Profile – Randy Lucas

Acoustic Guitar Magazine

by David McCarty

To help prepare himself to be interviewed for Acoustic Guitar, Randy Lucas sat down and wrote out a two page, single-spaced list of the attributes that make a Lucas guitar unique and different from other instruments on the market today. That meticulous, get-the-details-just-right attitude also is reflected in his approach to building some of the world’s finest steel-string flattop acoustic guitars.

Since starting his guitarmaking enterprise in 1993, the Columbus, Indiana-based luthier (Lucas Custom Instruments, PO. 1404, Columbus, IN 47202, 812-342-3093, www.lucasguitars.com, rwlucas@mail.hsonline.net) has quickly established a national reputation for creating superb guitars based on traditional flattops from the 1930s and ‘40s. The signature model guitar he designed for Lonesome River Band guitarist Kenny Smith, twice a winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s prestigious “Guitarist of the Year” award, is so popular that Lucas is presently about three years backordered for that D-18-inspired instrument and other traditional models aimed primarily toward a bluegrass and flatpicking guitar audience.

For most luthiers, such success would be enough. But Randy Lucas is a man burning with creative ideas and the energy to make his dreams real. “I look at my career now as being in transition,” he tells Acoustic Guitar. “I’m evolving from more traditional guitar styles to a design that’s not traditional, but that also isn’t anything really radical. I’m pretty conservative in taking departural steps. You won’t see anything weird coming out of my shop. I’m currently developing new guitar outlines that borrow from the past, but that step into the future to offer players something new.”

By first establishing an extensive background in building dreadnoughts, OM’s and other older designs, Lucas feels he has given himself a solid foundation upon which he can add his own design concepts. “If you start with a traditional design and then implement changes to that design, you have more control over the outcome. You can determine how that one change actually affects the sound of the guitar,” he explains.

Another key element he sees as the future of all modern guitar design is the need to develop instruments that are easier and more comfortable to play. Issues including body depth, the edges of the instrument where they contact the player’s body, the shape and width of the neck, and more all are influencing how he sees Lucas guitars evolving in the future.

“A lot of players now in their forties and fifties are having trouble playing traditional instruments due to tendonitis and arthritis. They’re migrating to smaller guitars that are easier to play,” he says. “Young players also want longevity in their playing career, and many would prefer to start on a guitar that’s comfortable to play with less chance of long-term injury. I want my instruments to be comfortable to play while providing fingerstyle and flatpick players the sound they want in a guitar.”

While continuing to offer buyers the traditional models that have been the backbone of his successful business as an instrument builder, Lucas will augment his line with two post-traditional models starting in early 2001. Both guitars will retain the well-understood scalloped, X-braced pattern, but will be carefully modified to project a more balanced, open tone. The first guitar will be a “small jumbo,” which will be a more rounded version of an OM model. That guitar will have a slightly deeper body than a standard OM, leading Lucas to conclude that it will project a sound similar to the mid-1930’s Gibson Nick Lucas (no relation) models that have become so popular with players today. The other new Lucas Custom Instruments model will be a “large jumbo” shaped similarly to the Gibson J-185, but with a shallower body depth to retain its tonal balance while making the instrument easier to hold.

In addition to improving the ergonomics of his guitars, Lucas strongly believes that as a custom builder, he can build the finest guitars possible only by using the very highest quality materials. “I think at least half the sound of a guitar is inherent in the materials selected,” he insists. By approaching each instrument as a unique entity being built to the tonal requirements of a specific guitarist, Lucas uses his long experience building and repairing instruments to factor in elements such as the differences in density, stiffness, hardness and other variables to get the best sound possible. His determination to produce only the best-sounding instruments he’s capable of has recently led him to sell off his supplies of lesser-grade Brazilian rosewood and stockpile only the finest grades of Brazilian, Honduran mahogany, Adirondack spruce and other “Holy grail” tonewoods for his instruments.

In the future, Lucas hopes to see his business split 50/50 between traditional and post-traditional designs. “A lot of players are exploring new boundaries in acoustic guitar music, so this seems like a good time to be offering guitarists something that’s a little different,” he believes. “What I’m hoping to do is implement features in the post-traditional models that will make people want to buy those over the traditional models. They can’t just be different; they’ve got to be good.”