Grant MacNeill Retirement Announcement - The Twelfth Fret

Grant MacNeill, owner, and founder of The Twelfth Fret Guitar Shop in Toronto.

The Twelfth Fret will celebrate our 45th anniversary on June 1st of 2022, and I am here today to announce my planned retirement on that date.

45 years, it is hard to believe!  It has been a great adventure, with countless wonderful memories and I have so many people to thank!

My first business partner, Dan Charman, sadly passed away in September.  We opened the shop together in 1977, then Dan moved to Pender Island, BC in 1984. 

Pat Keenan was my first employee, has been my webmaster and right-hand man for decades. 

In the early days, we had Mike Zimmerman, Marcus Vichert, Jean Farr, Billy Arbour,  Rob Libby, Rob Sagar, Mark Caruana, the late, great Eric Pykala,  Rod Phelan, Russ Lackey, Gerry Markman,  Steve McPhee, Mike Cabeldu, Doug Cameron,  George Rizanyi, Alain Brouard ,Tim Cameron, Tony Farr, and the late John (Buzzy) Burak.

And Master Luthiers; Gordon Barry, Jay Hlady, Scott Sheppard, Dave Hill, Douglas Harrison, and the late Brian Miller. And recent additions; Anne Hartman and Ken Newfield.  All these fine people played essential roles.

The late Cam Roberts designed our computer system during the 80s and 90s, and without Cam’s contribution, we could never have grown the company.

The Twelfth Fret School of Music with Richard Smyth, John Tilden and all the other talented guitar and bass teachers, plus Ed Kopala who ran the music school these many years, I thank them all!

Carla Hoyer, our bookkeeper who for decades has kept things running smoothly and Helen Rigler who now fulfills that essential role.

Special thanks to my best friends and brothers-in-arms, Chris Bennett and Brian Dickie, have helped me so much along the way.

Dave Wren was my business partner from 1990 for 18 years. Dave got our first-generation web site up and running in ‘96. 
Sales staff: Mike Gray, Nevin Douglas, Jeremy Rouse plus Vicki Gray who is our social media manager and on-line sales programmer - have all have done so much to keep the shop running through these difficult Covid times.  

And of course, Max Moy, my store manager and right-hand man.

Well over 50 individuals have made The Twelfth Fret what it is today!

It has been a privilege to work with all these wonderful people.

In the industry, those who helped and mentored me in the early days; Bill Longley at MES, Robert Godin, Fred Gretsch, The Gibson Kalamazoo Factory, Dean Markley, Larry DiMarzio, Harold Rhodes, Fender Musical Instruments, Ron Valeriote at Guelph Music.  And later, Deering Banjo, National Resophonic Guitars, John Larrivee, Gary Richardson, Amrik Singh.  And in Spain, Amalia Ramirez, 4th generation leader of the famous Spanish guitar-making family.  And my old friend, Jordi Juliá Anduix of Alhambra guitars.

And finally, our Customers!  I am grateful and honoured that so many of you, over 40,000 individuals,  have entrusted your prized possessions to us - to restore and repair.  And sought our advice - to choose the next fine instrument to enjoy, and to make music with for generations to come.

And those who relied on us to sell their vintage instruments - family heirlooms collected over a lifetime and now passed to new custodians to enjoy.

We were all so young when I opened the shop in ’77 - and we have grown older together.  In these past 45 years, guitars and guitar-making have enjoyed a true “coming of age”. It was an exciting time to own a guitar shop!  Improved glues, finishes, wood seasoning, assembly processes plus endless experimentation, vastly increased our understanding of what made these wonderful vintage instruments sound so great.  And now, luthiers can routinely reproduce those once mysterious characteristics. We now see hundreds of independent luthiers following their dreams, AND making a living wage, building the finest instruments in history.

What does the future hold for The Twelfth Fret Guitar Shop?

The Twelfth Fret is unique in this world…there is nothing quite like it.
It is well-run by a motivated and knowledgeable staff.
And, we are blessed with a loyal clientele who are as passionate about guitars as we are.

So frankly, I think the Twelfth Fret will be just fine. The ideal person is no doubt, waiting in the wings to assume ownership and carry on into the future.

Sue and I look forward to seeing you all again, when The Twelfth Fret celebrates its 50th and 60th anniversaries.

My heartfelt thanks to you all, my friends!

Grant MacNeill
===============================

Sign Grant's Guestbook:
https://www.12fret.com/grants-retirem...