I think most of them are or were musicians but not all. Cecil, the maker of Swallow brand accordions once told me he doesn't play the accordion at all but he makes a real nice box.

I have one of Cecil's box in Bb.

Thanks guys. I have come across several instrument makers that don't really play and some that play alot and are actually really good musicians. Just seeing if it transferred over to our accordion builders here.

There's definitely some who build that don't play, John Roger is another. Then there's some like me who build and "kinda" play.

I've been told Stadivarius didn't play fiddle.

it;s hard to be really good at everything
so i would not be surprised if makers aren;t players

wle

But even if, let's say Joe Maker could play "Jai Passe Devant Ta Porte", like really terrible, but you could still make it out and tell what song it was and he played it the same way every time and had been playing it the same terrible way for 20 years, wouldn't that still make him a player AND a maker?

Different skills sets and one does not preclude the other .

One does not neccessitate the other.

I built surfboards professionally, I did not care for surfing and was an average surfer.

Ron Jon,

You wouldn't by chance be the "Ron Jon" of Florida's
Ron Jon Surf Shop?

--bn

Naw he gave us Sex Wax, bro. Mahalo mes ami...

Nope.

In the late 60's I worked for Oceanside Surfboards in Cocoa Beach FLa. for owner Billy Feinberg.

We made the Ron Jon Surfboards. They bought our "seconds" which we labelled RON JON;
the firsts were labelled OCEANSIDE.
I glassed boards and then later shaped for them. I worked with the legendary shaper Johnny Rice also Bob Tome, The glasser and cartoonist/artist Jimmy Phillips, Nuclear Norman the glosser, and Dave Hanks a sailer and glasser from Brasil.

I quit and went back to Monterey Calif, built some boards then went into boat building then on to the auto industry for 25 years.
While in the car biz I worked for manufacturers as a rep, one of them sent us off to Florida for a BS convention national meeting .. 3 of us took a trip to Ron Jons.. their wax room was bigger than the original Ron Jons.. a couple of the Oceanside boards were on the walls including one of Johnny Rices V 360's and my hopelessly failed Monterey Boat Tails.

RON JON was a retailer, not a board builder.

Ron Jons had butted joints, Oceanside had mitred joints : )