Jennifer Kimball - Christine Collister - Hart-Rouge - Wayne Henderson

Jennifer Kimball Jennifer Kimball's guitar was built through a unique arrangement between John Colvin and T.J. Thompson, a Concord, Massachusetts-based custom luthier and restorer of early 1930s Martins (tjtomson@aol.com). When Thompson worked as a repairman at Elderly Instruments in East Lansing, Michigan, Colvin came to him for advice on constructing a guitar and wound up building it according to Thompson's specs and under his supervision. The guitar itself was Thompson's payment for the consultation, and he later sold it to Kimball. It's an M-size model with a mahogany body and a German spruce top, thoroughly scraped up by a feverish rhythm player in an Irish band who borrowed the guitar from Thompson before Kimball got it. For amplification, the guitar is wired with a Fishman Matrix pickup and a Crown internal microphone, which run through a Fishman Blender system. On stage, Kimball refers to her three-stringed Strumstick as "the love child of some illicit affair between the dulcimer and the broom." The Strumstick was invented by Bob McNally, who also designed the Martin Backpacker guitar, and is now available through Netstuff, PO Box 725, Nesconset, NY 11767; (800) 472-0757; (516) 361-6921; fax (516) 979-6305. Thompson replaced the top on Kimball's Strumstick in order to improve the sound, fix some string-wear problems, and add a Fishman soundboard transducer into a box that, as Kimball says, "by all rights should never have a jack in it." In honor of her Strumstick ambassadorship, Bob McNally recently presented Kimball with two new Strumsticks, including a baritone model tuned D A D (the regular model is tuned G D G). Kimball also plays a Martin baritone uke ("the D cup of ukuleles," she quips) that's amplified with a Fishman soundboard transducer. The cheap uke that got her started with the instrument is now her official "beach ukulele." Finally, she has a Martin T-28 tiple, the instrument that she first played in Patty Larkin's band and that inspired her to begin writing on the guitar. Her tiple is strung with five double courses, like a 12-string with the lowest pair removed. A Kyser capo is in constant use on Kimball's guitar, and she attacks the strings variously with a flatpick, thumbpick and bare fingers, and all bare fingers. --Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

Christine Collister Christine Collister's favorite guitar was made for her in 1996 by Roger Bucknall of Fylde Guitars (Hartness Rd., Gilwilly Industrial Estate, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 9BN, U.K.; [44] 01768-891515; fax [44] 01768-868998). It's a custom version of Fylde's Goodfellow model with mahogany back and sides, a cedar top, and an L.R. Baggs Duet system with mic, pickup, and on-board mixer. "It's the smallest guitar I've ever had," Collister says. "It feels right. I asked him to make it easy to play and he did." She also owns a Yamaha, which she's had since she was 21, but it currently needs some work. When asked about strings, she replied, "Yes, I use them. When I run out of strings, I phone Roger and say, 'Send me some more strings.' I've got no idea what they are." --Scott Nygaard RETURN TO TOP

Hart-Rouge Davy Gallant of Hart-Rouge plays a 1971 Martin 000 18 that has survived the abuses of the road, including having an electric piano fall on it. (The insurance company wouldn't pay, but Martin did a great job repairing it. "It's roadworthy now," says Gallant.) Michelle Campagne plays an old steel string Madeira (imported in the '70s by Guild) purchased at a church bazaar in Connecticut for $40. "It was bashed up, had rust stains on the wood, and the neck was crooked," says Gallant. "We offered $35 and a song and they said, 'No, $40, because it comes with a strap and two extra strings.' I changed the keys and the nuts, and it sounds great and plays great." Gallant and Michelle Campagne use the same amplification setup on stage. They run Fishman Matrix Natural piezo pickups, mounted under the saddle, into direct boxes and then straight into the PA. Paul Campagne plays a Takamine Santa Fe model and uses the built in Takamine electronics. The band members all use D'Addario strings. Gallant also plays a 1916 Gibson A-model mandolin with a Fishman M 100 pickup, as well as an assortment of instruments like tin whistles, flutes, Highland pipes, uilleann pipes, and his feet, all of which are miked. --Steve Givens RETURN TO TOP

Wayne Henderson Wayne Henderson built his favorite guitar about 20 years ago. "It's just an 18-style mahogany, real plain," he says. "I've played that same old guitar for probably 20 years. It's beat up and not very fancy, but I really like to play it." He's also had the same set of stainless steel fingerpicks, handmade by Jimmy Hypes, for about as long as he's had the guitar. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to them," he says of the picks. "If I've got my britches on, I've got my picks." He uses a small blue Herco thumbpick and strings his guitar with John Pearse medium-gauge phosphor-bronze strings, which he puts on every guitar he builds. When he plays with pianist Jeff Little, or with other musicians who plug in, he runs the signal from a Fishman pickup into a direct box and then into the PA, but otherwise he prefers using microphones to amplify his guitar. --Scott Nygaard

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