Shumaker Guitar Works is Opening Back Up
Today, Tuesday May 12th Shumaker Guitar Works will open up their doors again full time.
6 days after his 1 year anniversary. It's been a rough year. 8 weeks after he opened last year he was robbed. You may remember the Frets For Vets cash donation that was taken.
But, owner, Thad Shumaker is not one to let these trying times get him down. He loves a good challenge. He's not afraid to take on a new project. A neck reset on a 12 string guitar is not for the faint of heart. But he's built up the skills to get it done & if he gets stuck he's not afraid to ask his mentors for help.
In 2017 he came up with a 5 year plan. Buying tools for his arsenal. Building & fixing guitars while building up a client base through word of mouth. He quickly outgrew his basement shop with all the equipment he needed and was fixing.
He finally got to quit his job working on large machinery to focus on his craft of guitar building. A passion that grew after buying his first so-called "crappy guitar". Thad recalls going into Gary's Music Mart in Silvis. It always needed fixed and loved watching them fix it.
He comes from a musical family. His Grandpa would buy fiddles & rebuild them. His great uncle played in the band for his mom & dad's wedding reception...both of whom played piano. Dad played accordion. Brother played guitar. Grandpa, much like Thad, played anything with strings.
What's to come in the future with Shumaker Guitar Works? Hard to say these days...but the dream is to add a few more people to his staff. His 9 year old son has been building guitars with his dad's help, so he'd like to see it grow into something he can pass down to the next generation. Just like the love of music has been passed down a few generations already.
Thad can be heard on our sister station iRock 93.5 with the "Local Stage" show that highlights the great bands in the Quad Cities every Sunday at 8pm.
1706 N Brady St ste 102
Davenport, Iowa 52804
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