Harvey Leach: The Cutting Edge

Originally from the state of Vermont, Harvey Leach moved to California in 1984 after spending 4 years in U.S. Army Intelligence, specializing in signal theory and radio wave transmissions. He recalls of his specialization in the Army, “I never thought it would be of any use, but it's quite handy for understanding and proving or disproving some of the myths associated with building musical instruments.” Harvey has been building musical instruments since 1972, when he made his first banjo while in the 7th grade, with encouragement from a book that contained a chapter on “building your own banjo.”

Harvey Leach

He attributes the start of his life’s work to that book, in which was also a section on mother- of-pearl inlay that was also an inspiration. He started work on his first guitar in 1979 and finished it 3 years later. It was given to his wife as a wedding present. He claims it's the one guitar that he “will never sell... of course, it's not mine anyway.”  He uses unorthodox materials and has invented techniques to achieve his artistic vision. One such technique is the use of very thin “Donkey” shell to create a reflective, semi-opaque reflective effect. He has developed a very strong appreciation for computers and their graphical abilities. “A few years ago I made the brilliant statement that I would never need a computer as a luthier...now I can't seem to imagine how I got by... I can now do a thousand things so much faster that I never had to do before!” Harvey is a self- proclaimed sports nut, and an especially big fan of the Boston Red Sox.

Quotes:
The moment of truth and the beginning of where I am now was when a customer asked me to build a guitar with a recreation of a vine pattern...I couldn't afford to pay someone else so I decided I would cut it myself. I felt better about myself afterwards so I decide to stick with it.

Larry Robinson once told me that the art was more important than the medium... if cutting up a Lego is [the way to get] the right color, you must sneak into your son's room and go for it!

I think in the guitar world there is a new market that is developing where some of the work of the great modern day Inlayers will be looked at as collectable art that just happens to have a guitar for canvas. I see where some of the crazy prices that paintings and sculptures command will be paid for guitars. I think people will see Inlaid musical instruments in the same light and use them as accent pieces in decorating. Musical instrument Inlay is still pure right now; there is good money in it but not crazy money. The people who are really setting the standard are doing it because they love it. If we ever get crazy money I'm not sure that will always be true.

Website:
For more information, visit: http://www.leachguitars.com/