. Instead of a restaurant, he decided to invest the money he'd saved to start a woodworking shop.
Not just any woodworking shop - although his two-person business at Blindworm Guitars, 1014 W. Colorado Ave., often takes jobs such as signs, interior
Inside Blindworm Guitars on West Colorado
Avenue, Andrew Scott (left) and assistant Kelly Frank show off two of the guitars
he's built. Most of those on the wall behind them are also his handiwork.
Weststide Pioneer photo
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Examples can be seen in the photo on this page of himself and assistant Kelly Frank. They reflect his own designs - often with a sense of dragons and Vikings - along with technical decisions on multiple wood types to provide optimum sound. Some of his one-of-a-kind guitars respond to the visions of customers who can be "very eccentric people," as he put it with a smile.
For each instrument, Scott said he hand-selects every piece of wood, then builds from scratch, crafting the final result with the aid of up to 100 types of tools.
But guitar-making is not all that happens at Blindworm, which he defines as a “lutherie" (from the word lute, one of the early instruments). He works on other string instruments too, including basses, violins, cellos, banjos and mandolins. Plus, there are these services, as Scott summarized in the following e-mail:
“I have handled delicate reworking/refinishing of a large assortment of vintage instruments, including many for a Beatles museum in California. We have also expanded the amplifier and pedal side of the business, and have worked with a couple of other amplifier companies. We have built over 140 amplifier cabinets and offer full servicing of tube amps and more.”
As might be guessed, Scott is a long-time musician himself. “I played drums and keyboards in Oklahoma,” he said. “Now it's a little bit of everything.”
It was during his early playing/performing years that his woodworking interests came into sharper focus. “I started building for fun as a musician,” he said.
He never had any formal training in the craft. “I took a couple of wordworking classes in junior high and high school, plus a couple of mechanical drawing classes, but otherwise I'm officially self-taught,” Scott said. He added that there's always more to learn and he's picked up many ideas and techniques from other luthiers over the years, including some in the Springs.
He continued to play music professionally until about five years ago, he said.
As for his business location, “I have always lived and had shops between here and Manitou since I moved to Colorado, and I love the people and atmosphere of this part of town,” Scott said.
He began remodeling his current location into a woodworking shop about 2˝ years ago. Not all of the upgrade was strictly functional - just for the fun of it, Scott decorated the walls of the business' bathroom with numerous old horned instruments.
Blindworm is open daily from noon to 6 and also by appointment. The phone is 291-8406; e-mail is blindwormguitars@gmail.com.
Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 2/13/16;
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