small businesses
 

I was just watching the local Chinese language station (has become a regular stop - am a fan of a couple of Taiwanese shows even though I don't understand what they're saying) and they had a bit on a local model shop. Turns out it actually is less than a mile from my house.

Evett's Model Shop - Santa Monica - Santa Monica, CA

After watching the piece on the show and then reading the comments I actually got sad about the fact that these types of shops and people are getting increasingly hard to find in a "big box" world. I remember a similar shop from when I was a kid and my dad would go get balsa wood for building RC models. We had an arrangement - he'd build 'em, I'd crash 'em. Very fond memories.

For a variety of reasons I've tried to support variations on these types of places. My current basses are all from small shops. Rob Allen is essentially a two person operation, Mike Lull is about 4 or 5 people, and Fodera, the "biggest" is about a dozen. Vinny Fodera though still carves things by hand, though they have added some automation via Plek machine and CNC to rough cut some pieces. My tube amp is built by a guy up in Santa Cruz who used to service avionics in A-6s.

At any rate, I digress. Support your local small biz or builder, no matter what the field. And post up your favorite shop from the past or present.

Fodera: Fodera Guitars| Handmade Bass Guitars - Custom Guitar Shop
This is a great set of pics from the shop: Building of a Fodera Monarch - Fodera's Photos | SmugMug

Jule Amps: Monique Bass Preamp DI EQ
https://www.facebook.com/MoniqueForBass?fref=ts