The Boulder Creek Guitars warehouse and office space sits amongst pastoral fields of garlic, tomatoes, and corn in Gilroy, California, at the southernmost tip of the Santa Clara Valley.
Boulder Creek is, in the words of CEO Jeff Strametz, a “small and mighty company of five people.” Chances are, if you call their office and ask to talk to someone in Product Development, Factory Relations, Quality Control, U.S. and International Dealer and Distributor Sales, Customer Service, or Marketing, the person on the other end of the line will be Strametz. Sometimes he even drives the forklift, too.
Jeff has been involved with Boulder Creek since its inception in 2006, when one of his former guitar students decided to start a company founded on the intention of radically redesigning the acoustic guitar. The idea was that by leaving the soundboard intact and eliminating the X bracing on the underside, they could increase the guitar’s resonating ability, and thereby improve its sound. After a year of trials and adjustments, they came up with their now patented aluminum Suspended Bracing System, What the SBS brings to the instruments is that the bracing actually transmits the string’s energy all the way across the soundboard and creates a tone balance throughout the tone spectrum, devoid of dead spots, creating a sustain that is not found in other instruments. For centuries, the acoustic guitar has traditionally had a sound hole in the middle, and purists might shy away from the unconventional look of a Boulder Creek, but the sound that these guitars produce is slowly shifting people’s paradigm of what a guitar should look like. “I always enjoy watching the face of someone who picks up a Boulder Creek for the first time”, says Strametz. “Strum or pluck the instrument and a smile of amazement fills the room.” Jeff calls that “The Boulder Creek Moment”. The first guitars were born in 2007, and Boulder Creek Guitars was off and running, and has been growing in both size and reputation ever since.
Their innovative approach, which they have applied not only to their Boulder Creek lines of guitars and acoustic basses, but to their Riptide ukulele line as well, seems to have earned them accolades from just about everyone who has picked up one of their instruments and played it. From the everyday consumer to members of the music press and major recording artists, the sound of Boulder Creek Guitars and Riptide Ukuleles is being lauded around the globe. Travis Toy of multiplatinum country artists Rascal Flatts still tours with his prototype Boulder Creek guitars, Sarah McLachlan plays Riptide ukuleles, and Fleetwood Mac play Boulder Creeks both in the studio and on the road. “These guitars are incredible performing instruments,” Strametz says, “and with the sound hole placement that we have, are the best behaved guitars on stage. There is no need for a feedback buster. If you play acoustically, it is like having a personal monitor plugged in. It is quite unique.” In addition to performers, many music publications have also given them rave reviews. Guitar World has awarded Boulder Creek as a Best Value and Bass Player Magazine named then an Editor’s Choice, and their EBR3-N4 acoustic bass was nominated for the Musikmesse International Press Award for the best acoustic bass, as voted on by over 100 music magazines.
While this might so far sound like the quintessential American success story, it is not without its pitfalls, and this is where the “mighty” in “small and mighty” comes in. In Jeff’s words, “After enjoying six years of solid growth and success, the founding owners set out to sell the company and move on to other interests. They successfully came to an agreement in 2013 with a partnership that was going to take the company into the future and beyond. Unfortunately, the buyers defaulted on the purchase and during the default process the company was thrown into some turmoil. This was a heart-wrenching time for the company, as everything that had been created up to that point had been turned upside down so to speak. This is not a completely unique situation as we have all heard of similar instances where companies have become victims of unfortunate situations. It was after this event, and my subsequent acquisition of the company, where the blessings started to unfold for Boulder Creek Guitars. It became very apparent that the Boulder Creek “family” was going to rally to rebuild this great company. Everyone from the factories, to the dealers and distributors, the artists, and the employees began to rally behind me to rebuild the company.”
And rally they did. The factories held onto orders that had been placed prior to the sale, after Strametz expressed to them that his intention was to purchase and rebuild the company and honor those orders. They could have sold off their inventory, but they held onto it for two years until Jeff was able in 2015 to develop and raise enough funds in order to purchase that merchandise, a move based solely on their working relationship with Strametz and Boulder Creek. Boulder Creek’s dealers and distributors also got on board, essentially going into “hibernation mode” until the company was again in a position to service their needs, and as Jeff was able to regain control of the company, they began to repurchase and restock. “The dealers didn’t cast me to the wind and say, ‘Sorry, tough luck, take a flying leap,’” says Jeff, laughing, “Same thing with our distributors. So, the factories, the dealers, and the distributors knew of the turmoil that the company was in, and through ongoing contact with me decided that they were going to stick with me until we got turned back around and got things going.”
As if that wasn’t enough of a testament to the strength of Jeff’s conviction, the majority of the Boulder Creek employees stayed with him through the default process as well. “Some guys were doing part-time work here and there,” says Strametz, “but everybody kind of stayed available. All but one of my old employees stayed with me. Not only were they loyal to staying with the company, and knowing what kind of mountain we had to climb to come back, they also had to sacrifice, and we all still are, to a high degree, what our incomes are. We had to put everything that we could back into the business, so I could buy inventory and the company would stay alive. I like to say that we are one of the most reasonably paid executive teams, in fact, you could combine all our salaries and it still wouldn’t match what a COO would normally get paid at any other company.”
“We’re at the position now where we have, for the first time in probably four or five years, a full inventory of almost everything that we’ve got at this time of the year, which is one of the peak periods for instrument sales, so we’re really excited about that,” Strametz states, “and that was through a lot of sacrifice, and just keeping Boulder Creek at the forefront of people’s minds as much as possible.”
That inventory, at press time, boasts over 50 productions models throughout the Boulder Creek and Riptide lines, along with the 30 per year USA Limited Edition line of custom guitars hand built at their facility in Gilroy.
Boulder Creek was built through independent MI dealers, and to this day remains loyal to that base, providing a unique offering that is not available around every corner or in the big box stores, and giving them the ability to compete and get musicians in their doors. With great price points, dealers are able to profit while fulfilling their customers’ needs for a $3,000 sound at a fraction of the cost.
It is that loyalty and connection that is the true measure of the worth of Boulder Creek Guitars today. “It’s all about the relationship,” says Strametz, referring to the employees, artists, and dealers that helped to pull Boulder Creek back from the brink of extinction. “My thing that really gets me emotional, through all of this, is their dedication to me and their belief in me as a person, to keep this thing alive and get it turned around, and being able to reward them for that someday. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I want people to know that it’s worth fighting for. If you’ve got the desire to do it, it can be done.”
For inquiries about becoming a Boulder Creek Guitars dealer or information about any of their products, email jeff@bouldercreekguitars.com or call (408) 842-0222. Check them out online at www.bouldercreekguitars.com.
