A guitar was a machine that killed fascists to Woody Guthrie, a tool for disciplining an unruly audience for Sid Vicious, and occasional kindling for Jimi Hendrix.
Despite the rich history of unique strummers, pluckers, and indefatigable soloists, the market for Lower Mainland guitars has been dominated by chain stores who primarily stock factory-made instruments.
Jenn Ladd discovered the dearth of guitar stores in Metro Vancouver after a tour of local stores left her shopping for a high-end guitar online.
Ladd, along with guitarist Paul Haggis, opened Bluedog Guitars in North Vancouver last May in an attempt to fill that musical void.
"There's a world of difference between a factory guitar and a handmade guitar in the way they sound," Ladd explains.
Before opening their mom and pop shop, the duo travelled to Mexico and back over the winter, venturing into boutique guitar stores, sampling the six-stringed goods, and talking to the proprietors and guitar makers, also called luthiers.
"We just decided to bring that back to North Vancouver," Ladd says.
"Vancouver's a world-class city and it should have a world-class guitar store."
The couple scored a coup when they were selected to handle Santa Cruz guitars.
The California customguitar maker, which builds about 600 guitars a year, is often cited as one of the finest and most exclusive guitar makers in North America, having crafted instruments for Johnny Cash and Elvis Costello, among many others.
"They were actually the first one to come on with us to say, 'Yep, you can be a dealer for Santa Cruz,'" Ladd says.
"Because we got them, that's what opened the door for us to get George Lowden in Ireland on board with us, Huss & Dalton in Virginia, and a lot of the other boutique guitar makers."
The influx of international instruments at Bluedog is balanced by the wealth of guitars in the store made by Vancouver craftsmen.
"We're small but we've got a really great selection of world-class instruments and we represent a lot of local luthiers," Ladd says.
Edwin Bond has been exploiting the musical potential of a plethora of wood for about 10 years, both as his job and his hobby.
"I come home after work from the guitar factory at Larrivee and just head right into my workshop and keep going until I can't anymore and then I go to bed. And get up and do it again," he says. "There's so many different ways to wreck a guitar, that to actually get one all the way from beginning to end is quite the accomplishment."
For Bond, who spends between 40 hours and 150 hours on each guitar, Bluedog is the showcase he's been waiting for.
"Vancouver itself doesn't have a lot of places where local builders can get their work on a hook besides other guitars," he says.
"If you go to Long & McQuade or Tom Lee they're just not interested. It doesn't work with their big box business model. . . . (Bluedog's) going to allow exposure for a lot of people like me," he says. "Most people don't even know that having a custom-made instrument to their taste is even a possibility."
For his Recession Friendly series of Halcyon guitars, Bond favours mahogany for the neck, ebony for the fingerboard and bridge, and sitka spruce for the top.
"Even after 10 years, I'm starting to feel just now that I'm just starting to cross that line into consistently being able to make really excellent sounding guitars with a guarantee as opposed to hope."
"If you turn over a rock in B.C. a luthier crawls out with an exceptional guitar in hand," Ladd says with a laugh.
The abundance of luthiers stems from the province's lumber as well as B.C.'s humidity, which is ideal for storing guitars.
"This is the wood that people are ordering all over the world: our cedar, out sitka spruce," Ladd explains.
The guitar likely evolved from the oud, a teardrop shaped string instrument which was brought to Spain by a conquering force of Moors in the 8th century.
While many of the guitars at Bluedog are steeped in that tradition, the store also sells guitars made of graphite and carbon fibre, which is similar to the material used to make jets.
"Those are impervious to heat and humidity changes, meaning you could keep it in the trunk of your car and drive from Yellowknife to Mexico," Ladd says.
Haggis was a finalist in the folk category of the 2011 John Lennon Songwriting Competition for his song "Rogue River," but despite the accomplishment, the couple were reluctant to open the business.
"It's a pretty terrifying leap," Ladd says with a laugh. "Especially with the recession going on in the States."
After warming their cold feet, Ladd and Haggis refined their business plan and found a cost-cutting measure.
"Where we're located is where we live so we're in a live/work building so we're not paying two rents," she says. "It feels like our living room, which in essence it is."
While some customers have mistaken the business for a condo, Ladd says she has plans to turn the store into a hub for guitar players with songwriting circles and jam sessions this fall.
"It's just a small but intimate comfortable environment. There's great acoustics in here," Ladd says.
Asked about living with her work, Ladd only has one complaint: "We wish we had more time to play guitar."
Bluedog is currently awaiting a shipment of ukuleles as well as handmade mandolins, violins and violas, but acoustic guitars will continue to be the store's focus, according to Ladd.
"We wanted to focus on acoustic instruments at this point, because that's our first love," she says.
Blues players tend to a dry sound whereas a crisp, clean sound is better for jazz, according to Ladd, who compares herself to a matchmaker.
"Every guitar has its own voice," she says. "We like to think that every guitar in our shop will meet its right owner."
For more information visit www.bluedogguitars.com.
