APAG 056: Rich & Chris Rice of Rice Custom Guitars Shares Their Secrets to What Makes a Great Instrument

Arlington-Prospect Advice Givers | Business Owners | Entrepreneurs | Interviewing Our Community's Brightest Minds |Real Estate| Steven Weirich

On this 56th edition of the podcast, Rich & Chris Rice of Rice Custom Guitars are my guest. What started as an obsession in 1998, building custom guitars, has now turned into an amazing father and son duo. It wasn’t until 2006 that Rice Custom Guitars started their business journey. This endeavor started in the backyard while taking pictures in their moms garden of a guitar they made. Rich & Chris had built up a pretty massive inventory of instruments so they thought, we should have a go at this. Since then, Rich & Chris Rice have never looked back.

The obsession to build hand crafted guitars that feel good in musicians hands has been achieved with endless hours of work. Music is truly an art form. Not only is the music composed art, but the instruments they play with are pieces of art as well. These two experts, Rich & Chris Rice, hand craft guitars that are played all over the world. Building instruments that capture that sound every musician chases when they plug into the amp. Chris explains how important not only sound is but the feel of the guitar in a players hands. “Instruments become a part of the musicians body. They become one with their guitar.” Chris Rice says. Rice Custom Guitars mission is being captured with every instrument the build right here in Arlington Heights. All you musicians out there and fans of music you have to check out their work.

Rich shares a story about the resurrection of a Gibson ES 35 that was ruined in hurricane Katrina back in 2005. This instrument was sent to Gibson asking them to bring it back to life. As Rich said “Gibson told them to put it in the fireplace, it can’t be fixed.” The guitar was also sent to a world class guitar guy to have it revamped. After 10 years of tweaking it was still not back to it’s old self. After a chance encounter, in New Orleans, with the owner of the Gibson ES 35, Rich had him ship the guitar up to the shop in pieces. It took all of about two months for Rice Custom Guitars to get this gem singing the blues again. When your craft becomes an obsession these are the types of things that can happen.

Rich & Chris Rice are the perfect father and son duo. Doing what they love, crafting beautiful hand crafted instruments everyday at Rice Custom Guitars. Rich says “If it feels good, looks nice in your hands and it sounds great, the guitar will find you” Spoken like a true master of their craft.

Ideas and Topics Discussed in This Episode:

What To Look For When Purchasing A Guitar

The Importance Of Sound & Feel

Rice Custom Guitars Fix Ann Instruments With Strings

The Story of The Gibson ES 35

Our Top Five Favorite Guitar Players

Links/Resources/Sponsors Mentioned:

http://ricecustomguitars.com

Rice Custom Guitars Facebook Page

Sponsors:

Novak & Parker Home Appliance. Go to Novak & Parker, Mention You heard About Them On The Arlington-Prospect Advice Givers Show. They Have A Special For All Listeners

Austin-Jarrett Law. If You Are Buying Or Selling A Home And Need Legal Representation Please Contact Shani Jarrett.

Kristy Riedel of US Bank. For all your home mortgage needs and construction loan financing contact Kristy at 847-650-7982

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