Running Dog Guitars
© Frank Ford, 7/1/00; Photos by FF, 6/2/00
Down the road from the tiny town of Richmond, Vermont, lives the director of A.S.I.A. It's late springtime now and the whole state of Vermont looks fresh and green. The A.S.I.A. board of directors (Judy Threet, Dan Erlewine, Tom Ribbecke, Sylvan Wells, Ren Ferguson, and I) came town visit our fearless leader, Rick Davis, for the semiannual board meeting on the first weekend in June. While we were there, I took the opportunity to shoot some pictures of Rick's shop.
Up this long drive is where Rick makes his home:
Upstairs, we find Rick at A.S.I.A. International Headquarters, looking at a new article for the next edition of Guitarmaker, the A.S.I.A. magazine:
Thanks to Rick's efforts, the magazine is more impressive than ever, and actually comes out quarterly again!
Up some more stairs, and we get to the attic space, where Rick makes his "Running Dog" steel string guitars:
This is a small attic in a not-all-that-big house, but everything's right here, neatly stowed.
I had to take the classic shot:
Here's Rick showing us his L.M.I. style binding router fixture:
Rick likes to avoid plastic bindings and purflings:
Space is tight enough, but he has his tools within easy reach:
Smaller units like the sander and buffer can be moved easily into position.
Looking back toward the stairwell, Judy Threet (left) cracks wise about the cramped quarters:
Rick doesn't mind, because this is a temporary shop, and he's got plans all drawn up for his new place.
Rick's "not-currently-running" dog after which the guitars are named:
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