The Making of “Gabriela Rose”, Jimmy Haslip’s Six String Wyn Guitar
It’s a luthier’s dream to make an instrument for an artist with the stature and playing chops of Jimmy Haslip. I of course handled this assignment with complete calm and professionalism. It was basically five parts intense euphoria and eleven parts terror ride. ( a player like Jimmy I figured would have no interest at all in an average bass. It would have to be nothing short of a better bass than I was capable of building!!)
It would be great to tell a story of how Jimmy Haslip sought me out – “Randy Fullmer at Wyn Guitars, famous luthier to the stars.” The pleading he must have gone through to get me to focus on his musical needs. All of the “I’ll pay you anything if you’ll just design something for me” moments. I’m pretty sure you’ve already guessed that the story goes nothing like that. However, I must say it was one of those life changing collaborations that only comes along once in a while.
The story
In late 2008, I had finished a prototype for a Quilt Maple and Wenge five string bass that I was pretty excited about. I started emailing pictures to friends and players I thought would be interested. This including Therese Ulvan, an up and coming female singer I had met while taking an educational course. A year or two prior, she had done an album with Jimmy Haslip. She got right back to me and said that she bet Jimmy would like to see it. She kindly introduced the two of us through email and I sent him pictures. Six weeks went by and no word from Jimmy. That lovely negative voice we all seem to have in our heads was concluding that my bass was nothing and he was just not interested.
But the sky soon parted!! Jimmy called out of the blue and said he was doing some recording in my area and would be driving right by my shop on the way. How about he stops by and tries out that prototype bass? “You bet!!” I said.