Barry Grzebik has always had a passion for sound and acoustics. Though an admitted “failed musician” in his early days, Grzebik always had a keen ear when it came to sonic frequencies, which landed him the role of Director of Engineering for Apogee Sound. There he designed high end loudspeakers, digital signal processors, and power amps that received high acclaim. Next he took his expertise and became an acoustical consultant and AV systems designer where he outfitted stadiums, venues, concert halls, and Dolby Atmos Studios to provide the highest level of sound quality. 

Having made a name for himself in the world of audio, in 2009 Grzebik got the itch to try his hand at lutherie and make a guitar. Taking his knowledge of acoustical engineering and design and applying it to crafting an instrument, he found success on his first attempt. While keeping his day job, he began building on the side and eventually launched Grez Guitars, which showcased his impeccable attention to detail, his knowledge of projection and resonance, and his unique taste in wood from his region of Petaluma, California. Utilizing native redwood, Grzebik goes to great lengths not only to preserve the beautiful ancient trees by working with the Redwood Forest Foundation, but also to plant them locally for each of his builds.

After finding success with his series of guitars, Grzebik decided to foray into the world of low end with the release of his Mendocino and Grand Tour basses. Boasting huge sound via lightweight and ergonomic bodies, his basses caught our attention, along with the rest of the bass world, thanks to their beautiful finishes and robust tone. After getting my hands on a Grand Tour Bass and experiencing the design and tonal quality for myself, I sat down with Grzebik to discuss his process and inspiration for building basses, and to find out what exactly makes these instruments to special.

How did you first start building guitars? 

I’ve always been somewhat of a failed musician, but a fortunate failed musician. I realized as a teenager that I would never make any money from my guitar playing. I was self-aware enough to realize that this is fun, but I kind of suck and sure, you can practice and get better, but is this the best use of my time? I realized that my skills were in designing and conceiving things more than playing them. I actually started in the audio business, not with musical instruments specifically, but really it was pro-audio that got me going, designing speakers and amplifiers and equalizers and compressors. I made a living doing that for a long time before the instrument bug came back around and bit me. I started making instruments when I was around 40. I was going to be a gentleman guitar builder as a hobby. I realized I had accumulated a skill set, being a bit of an expert in sound and acoustics and product design. I thought all of these things together would probably allow me to design and build an instrument. I built one and it came out pretty good. I conceived the brand and started designing instruments and building them in my spare time, while still having income from being an acoustical consultant. I didn’t just jump in with both feet hoping I could design and build an instrument and generate enough revenue to make a living.

You seem to have had the reverse trajectory of most luthiers who start with wanting to build instruments and then have to figure out the business model of making a functioning company out of it.

Pretty much. I initially tried to not put pressure on myself to succeed with building. I intentionally didn’t write out a business plan at first because I wanted to give myself the luxury of not having that pressure on me for the first few years. I just wanted to do it because I wanted to do it. I approached it almost like starting a band. I was going to create some unique, original music and hope that some people dig it and that eventually it will gain traction. I knew that first I had to like what I was creating and that it was specific to my vision. After a little while I could see that people were interested in what I was building and that it was just off center enough to make it unique. 

When did you first start building basses?

My first bass was the Mendocino short scale. It started as my take on the Danelectro Shorthorn bass. It is obviously in no way a copy of it, but I wanted the spirit of that bass. I use Curtis Novak Lipstick pickups. Once I made that I was definitely inspired to go more into the bass direction. 

What are the biggest differences from your Grand Tour and Mendocino basses?

The Mendocino was designed to be as small and light as possible, while sounding as big as possible. My thought with it is that it should hit you twice: first when you pick it up and realize how light it is and second when you realize how lively it sounds for being so small. 

With the Grand Tour, I wanted it to sound as big as possible. I wasn’t as worried about it being extremely light, although it is because it’s semi-hollowbody it inherently is rather light. I love when an instrument imparts as much as it can to the sound simply based on the build and the materials. I don’t want the sound of the bass to be entirely dictated by strings and pickups. The wood plays such a big role in the character of the sound, especially with the more hollow instruments I make. I always think of upright basses in that sense, which is why I like semi-hollowbodies. The way it takes a moment for the note to grow and then slowly die back down.

How do you select which pickups to use?

I use a lot of gold foil pickups, often they’re from Curtis Novak or Lollar. I want these basses to have sort of a vintage feel to them. I tend to like pickups that hopefully allow the instrument to show through and don’t color the sound too much. That tends to lead me to single coils. I’ve played with ways of trying to create pickups that are more like an acoustic instrument pickups where they’re sensing vibration in the body where I’m actually measuring the center block vibration not the string vibration and then trying to sum that together with the pickups to make the instrument sound even bigger than it is. I’m not offering this commercially at the moment but I’m always experimenting and dreaming of other ways to do things.

You do a lot of the work on each of your instruments yourself. How important is it for you to have a part in the process?

It’s super important.  Even if I’m not the one sanding every body, I’m still in the room and I’m there to answer questions. And I’m certainly 100% the quality control person looking over things. Even the things I don’t personally do, I’m still handing them and involved. And even though the folks that work for me are phenomenal, it’s still kind of about me. It’s a little company with my name on it. So me touching everything and seeing everything and being happy with everything is important.  

How many instruments are you making within a year?

About 100 to 150 max. I intentionally keep it small and want to be able to be a semi-custom operation like we are. I like making things that excite people because they can customize it a little. The extra little things are very cool to me. If someone wants a specific color finish, or a particular neck shape is important, I’ll do that. This last year we did a bit over 100 instruments, but we’re putting a little addition onto the workshop that will allow us to get to 150. But that’s it. The workshop is a small horse barn in the back of my property.

Tell us about your process from start to finish.

It all starts with a conversation with the buyer. I talk to everyone who buys something from me. I’m not a click and purchase kind of operation. I want to know if you want the back of the neck to be gloss lacquer or matte lacquer or oiled. All of the little things matter. Once we’ve gotten past that and a deposit to start work is sent, it takes about ten weeks to make one. In theory we would have all of the parts here start the build immediately.  Sometimes things like pickups and tuners might not be in stock. But any piece of wood that’s getting used is something that’s already here. We’re always buying wood in advance so it has time to stabilize here in the shop. The top is either going to be a piece of redwood or a piece of Sitka spruce. The redwood is all reclaimed locally. The spruce I use comes from a company up in Alaska who deal with what is referred to as “windfall trees.” When an old tree naturally comes down, they drag it out of the forest and cut it up into musical instrument tops. We’re not cutting down any trees to get the tops. The bodies and necks are typically Honduran mahogany, the fretboards are Macassar ebony, both are from FSC-certified [Forest Stewardship Council] suppliers.

Parts are initially cut or roughed out on our CNC machine. From there we sand out all the CNC marks, which are basically router marks, and we’re putting round overs on and thicknessing the top a little bit by hand to get it to resonate the way we want. We put binding on the old fashioned way with a router and a bearing. Then we add whatever binding the customer asked for, getting that neck angle fitted and all the other parts glued up. All the final carving of the neck is done by hand.  Even though the CNC machine removes 80% of the wood, it just gets us in the neighborhood, we finish it up by hand. Then we spray on the finish and let the instrument sit for a couple weeks to cure, then a sand and buff.  Lastly, final assembly and a little play time. I do play every instrument before it ships, and after it’s had string tension on it for a while to verify the setup.

You take a lot of care in the woods that you source and the construction of each bass.

Those little tiny details, which individually aren’t game changers, hopefully add up. The one-piece body, the minimal number of glue joints, the old growth well-seasoned wood, all hopefully make the basses perform better.

Redwood is something unique to the region you live in and also as a wood used on basses. What do you like about it? 

It’s really just different. Redwood trees and forests are some of the oldest living things on earth. There are some standing that are 2,000 years old, still thriving. Here in California, 100 years ago everything was made of redwood. It was just the local timber. When I first started building, I didn’t expect to be the redwood guy. I was just looking for materials and I kept finding reclaimed redwood. And when I started, the movement to reclaim it wasn’t quite as strong as it is now. The first pieces of redwood I bought were from a guy who was living in Marin County just south of me, where they were rehabbing a train tunnel built in the late 1800s. He saw the workers chipping it on the site for mulch and asked to purchase some. I was immediately hooked, old growth trees are so amazing. And the fact that there’s a story behind where the wood came from. Maybe it was a train tunnel, maybe it was a bridge, maybe it was a factory. And then, of course, the fact that it’s a great musical instrument wood, sonically, it’s lively and it adds detail to the resonance, and is very light weight.

Sustainability is big to everything you do and you work with the Redwood Forest Foundation. Tell us about your planting and efforts with that.

Every piece of wood we’re using is either reclaimed, so no tree was cut down specifically for that purpose, or FSC certified, which is an international organization that ensures that the people harvesting wood are adhering to their local laws and not clear cutting and over harvesting. We also plant a redwood tree for every guitar we sell. At this point is kind of cool to think that I’ve planted hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of redwood trees.

You started offering new tops and customizable features for your basses.

In terms of our models, there are standard body shapes and sizes, I have to keep within those constraints, but there are customizable elements like pickups, finishes, binding, and other little touches that can make an instrument unique for someone. I want to make it what you want. What’s your dream color? Let’s see if we can make that happen. With the finish itself there’s gloss nitro, matte nitro, or oiled. Same with binding, where I can offer cream or tortoise binding or other options. Neck dimensions aren’t a big deal either when it comes to customizing them to someone’s specs. I usually tell customers to send me three or four things they’re looking for, but just don’t send me a spreadsheet. [Laughs]

What do you feel sets your basses apart?

We’re a small operation trying to do our very best work at a manageable pace.  I think what feels like average work here at the shop is probably extraordinary work at a factory. We pay extreme attention to detail, we take our time, and we think things through. People tend to be impressed with our fretwork for example, but to me it’s just fretwork, I don’t feel like we are doing anything other than good, solid work, but apparently that is not as common as I think. At a factory, you have someone who should, in theory, be better at fretwork than me. I’ve done hundreds and hundreds of fret jobs, but people at factories have done thousands and thousands. The difference I suppose is the care and attention to detail that I’m putting into them and the extra time I allow. It’s done when it’s done. We are trying to move at an efficient pace but the pace isn’t the first priority.

You also are an Acoustical Consultant and AV systems designer. How does that inform your building? 

In a lot of ways. One of them is listening, a skill that can be honed and refined. We’ve all sat in the studio with an engineer or a producer, and they reach for a knob and change something and it sounds so much better to them, but maybe you didn’t even hear it. They’re not full of shit. They’re just listening at a level beyond what you’re able to focus on because they do it all day long. It’s their job. As a loudspeaker designer, that used to be my job. I would listen all day. You make a small change to a crossover, or you make your baffle 10% thicker and you can notice the difference. Although my guitar playing is not the most advanced, I certainly know when I hear something and that is certainly helpful.

The other way it has helped me as a luthier is the whole idea of material science and resonance, and the fact that everything has a sound and everything imparts something. As a loudspeaker designer you’re always thinking about what a material will sound like. How is it imparting something positive or negative to the sound of this speaker? In the world of speakers, whether it’s the cone material or the cabinet material or anything else, we’re trying to minimize resonance. With a musical instrument I’m doing the opposite and trying to make it resonate as much as possible. It’s the exact same knowledge but applied with the opposite goal. Trying to get an instrument body to impart as much character as possible versus trying to get a speaker cabinet to impart as little as possible.

What are your ultimate goals in making basses? 

At this point, my goal is to continue to make enough money to survive, enjoy myself, meet other interesting musicians, and create some cool instruments. I’m not trying to, nor will I ever get rich, and I’m not trying to become the next Fender. No world domination. Being able to build musical instruments for a living is sort of an incredible gift. So simply doing this is the end goal. Now, the trick is to not mess it up so that I can keep doing it for the coming decades.

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