The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Posts 1 to 15 of 15
  1. #1

    User Info Menu

    Maudie died in a few months ago and was living in the Kalamazoo area for many decades. She was 80.

    Her contribution to modern guitars was perhaps subtle but pervasive. This humble girl took a factory job at Gibson and developed engraving skills that grace some of the finest guitars in the world.

    Here is an interview with her.


    Here is another. Maudie Moore | Oral Histories | NAMM.org

    She was much loved and a kind soul. I was impressed with her generosity and humility. Despite being past her mid 70s and taking care of her disabled husband, she offered to open up her engraving shop above her garage to do some work for me. She had not been in that room for two years.

    Here are photos of her personal guitar, which really was a showpiece, not a player. She did the engraving. You may not care for the style, but my hope is that you appreciate the detail and craftsmanship.

    I am sad that she is no longer with us, and the world is a lesser place now. Think about her and others like her from time to time. It is their sweat that built the guitars we cherish.


    Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830115376_24aa066feb_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830231903_f34f00a20a_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830231888_3ab4e33a0c_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830231878_1a5faafc83_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830838225_df4dde6731_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830115431_be27baf945_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830115421_c9f7337be8_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830115401_fcc100381a_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51830231843_0a4eec203f_c-jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-09e0d8ac-e707-4584-83b0-f77a8eb2cc4b-thumb-jpeg-24d56719dcc5067910097542c63d07bf-jpeg Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-45fee81e-84be-4e99-90f2-13fd1bc64258-thumb-jpeg-5e79d2141563f61f9a8b609c3e0f9a2d-jpeg Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-02dd70d7-a422-450a-b601-9f2c3d5ada1b-thumb-jpeg-560269f15881ab460cab1848939dabc5-jpeg Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-e0e5477e-4208-4edd-9a53-24aa4295231b-thumb-jpeg-a717ef057f91fe9118b73e7622dae49e-jpeg Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-248c0a28-a352-4502-a179-05d8bb15bd4e-thumb-jpeg-fc510267f069d557717c14844460b60c-jpeg Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-9d13df5c-9850-4e94-bdc9-50bb7c996213-thumb-jpeg-3368de1ce4d4a487926425ab3f0f183e-jpeg Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-ce43a199-4b41-4351-8376-119b4e259ed7-thumb-jpeg-8c635ad4b81a6dc27f84a2466affc2e3-jpeg Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-db39eec4-7d27-49b6-ae89-4a74aac01429-thumb-jpeg-54bd3b76a5a9aa1d01e2cb638769f587-jpeg 
    Last edited by Marty Grass; 01-19-2022 at 12:12 PM.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

    User Info Menu

    What fabulous work! That really makes the guitar “one of a kind”, as well as playable art.

  4. #3

    User Info Menu

    That's nice Marty. Thanks for sharing this.

  5. #4

    User Info Menu

    She surely will be missed
    I am very fortunate that I have a number of examples of her fine work, not only do I own a American Eagle but I also have a number of Unity guitars with fine engraving on the tail piece is that she did

    RIP

  6. #5

    User Info Menu

    What a gal! They don't make 'em like that anymore. You're lucky to have known her.

  7. #6

    User Info Menu

    Holy mackerel man

    I looked At the pictures of the labels and realized that that is a sweet 16 American Eagle

    truly gorgeous work

    Big

  8. #7

    User Info Menu

    I wonder what year the simplification of the Heritage Eagle headstock inlay took place, and if happened when:
    -Maudie Moore stopped doing the inlay work for Heritage;
    -Heritage started to use abalone for the branch.
    Or, did she continue to make the simplified Eagle inlay?
    Attached Images Attached Images Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-heritage-eagle-inlay-jpg 

  9. #8

    User Info Menu

    What a nice tribute Marty. Now if i could just play as well as she engraved....
    tnx for doing this.

  10. #9

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Crm114
    Holy mackerel man

    I looked At the pictures of the labels and realized that that is a sweet 16 American Eagle

    truly gorgeous work

    Big
    Maudie Moore's personal American Eagle Sweet 16.

  11. #10

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Hammertone
    I wonder what year the simplification of the Heritage Eagle headstock inlay took place, and if happened when:
    -Maudie Moore stopped doing the inlay work for Heritage;
    -Heritage started to use abalone for the branch.
    Or, did she continue to make the simplified Eagle inlay?
    There were a few changes made to the higher end Eagles over a couple of years. All of them saved money aside from the abalone branch inlay. The first was five instead of seven layer binding by the fretboard, which reduced labor a fair amount, the extra layers of binding taking proportionately more time and skill. Next, the inlay on the back of the headstock was dropped after 1000 Golden Eagles were made. The bridge base inlays vanished. The tailpiece evolved from a lot of elegance to an Allparts finger style. The headstock stinger become a billable option.

    The one argument for one change that I can appreciate is going from a seven to a five layer binding on the neck. The headstock always had five layers. The transition to seven is perhaps sub-elegant. I don't fully buy that. The other changes were due to cost constraints.

    This is a 1996 GE.

    Tribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51601387719_6ef8b08596_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51037339527_43347dba56_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51807867828_31d0a13ee8_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51037338687_09efd6eabd_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51600941268_bf40b2c69c_c-jpgTribute to Maudie Moore (RIP)-51600727716_45561a7b9b_c-jpg

  12. #11

    User Info Menu

    Like Big Mike, I have a Unity that features Maudie's engraving. Beautiful guitar.

  13. #12

    User Info Menu

    Maudie told me that one of her last custom jobs was to put fret markers in the shape of frogs and in green.

  14. #13

    User Info Menu

    One of the many unsung heroines of our art. Thanks, MG!

  15. #14

    User Info Menu

    When Gibson was still in Kalamazoo didn’t Maudie do all the engraving on all of the truss rod covers ??

  16. #15

    User Info Menu

    I don't know if she was the only one but maybe.