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Lance McCollum
All of us here at Acoustic Guitar are sorry to report that luthier Lance McCollum passed away over the weekend. Lance was a vital member of the northern California guitar community. His career and recognition grew steadily through his participation in events like the Healdsburg Guitar Festival (Lance was an exhibitor from the very beginning), and his association with players such as Alex de Grassi, Todd Hallawell, and Richard Leo Johnson. Lance wasn’t afraid to tackle unusual instruments, offering Baritones before they were commonplace, and even offering a harp guitar design.
Acoustic Guitar featured a profile on Lance in the November 1998 issue, and our readers recognized him with a well-deserved Players’ Choice Award in the Small Scale Custom Makers category in 2004.
Most recently, Lance took his talents to Voyage-Air Guitars, where he assisted in developing the company’s radical folding-neck guitars, and he represented the company at the 2009 NAMM show last month. I had a nice chat with Lance during this NAMM show, as I always did when we saw each other at various events, and little did I know that it would be the last time I’d see him.
Our thoughts are with Lance’s family and friends in these difficult times.
Here’s a post from another forum, by Lance’s longtime friend, fellow luthier Hank Mauel:
It is with great sadness that I write of the passing of Lance McCollum.
He suffered an aortic aneurism early Sunday morning. He was rushed into emergency surgery at Auburn Faith Hospital but the damage was too
massive to overcome.
Please pray for his wife Dawn and their children in this hour of need.
There will be no memorial service per his wishes. He will be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea over the Southern California area he
surfed as a youth.
He will be greatly missed by a broad group of people, myself at the top of the list.
He was a friend, mentor, musician, luthier and all around great guy.
Please direct any correspondence to my email and I will forward it to his wife, Dawn, at the appropriate time.
Hank Mauel
Mauel Guitars
whmauel[at]mauelguitars.com
Acoustic Guitar featured a profile on Lance in the November 1998 issue, and our readers recognized him with a well-deserved Players’ Choice Award in the Small Scale Custom Makers category in 2004.
Most recently, Lance took his talents to Voyage-Air Guitars, where he assisted in developing the company’s radical folding-neck guitars, and he represented the company at the 2009 NAMM show last month. I had a nice chat with Lance during this NAMM show, as I always did when we saw each other at various events, and little did I know that it would be the last time I’d see him.
Our thoughts are with Lance’s family and friends in these difficult times.
Here’s a post from another forum, by Lance’s longtime friend, fellow luthier Hank Mauel:
It is with great sadness that I write of the passing of Lance McCollum.
He suffered an aortic aneurism early Sunday morning. He was rushed into emergency surgery at Auburn Faith Hospital but the damage was too
massive to overcome.
Please pray for his wife Dawn and their children in this hour of need.
There will be no memorial service per his wishes. He will be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea over the Southern California area he
surfed as a youth.
He will be greatly missed by a broad group of people, myself at the top of the list.
He was a friend, mentor, musician, luthier and all around great guy.
Please direct any correspondence to my email and I will forward it to his wife, Dawn, at the appropriate time.
Hank Mauel
Mauel Guitars
whmauel[at]mauelguitars.com
Comment
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Comment by Teja Gerken, Senior Editor on February 25, 2009 at 11:41am -
Here's an update to my earlier post: I just learned that there will be a Memorial/Birthday concert for Lance in his hometown of Colfax, California this coming Sunday, March 1st. More info on the event can be found here: www.voyageairguitar.com/lance_concert.htm
With performers including Todd Hallawell, Doug Smith, Fran Guidry, and Mark Hanson, this is bound to be a great show, and all the proceeds will go to Lance's family.
We're also working on a tribute to Lance in Acoustic Guitar, so stay tuned for that!
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Comment by Mark Hanson on February 20, 2009 at 5:40pm -
Lance was a great guitar maker, and great guy to be around. He and his family were generous hosts to several of us on a trip to the gold country of California. We will all miss him. Mark
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