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Bill Lewis Guitar Vancouver B.C.

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#42 ·
J Riff said:
The teachers that I remember 1976-90ish are: Reg Block, Mike Mao, Steven Boswell, Kim Clarke, Rueben Gurr, Bruce Webster, Craig McCaw, Barry Hall, Jamie Bowers, Michael Guild, Pat Coleman, Ted Quinlan Rene Wurst and myself, Jack Matthews. I'm forgetting a few probably.
Downstairs was the repair crew, Ken McBride, Ed Myronyk and Aichee!
Jack jtheriffer@hotmail.com
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I spent a lot of time at Bill Lewis Music from about 12 years old (1976) and on into the 80's First I would just buy sheet music, guitar picks and magazines and then when I was 13 or 14, I manged to get lessons with Jim MacKenzie for a short time. He taught me Frampton, Zeppelin, and Stones songs. That for me was mind blowing. I could finally make sounds similar to music.

The store had a very cool atmosphere and music was all around. I couldn't play it but I found myself buying Segovia sheet music and looking at a variety of different types of music or just hanging out listening to others.

A year or two after I had my stint learning from Jim MacKenzie, I studied with Reg Block. He was a master guitarist and although I wasn't really mature enough to take advantage of all he had to offer I learned quite a bit. I probably still have the Elementary Rudiments of Music and The Modern Method for Guitar books that were part of my studies. I wanted to rock but he taught me jazz and theory. I still recall a great deal of what he taught me. He also turned me onto Ibanez guitars which were displayed in the showroom. I've still got my 1981 AS100 and I also added a 1981 AR100 to the mix.

those were great times for me and Bill Lewis Music will always be a large part of my memories. I'm so glad I stumbled onto this discussion.

Cheers,
Andrew Wasson
 
#45 ·
Polly Wilson said:
Still interested in buying a Bill Lewis electric, and would appreciate an email if anyone knows of one for sale. play squeeze@gmail.com
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The last time I talked to Les Clarke "CustomBuilt here on GC" he had been advertising his Bill Lewis electric on eBay. He had just cancelled the eBay listing. I think the offers were a little lower than what he expected at that time. Not sure if he ever sold it though. His email was clarkeles@yahoo.com.
 
#49 · (Edited)
Time to resurrect the Bill Lewis thread haha!

My friend Don Ogilvie owns a Bill Lewis electric guitar. He bought it from the Broadway shop.

I've played bass with Don since 1972. Don also owns a Michael Dunn Maccaferri guitar that Michael built for him in 1974. Some of the wood was fetched out of the Fraser river.

I'll see if Don can post some pics of his Lewis guitar. I'm sure there is an anecdote to go along with that guitar. I'd love to convince Don to play that guitar (with me on Alembic) for Kitsilano Days (Khatsahlano Street Party) with some hippy music :)
 
#51 ·
Very cool thread. I'm glad it comes back every once in a while. I have fond memories of taking lessons there in the early 70's. I lived in North Van and took the bus out to West Broadway every Thursday night. The teacher had long bushy hair and a beard. I can't remember his name. He was a very good guitar player who was trying to teach me finger picking on a Vox 12 string acoustic I had at the time. I told him my favourite player was Brownie McGhee and he told me that he had a chance to play with Brownie when he was at the Egress on Beatty Street. When I called him on it he played some Brownie licks that were very, very good. I never did get the hang of finger picking but I still listen to a lot of Brownie McGhee.
 
#52 ·
J Riff said:
Does anyone know where Ed Myronyk has ended up? Would be interesting to know where all the teachers are now, but Ed did some real guitar innovating, I hope he is out there. He used to go to Thailand fairly regular. Anyway... jtheriffer@hotmail.com.... what's up Ed?
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Dear Ed Myronyk has left the building for the final encore on June 30, 2018 in Vancouver BC. I am putting together a celebration of his life and guitars likely in October at the earliest.
 
#54 ·
Its nice to go back and re read some old posts like these it really brings back some memories that are starting to fade for me and warms my heart. It is a total shame that these days we have no shops like Bill's or even the Med. shop in Vancouver where you could go and share stories and playing tech's and such and the builders we have had here that folks hardly know about.
All I can really add anymore is that it has been my great pleasure to have met and enjoyed so many great folks from that time and that space and because of it it has given me such joy and pleasure to play guitar and how it has kept me going for all of those years. Not to even mention all the players I have gotten to meet because of these two little shops.
I just wish I could have given back even more then I had gotten but I feel I can never give enough back other then to encourage young folks to pick up a guitar and enjoy the hell out of it and making sure that my grand kids at least try to learn before I forget even more.
Also Lyra if you read this did you ever get around to writing the book about your father and the shop if you had ping me back so I can go out and get it and enjoy more stories about Bill.
 
#56 ·
Casey86 said:
Time to resurrect the Bill Lewis thread haha!
Casey86 said:
Time to resurrect the Bill Lewis thread haha!

My friend Don Ogilvie owns a Bill Lewis electric guitar. He bought it from the Broadway shop.

I've played bass with Don since 1972. Don also owns a Michael Dunn Maccaferri guitar that Michael built for him in 1974. Some of the wood was fetched out of the Fraser river.

I'll see if Don can post some pics of his Lewis guitar. I'm sure there is an anecdote to go along with that guitar. I'd love to convince Don to play that guitar (with me on Alembic) for Kitsilano Days (Khatsahlano Street Party) with some hippy music :)
Click to expand...
My friend Don Ogilvie owns a Bill Lewis electric guitar. He bought it from the Broadway shop.

I've played bass with Don since 1972. Don also owns a Michael Dunn Maccaferri guitar that Michael built for him in 1974. Some of the wood was fetched out of the Fraser river.

I'll see if Don can post some pics of his Lewis guitar. I'm sure there is an anecdote to go along with that guitar. I'd love to convince Don to play that guitar (with me on Alembic) for Kitsilano Days (Khatsahlano Street Party) with some hippy music :)
Click to expand...
Polly Wilson said:
Still interested in buying a Bill Lewis electric, and would appreciate an email if anyone knows of one for sale. playsqueeze@gmail.com
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Hi Polly,
I own one of the guitars that your brother built, circa 1969/1970...it was built for me when I was about 17 years old.
I am not ready to sell it, but I am wondering if you would like to physically see it,and hold it, as I imagine it must mean a lot to you to see one of the beautiful instruments your brother helped create. I live in the greater Vancouver area, and I believe we were in touch about 10 years ago. Price is always a stickler...they were rare and somewhat infamous guitars.
All the best, Nigel
 
#57 ·
Reviving an old thread.

I loved reading all the great stories about the wonderful Lewis guitars.

I would love to gather more information on the electrics built. Even trivial bits of info are scarce on the internet.
Like; what’s the scale length? What is the nut size? Neck thickness, overall length/width etc.

If anyone is willing to share that information or more it would be much appreciated. You can post here or message me.

I want the beauty of these fine instruments to be documented and accessible for prosperity.

thanks for reading,
 
#58 ·
Dkm4ever said:
Reviving an old thread.

I loved reading all the great stories about the wonderful Lewis guitars.

I would love to gather more information on the electrics built. Even trivial bits of info are scarce on the internet.
Like; what’s the scale length? What is the nut size? Neck thickness, overall length/width etc.

If anyone is willing to share that information or more it would be much appreciated. You can post here or message me.

I want the beauty of these fine instruments to be documented and accessible for prosperity.

thanks for reading,
Click to expand...
did you ever find out any of the detailed information about these guitars?
 
#59 ·
I just received a Bill Lewis acoustic. I had never heard of them before. It's a classical guitar but may be a flamenco design as it seems thinner. Also the wood of the instrument looks like rosewood back and sides where as the flamenco guitars I've seen generally are made of cypress. That's all I know. I received it this morning and had to come to work. From the conversations here it seems that Bill's more famous instruments are the electric. Is there anyway to date the one I have? It is beautiful with a stunning sound. I could post other pictures later tonight.
Image
 
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