Official Luthiers Forum!

When I first started looking in on this forum, I thought it would be a good idea to have a browse around the Members' Biographies so that I had an idea who I might be talking to, and more importantly whose brains were ripe for picking!

While doing so I came across the Biography for Stan Thomison, reading his words gave me deep cause to reflect. Go look.

I've been lucky all my life great childhood, great wife, great children, very satisfying career, wonderful hobby, good health. Stan's biog made me think that it was time to put a bit more back for people that were less lucky than myself.

I've about 15 guitars sitting in my son's old bedroom 12 I've built and three golden era Martins. Of these about half get played regularly the others sit there as monuments to my early building efforts. Still good guitars (if I say so myself) but not likely to be played often. A guitar is just so much kindling unless it's used for it's purpose, so I've decided to give them away.

So, I contacted the Royal British Legion (our veteran's association), and PHAB (Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied) to see if they could help in recommending candidates for the guitars. Yesterday I gave away the first one. The RBL came up with a boy whose father was one of the last British soldiers murdered by the IRA when he was serving in the Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland. The boy was born two months after his father was shot. He has been learning guitar for a while and his cheap plywood guitar was holding him back, and a army widow's pension doesn't go that far. So now he's got a nice EIR/Englemann OM, one of the first batch I built, and I'll be giving him weekly lessons for a while to get him on his way.

It is one of the most satisfying things I've ever done, and the look on his face, made my eyes kind of moist! It's something I can thoroughly recommend to all of you.

Once again many, many thanks to Stan Thomison, your an inspiration to us all.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

That's the Spirit Colin!!!
You are a Richer man for your kind deeds!!!
You will make some very grateful people Happy!!!!!
Bless you.
WalterK

Awesome. Not much else I can say, but that I hope that this kind of thinking spreads far and wide...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Giving to those in need is surely satisfying. It's easy to give to those who can give back. But it is hard to give to those who are less fortunate then ourselves. i am sure you will be well rewarded for your generosity, Colin. Thanks for you now being an inspiration to us.

Colin, thanks for sharing the story. Up the road a piece from here is an international project to help with world hunger called The Heifer Project.

Those in third world countries are given a cow or sheep or other animal. The only requirement for the receiving party is that they give to someone else the firstborn thus propagating the gift.

So, Stan's generosity has perpetuated his kindness in you. Which fulfils a life proverb, to him much given, is much required. Thanks for providing yet another example for us to follow. I have no problem giving away plywood guitars, now you guys have gone and raised the bar....

Thanks Colin, (and Stan)

Boy that really brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. If I do nothing else with my building, I will hopefully brighten someone's life with a hand made guitar as a gift someday.

Thanks for sharing!

Jeff

Colin
I am so humbled at your words that and most of all what you have done. There are just no words to express my thoughts, other than thank you for your work and what you have done. You will be blessed in so many ways. I am just well alot of feelings here so I am just go to say thank you, thank you and thank you

Colin:

Great story and yes, Stan is inspirational to me as well. I am not trying to steal your thunder by I gave away my first 11 guitars that I built to family and friends in our church. I also gave one to a missionary that is in Africa. It's kind of neat since his guitar was made of African Bubinga so it has finally returned home.

One very prominent luthier still gives away every 10th guitar to someone in need. God has blessed us all with talents & abilities and it's a blessing to be able to share our abilities with others.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Thanks to everyone for their kind words. I'm sure there are many unplayed instruments of all kinds floating about in peoples' houses that could be spared for those that can't afford to go out and buy one.

In England after the last war we had a great soccer player, Stanley Matthews, he was far and away the best player in the world at the time. He was universally known as "Stan the Man". Well the OLF has such a person as well, we have our very own "Stan the Man". Again thanks Stan for inpiring me and I hope many others.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Wow! what a thread! Colin, I agree, we ALL agree with you in that Stan is a very inspirational person, and were bless to have him here at the Luthiers Forum. Stan is constantly reminding us all the meaning of giving.

Like Jeff said, a smile to my face and a tear in my eye..

Good stuff!

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Colin, I knew you were going to be a great addition to the forum and you've proved it in aces. Stan is an inspiration to all of us and we should follow his lead.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA