On the 24th of this month, I attended the Kiesel Connect event in Escondido, CA. Kiesel is a guitar manufacturer that builds guitars to order at their facility. As many long-time players know, buying guitars is addictive because there are nearly limitless options. Kiesel gives players the ability to create instruments tailored to their preferred specifications.
The event included a tour of the shop, showing the various stations in the guitar-building process. It was great to see different woods up close, as well as the machines used to shape the instruments. The main draw, however, was the live music on the parking lot stage. Jazz fusion guitarist Alex Sill stood out with captivating phrasing and intriguing rhythms. As a long-time metal fan, it's sometimes hard to find music with phrasing and patterns that truly surprise me. That isn’t the case with jazz fusion—probably because I don’t listen to it often.
Another cool display was the line up under the tent of various Kiesel, and Carvin (the previous name for the company run by the Kiesel family) instruments through the years. The section from the '90s caught my eye because that is when I started playing Carvin guitars.
What I was most looking forward to was the discussion hosted by YouTuber Phillip McKnight with President Jeff Kiesel and his father, Mark, who previously ran the guitar division at Carvin before the rebranding. The highlight was the introduction of a retro-styled model Mark designed, the Mark 66. Since then, I have already thought about possible options to put on that guitar to buy for myself. I’ll resist the urge, unless there are big discounts coming up soon that I don’t know about.
Unfortunately, I was a bit burnt out after being at the event for six hours and didn’t stay to watch jazz guitarist Greg Howe or blues specialist Eric Gales. Overall, it was a positive experience to see the instruments and the process up close, instead of just viewing them from afar.
#KieselConnect #KieselGuitars #Carvin #PhilMcKnight #Mark66
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