On my way to Wisconsin to pick up Frank at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater yesterday, I stopped to see our good friend and CNC genius, John Watkins. As a former Cheesehead resident and now a bona fide "FIB" ...but Green Bay Packer supporter, he is still as intense and passionate as ever regarding his business and contribution to the guitar building world.
He now has 2 giant machines that create lots of incredibly precise and most accurate necks, fingerboards bridge blanks, etc. for those builders who need to get their assemblies done quickly...or just can't carve worth a dang!
When I asked John how soon we will see his new website store up and running, he stated, "soon." He has been incredibly busy hogging out parts for his industrial clients and is still a bit behind. The recently acquired 2nd machine is helping to quickly reduce that backlog...so my assessment of when his site will be online is..."soon"
The following are a few pics of the operation as well as the employees hard at work producing the parts that we are used to seeing on guitars.
A load of classic necks that recently emerged from the robots.
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Here's a batch of Steel String necks...I was told that the neck for the OLF #2 is somewhere in that pile.
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Here are the two most productive employees working for John. They do everything but sweep the floor and laugh at John's jokes!
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And here's our hero with his first breathing employee...Charlie from Detroit. In spite of coming from Motown, I really like the kid and is already making a significant contribution to the success of the operation. BTW, Charlie is a recent graduate of the Roberto-Venn school of luthiery, so I hope we can get him to participate on the OLF soon. He and John are both trying to build guitars in their spare time.
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And finally...El Presidente in his plush office evaluating Emily before I have to turn it over to Joe forever! Notice the Green Bay Packer pennant in the background in full view from outside of his window. I might recommend placing it in a less conspicuous space should you wish to keep that window from spontaneously shattering this fall. Go Bears!
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Thanks for the time, John. We look forward to having you come back to visit OLF soon as well as seeing your online store servicing the little guys once again!
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