Weber fine acoustic instruments are manufactured by Sound to Earth in Logan, Montana. The company has steadily grown, moving from Bozeman recently to accommodate its expansion. The 25 employees make mandolins by hand in an old Logan schoolhouse. The move was necessary because Weber plans to expand their product line to include guitars in the near future. Currently, about 15 mandolins are produced every week at the Logan location. Each instrument is handworked by over a dozen people before it leaves the shop.
The initial move to Montana occurred in 1996, after the Gibson guitar company decided to relocate its Flatiron mandolin division from Belgrade to Tennessee. Bruce Weber, president of Sound to Earth was the manager of the Flatiron division at the time and did not wish to move to Nashville with the rest of his division. He went back home to Montana, along with five other Gibson employees and opened up their own mandolin shop. Because of Weber's burgeoning reputation as a master craftsman, and desire to promote business growth locally in Montana, he was able to easily find bank financing to launch the company. Now Weber has a booming company in a gorgeous location, with his wife working right alongside as a detailer. Weber instruments have become known in the music industry for their handcrafting and top quality.
Because they are a smaller company, the personal touches are important to Weber. Every Weber stringed instrument is covered by a lifetime customer service warranty. Almost all of the work is still performed by hand, except for one machine that carves the Weber logos and other decorative markings. Each employee is responsible only for a certain part of the instrument, allowing them to specialize and to ensure that there is expertise behind the fabrication of each aspect of the mandolin. Even the lowest-priced model is made with the same level of care and individual attention. The lower-end mandolins may not be as intricate and ornate as the top of the line models, but each one carries the same assurance of quality.
Maple, mahogany, and spruce arrive directly to the shop, where employees place it on the shelf to age until it is ready to be used in manufacture. The wood must have exactly the right moisture content so that it will not be too pliable or brittle. Being a smaller, independent company also allows Weber to experiment with modifications that would never have been permitted by a large company like Gibson. The innovative ebony bridge invented by Weber engineer Vern Brekke is a great example of the benefits of this freedom. The Brekke Bridge uses ebony wedges instead of screws, which makes it easier to adjust the string tension and improves the overall tone of the instrument. A new type of tailpiece is now being developed by Weber and it is expected to revolutionize the world of acoustic musical instruments in much the same way as the Brekke Bridge. If the growth continues as expected, Weber will most likely be expanding again and hiring additional employees to keep up with the workload.
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Originally posted 2008-11-20 05:18:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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