History
Kal-Tone (originally named “The Kalamazoo Guitar Shop”) was established in 2014 by Ry Charters and Jay Gavan. At the time, Ry was moving back home from Seattle, where he had been managing the Dusty Strings repair shop. Jay was painting guitars for Heritage Guitar in Kalamazoo, which is where Ry and Jay first met and worked together in 2002. Kal-Tone’s first location was downtown on the north end of the Kalamazoo Mall from 2014 to 2016.
The shop then spent 6 years at the Jerico complex with some wonderful employees on the east side of town in the Edison neighborhood. There, we built guitars, wound pickups, sprayed finishes, everything. We even had a short lived venue that hosted live music up until Covid. It closed in 2023 as Ry split his time between building guitars and raising his young children with little time for repairs, employees, or running a business. In 2026 the shop reopened at 354 S Kalamazoo Mall just blocks from where Orville Gibson invented the arch top mandolin and later, the first Gibson factory was built on Michigan Ave. We also neighbor the State Theatre, Epic Center, Crescendo Music Academy, and dozens of other businesses that call Kalamazoo home.
In addition to our lutherie services, we also repair amplifiers (on site), buy/sell select gear, records, accessories, and offer an open door to any musician looking for help, advise, or just wanting to look around.
Owner and Head Luthier, Ry Charters has been a professional guitar-maker since 1998 (age 19) when he started learning the craft from Abraham Wechter. He has worked on over 10,000 instruments building from board lumber, repairing, restoring, and everything in between. He oversees the repairs and steps in when needed. But his current focus is on creating new guitars, and growing the business. When he's not in the workshop, he's likely cycling or practicing archery.
Lachlan MacQuarrie handles our general instrument and amplifier repairs and is continually helping our space evolve into the best experience we can provide. His formal education is in Theatre Performance, and he has been playing guitar since he could pick one up. He also assists with events, and helping customers solve whatever problems or requests they bring through the door. He knows guitar gear too. Ask him anything.