There are two types of musicians in the world, the ones who play for fame and fortune, and the ones who play to spread pure joy and happiness to others. The latter is whom I am writing about today.
Please allow me to introduce you to Karl Aranjo. Hands down, Karl is one of the best guitar players & teachers that we have in Southern California.
In addition, Karl is the author of six widely acclaimed, bestselling instructional books and the creator of GuitarU.com. Karl designed, developed, and launched GuitarU to provide a 100% FREE, music school type training to any guitar student who desires to learn how to play. Did I mention that Karl financed this entire project himself? I sure don’t see guys like Clapton doing this.
Karl teaches students at the local music shop and then plays gigs and events on the weekends. To say the least, his schedule is demanding. But, one of his most favorite and rewarding gigs is teaching music to students who have learning differences. Not only does Karl bring an immense amount of joy to his students, but he also gives them a level of peace, calmness and the ability to focus their attention if not, just for a while.
When you talk to Karl about this, you can easily tell that this one gig with this particular group of kids has clearly given more back to Karl than he ever expected.
Having to maintain this kind of schedule gets physically demanding. Some venues require you to haul your gear 40 yards up roads, down cracked sidewalks, and up stairs! And when you have multiple heavy components, that often means having to make three to four trips back and forth to your truck, once before the show, and then after! No, this particular job is far less glamorous than the rock star that walks onto the stage and then leaves without ever once lifting a finger.
At NAMM, Karl found out that I make gig and ATA cases. Karl asked me if I could make him a case that would take the place of his three current gear bags. I was proud to take on this assignment and went right to work. What we came up with was a single piece case with custom foam lining to protect all his precious gear.
The case has two inner layers, electronic gear on top and cables below. While the case is a tad cumbersome due to the number of components, we are still able to fit all of his gear into one watertight case that rolls easily into each venue he plays. In my line of work, it’s rewarding for me to be able to help support guys like Karl. Karl does not just talk about helping people but is actually out there lay’in it down. To say the least, Karl is happy having saved four trips to the truck and back and to have all his components organized and ready to rock in a case that, just keeps on roll’in on…..