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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-06-08, Page 21N James Magee of Goderich shows how to correctly so.cure the neck piece of a guitar to the body. So many neck pieces break off too easily, he says and he should know his work since he has been building and repairing,guitars for about 50 years now beginning with his first violin M the age of 15. Two years ago he restored two violins which were 156 years old each. He now does custom work as a hobby. (Photo by Joanne Walters) This is the shell of a guitar which James Magee- is presently building. The vertical wooden slats are compression braces which help make the in- strument tighter for more tension and vibration. In his harid, Mr. Magee holds a finger board which will be glued to the neck of the guitar. He used to make the finger boards himself but the fret saws used to make the finger , boards are no longer available so he has to buy them now. He has been making and repairing violins and guitars for the past 50 years. (Photo by Joanne Walters) James Magee of Goderich shows two guitars he has made. For about the past 50 years, he has been building and repairing guitars and violins as a hobby.. His family were poor folks who lived in the country and they couldn't just go to a store to buy an instrument. If you wanted to play, says Mr. Magee, you had to make the instrument yourself. He"builtthis first violin when he was 15 and took lessons from his uncle who was a music teacher. (Photo by Joanne Walters) James Magee of Goderich has sung and. played in many bands. During the depression, he and another man travelled the North American continent, playing and singing under the name of Two Guitars. During the war, he played with a country and western band based in Brantford called Jim Magee and The Texans. He also played vyith the Rhythm Riders out of Tillsonburg and the Coachmen out of London. He even played on the radio with a group called the -Canadian Cowboys but says that wasn't very long- lived. He now plays for hisowit amusenient and will team'up with Gord Harrison of Goderich on June 29 to play in the Square. (Photo by Joanne Walters) gG 4 thedetiCh James Magee shows the top and bottom plates for a guitar ho is building. He has been building and repairing guitars and violins over the past 50 years. He uses a special kind of spruce wood for the top plate since it has an open grain and is more resonant. Most of his back plates are made of cherry wood which is hard and takes a nice finish. Mr. Magee can also make in -laid patterns on the instruments out of small pieces of different kinds of wood which fit together in various ways. (Photo by Joanne Walters) SIGNALmmumST 131—YEAR 23 THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1978 SECOND SECTION dames Magee BY JOANNE • WALTERS James Magee of Goderich 'is a modest man .of many talents. Over the years he has combined his love for music with a carpenter's dexterity to build and repair' guitars , and violins.' But this is only one of his many hobbies, merely "the tip of the iceberg", so to speak. Upon talking with Mr. Magee, one finds that, by the way, he has also built furniture, archery bows and even wooden shoes! He plays electric and acoustic guitar and was, at one time, president of the London Organ Club. He toured North'America during depression days with a two-man musical outfit simply called, Two Guitars. , He has also played and sung with various other hands at clubs, dances and over the radio. He reads as .well as composes music. There was a time when he used to race cars ,(which he fixed up from old cars) at local fairs. He has a matchbook and calling card collection. He hunts and fishes (although he says his wife is a better fisherman than he is). He has won many archery awards, twice missing the Canadain Archery Championship ARCHITECT by two points. When Mr. Magee refers to the office,he is •y. . speaking of James Magee Correction Limited of London!, This is an architectural firm which he and his brother took over from his father in 1933. His grandfather had the6first actual home planning office in Canada. This office was" located at Simcoe. ' His father bought out his grandfather and then he and his brother took over. His brother dropped out of the business before the war and he carried on man of many talents He has a patent from 1999 on a door fitting tool which he invented to aid carpenters in that aspect of their work. He is ,presently. building a small scale replica of a drag saw which . he remembers using to saw logs' as a child. Drag saws are no longer inexistence and he plans to donate this replica'of the antique to the Huron County Pioneer Museum if he can successfully com- plete it. He is a member of the Huron County Historical Society and the .Huron Historic Gaol Board. He was also a member of the town's planning board when he first moved to Goderich upon his retirement three years ago. The list of Mr. Magee's hobbies and interests seems 'endless. How has he ever found time for them all, 'is the first question which enters one's mind. "I never married myself to the office," he explains. "I had set hours there and that was that." He maintains that if you make time, you will have time. And now that he is retired, he hopes to make even more time for his varied interests. The man identified as Bishop Carman under a picture accompanying a feature story on Victoria Street United Church in last week's Signal -Star, was not Bishop Carman. The man in the picture was the Reverend Robert Ure, O.D., Minister of Knox . Presbyterian Church in Goderich from 1862 to 1891. himself. He servedan apprenticeslrip in masory and carpentry before taking• a three ycar ar- chitectural course •at Rochester .Tech 'in New York. At that time, one had to. have at least two trades under his belt to even qualify for the course. Those who, worked at James Magee Limited with'-. Mr. Magee ,were architectural technicians who specialized in home, church and school planning. Mr. Magee says he has always shied away from the fuss, pomp and ceremony of ar- chitectural associations and has just tried to get right down to the actual building. In 1972-73 his firm received a residential design award from the Design Council of Canada in recognition of the hest entry submitted for designs of one storey, bi- level and two storey concepts. Mr. Magee says, to his knowledge, this is the only award ever given by the Council, for three concepts in one contest. Mr. Magee's firm designed and planned McCallum Funeral Horne here in Goderich and Mr. Magee just ' recently completed plans for the Home's new ad- dition. FAMILY TRAIT Mr. Magee's family - was originally from Ireland. When they im migrated to North America, they: first landed south of Jackson, Mississippi -in a village that came to be known as Magee. Some of the family eventually came to Canada seeking better things. They owned farm land but did not farm because they were more interested in building and the .saw mill business right from the start. Mr. Magee himself was horn in Norfolk County. Interest in construction ran in his family and almost seemed like an inherited trait such as having blue eyes or curly hair. His five brothers and one sister were all builders of a sort like their father and grand- father before them. Not only that but, his wife's Turn to page 4A • A lot of tools are required when building and repairing guitars and violins. Some of these tools have to be .hand -made. But this hasn't 'stopped .lames Magee of Goderich from building and repairing guitars and violins over the past 50 years. His whole family has'been involved in building and construction of sothe kind or other down through the years. His grandfather made many barn tools and had the actual first home planning office in Canada. Mr. Magee.has made many tools himself and has a, patent on a door fitting tool that he made _for carpenters in 1949. (Photo by Joanne Walters)