NORTHFIELD — A Gibson Les Paul hangs on the wall at 62A Main St. But you’re not likely to see Owen Davidson playing it.
Though he knows how, he’s more interested in the instrument’s mechanics. This fascination has led to the establishment of Owen Davidson Guitars, which he opened April 1 after working as a repairman at Downtown Sounds in Northampton for 25 years. The modest shop he rents is tucked behind the Northfield Creamie stand.
Davidson said business started off slowly, but it has been picking up faster than he expected. His customers range from professional musicians, to hobbyists, to beginners. His project Thursday afternoon was a guitar banjo. He said what makes a guitar banjo is six strings (as opposed to four or five) and strumming it like a guitar.
The tools — including clamps, screwdrivers, wrenches, a band saw, a belt sander and a drill press — that occupy his shop assist him in his craft. He dabbles in guitars and other stringed instruments like bouzoukis, balalaikas (which Paul McCartney asks to hear ringing out in “Back in the U.S.S.R.”) and mandolins.
Davidson attended college to become a cartoonist, though he never completed a degree. Now, at 66, he is a guitar repairman with 38 years of experience under his belt.
Though primarily in the repair game, Davidson also sells guitars, which hang on the wall. He also has drumsticks, conga drums and a xylophone for sale, as well as harmonicas and kazoos behind the counter.
Also on the wall behind the front counter is a picture of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. The ill-fated freighter, which sank in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975, was immortalized in a song by Gordon Lightfoot a year later.
“Being from the Buffalo area … I almost wanted to ship out on one. But I never did,” Davidson said. “I think they’re probably the most beautiful boats in the world. The Edmund Fitzgerald was kind of the last of its kind. All the ones that survived were converted to self-unloaders.”
But this interest isn’t the only thing that makes Davidson fond of Lightfoot, a Canadian guitarist and singer-songwriter.
“That was my first attempt at learning guitar … ‘If You Could Read My Mind,’” Davidson said of the Lightfoot song released in 1970.
More information about Davidson’s shop is available at owendavidsonguitars.com. The business also has a Facebook page. The phone number is 413-498-4400.
The shop is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. It is closed Sundays and Mondays.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.