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Perry 00 Custom
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I met Darryl Perry about 25 years ago in my old neighborhood of Wolseley (Winnipeg). Darryl was a banjo maker and had a small storefront down the street from my house. His little shop served as a retail outlet for his banjos but he carried a few higher-end guitars as well. I bought my first hand-made guitar from Darryl. It was a Larivee that had been hanging unsold on his wall for a long time and he was about to send it back to the maker. I happened to walk in and he offered the guitar to me for cost (rather than send it back.). At the time I had no money, Nanci and I had a young family and I couldn’t imagine how I could possibly scare up the cash – but it was a deal of a lifetime and I needed a good instrument. So I went to a friend of mine, Stu Clark (now senior policy advisor for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, go figure) who graciously loaned me the money and I bought my first good guitar.
The Larivee was my main guitar for several years, and the guitar I played on Comfort My People and for most of Deep Calls to Deep. But around the time I was getting ready to record Deep, I received a call from Gord Johnson who asked if I had recently been to Darryl’s shop. Gord had just played a guitar Darryl had built and was quite knocked out by it (I only knew Darryl as a banjo maker). I tried one out and was so smitten by Darryl’s work I borrowed one to record the instrumental Cashe Island, and at the same time put in an order for one of his guitars.
My first Perry was a full size cutaway with European spruce soundboard and mahogany sides and back. Darryl’s guitars are characteristically loud and lively with deep controlled bass and fast and percussive mids and trebles. The mahogany softens and nuances the overall sound and the particular lightweightness that Darryl somehow manages with his guitars gives them a dynamic energy I’ve only experienced with his instruments. The fast attack and decay are brilliant for finger style but not as good for strumming or long-tone, single-note work. Unfortunately, difficult financial times forced me to sell that guitar a couple of years ago but it can still be heard as the dominant instrument on Burning Ember and The Feast. I miss that guitar. I named her Shannon because of the reddish tone of the mahogany, and because the first place I ever performed with her was in Ireland. It’s also the only guitar I’ve named.
I still do have another Perry though. It is the small 00 size parlor guitar featured above with European spruce soundboard and flaming Koa sides and back. It has all the features I’ve come to love in Darryl’s work; light, extremely responsive with a wide range of tones and colours. But the 00 is a small intimate guitar with a shorter string length. The shorter string length gives it a looser feel and the small body, although still wonderfully dynamic and nuanced, has a certain boxy sound unique to small body guitars – sounds great for bluesy feels and rags. There’s a bit of warble in the bottom end which you notice when recording. It’s workable, but you have to be aware of it.
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What I like least about this guitar is a feature I asked for – a slotted headstock. I really like the aesthetic of the slotted headstock but in the end, it’s a pain in the butt when changing strings. As a result, I tend to not change strings as often, and therefore, play it less often as I would otherwise. I wouldn’t request that feature again.
This guitar can be best heard on my Simple Songs CD as the guitar on Foxglove and the rhythm guitar on Done Made My Vow.
The difference between a luthier like Darryl compared to someone like Kevin Ryan is that Darryl never makes the same instrument twice and only makes one or two at a time. Therefore, he is micro-monitoring materials and finessing his work constantly with each instrument. Builders like Kevin develop a few different models and then proceed to replicate at a greater production rate, sometimes up to 25 instruments at a time. It’s hard to say which is a better method, or a better guitar. Guitars are, at a certain level, rather subjective – I can’t say I prefer one over the other – they look, feel and sound different and therefore you approach and play them different.
Unfortunately, Darryl makes few steel string guitars these days as he has made quite the name for himself as a Classical guitar builder. But if you can convince him to build you a steel string, you will have as good a guitar as can be made. Check out www.perwww.perryguitars.com for more information.
BTW arrivee rrivee is now in the possession of my brother-in-law Vince Fontaine - songwriter/ guitar player for Juno award winning Aboriginal group Eagle and Hawk.
-Steve B.
Posted on July 16th
I was up at Stony Mtn the other day, picking up an older Aria Pro electric for a friend of mine in Ottawa, who wanted to buy it, but needed it shipped. Where did I end up but in your old house. What a neat place….I was told it was wired for sound for you when you were younger…you’ll have to tell me that story someday. Anyway, quite an eccentric fellow has taken over your roost…
Anyway, love to hear about your guitars, and the guys who make them. I had a Gibson LG-1 for a bit, but I think you and I are diametrically opposed when it comes to sound. you don’t like pickups, and I play electric, so it’s mostly about the pickups….P-90s, Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates, et al. My favourite electric is also an acoustic, my Epiphone Les Paul Ultra 2, has a chambered body, and a “nanomag” pickup built into the 22nd fret. It comes out with an amazing acoustic sound, depending on your amplification.
And that’s all I have to say about that. Blessings, my friend, and I’ll see you around the Peg.
Jim