Building Guitars for Jack White, Jimmy Page & Many More | Randy Parsons

Life With Strings Attached

Guitar builder Randy Parsons joins me to share some incredible stories on this week’s episode, including working with Jack White, using a cattle skull for the bracing of a guitar he made for Jimmy Page, how he came up with the 50,000-piece Red Queen in a single moment of spontaneity, how he moved his workshop from a former Hell Angels hideout to a century-old church in rural Kansas – and lots more.
Whether you’re interested in guitar making or not, this is well worth a listen to hear from someone who has led a fascinating life and – through sometimes bizarre and scarcely believable moments – built an amazing career as a guitar maker. Speaking with Randy provides so many insights on the nature of risk, the value of self-belief, the magic of hard work, and the strange force of serendipity.
I’m always thankful to get a chance to catch up with Randy, and I hope you’ll all enjoy listening.

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1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. The cost of everything is the life you are willing to exchange for it (00:02:29)

3. Hell's Angels hideout to Midwest castle (00:13:07)

4. A word from our sponsor (00:20:43)

5. The end of truly handmade instruments? (00:21:10)

6. Have we peaked as a species? (00:37:03)

7. There is some kind of magic in the guitar (00:43:58)

8. A spooky Guitar Center story Randy’s never told (00:54:58)

9. Join us on Patreon (01:04:54)

10. Building guitars for Jack White for ten years (01:05:38)

11. How a guitar made of 50,000 pieces came to be (01:15:20)

12. The challenge of presenting your work (01:24:53)