THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO BILL LEIWS, JACK LEWIS, MARK WILSON, MARK FORNATARO AND THE MANY OTHERS WHO WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN THE CREATION OF THE GUITAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK LYRA LEWIS FOR HER DEDICATION TO KEEPING HER FATHERS WORK ALIVE AS WELL AS OFFERING HELP TO ALL WHO ASK WITHOUT HER THIS SITE WOULD NOT EXIST.
Bill Lewis Stories
These stories are a combination of the info I have received in my search for the truth. As they
did not come directly from the source I can not attest to their authenticity.
Bill Lewis was originally a flamenco guitar player and builder. He studied the instrument in Spain, took master classes with Andres Segovia, and spent some time working for a small guitar manufacturer there in the late 50s I believe. The company was 'Los Guitarerros de Majorca'. Years ago Bill told me that the Vancouver area builder of Selmer-type guitars, Michael Dunn and he had worked there together.
Bill also knew another Canadian luthier from the 50s, Frank Gay. Frank was from the prairies and although he started out as another flamenco player he turned to building very ornate steel string guitars, one of which he made for Webb Pierce. That was in the Opry museum for many years. Frank was the guy who turned Lenny Breau on to flamenco music, and supplied Lenny with his first Ramirez.
Lewis had worked as a design consultant to some of the big names in guitar manufacturing, and had contacts throughout the industry. Michael Gurian was an old friend, and I believe Bill helped him set up his small factory again after Mikes' tragic fire.
The Lewis guitar shop in Vancouver was a virtual Mecca to pickers in the 60s and 70s, being one of very few shops in Canada where you could actually get good, solid information on instruments and their construction.
Bill went on to form Lewis Luthiers' Supply, offering many special purpose tools to luthiers, some of which Bill had designed himself and had manufactured in Europe.
Bills' brother was apparently in the logging business, and together they started harvesting and resawing western red cedar which Bill sold worldwide as a top material. It is my understanding that Bill was instrumental in getting the material into common useage through his many contacts among classical and flamenco builders in Spain. He also sold it by the boxcar load to the Japanese Yamaki company, prompting them to put the first mass produced, entry-level steel string guitars on the market with solid cedar tops. That would have been some time around 1969. Those were also sold as Mansfields in some market areas.
Bill put together a wonderful catalogue for Lewis Luthiers' Supply, including a lot of technical information and building tips as well as just flogging product. In that, he was years ahead of the curve. He was generous with his time and knowledge, especially with younger builders.
I had known him since my days of playing the folk circuit in BC in the late sixties, so when I applied for a Canada Arts Council grant for some experimental building I wanted to do around '75, he was good enough to recommend my work to the jury. My other sponsor at the time was Sylvia Tyson, of Ian and Sylvia fame. I suspect the endorsement of those two had as much to do with me getting that grant as my own work did. ;-) As far as I know, it was the first time a luthier had been recognized as an 'artist' by the Canada Council.
By the eary 80s Bill had grown tired of the business and had sold Lewis Luthiery to a group of folks in California, where it was transformed into Luthiers' Mercantile. That firm continues Bills tradition of packing their catalogue with useful information as well as the usual sales pitches.
Bill had been a professional photographer during some phase of his incredibly varied career, and after selling the supply business he went back into that field, branching into film making.
Around '81 he was good enough to come and address a gathering of about a dozen builders and repairmen at my shop in Toronto for a 2-day seminar. Always the showman, Bill touched on just about every topic possible to imagine during those two days, and gave the group a lot to think about. Many of his approaches to luthiery were unconventional, and he had little time for the myths and legends perpetuated by magazine writers and other self-styled 'experts'.
He was a very bright man indeed, always pushing to discover how or why something or other worked or didn't, and always questioning what others accepted as 'conventional wisdom'. One of the best-read men I ever met, he could converse intelligently on almost any topic, and could entertain with personal stories and anecdotes until the sun came up.
I've only owned one of Bills' guitars personally, and that only for a short time. It was one of his flamencos, and I turned it over to a friend who could actually operate the thing. I do still have a few sets of premium wood that Bill brought me as a present back in the early 80s. I guess this thread may serve as the impetus to get me to build a special instrument in memory of a good friend and a hell of a builder.
Bill also knew another Canadian luthier from the 50s, Frank Gay. Frank was from the prairies and although he started out as another flamenco player he turned to building very ornate steel string guitars, one of which he made for Webb Pierce. That was in the Opry museum for many years. Frank was the guy who turned Lenny Breau on to flamenco music, and supplied Lenny with his first Ramirez.
Lewis had worked as a design consultant to some of the big names in guitar manufacturing, and had contacts throughout the industry. Michael Gurian was an old friend, and I believe Bill helped him set up his small factory again after Mikes' tragic fire.
The Lewis guitar shop in Vancouver was a virtual Mecca to pickers in the 60s and 70s, being one of very few shops in Canada where you could actually get good, solid information on instruments and their construction.
Bill went on to form Lewis Luthiers' Supply, offering many special purpose tools to luthiers, some of which Bill had designed himself and had manufactured in Europe.
Bills' brother was apparently in the logging business, and together they started harvesting and resawing western red cedar which Bill sold worldwide as a top material. It is my understanding that Bill was instrumental in getting the material into common useage through his many contacts among classical and flamenco builders in Spain. He also sold it by the boxcar load to the Japanese Yamaki company, prompting them to put the first mass produced, entry-level steel string guitars on the market with solid cedar tops. That would have been some time around 1969. Those were also sold as Mansfields in some market areas.
Bill put together a wonderful catalogue for Lewis Luthiers' Supply, including a lot of technical information and building tips as well as just flogging product. In that, he was years ahead of the curve. He was generous with his time and knowledge, especially with younger builders.
I had known him since my days of playing the folk circuit in BC in the late sixties, so when I applied for a Canada Arts Council grant for some experimental building I wanted to do around '75, he was good enough to recommend my work to the jury. My other sponsor at the time was Sylvia Tyson, of Ian and Sylvia fame. I suspect the endorsement of those two had as much to do with me getting that grant as my own work did. ;-) As far as I know, it was the first time a luthier had been recognized as an 'artist' by the Canada Council.
By the eary 80s Bill had grown tired of the business and had sold Lewis Luthiery to a group of folks in California, where it was transformed into Luthiers' Mercantile. That firm continues Bills tradition of packing their catalogue with useful information as well as the usual sales pitches.
Bill had been a professional photographer during some phase of his incredibly varied career, and after selling the supply business he went back into that field, branching into film making.
Around '81 he was good enough to come and address a gathering of about a dozen builders and repairmen at my shop in Toronto for a 2-day seminar. Always the showman, Bill touched on just about every topic possible to imagine during those two days, and gave the group a lot to think about. Many of his approaches to luthiery were unconventional, and he had little time for the myths and legends perpetuated by magazine writers and other self-styled 'experts'.
He was a very bright man indeed, always pushing to discover how or why something or other worked or didn't, and always questioning what others accepted as 'conventional wisdom'. One of the best-read men I ever met, he could converse intelligently on almost any topic, and could entertain with personal stories and anecdotes until the sun came up.
I've only owned one of Bills' guitars personally, and that only for a short time. It was one of his flamencos, and I turned it over to a friend who could actually operate the thing. I do still have a few sets of premium wood that Bill brought me as a present back in the early 80s. I guess this thread may serve as the impetus to get me to build a special instrument in memory of a good friend and a hell of a builder.
This was signed K.H.
This thread is interesting to me as I was a part of that guitar scene in the 1960s and took my first guitar lessons from Bill Lewis in The Mediterranean Shop just after he came back from his master class with Andres Segovia in California in 1964.
George Bowden was the owner of the shop as well the guitar factory in Palma de Mallorca, (Los Guitarreros de Mallorca), where he later sent Bill to pick up more knowledge of guitar building. I began to teach classical guitar in The Med Shop and when Bill came back from Spain, George sent Mike Dunn over there to the factory to do the same. Mike Dunn and Ray Nurse were interested in building guitars and lutes and both became important figures in the Canadian music and luthier world.
Bill then left The Med Shop and set up his own business on west Broadway. I was there to help paint the walls and began to teach there as well. People who were involved in that scene at the time included Barry Hall, Mike Dunn, Ray Nurse, Bill and his friend Jeff, a flamenco player from Seattle, as well as many others. I left soon after to come to Spain to teach classical guitar in Palma and am still living in Spain, although on another island. Bill moved his shop around and sent me photos of the new look. Here are a couple, one which shows part of his workshop and his handwritten note on the back. The first photo of his new store front.
I was sad to learn that he passed away at an early age.
George Bowden was the owner of the shop as well the guitar factory in Palma de Mallorca, (Los Guitarreros de Mallorca), where he later sent Bill to pick up more knowledge of guitar building. I began to teach classical guitar in The Med Shop and when Bill came back from Spain, George sent Mike Dunn over there to the factory to do the same. Mike Dunn and Ray Nurse were interested in building guitars and lutes and both became important figures in the Canadian music and luthier world.
Bill then left The Med Shop and set up his own business on west Broadway. I was there to help paint the walls and began to teach there as well. People who were involved in that scene at the time included Barry Hall, Mike Dunn, Ray Nurse, Bill and his friend Jeff, a flamenco player from Seattle, as well as many others. I left soon after to come to Spain to teach classical guitar in Palma and am still living in Spain, although on another island. Bill moved his shop around and sent me photos of the new look. Here are a couple, one which shows part of his workshop and his handwritten note on the back. The first photo of his new store front.
I was sad to learn that he passed away at an early age.
I would like to say that since the creation of this site I have had numerous crashes on my system which are now rectified. In the process I lost my contacts list. If I have used some of your info & not mentioned you & you would like to be please contact me at the e-mail below.
THIS SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
CONTACT INFO:
LES CLARKE
clarkeles@yahoo.com
IT IS MY HOPE THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS SITE WILL PROVIDE AN INSIGHT INTO THE GUITAR AND VISIONARY BILL LEWIS WHO CHANGED THE WAY ELECTRIC GUITARS WERE BUILT
AND TO CLEAR UP SOME OF THE NUMEROUS MYTHS AND STORIES THAT SURROUND IT.
