is an orphan as no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . october 2010 saint blues guitar workshop is a manufacturer of high end boutique electric guitars from memphis tennessee . the company was born out of the custom guitar division of strings & things music store in memphis and rose early with a tide of support from prominent guitar players from around the world but originally only lasted for a 5 year run in the 1980s . after a 16 year hiatus the company was rejuvenated by some local memphis investors and is now making high quality electric guitars similar to the likes of tom keckler and james tyler . the guitars have a signature look that comes from their standard nitro cellulose binding front & back on the bluesmaster unique shapes and a recognizable headstock . saint blues offers 4 standard models all with an open menu of customization options available . saint blues guitar workshop industry musical instrument manufacturing founded 1984 founders tom keckler charlie lawing and chris lovell headquarters memphis tennessee usa area served global key people tom keckler bryan m eagle iii jeff and teri cox products boutique electric guitars and cigar box guitars owner bryan m eagle iii jeff and teri cox number of employees 6 subsidiaries woogie board website saintblues.com contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 collapse 1.3 rebirth 1.4 the present 2 instruments 2.1 workshop series 2.2 juke joint series 2.3 cigar box guitars 2.4 gallery 3 artists who use saint blues instruments 4 references 5 external links history edit early years edit saint blues guitars was founded in memphis tennessee by tom tk keckler charles lawing and chris lovell . the bluesmaster body was first designed at the legendary strings and things music store built from a fender telecaster tom keckler was looking to change . in 1978 keckler joined schecter guitar research to make custom one off guitars that would show off the schecter components . the resulting guitars not only showed the quality of the components but eventually helped move schecter from a parts supplier to a full guitar manufacturing company . in 1983 tom keckler moved back to memphis to continue his guitar work . with his connections to schecter and now back in the saddle with his former colleagues tom keckler helped form saint blues guitars with the owners of strings & things in 1984 . the first saint blues model the bluesmaster was that body shape that tk had created some years prior . collapse edit saint blues guitars quickly got into the hands of eric clapton 1 bono albert king rick derringer elliot easton marshall crenshaw glenn frey billy gibbons and more . in five years saint blues had made over 2 500 instruments but the company was shut down in 1989 due to the economic climate that included the increasing value of the yen vs. the dollar sliding sales and the desire of strings & things to move their focus back to sales and services . rebirth edit with brand loyalty still very high and vintage models appreciating in value a private group relaunched saint blues in 2005 under a corporate holding company called legendary gear with tom keckler behind the design and quality control . the company had a pro series built in korea sharing a manufacturer with gretsch and a workshop series built here in the usa . all saint blues guitars have been finished and set up in memphis . they made a number standard guitar models a bass guitar the king blues and a wide array of custom creations including the andrew wells vanwyngarden of mgmt signature model . the memphis rock n soul museum has a permanent exhibit to honor the 25th anniversary of the creation of saint blues guitar workshops . 2 the present edit since 2011 the company has turned its focus solely to the workshop series all handmade in the usa designed assembled and set up in memphis tennessee . saint blues is currently making four versions of electric guitars and various cigar box guitars . in addition they plan to move back into bass guitar models sometime in the future . saint blues facility is in memphis tennessee at 645 marshall avenue 38103 just down from sun studios . the facility has vintage saint blues models on display with current models in a showroom that includes a large mural detailing their history . you can sit at the whammy bar and watch them making the guitars right there in house . in addition head luthier tom keckler is around the shop in the afternoons and available to work on your personal instruments while also keen to talk to visitors about the history of saint blues memphis music and music in general . instruments edit workshop series edit the workshop series feature guitars of the finest quality with a vintage nitro finish . all workshop series guitars are available with brent lollar pickups or lindy fralin pickups . bluesmaster the original 61 south a hollow body version mississippi bluesmaster dual splittable humbucker pickup version blindsider alternate body style juke joint series edit the juke joint series offers a more affordable high quality made in memphis guitar . all juke joints feature a satin finish kent armstrong pickups and are available in many different colors . bluesmaster the original tele style guitar mississippi bluesmaster available with either splittable humbuckers or tapped p90 s. cigar box guitars edit 4 string tuned in open g 3 string tuned in open g gallery edit early 1980s pre bluesmaster iv artists who use saint blues instruments edit albert king armando cepeda bb cunningham billy gibbons billy squier buck dharma buck hutcheson chris henderso dave edmunds dizzy g. gillespie donald duck dunn donnie van zant eliott easton eric gales dave williams george kooymans glenn frey harold henkel james payne jasin todd jeff carlisi joe walsh john roth jon ashton keith scott luther dickinson marshall crenshaw myles goodwin nick daniels phil bogard reggie scanlan rick derringer robbie shakespeare ron butler shea sowell tom t bone wolk tony smith zach myers james alexander tom holland michael powers hoddy ridarick skip pitts super chikan john d amato dewayne mcknight ron butler nil jones olaf hermann dann glenn earl chinna smith kirk smithhart cookie chavis cody dickinson jeremiah lipscomb thomas gabriel fischer references edit 1 . retrieved may 6 2010 . 2 . retrieved may 6 2010 . external links edit saint blues official site saint blues official myspace saint blues facebook saint blues 2011 catalog 61 south review namm oral history interview with tom keckler january 7 2009 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title saint blues guitar workshop & oldid 729104831 categories guitar manufacturing companiescompanies based in memphis tennesseemanufacturing companies based in tennesseehidden categories orphaned articles from october 2010all orphaned articlespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools 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