Millworker ‘hits a sweet note’ when he collaborates in the development of a new floor bass instrument.
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| Dean Dwyer checks the finish on parts as he assembles the wood components of a Porchboard floor bass instrument. |
Dean Dwyer always wanted to work with his hands. He found that he loved making things from wood. In fact, he had a passion for it.
His passion and persistence got him his first job as a carpenter’s apprentice. He progressed to making displays and, almost 20 years ago, he stepped up into building architectural woodwork.
Today, Dwyer is one of the “old timers” at Onsite Woodwork in Rockford, IL, a 25-year-old manufacturer of high-end architectural woodwork for law offices and commercial headquarters. As a journeyman assembler, Dwyer works on projects ranging from simple things like jambs, borrowed lights and stile-and-rail panels, to assisting with complex projects, such as curved veneered components like balcony fronts and 20-foot-long column covers curving on two surfaces.
Dwyer is passionate not only about his work, but also about his friends. One friendship resulted in a chance to put his woodworking knowledge to use, helping to develop a unique instrument that is now used by professional musicians around the globe.
It began when a close friend, Bill Stevens, was seriously injured in an accident with a drunken driver. As he was recuperating, Stevens was determined to do what he could to get a message out about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. He had always performed music and determined after the accident to play “music with a message” for school children.
Stevens joined up with Nadene Isackson of EnRoute Music to offer a school assembly program, appropriately titled “Choices.” They found that they needed a drum beat to accompany Stevens’ acoustic guitar in order to hold kid’s interest in the music. So Stevens started thinking.
An automotive engineer, he played around with an automotive magnetic sensor and some pieces of plywood and made a prototype device — an ugly box which made a deep bass sound that could be used by a solo guitar player. Dwyer, who is not a musician, got involved when the discussion came around to, “How can we make this look like something, make it marketable and make it practical to manufacture?” Thus, the Porchboard floor bass was born.
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| Dean Dwyer shows a completed Porchboard. |
Adding Beauty to Function
While studying Stevens’ original rough plywood box, Dwyer determined that the instrument didn’t need to be hollow, but that it needed to look nice in addition to being functional. It took him about four months to make his first prototype.
The dimensions and materials are a lot more critical to creating the instrument’s sound than its appearance suggests. Its internal electronics are not items normally found in musical instruments. The transducer plate’s size, position and attachment give the “magic” sound to the instrument when all elements are properly positioned, including proximity to the automotive sensor.
Initially, Dwyer’s instrument was made with a solid mahogany base and sound board. With a fine varnish finish, the bass looks as nice as any finely crafted instrument.
“It is such a beautiful mahogany wood instrument, people look at it and cannot believe that they will ‘stomp on it!’” Dwyer says.
The quality of the instrument’s sound has been recognized and put to use by musicians and their back-up bands, including John Sebastion, Willie Nelson, Brad Davis, Greg Martin and others. Bose Electronics’ representatives often use it to demonstrate the capabilities of their L1® amplified speaker columns.
The original basses were one-piece mahogany with beautiful grain, and they are still available for musicians wanting that quality and appearance. But Dwyer eventually found it easier to make the basses by gluing up wood pieces in a “butcher block” construction. It was far less costly and less time-consuming. He continues to “fine-tune” the process, working with different materials to try to make the instrument even more economical for broader distribution.
Meanwhile, after he spends his days making parts for and assembling high-end architectural woodwork, Dwyer goes home and makes and assembles Porchboard bass parts. His original labor of love and friendship has resulted in fine musical instruments that are now being used around the world.
To learn more about the Porchboard floor bass, visit www.porchboard.com. For information about Onsite Woodwork, visit www.onsitewoodwork.com.