L.A. Kidwell Musical Instruments

About L.A. Kidwell

Born and raised in Alexandria Virginia, Lyndon Kidwell began his love of playing guitar at the age of thirteen. His parents enrolled him in lessons and he soon formed a band with his school buddies. He fell in love with the bass after playing the drummer's dad's pre-CBS Fender, Jazz bass. He ran out and bought a used 1964 Hagstrom Kent bass and played it for hours every day. His first amplifier consisted of his dad's 30 watt Heathkit amplifier and a 12" stereo speaker. The combination sounded like rubber band fuzz box overdrive. After becoming increasingly annoyed with three chord rock progressions, his mother sat him down and taught him how to play the scales and walking bass. From that point on, Lyndon was hooked on being a bassist.

The first band didn't last too long. Lyndon was quickly picked up by a more experienced band called Red Eye. They played for huge crowds at area parties and school functions but mostly in the Kidwell basement, which doubled as a night club and a shop. The funky Hagstrom bass was replaced by a Fender Precision bass and Lyndon began building speaker cabinets. Pretty soon he was building PA equipment and selling custom speaker cabinets to friends.

Lyndon started woodworking at a very early age. He drove his first nail at around age 3. Probably into the side of the house. He followed his dad around learning carpentry and other mechanical skills. He disassembled every gadget and mechanical device he got his hands on. His dad was a satellite electronics engineer. His dad taught him about vacuum tubes and transistors at an early age. By age 14, Lyndon was employed as a TV repairman after school.

By the time Lyndon was 16, he joined another band called Chaser, which played the club circuits around Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Lyndon designed and fabricated all of the band's special effects, including a fog machine, flash pots, lighting systems and controllers. Eventually, disco music took hold around the D.C. area and Lyndon decided to head south to where Texas blues and swing was king.

At age 19, Lyndon arrived in West Texas and got a job working for Mitsubishi Aircraft. He started out as an avionics assembler and rapidly advanced to avionics technician where he was responsible for making aircraft avionics systems work flawlessly. Part of his job was to ride along to adjust flight control and navigation systems on maiden flights of new aircraft. During this time, Lyndon also worked extra shifts in other departments such as the metal shop, wood shop, upholstery, and paint. He wanted to learn it all. This was the beginning of a long career in aerospace and computer engineering.

Lyndon went on to earn degrees in digital electronics, computer science, and business management. He has operated his own technical consulting firm, South Rim Technologies, for ten years. He has worked for such companies as General Dynamics, United Airlines, Bell Helicopter, and Microsoft. One recent position was at Microsoft working on aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Over the years, Lyndon remained devoted to fine woodworking, designing and building mostly custom cabinetry, furniture and jewelry boxes. To solve special problems, Lyndon would often design and build his own wood working machinery.

For the past six years, Lyndon has been playing bass and lead guitar in a band called Leather Soul. Lyndon always plays his own instruments at Leather Soul appearances. Listeners often remark that these instruments sound far superior to the mass-produced instruments everyone is used to hearing.

After moving to Washington state and discovering the variety and availability of wonderful northwestern woods, Lyndon became inspired to build the instruments he had always dreamed of making. With much encouragement from local musicians, other woodworkers, music store owners, and his lovely wife, Lyndon began producing instruments for sale under the trade name of L.A. Kidwell Musical Instruments. Lyndon looks forward to seeing more of his ideas, for new instruments realized.