History
Kal-Tone (originally named “The Kalamazoo Guitar Shop”) was established in 2014 by Ry Charters and Jay Gavan. At the time, Ry was moving back home from Seattle, where he had been managing the Dusty Strings repair shop. Jay was painting guitars for Heritage Guitar in Kalamazoo, which is where Ry and Jay first met and worked together in 2002. Kal-Tone’s first location was downtown on the Kalamazoo Mall from 2014 to 2016.
The shop is now located in the Jerico collective at 1501 Fulford, where it shares a three-building complex with dozens of other craftsmen and artisans. This is where we perform customer repairs and setup our instruments we build. We have to keep to a tight schedule on the workbench, so we are open by appointments Wednesday thru Friday 10am-6pm. Same day appointments are usually available.
Our manufacturing workshop is in a separate building on the north side of Kalamazoo. This is where we can spray finish and run our very loud woodworking machines.
Owner and Head Luthier, Ry Charters has been a professional guitar-maker since 1998 (age 19) when he started learning the craft from Abraham Wechter. He has worked on over 10,000 instruments building from board lumber, repairing, restoring, and everything in between. He oversees the repairs and steps in when needed. But his current focus is on creating new Kal-Tone guitars, and growing the business. When he's not in the workshop, he's likely cycling or practicing archery.
Lachlan MacQuarrie handles our general instrument and amplifier repairs and is continually helping our space evolve into the best experience we can provide. His formal education is in Theatre Performance, and he has been playing guitar since he could pick one up. He also assists with events, and helping customers solve whatever problems or requests they bring through the door. He knows guitar gear too. Ask him anything.