NEW YORK--In west Greenwich Village, in an apartment building along Hudson Street above a green grocery awning, a master craftsman is quietly plying a trade that is centuries old.
Ric McCurdy, an old-school craftsman with training and advice from some of the best luthiers in the world, hand crafts his signature archtops and solid-body electrics in his workshop there for a select group of musicians and collectors including Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Abercrombie and Sheryl Bailey.
McCurdy builds his guitars in the same neighborhood that has housed C.F. Martin, Gibson, Guild and Epiphone factories from as long ago as the mid-1800’s. In the early-to-mid- 1900’s John D’Angelico, whose art-deco instruments became synonymous with perfect tone and playability, and his protégé, Jim D’Aquisto, created legendary guitars at a shop on Kenmare Street, also within walking distance of McCurdy’s studio.
