By Maddy Lederman
Published by The Sun Runner, Desert Music Edition, Oct/Nov 2007.
Rick Chambers has been living in Wonder Valley for over 30 years. “I was a lineman for Edison and then I went to work for San Diego Gas and Electric. I just helped the city fill in and, you know, I got claustrophobic. I had to get out. I always loved the desert. I woke up one morning in Oceanside, put an ad in the newspaper that day at noon and the next day at noon everything I had in Oceanside was sold and I was gone. That was in ’78.”
He bought his cabin in Wonder Valley based only on a picture he’d seen and, over the years, through his love of Bluegrass, established himself as a Luthier and owner of RC Stringed Instruments and Repair. Chambers explains, ”When you buy an instrument, it needs work. It’s like a race car, a good instrument. And you build ‘em for the person playing ‘em. It might be good for me and not for you, you understand?”
Chambers was an avid biker in the past, built custom Harley’s and had his own bike shop. “I’ve always fixed my own stuff, cars, everything. Nobody touches my stuff. Always been that way. And I got to buying how-to books on instruments. By the time I went to school, I’d re-built guitars and banjos, I had worked on a harp.”
Chambers was injured with a broken back, twice, in ’91 and in ‘94. He decided to go to the Roberto-Venn School of Lutherie in Phoenix, Az., “to learn how to cut the wood, learn how to bend the wood, do inlays, make everything myself.” He uses the best materials in the world but also enjoys the challenge of recycling and making instruments out of found or discarded wood. He shows some pieces of wood from his well-organized studio that’s packed with materials. “These used to be shelves out of the library of the Oasis elementary school. I have one left.”
Chambers then demonstrates the meticulous process by which he measures, cuts and molds wood to create his flawless works. Every instrument is custom made to suit his clients. The type of wood and it’s density also play a factor. “I’m making 2 guitars out of cherry wood right now. They’re just gonna be gorgeous. They’re for a mother and a daughter in our blue grass crowd.” Chambers and his wife, Michelle, are in a band called “The Blue Grass Advocates” which made the cover of The Sun Runner in 1996.
“The horse-ride people like us and we do a lot of good Western music. No country. We do not do country. We do Western, Bluegrass and Gospell.” Chambers has specific views on Western vs. Country: “Well, Western music is a working mans music, it was the cowboy songs on the trail and around the campfire, on a horse-ride. There’s no drums, there’s no electric guitars, there’s no stars. In Western music, everybody takes a part. It’s shared music, very orchestrated cause everything’s got a good melody line that people recognize. You know, when you sing “Happy Trails” at the end of your set, everybody’s singing along with you.”