Meet Colin Warling | Luthier

We had the good fortune of connecting with Colin Warling and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Colin, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?

Having attended two universities and a city college by the time I was 23, I still hadn’t graduated with a bachelor’s degree. It just seemed expected that I was supposed to know my life path by graduation from high school, and then attend college, and become a fully functional human being. I’d changed majors multiple times and felt like I was going to end up behind a desk. I had a crummy job waiting tables at an Italian restaurant down the block from Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks, and felt like my life was failing to launch. Meanwhile, I watched several friends who had successful college careers become miserable people with monotonous jobs.

I found happiness playing in a band but was wearing down my guitar’s frets quickly. As I didn’t have the money to immediately buy a second guitar, I decided I would try to build one, buying what I could afford, when I could. My first guitar turned out better than expected, and paying for it in installments made it easy to afford. I promptly began to build a second! Each of these first guitars, though somewhat rudimentary in construction, sported two completely original body shapes. A friend turned me onto a school called Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery (stringed instrument construction), and my life was about to change. Within 6 months, I had enrolled, and moved to Arizona. I had discovered a secret door into the music business that would prove equally creative, fun, and fruitful.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

For fifteen years, I have been able to make my living as a guitar maker and repairman. It hasn’t always been easy, and I’ve made a lot of unconventional life choices that have led me to where I am. I walked away from college after changing my major five times at two universities and one city college. I was waiting tables and playing in a band, dreaming of a life as a professional musician in a sea of Los Angeles competition. After building two rudimentary guitars on my own, I discovered a new passion related to music and art. I attended luthiery school and quickly landed a job as a repairman at Westwood Music in 2008, right as the economy was crashing. After one year there, I was laid off, but found work for an archtop luthier in the San Pedro area. Again, finances dwindled, and I found myself surviving by the skin of my teeth, doing instrument repairs via craigslist. Expecting a repair call, I answered my phone one day to find myself talking to the person who would become my boss for the next eight years. His name was Roland, and he was planning to open a guitar shop in the Echo Park neighborhood. We met one night at the Downbeat Cafe, on the corner of Sunset Blvd & Alvarado St. He hired me, then walked me two doors down to the space that would become the Fretted Frog Guitar Shop.

During my eight years with the Fretted Frog, I built out the interiors of two guitar shop locations, while intimately learning how to operate a business. After constructing the shop, I remained the store luthier. Although I hadn’t made it as a professional musician, I found my own way into the music business. I’ve worked on over eight-thousand instruments, a feat that has steadily improved the quality of my own builds. I’ve also gotten to meet and work on instruments for many well-known musicians. After working on Sir Paul’s ukulele, I felt like I’d seen the top of my field and found myself increasingly disinterested in the daily grind of guitar repair. In less than a year, my partner Amanda and I decided to move to Portland, Oregon. We opened our own small guitar shop, Taborella Music but shut down because of the pandemic. I used that time to complete a history degree at Portland State University and briefly sought historically relevant jobs. While working slim hours for the Oregon Historical Society, I caught a job posting for a company that builds and repairs pipe organs. I have since been hired, and am now an apprentice, quickly learning next-level instrument engineering and repair.  I continue to build and sell high quality electric guitars, basses, and other instruments, each individually unique.

The lessons I’ve learned from life are to keep your eyes open, and don’t be afraid to take the leaps when they present themselves. Money comes and goes, but if you dwell on status, you can’t create honest art. The challenges I’ve faced from taking chances has led me to a present full of amazing experiences and memories.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

We would probably have to do a few hours at Amoeba to find some rare albums. Might even be fun to drop by Ametron and look at some cool music and pro-audio gear, and microphone and instrument cables galore – a hidden treasure! Hotel Cafe would probably be the evening spot of choice, and there are several great food spots in that vicinity.

There are several of my previous neighborhoods that I would love to take somebody. Highland Park has probably changed since I left, but was a really fun place to live in 2017. After breakfast at Berry bowl, we’d drive out to Eaton Canyon in Pasadena for a hike. Returning to Higland park, we’d clean up, hit the Greyhound for some drinks and food, and then catch a movie at the Highland Park theater. If the movie were out soon enough, we’d have to go across the street to the Bowling Alley – LA’s oldest bowling alley, revamped and looking awesome.

The next afternoon would include a stop off in Atwater Village. If it were Sunday, we’d go to the farmer’s market and get some Pupusas for an early lunch. After, we’d walk to the Out of the Closet, where I’ve found so many cool clothes, guitar straps, and more!

This person better like pizza, because I would take them to Masa in Echo Park on Sunset Blvd. If you never had a Chicago deepdish, and can’t afford the airfare, this is the most legitimate deep dish pizza that I know of in Los Angeles. There are a ton of awesome venues within walking distance, and east LA usually has more consistently good and interesting bands.

On another day, I’d want to hit the valley. DeFranko’s Sandwiches for lunch and Casa Vega for dinner. Done! A drive out through Topanga Canyon is a nice Valley afternoon.

Pasadena is where I was born, and also has great spots. Mijare’s Mexican restaurant is a hidden legend that has great food. Maybe we’d go there for dinner because we’d probably fill up on handmade candy after a visit to The Little Flower Cafe – on the cusp of Pasadena and Eagle Rock.

I hope this visitor loves food, because cliche or not, these are some of my favorite spots to eat in LA.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely my father. My dad was a History teacher who also played both guitar and Highland bagpipes as a hobbyist. As a youngster, I took piano lessons, but my dad always encouraged me to pick up other instruments as well as sing. When I couldn’t afford a piece of gear to take my musicianship to the next level, he’d either loan me what I needed, or help me buy it. I now play ten instruments, have a History degree, make guitars professionally, in addition to apprenticing for a company that builds/repairs pipe organs. While attempting to consciously avoid becoming my father, I have become an exponential version of him.

Website: www.WarlingGuitars

Instagram: @warlingguitars

Linkedin: Colin Warling

Other: Roberto-Venn School of Luthier Featured Alumni: https://roberto-venn.com/alumni-pages/featured-alumni/colin-warling/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6zvEea9ZNqa5HbIPGf6VtV