Woodstock Invitational Luthier Show 2012

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Stuart Mono

Just beating out Hurricane Sandy’s arrival, we had a great weekend at the 2012 Woodstock Invitational. Many thanks to Baker Rorick for putting on a fantastic festival of the top luthiers from around the country. Some of the luthiers using our stands include Jason Kostal, Jeff Traugott, and Howard Klepper. Although not exhibiting, we met Frank Finocchio, a builder of beautiful archtops who also runs a guitar building school in Easton, PA. In addition to the luthiers, our stands were chosen by Don Fisher who commissioned six exquisite archtops to honor the six women in his family (his wife, daughters, and grand-daughter). Check out the photos and be sure to check out the show next October when it returns to Woodstock.

Jeff Traugott’s display at the Woodstock Invitational

Jeff Traugott’s guitars on Take a Stand WM guitar stands.

Howard Klepper’s guitars on Take a Stand WM guitar stands.

Frank Finocchio’s archtop guitar on his curly maple (dyed) WM guitar stand.

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New SM Guitar Stand Build

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Stuart Mono

Here is another recent guitar stand that we shipped.  This is an SM guitar stand in Curly Maple with Walnut binding. Rather than bind the perimeter of the base, our customer requested a double inlay of Walnut down the middle with another strip of curly maple between. The Curly Maple on this stand has very nice figure and is quite striking. Hardware is silver with silver feet and suede leather supports.

Base detail of SM Guitar Stand in Curly Maple. Double inlay of Walnut and silver powdercoated metal feet.

SM Guitar Stand in Curly Maple with Walnut binding on neck. Double center inlay of Walnut on base. MacCubbin guitar on stand.

SM Guitar Stand in Curly Maple with Walnut binding on neck. Double center inlay of Walnut on base.

SM Guitar Stand in Curly Maple with Walnut binding on neck. Double center inlay of Walnut on base..

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Latest Guitar Stands

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Stuart Mono

We will try to post new stands so as to keep everyone up to date on the latest projects.  This week we’ve created a bunch of WM guitar stands in cocobolo, claro walnut, santos mahogany, and walnut. Attached are some photos of the claro walnut. The claro on this stand is just stunning – lots of figure with colors that range from an assortment of browns to reds and yellows. This stand has ebony binding and was finished with mirror black hardware and black leather supports. Keep checking back for new stands.

WM guitar stand in claro walnut. Shown with Epiphone Dot (ES 335 type) guitar.

WM guitar stand in claro walnut.

Base detail of WM guitar stand in claro walnut

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Upcoming Events and Products

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Stuart Mono

It’s been a while since we last posted on our blog. Although we won’t be at the Montreal Guitar Show this year, we are making plans for the Woodstock Invitational Luthier Show in October. This is shaping up to be a great show with lots of new stuff. As we did last year, we’re designing and producing the show’s program with Baker Rorick and Chip Brill. Look for more details as the summer progresses.

A while back we mentioned that we were working on a music stand. It’s entering final prototype stages and is looking great. Following the same design aesthetic of our current guitar stands, the music stand will be a fantastic complement. It will be available in the same choice of woods as our guitar stands – everything from curly maple, cherry, and walnut to rosewood, cocobolo, wenge, and ziricote. We plan to have photos and details up on our site in September.

Current orders are keeping us busy but we’ve been accumulating some new woods that look great. Over the next few weeks look for new stands in figured Anigre, Makore, English Pear, and other exotics. If you’re looking for a particular wood that you don’t see on our site, send us an email or call.

More details on all of the above will be posted soon. Stay tuned!

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Levon Helm

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Stuart Mono

Levon Helm’s passing yesterday is certainly a time to celebrate his great contributions to music and more specifically to the Woodstock community. He and his Midnight Rambles were an institution here in Woodstock. The Rambles, held in his timber frame barn, were always special occasions for terrific music. Attendees were treated to hours of great music featuring great guests and jams. Wendy and I were lucky to attend a couple of them and we enjoyed them hugely. A great memory of those nights was watching him play with his daughter Amy, also a great musician. The smile on his face evidenced the joy he felt as did the audience. He will be sorely missed.

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11-11-11

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Stuart Mono

Today is Veterans Day, an important day to remember. The men and women in our military sacrifice more than most of us can ever imagine to protect the freedoms and liberties we so often take for granted. In that spirit, we take our name seriously and will be donating to reMind.org. This is the Bob Woodruff foundation that is doing tremendous work to help our men and women in the military who have been injured. Advances in medicine and trauma treatment have resulted in fewer deaths but far more serious injuries to the people who serve in war. Take a minute, check out the website and do what you can to help those who have selflessly done so much for you. As reMind.org says, “Take a Stand for Heroes”.

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Hurricane Irene, 9/11, and Glee

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Stuart Mono

It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks here. First we were hit by Hurricane Irene, then pieces of Hurricane Katia, and finally Hurricane Leo. All around us, towns and people have been devastated by flooding and damage from the storms. The Bearsville Theatre in Woodstock, NY is hosting a benefit concert on September 18th at 7pm for the victims of the storms. All proceeds go to the Family of Woodstock. If you would like more information or to donate, please visit http://www.familyofwoodstockinc.org

This past Sunday was the 10th anniversary of 9/11. There is little that can be said that hasn’t already been. The sadness and depth of loss for those that lost loved ones in the attack is unfathomable to comprehend.  The images, words, and music from the memorial on Sunday were heart wrenching and moving.

The hurricanes and flooding caused us to lose power for eight days. Compared to some of our neighbors in surrounding towns, we were very lucky. We are a bit behind in our production but we’re catching up. Thanks to all for your patience and understanding.

And to end on a positive and lighter note. We were asked by the set designer of the Fox TV show, Glee, to provide a guitar stand for the new season. The first episode of season 3 has one of the main characters taking a guitar off our stand and playing a song. The stand, a beautiful cherry with ebony binding WM, will stay on the set for the entire season of 18 episodes. Now you have a good reason to watch TV!

WM Guitar Stand for "Glee", Cherry with Ebony Binding

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Healdsburg Guitar Festival

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Stuart Mono

We just returned from a fantastic guitar show in Santa Rosa, California. Exhibiting at the Healdsburg show has been an exhilarating experience. Surrounded by some of the top luthiers in the country was truly humbling. Some of our luthier friends like Jason Kostal, Gordy Bishoff, Paul Woolson, Kathy Wingert and others were displayed outstanding examples of their work. Beginning on Friday, the attendees waited patiently for the show to open and then flooded the Hyatt. There was a constant flow of people coming to our booth and visiting the rest of the show. We met customers like John K., Tony R., and Roy Z. and made fast friends with other vendors like Gerry and Shirley Humphrey of Humphrey Amps. If you’re looking for the ultimate acoustic amp, check out www.humphreyamps.com. They sound and look stunning.

We had a great show and returned to Woodstock tired but satisfied. We would like to thank everyone who visited us at the show and had such positive comments about our work.

Today we returned to work and will be shipping out new guitar stands this week. Our music stand is coming along nicely and will be on the website in a couple of weeks. Keep checking the website for new products, woods, and announcements. Thanks again to our customers, friends, and others who took the time to talk with us in Santa Rosa.

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Parlez Vous Take a Stand?

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Stuart Mono

Looking for a special way to celebrate July 4th? There is nothing better than doing so in Canada, more specifically Montreal. The Montreal Jazz Festival and the Montreal Guitar Show take place in Montreal over the July 4th weekend. This is an international guitar show with luthiers from around the world. The show is also unique in that there are acoustic and electric luthiers. Take a Stand Guitar Stands will have a booth and we are exhibiting a bunch of new stands. We will have handcrafted wood stands in sycamore, wenge, ziricote, cocobolo along with the lesser exotic (although still very nice) woods like curly cherry, curly maple, walnut, and curly walnut. There will be tons of live music so if your significant other is not so into the luthier/guitar part of the show, there will be plenty of concerts and other attractions to hold anyone’s interest. So make the trek over the border if you’re coming from the USA and come see us in Montreal. More info can be found at here. À bientôt!




Montreal Guitar Show

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More Choices, More Woods

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Stuart Mono
WM Guitar Stand

WM Design Guitar Stand in Ziricote

Things have been busy here at Take a Stand, Inc. We’re working on lots of new orders and we continue to plan new things for the future. A new page will be added to the website showcasing one-off unique guitar stands. Although they will be limited edition pieces, they will be available for sale. We’re adding more exotic woods including ziricote, wagle (an Australian koa with nice figure), chechen rosewood, quarter sawn sycamore (beautiful figure and grain), wenge, curly cherry, curly walnut, bubinga, figured makore, and lots more.

If you’re looking for something exotic or even not so exotic and you don’t see it on the website, shoot us an email or phone call. I’m sure we can satisfy your most exotic wish! Visit http://www.takeastandinc.com for more information.

WM Guitar Stand

WM Guitar Stand Base in ziricote.

SM Design guitar stand

SM Design guitar stand in wenge with ebony binding.

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