Bill Gruggett Guitars

kgruggett
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Re: Bill Gruggett Guitars

Postby kgruggett » Sat Jul 06, 2013 3:31 pm

Hi All, hope your having a great summer. California just had a heat spell, over 100 degrees nearly everywhere and I hear Bakersfield got up to 112 degrees!! Bakersfield is an important part of Mosrite and Gruggett and Hallmark guitar history, so here are a few Bakersfield summer heat memories for you and those of you that knew Bill Gruggett could appreciate them. I remember lots of hot summer days in Bakersfield and playing in the river in Hart Park with my dad . He would rent a canoe and paddle around the lake all day and play in the water and we always did it and grandma would make the best ever peach cobbler ...oh, and the Plunge - i think that is what is was called, a huge community pool with a diving board you had to climb up to so that you could then risk your life taking the huge plunge into the water below.....he always took us to that place and we always went barefoot in those Bakersfield summers so we had to run from shade spot to shade spot or you feet would surely fry...and one time we really did fry an egg on the sidewalk - and it cooked! My dad always had friends coming over with interesting instruments, one would set up a steel guitar and they would play it for hours and then another day someone would bring over a banjo....just all kinds of string instruments which was very cool now that I look back on it. One time,when older I went with my dad to a Saturday auction at some ranch. He was always looking for stuff to add to his workshop and he was told there would be some equipment there so we went to check it out. I must have been around 18 and with my first apartment. Everything was so cheap and we were in a horse stall with all this crap and people.....and beer started flowing. All I know is we must have looked like the Beverly Hill Billies and that maybe dad had one too many beers buying all this stuff because when we drove home we had an old cadillac dad drove and on the top he strapped down a fat comfy chair he bought for like $5 for my first apartment, the trunk was half open full of junk and equipment and i rode in the backseat with a wood cage full of chickens he bought there, hahaha...chickens in the back seat. He brought all that home and started unloading all the chickens into the backyard and into the evening was chasing them around trying to catch one of them, because he wanted to cook it and he thought he could convince my grandma to pluck the darn thing . It never happened and we kept the chickens at least for the summer and I will always remember that ranch stall auction and the vision of my dad chasing around those chickens and driving with a chair strapped to the roof of the car.
Back to the guitar forum..... For a great Hallmark guitar article with tribute to Mosrite and Gruggett, be sure and pick up a copy of the July issue of Guitar Player magazine . It has some great photos and reviews. Thanks to Bob Shade of Hallmark Guitars. Y'all stay cool now! Kathy

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dubtrub
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Re: Bill Gruggett Guitars

Postby dubtrub » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:40 pm

Great story Kathy! That was the Union Avenue Plunge. It had a ten foot and twenty foot platform to dive off. Good memories for sure.
Danny Ellison

kgruggett
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Re: Bill Gruggett Guitars

Postby kgruggett » Fri Sep 06, 2013 10:33 pm

Hi Forum friends
One week from now, Saturday 9/14, would have been Bill Gruggett's 76th birthday. I am posting a photo in his honor and ask you to mark you calendar and on Saturday take out your Gruggett, Hallmark or Mosrite guitar and pick a tune in Bill's honor. If he made your guitar or a part of it, a bit of his artistry spirit is right there in that guitar and in each note that resonates from it. Please spread the word ;) Love you dad.
Kathy

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101Volts
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Re: Bill Gruggett Guitars

Postby 101Volts » Sat Sep 14, 2013 8:00 am

This topic is inspirational for guitar building, I must admit. Wooden pickup covers sound nice to me, For one thing.

Austin
1966 Ventures II (German Carved, B670.)
1970s "Not a Blues Bender" Bodies: 2.
1976 Brass Rail Deluxe #10.
2013 Fender Pawn Shop Bass VI.


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