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Guitar tech hits right chord in retirement
McCOOK, Neb. - Retirement doesn’t always mean slowing down. Sometimes it means spending even more time doing what makes a person happy. What makes Dale Quinty of McCook happy is spending his days surrounded by Peaveys, Fenders, Hohners and the like.
Quinty picked up his first guitar 55 years ago, and though his girlfriend took it back after they broke up, he never gave up the hobby. His dad purchased a Silvertone Telecaster in 1972 for him soon after, and the guitar tech was born.
His parents were instrumental in developing his love of music. His father, William, was a jazz musician and leader for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command Band. He was labeled a musical genius by his peers. His musically inclined mother, Jean, was a singer with her church.
“I’ve been playing a long time, and you know, I mean, I’m not a virtuoso or anything, but I can play, and I do love playing,” said Quinty, who added that he also plays the flute. “I’m not a professional musician. I just like playing, and have for a long, long time.”
He’s been a part of a few bands, including worship team bands. He currently plays at First Assembly of God. One of the secular bands he belonged to used to practice at his shop, GuitFxr at 109 East 3rd, which he opened in 2018 as a result of annoying his wife, Jeri, with his abundance of guitars and repair supplies slowly creeping and spreading through the house.
“All the stuff I learned about instrument repair I learned from reading, mostly before I had the internet, and the rest just watching on YouTube. A lot of studying,” he said. “I have a pretty decent library of repair books. I also worked at cabinet making and learned a lot from the people I worked with at Kerr Cabinet and Design and Aspen Cabinet in Basalt, Colorado. I had a couple of guys that were decent luthiers teach me in the 90s.”
Quinty is the only strings repairman within a 100-mile radius, and while he only accepts work via appointments, he keeps just busy enough to enjoy his retirement from Golite in February.
“I never thought I’d be able to retire. I’m at a place right now where it’s almost, I hate to say it that way, but I’m looking at it more like a hobby,” said Quinty, explaining that it feels less like a job and more like a service now that he’s in retirement mode. “It’s a lot more fun. It’s something I really love to do.”
He doesn’t sell instruments in his shop due to a lack of local demand, but he does carry some effects boards and other equipment.
“This is an ag community. This isn’t rock and roll heavy. Most people here, I’ll say I bet it’s close to 60 to 65 percent of people that have guitars here, they get them, and they play them for a little bit, then they put them back in the corner. That’s the way it is around here,” Quinty said.
Staying away from guitar sales allows him to pour his energy into making each repair perfect. Picking up a handful of wooden bridges for an acoustic repair, Quinty noted his displeasure with a flaw.
“This one I have to redo, because I don’t like that little spot right there. Although I may do something about that,” he said, pointing to another annoyance on the wood. “Well, it’s got to be kind of perfect.”
His need to be as close to perfect as possible isn’t exactly out of personal drive. The accuracy of his work directly affects whether an instrument functions at peak performance and maintains its value, particularly when it comes to collectors’ items.
Quinty, who will be 69 in November, says he’s enjoying having more time to work on set-ups, tuning and repairs for all things with strings. He is currently in the process of rehairing bows for a couple of violins.
He’s just shy of being a luthier, he said. Luthiers build guitars, but since he’s only built two and he didn’t feel they were up to par, he doesn’t want to be considered a luthier.
During the three years prior to his retirement, Quinty said he hadn’t been down to the shop much, and almost thought about throwing in the towel.
“Every time I get into that state of mind, something comes along that has to do with that,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Usually, it’s after I’ve prayed about it. I’m really thinking God’s blessed me with this.”
Quinty’s not sure he wants to take on any more braggable-type gigs, though, like the time in the 80s he was a guitar tech for Mick Fleetwood Blues Group, headed by Fleetwood Mac co-founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood. It was his job to set up the concert equipment, as well as tune their guitars. He also had to prepare the backup guitars for when they were needed on stage and handle any equipment malfunctions.
“I just want to have fun with [the shop]. I’m getting older, and we’re retired. So, I’m going to do some stuff that I want to do.” he said. “I think I’m going to start doing a little bit more now, you know, since I’ve got the time, because it’s a fun gig to be in. It’s really fun to do.”
Appointments at GuitFxr can be made by contacting Quinty at (308) 340-7694, dalequinty@protonmail.com or on the GuitFxr Facebook page.