RK Original Designs
Vaquero
The Vaquero, a guitar that began in the Fall of 1962…
In the early 60’s I was an avid Accordion fan, I wanted to play so badly. One afternoon on the way home from school, my school mate invited me over. He had a record he wanted to play. We’re about 14. So, I get to his place and he lets it rip. I hear A, A, A, . . G, G, G, . . F, F, F, .. E. and the Venture’s Walk, Don’t Run sends goosebumps down my spine. Holy moley, in a flash, those thoughts of the accordion evaporated from my consciousness, and visions of a guitar filled the burgeoning void.
Well, dad worked at Sears, and as an employee he was extended a considerable discount. So after a few weeks of “lobbying” he came home and presented me with a Silvertone. Big whoop then, and a giant thanks dad today. I sure wish I still had the thing. It was awful, which probably had more to do with the Black Diamond strings of that era but it did build up my callouses, and thrust me onto the long road of tinkering with and setting up guitars. I learned a lot messing around with that turkey. However, it had a major flaw, it wasn’t a Fender, the guitar of choice of my idols, the Ventures, so the lobbying continued.
A year or so later, my dad says, “let’s go”. Huh?? That usually meant trouble, but I hop in the ‘61 Bonneville and we head out. A few hours later we’re pulling into a parking lot in Savannah Georgia and on the marquee it announces The Xavier Cugat Orchestra. I’m thinking who in heck is Xavier whatever??? Well, it seems Dad knows the guitarist for the band. He invites us into his Airstream and it’s absolutely loaded with guitars, the predominant being Fender. Thoughts of the proverbial kid in a candy store should be rattling around in your head at the moment. He, I have no idea what his name was, picks up a Strat and let’s go with Nola. I’m dumbfounded. No one can move their fingers that fast and accurately. He hands me the guitar, and I stumble through Peter Gunn, and a bit of whatever I was stumbling through, while he and dad are recalling memories of being stationed on some atoll in the Aleutians and something about PBY Mariners. So he says to dad, $150.00. Dad rolls off a hand full of greenbacks and I own a Fender Strat. Turns out it was a 1957 Strat. OMG. But that began the creative juices that lead to this new (old) Ron Kirn creation.
I was born into a family of creative people. Everyone did something. Dad drew cartoon characters, mom was a fine artist as was my sister. Granny was an artist with a “switch” as she “corrected” me ‘n my cousin Jimmy, who would become part of our Garage Band in a few years. Everyone did something well, really well. I was so afflicted too. I just didn’t like the artistic visual “flow” of the Strat. I hated the Tele, but felt the love affair with the Jaguar developing almost instantly. But it wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
Now dad’s hobby was boat building, and making wooden water skis and a few other things that fade to insignificance, but as such, I had access to a “boat load” of mahogany, and a workshop full of tools. The “brain” starts cranking. So, I sketch out a few bodies I think have “lines” that just looked better. The first attempt looked more like what is today, the Ibanez’s JEM. But that was a little too pointy, so a nip here a tuck there, with a bit of the offset’s influence spilled all over it and something akin to the Vaquero emerges.
That was almost 60 years ago, and the original has long since vanished. So from the depths of my recollection, here is my contemporary interpretation of my first creation.
While this is a prototype, with a few bumps and scrapes yet to be resolved, it represents the basic standard issue of my original creation. Available at $2495.00, however it is also offered as a base for about any custom configuration imaginable. Just contact me for specifics.
Since it’s been sitting here as I waited for the last of the parts, there’s a couple of changes that I’ll incorporate in the production guitar. The headstock will be a more traditional, as opposed to the flat Fender type. This to eliminate the retainers.
I hope you will enjoy, and be gentle with any issues you may see. Remember this is the prototype and pretty much anything you can suggest may be incorporated.
The Specs on this prototype Vaquero:
Mahogany body and neck.
Neck, 12” Radius, 1 11/16 at the nut, 6150 Frets, Ebony Fingerboard with rolled edges and Graphtec Ratio locking tuners, Classic C profile.
Body, Solid Mahogany, SD Seth Thomas Pickups, Bridge, Schaller Signum
Electronics, 5 way switch, with Tone And Volume, CTS Pots, CRL switch .033 Cornel Dubilier Caps
100% Nitro, reticulated satin Nitro on the body.
But, remember, it’s a custom, so the specs are yours to determine. Order yours here.
Thanks much,
Ron Kirn
