Little John drives Guapo out to Eastman Guitars in Pomona, California to visit Otto D’Ambrosio. John gets a tour of the Eastman “mod-shop,” interviews Otto, learns about the symbiotic ways that Eastman and Otto are connected, and checks out some breathtaking D’Ambriosio archtops. VW Westfalia lovers will appreciate watching Guapo the Wondervan turn 200,000 miles old during a five hour long “two hour” road trip. Guitar Magic is the only vanlife travel show about the guitar and its people. Enjoy the longform interview!!!

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00:00:00 - Guitar Magic Theme Song
00:01:33 - Overview of Otto & Eastman
00:03:55 - Otto’s Path in Guitar Industry
00:04:52 - A strange store… Mandolin Brothers
00:07:09 - Otto’s First Guitar Job
00:08:21 - Getting Shop Experience
00:09:08 - Flip Scipio’s Shop
00:09:40 - John Monteleone’s Shop
00:10:01 - Carl Thompson’s Shop
00:11:55 - Lessons learned in John Monteleone’s Shop
00:12:38 - Lessons learned in Flip Scipio’s Shop
00:12:57 - Lessons learned in Carl Thompson’s shop
00:13:36 - Going to Guild Guitars
00:14:53 - Lessons learned at Guild
00:17:20 - Going all-in as Archtop builder
00:18:06 - Archtops as high-art
00:19:15 - Meeting Eastman
00:19:57 - Tradition vs. Innovation
00:21:40 - Form, Function or Possibility
00:22:04 - Design Principles
00:22:52 - Starting with a question
00:24:34 - Picking problems to solve
00:24:56 - The El Rey!!!
00:27:22 - Knowing when a guitar is “right”
00:28:49 - Learning what “the player” wants
00:31:03 - Do clients really know what they want?
00:33:18 - Why do players like “the familiar?”
00:36:19 - First time feeling the magic!!!
00:37:46 - How do you know it’s magic?
00:39:23 - The band of island misits
00:40:14 - Who helped Otto?
00:41:41 - It’s a journey
00:42:18 - On feeling competitive
00:44:16 - Missing expert opinions
00:45:38 - Life lessons learned through guitar
00:47:05 - It’s tricky dealing with artists…
00:48:14 - Regrets: Delivering a guitar to Prince
00:49:38 - Artist Relations???
00:52:34 - Blood on the guitar
00:55:13 - Guitars built on the fly!!!
00:57:02 - Chasing perfection
00:57:38 - On feeling crazy…
00:59:01 - Common thread of Otto’s guitars
01:02:49 - Otto’s custom work is R&D for Eastman
01:04:09 - Why is Eastman different?
01:05:05 - Core components of Eastman line
01:06:15 - How Eastman’s designs materialize?
01:07:40 - Eastman’s decision frame: new models
01:09:03 - Eastman is building a new market!
01:11:14 - Custom shop vs. Mod shop?
01:15:01 - A sense of family…
01:17:09 - Look: Sunflower Guitar
01:19:40 - Look: the Allegro Guitar
01:24:39 - Look: the Angel City Guitar
01:32:57 - Saying goodbye
01:34:30 - Driving Home

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These links will make your life better:

D’Ambrosio Guitars: https://www.dambrosioguitars.com//
Otto on Instagram:   / ottodambrosio  

Eastman’s Website: https://www.eastmanguitars.com/
Eastman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastmanguit...

Mitchell Long plays the Angel City:    • Take 6 Mitchell Long on the D'Ambrosi...  
Mitchell Long plays the Allegro non-cutaway:    • Take 1 Mitchell Long improvising on a...  
Doug Martin burin’ on the Allegro cutaway:    • RMAF performance Demo by Doug Martin.  
Doug Martin plays the Allegro cutaway:    • Doug Martin paired with a Otto D'Ambr...  
Paul Asbell plays gorgeous music on a D’Ambrosio:    • Paul Asbell playing a D'Ambrosio Jazz...  

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Special thanks to Guitar Magic's Automotive Angels:

GoWesty – the leader in VW van support: https://gowesty.com/
TopShop Automotive – Santa Barbara’s VW gurus: https://www.topshopsb.com/

Much appreciation for the growing list of Guitar Magic’s Good Samaritans:

Action Figure Guitars https://www.actionfigureguitars.com/
Adam Levy’s Guitar Tips Pro   / guitartipspro  
Aidan
Brother Mehmet
Charlie
Christina
Decker
Doug
Eric
Howard
Irma
John & Wini
Keith
Lindsey
Liz
Spencer
Zac