Back in the early 1990s, when a local farmer offered some walnut for sale, we hopped at the opportunity, until we realised that the tree was still standing. When we couldn't convince him to spare the tree, we agreed to buy some of the wood.
Then, when Flo told our friend and luthier William Cumpiano (Cumpiano Guitars), about her funtasy (sic) of building her own guitar, he responded, "Let's do it.". After weeks of building cardboard mockups of various ideas, Thunderclap was born. She is named after one of our rabbits who served as inspiration. The process involved William creating technical specs and layout, Flo working on the rabbit carvings and then a weekly visit to Bill's shop for various adjustments and finally assembly. It was only after all months and months of work that we strung her and plugged her in that the tones similar to a warm Stratocaster greeted us and we could relax and enjoy it. What a rush!
With money from sales of CDs going to environmental organizations, we'd like
to think Thunderclap will help rebuild some of those forests.
If you happen on some walnut lumber, it is a wonderfully workable wood, but
try to keep in mind using sustainably grown woods.
While there's only one Thunderclap, we did have a limited edition of lapel pins cast in pewter by Spoontiques some years back and as of May 2015, we still have some available.
