James Tyler Guitars are sought after by some of the most ‘ in-demand ’ session and live guitarists . We wanted to know why , so we sit down with the man himself … James Tyler !
[ WM ] One of your professional music career starting points was doing repairs at Norman ’ s Rare Guitars in San Fernando Valley , CA . Working on so many vintage guitar repairs and restorations must of gave you some insights and a historical point of view of guitar making in general . And specifically , what you liked about guitars that were built correctly . Tell us about some of the vintage guitars that impressed you the most ?
[ James Tyler ] Working at Norman ’ s was a rare opportunity and an example of God putting me in the perfect place at the perfect time . It was more than just the guitars , I met so many great musicians and music industry people while I was there . It was at the high point of the Los Angeles music and the Los Angeles session scene .
repair and modifications to pay the bills , until I figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up .
In the 1970 ’ s and 1980 ’ s there were companies like the original Schecter guitar parts , Mighty Mite and Kubicki . They made guitar necks and bodies and hardware . In the beginning , I bought parts from these companies and painted the necks and bodies and then assembled the guitars for customers to their specs . That part of the “ repair ” business just slowly kept building .
When Tom Anderson left Schecter , he started his own company making necks and bodies . He made parts for a lot of us small guys who couldn ’ t make our own stuff . I had known Tom from Schecter and already had a working relationship with him . I came up with my design changes and made the templates to run on his machines . So , in the first years of Tyler Guitars , the raw necks and bodies were made by Tom Anderson . When he became too busy with his own guitar line , I got my templates and tooling back from Tom and had to figure out how to make things myself .
[ WM ] Your headstock shape is quite unique . It made the Top 25 Ugliest Guitar Headstock ’ s list once and also has jokingly been called the wave of the future . Is there a science / physics reason for it , or is it more artistic in nature ?
[ James ] We made a
Facebook page for that . “ The Most Hated Headstock .” It gives people a place to go rant . I think it ’ s pretty funny . Maybe we will do a t-shirt .
There is no science or physics behind it . It is purely just a design that goes with the logo , which also offends some people , which again was purely a design thing .
[ WM ] Many Los Angeles session players love your guitars . Michael Landau stands out
At Norman ’ s I did repairs and restorations on some of the greatest guitars one could imagine . While I never tried to become an expert on vintage guitars , it was an incredible education in guitars and what worked and what didn ’ t . What players liked , and what they didn ’ t . I learned to listen to the players and give them what they want , not what I thought they needed .
Things about vintage guitars that impressed me the most at that time were neck shapes and pickup tone . 1959 strat necks and 1960 Gibson necks were my favorites . There were a lot of great sounding late 50 ’ s and 60 ’ s pickups .
[ WM ] It was a brave move to go from being a successful guitar repairman to building your own guitar brand . Tell us about that transition ?
[ James ] Moving from being a repairman to manufacturing wasn ’ t anything I planned on doing , it was just a natural progression that happened . Building a guitar company and a brand that became known worldwide wasn ’ t something I set out to do . I was doing guitar