Kevin Ryan with Ryan Bevel Flute (photo by Judy Brunkala.)
When the guitar-building bug bit Kevin Ryan, there was no turning back.
It was after reading a book on building guitars published in 1987 that Ryan knew he had to try it himself.
“About 1987, I started my first guitar. It started out as kind of a hobby; I wanted to just build a guitar. I was a guitar player and I was a furniture maker. I’d built a banjo from a kit in—probably 1977, so it was a little bit in my DNA even back then. I started building my first one and I just never looked back.” he said.
“I’m kind of a cowboy when it comes to stuff like that. I just roll up my sleeves and start doing it, and make my mistakes and learn from there.”
Ryan built his first guitar in his parents’ garage after moving to California from his native Ohio with his wife, Barbara. In 1996, the Ryans adopted their son, James.
Ryan gave the first guitar he made to his mom, who he cites as his biggest fan.
While at a concert, he was approached by songwriter/musician/soundtrack writer Jeff
Gibbs, who was amazed at the guitar he’d built for his mom, and ordered one, as did his
brother. Through the Gibbs’ connection with Al Stewart, who had hits with “Year of the
Cat,” “Time Passages,” and “On The Border,” Ryan found himself with three orders and
thinking this could be the makings of a business.
As his reputation grew, Ryan got orders from many guitarists, including Laurence Juber, the guitarist for Paul McCartney and Wings.
“And then the news of that got to Acoustic Guitar Magazine which was the
definitive—even today it’s the definitive—publication for acoustic guitars.”
Word continued to spread, and before he knew it, additional orders started to come
in. Ryan recalled it as a pretty heady time. It was after a prestigious guitar festival in
Germany where 8 of the 10 headliners were Ryan’s clients, and as orders continued to
roll in, Ryan quit his day job building highly accurate and expensive wind tunnels for
testing aircraft and parts for the aerospace industry in 1995. Barbara also quit her job to
raise their newly-adopted infant.
They continued through a financially rough first few years, even with guitars being
ordered, because most funds were used to build the business.
All this time Ryan continued using his parents’ small garage to house his business.
He used that space for another 5 years.
One evening, Ryan received a phone call that would send him into uncharted waters.
“Hi, Kevin, I’m Jackson Browne.” Ryan heard when he answered.
The legendary singer-songwriter had seen one of Ryan’s guitars and wanted one
built for him. Browne wanted no special consideration regarding time or price, and
was even planning to pick up the guitar when finished. Due to time
constraints, however, Ryan delivered it personally to Browne at his Santa Monica
studio. Browne was thankful and loved his new instrument.
Finally, in 2000, Ryan was able to move his business into his current Westminster,
CA facility. Bob Neff builds guitars with Ryan. He’s known Neff for 35 years and has
worked with him for 12.
“We were playing music in Northern Ohio, and our bands played the same venue,”
Ryan explained. “We became friends, and he actually started teaching me how to
rebuild player pianos because that’s what he was doing at the time. Then I flew Bob
out here about 12 years ago because he’s just the greatest craftsman I’ve ever met. I
wanted a guy like that to work with me.”
“Bob also has an incredibly good design sense,” Ryan continued. “There aren’t
many things that I design in a vacuum and say ‘here’s what it is.’ It sometimes
happens, but I don’t have a big ego in this. We all have blind spots.”
While he and Neff build the guitars, he said his wife Barbara “does everything else,”
including bookkeeping, invoicing, ordering, customer service, and shipping. Barbara
and long-time family friend Lou Bruno do give input regarding the creative decisions
about the aesthetics of the instruments. Even his son is being brought into the process.
Then, in 2001, Ryan began building a line of guitars with what he calls the “Ryan Bevel”. A previous client for whom Ryan was building a 3rd guitar requested an instrument with a beveled edge.
“There was a builder from Canada named Grit Laskin who did something similar and I didn’t want to copy what Grit did. So I spent the next three or four years just thinking about what to do and then we came on this idea. . . But I tip my hat to Grit, who was the original inspiration for that kind of an idea. We modified it quite a bit. Got Grit’s blessing to do it. We wanted to be ethical about it.”
Another acoustic innovation Ryan has made to his guitars for clients who request itis called “Bevel Flutes.” The prime consideration in designing the Bevel Flutes was their location. By integrating them into the structure of the bevel, they far outshine typical sound ports. There is a sweeter, more present tone and clarity, and an openness and shimmer to the sound. Aesthetically, Ryan made them look elegant and natural.
Ryan has also formed another company, Advanced Shell Technology, which makes mainly two products Ryan developed and patented: flexible abalone (called ZipFlex) and Kurfing Liner (called A4 Kurfing).
Ryan wisely assumed if he and his team saw the uniqueness and relevance of these products, other builders and factories would see it, too.
Bevel, Flutes, and Rosette (courtesy of Kevin Ryan)
When describing Zip Flex, Ryan said, “It’s real abalone, but we have a process where we make it flexible so what used to take maybe 45 minutes to an hour to just
inlay that little bit, not including prepping time, now takes about 2 or 3 minutes to put it on a guitar. We’re selling this to builders all over the world. And the biggest guitar manufacturer in the world now switched to it. The second biggest is probably going switch to it.”
Kurfing Liner is all about ease of construction. It’s a flexible lining that is placed on the inside of the guitar, where the back and sides, and the back and soundboard go together.
“That means when you’re going around the guitar, for instance on the back, you don’t have to cut it to fasten it around a curved back; it will just mold around the back.” “Some of the biggest factories are switching to our products,” Ryan said. His employee Jamie Maisano is dedicated solely to making these two products for other builders.
Ryan sees a time when their production and sales will dwarf the guitar business.
In fact, he said about in particular ZipFlex, “it’s a big deal for my son. He’ll be running this business when I’m retired.”
Kevin Ryan’s websites are www.ryanguitars.com and www.advancedshelltech.com .
