Rick Turner
Surfing the ‘net, I stumbled across the sad news that Rick Turner passed away earlier in the year. Much has been written about his innovative work elsewhere, but I would just like to add my contribution to the tributes made.
Back in the early 1970’s I was aware of Rick’s work through
my love of the Grateful Dead; reading about Rick’s work with their equipment and
at Alembic. Also, every month I would go up to Rose Morris in Shaftsbury Avenue
to buy a copy of Guitar Player magazine in which he wrote many articles. I’m
sure it was his article about fret spacing and the 12th root of two
that got me calculating the fret spacing for my Alembic inspired bass that I
made as an A level project when I was 17. It’s safe to say that he inspired a
fledgling luthier.
Fast forward to 2006; Amanda and I were fortunate enough to
spend the day with Rick in Santa Cruz USA. He gave us a personal tour of his
Renaissance Guitars workshop, speaking freely about the design and construction
of his instruments. We then went out for coffee and he took us back to his
house where he showed us his collection of Howe-Orme guitars which had
influenced many of his designs. In his garden he had an avocado tree and
whenever Amanda and I have an avocado, one of us will invariably say, “Do you
remember when we went to Rick’s house?” A truly happy memory.
Apart from being a great and influential luthier, he was a
lovely guy and we know he will be missed by many. He certainly touched our
lives in a wonderous way.
RIP Rick Turner