Ben Elder
From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2021 3:28 pm |
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I just heard that Don Teeter, author of two volumes about acoustic guitar repair (where none but Irving Sloane's book on construction existed previously) died in Oklahoma City February 27th.
I was about to write that I was a long-haired kid when I first visited his shop in February-ish 1970, except my basketball coach then was such a small-town regressive that that couldn't have been a likely detail. Whatever it was my long Dr. Zhivago pea coat or my obvious teenaged baby face (or was it the Fender Telecaster with a damaged nut I carried in?), he took one look and started grumbling ("Fender...Johnny-come-lately...grumble, grumble...they think they invented six-on-a-side tuners...they were doing that in Europe a century ago...grumble, grumble..."). Meanwhile, I took in the glorious chaos of his dusty converted-garage shop, bodies, parts and wood everywhere. He was proud to state that at the time he was one of only three (or was he the only one?) authorized Martin warranty repair facilities outside the factory.
I suppose it was the highest and best practice to shape a new ivory (I think he said ivory in those pre-environmental consciousness days) nut on the grinding wheel, although at the time, I thought maybe I was being punished for my rock 'n' roll tendencies with that nostril-searing smell.
Fast forward to the nineties and I started bringing in nice Martin, Gibson, etc. acoustics. The shop was still the same, save for an additional one-inch layer of dust on every surface. He was twentysomething years older, but how his attitude changed. He was positively gleeful to expound (and could the man expound!) on the glories of fine acoustics he had known, seen and revived. I almost blew the new Era of Good Feeling when I brought him a Kona Hawaiian, that unbeknownst to me, had had its bridgeplate epoxied by a hamfisted anonymous doofus. Don nearly dislocated his shoulder trying to get it loose (this after recovering from back problems, suffered in taking care of his aged parents) and told me I was lucky he didn't take it outside for pistol target practice.
He slowed down his work when he turned 62 (so as not to jeopardize his Social Security) then took down his shingle a few years later. I cajoled him into a agreeing to an interview I hoped might run in ACOUSTIC GUITAR magazine--his looking back on his career, innovations and the others he inspired. However, a few days before the planned meeting, he slipped on the ice at his house and was out of commission for a while (I was commuting in from California) and after that, he lost any interest and I didn't make a pest of myself. (I got the Kona repaired rather than perforated, so why push it?)
There may be a 1982 profile of him on Oklahoman.com, but as I remember it, he started out working on and painting cars and later developed his guitar explorations into a landmark career.
Not much information here, but for the record:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/del-city-ok/don-teeter-10088519
There are reasons I no longer live in Oklahoma City, but I was lucky to grow up near a giant of guitar knowledge and conversation.
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"Gopher, Everett?"
Last edited by Ben Elder on 15 Apr 2021 7:59 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 2 Apr 2021 5:50 pm
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I'm very sorry to hear this. You wrote a nice article about him, Ben. As Jack I also have the two books he published with signatures.
Patience? I don't have any.
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Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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