I am contemplating parting with my old friend, so I thought I would tell the story of how we met.
I first fell in live with Bozo guitars in 1968 when a folk group visited the campus of Judson College in Elgin Illinois. I was a student there at the time, and also played in a fledgling folk group called the Folkways. The thing that drew me to the guitars was the incredible sound. I was playing a Martin D12-35 at the time, and the sound of the Bozo’s just blew me away. After the concert, I went up to the group to ask about their guitars. Both of the guitar players had one, and I had never seen one before. They explained that they were custom built by a luthier in Chicago. They had this distinctive peghead that visually set them apart from other guitars.



Now jump ahead 2 years. The folkways had disbanded after graduation, and the only reason I had been playing the 12 string was for the sound we wanted in the group. So I had started playing various 6 strings, and had borrowed a friend's Martin D28 for an afternoon. Long story short, it got damaged, and I went searching for someone reputable to repair it. I made some calls, and the name Bozo Pudonovac came up. He had a shop on Lincoln Avenue – so I headed there. And that’s how we met. While in the shop I got my second look at his hand built guitars. He had a large binder of 8 X 10 black and white photos of various guitars, mandolins and other instruments that he had built. Many artists have played Bozo guitars including Leo Kottke, John Fahey, Peter Lang, the Reverend Gary Davis, and John Pearse.



The first thing I noticed was the odd shape of the body. The first Bozos I had seen, while distinctive, still had the traditional dreadnought shape. His newer instruments had what later came to be called the Bell Western body type. At first I really didn’t like the look. He explained that he had adopted this design to maximize the sound and volume, since the biggest influence from the body all happened from the sound hole down to the bottom of the guitar. Anything above the soundhole had very little influence. All this was well and good, but I felt that if I was going to spend what for me amounted to a real financial challenge, I wanted everything, including the shape, to be something I loved. I asked if he could still make the traditional dreadnought, and he said that he still had the forms, and could do that. I gave it considerable thought while waiting for the repairs to be completed, and finally commissioned a guitar with the dreadnought body.



There was a long waiting list so while I waited for my turn. I visited him frequently spending time observing as he worked on instruments. I actually saw Leo Kottke’s guitar in various stages of completion. During these visits he would always try and talk me out of the dreadnought shape. He actually sat me down and had me play both styles to demonstrate the superiority of his new design. I had to admit the new shape did sound better. He would always say – “Dennis if you want a Martin why not just buy a Martin. If you want a Bozo, then let me build you the best guitar I can!” Eventually I relented, and had him build me the Bell Western. So we set down to decide just what the guitar would look like. I had no idea there would be so many decisions. He needed to know what gauge strings I regularly used (light), what kind of inlay, neck thickness etc. When he began work on it, I visited more frequently and took many pictures of it beginning with the raw materials, and progressing right up until it was finished. I wish I still had those pics, but they were lost somewhere in the years since.



There were a few glitches in the process. I had selected a rosette that I had seen on a mandolin he built. When I saw it on the guitar, the sound hole was too small (in my opinion). So I had him make it larger. Interestingly, when I saw later guitars with that rosette, he had standardized it from the modifications we made on my guitar. Also, I never liked the “flower – pot” design on the peghead, so I designed a diamond shape for the peghead. That also showed up on later guitars. Finally, the peghead face was rosewood (like the Martin), and I had wanted it to be ebony (which I had seen on the earlier guitars). He said he had a lot of requests for the rosewood and had assumed that I would want it also. I had him stain it black. But those were all minor design decisions – from the first time I played it I was truly in love – it played and sounded incredible.



And the sound has only gotten better with the years. My song writing and performing partner played a Martin D28 for many years, and we always had difficulty balancing the levels on the two instruments because the Bozo had so much more volume, brilliance, and over all tonal balance. It was a real challenge for the sound guy.

So there you have it. Over the years I have had work done on the instrument, but only by master luthiors (Bozo had moved out west, and I didn’t want to risk it in shipping). Richard Brune of Chicago (I think that’s the spelling), repaired a crack at the peghead that happened on a sub-zero winter day when I had the guitar (in case) leaned up against my car. I was repairing the muffler, and knocked it over with my foot. When I went in and took out the guitar, I couldn’t get it in tune – Hmmm – then I saw the crack. Bozo didn’t have fitted cases in those days, and the generic case had allowed too much movement when it fell over. At the same time I had Brune re-fret it. I also had a Calton case built custom so that this would not be a problem in the future.

The only other work was a neck redressing and re-fretting by Bruce Petros (of Petros Guitar fame). He also put in a compensated back slanting saddle ( intonation is now spot on all the way up the neck) and a Bourgeois active pick-up. The pick-up is the blended kind that uses both a bridge pick-up as well as an electret mike inside the body of the guitar. Its one of the finest pick-ups I have ever heard. I also replaced the aging nickel plated grovers with new gold plated Grovers.



I will try to get some sound files up in the next few days - since that is the only way this instrument can really be appreciated.
If you are interested in the guitar here are the specs (all measurements with tape measure)
Model: “Bell Western”
Year: 1970
Serial number: 289
Top:  European Spruce
Back & sides: Indian Rosewood
Neck: Mahogany
Body length: 20 3/8
Upper bout: 11
Lower bout 16 ½
Neck: 5/8” at nut
Bridge:Ebony
Rosette: Marquetry (ebony and mother of pearl)
Backstrip/top inlay: Herringbone
Purfling: Line
Headstock: Rosewood w. mother of pearl diamond inlay
tunners: Gold plated grovers
Scale Length: 25.4”
Nut width: 1 3/4”
Twelfth fret width:2 1/8”

Contact me at: dgraf@atcyber.net

Tags: Guitars, custom guitars, vintage guitars