KT Vandyke
KT Vandyke specializes in repairing and restoring instruments, rather than building them from scratch. He has worked on guitars of all varieties, basses, mandolins, violins, dobros, drums, pianos, lap steels, and he’s sure there’s one or two that he is leaving out. Occasionally, he gets a unique instrument that comes through the door that he doesn’t even recognize.
“I grew up in a very musical family, and music has always been a major part of my life. I’ve always been interested in the various aspects of music and music making, whether it’s how a guitar is constructed, running live sound in production or studying theory. I’ve always been enamored by music.
“I’ve always been interested in working on instruments. I got my first opportunity to study under somebody while I was at East Tennessee State University. There, I took my first guitar maintenance class under Will Parsons,” Vandyke says.
After he graduated from ETSU, he moved to Abingdon, Virginia, and started working at Front Row Music, where he met Walter “Skip” Herman. Herman was a luthier with more than 50 years of experience, who was trained by renowned luthier Uncle Dave Sturgill of Alleghany County, North Carolina. Vandyke apprenticed under Herman for around three years. During that time, they were awarded the Virginia Department of Humanities Folklife Apprenticeship Grant and were given the honor to present their work at the Richmond Folk festival.
Vandyke purchased Frog Level Guitars from Herman in 2019 when Herman retired. Vandyke relies on his ideas and teachings on a regular basis and still uses some of Vandyke’s hand-built jigs. They still stay in touch, and Vandyke knows Herman is only a phone call away if he runs into an issue that could use his experience and expertise.
“When I was in college, my friends and I started our first real gigging and touring band, and it was around that time I remember telling my parents that I wanted to make a career in music. It didn’t really matter in what capacity. That mentality has led me to hold a lot of interesting jobs in the industry prior to becoming a luthier.
“I spent a good number of years working production and live sound for numerous touring bands, teaching music in classrooms and private lessons, being a talent buyer for a local festival and a couple venues, all the while performing and trying to pitch my songs. Each has its joys and challenges. These days I’m really enjoying the work I’m engaged in on the restoration front,” he says.
He offers a wide variety of repair services from setups, to cracks and structural repairs, fret work, neck resets and finishing. Every job that walks through his door is unique. After 10 years in the business, he’s learned that complacency is a recipe for disaster. He has to be very mindful not to cut any corners and always move with the utmost intention whenever he is working on an instrument. Whether it’s a 1940’s Gibson or a 2019 Schecter, he takes the utmost care of what is on his bench.
He uses a variety of different techniques within the realm of woodworking but also borrows from other disciplines. He does a lot of finishing repair and touch-up, which borrows a lot from the auto industry.
“Sometimes you have to get creative when a very severe job walks through your door. There’s been times where I’ve resorted to using carbon fiber and high-grade marine epoxies for major structural repairs. Obviously, there’s a lot of centuries old lutherie jigs, techniques and schools of thought that I rely on very regularly. In the restoration field, you have to get quite creative to find solutions to different problems. There’s certainly no one rule fits all, and sometimes you can find wonderful solutions in the most unlikely places — like marine boat repair or creative ways to use dental tools or design and build a specialty jig,” he says.
In addition to repairing instruments for individuals, he sells refurbished and restored instruments online and at the store. His instruments are found on Instagram and Facebook Marketplace. His shop is in Bristol, Virginia. You can see Vandyke performing throughout the Tri-Cities and greater region. He has a new collaborative recording project that he plans to release in the fall.
He can be reached at froglevelguitarshop@gmail.com.
