Tym Guitars: ‘I’ve Never Had a Business Plan’

Brisbane’s Tim Brennan made his name with custom guitars, but he’s since branched out into a record/skate shop, studio space, record label and custom pedals. TIM FITZPATRICK spoke to Brennan about how it all came about, with a distinct focus on his guitar-making. Photos by MARK TAINTON.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.] Tym Guitars in Brisbane is an institution. Pretty much any decent band, national or international, will drop by Tim Brennan’s store in Fortitude Valley for supplies or repairs, or just to talk shop. And it’s practically a rite of passage for Brisbane guitarists to stomp down on one of Tym’s legendary pedals.

Can you explain how Tym’s came about?
It basically started from me wanting a Mosrite like Johnny Ramone played. I started playing guitar and, like a lot of people I guess, wanted to play what my hero played. I didn’t really know much about Mosrite at the time but after searching around (pre-internet/eBay) I realised they weren’t that common so I eventually thought I’d just make one.

I only ever intended to make that one so I could play it in my band. People saw it and started asking where they could get one and before long I was making a few for friends and touring bands. I’ve always been that sort of person that just looks at something and goes, ‘I wonder how that works, maybe I can make one’. I’m completely self-taught but I do think if you have a talent for something (and we all do) and people want what you do, then just do it.

“It’s no surprise The Saints came from Brisbane.”

How do you think being based in Brisbane has influenced this?
I think Brisbane has its own feel and understanding. It might be because we were essentially a police state until the ’80s, or maybe because we were considered a big country town by the rest of Australia. Brisbane has had a long history of musical instrument and gear manufacturing, with brands like VASE making world-class amps in the ’60s and ’70s. Like most Australian manufacturing, it all fell apart when open (and parallel) importing was introduced in the early to mid-’70s and our small manufacturing closed almost overnight.

Brisbane has always had a very healthy music scene and by the mid-’70s a community radio station in 4ZZZ, which helped nurture this scene against a very hostile government at the time. It’s no surprise The Saints came from Brisbane, and that attitude and feeling is definitely part of our psyche still.

Do you think musicians are too willing to accept what’s on offer with equipment?
In a lot of cases, yes. The great thing is there’s lots of great stuff on offer, but a lot of musicians don’t explore those options because they already have in their heads what they want, even without knowing why.

In a lot of cases it doesn't really matter because they will play what their heroes are using and get close to what they were trying to achieve anyway. I did it with a Mosrite (Wosrite), trying to play Ramones-style pop-punk when I was younger. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to stick to the norm in most cases.

“I couldn’t understand why we were still making guitars out of timber. It’s such an inconsistent, unsustainable and inappropriate material.”

I guess Les Paul and Jim Marshall could be seen as major proponents in the whole musician-as-inventor attitude.
The reason why something like a Les Paul into a Marshall sounds rock is because that setup IS the sound of rock. It just amazes me when supposedly forward-thinking musicians won’t experiment and try new things. It’s one of the things I like about manufacturers like EGC now making it cool to play aluminium neck guitars. I made aluminium neck guitars, and acrylic bodies, 15 years ago, as I was influenced by people like Travis Bean and Dan Armstrong, but it wasn’t cool 15 years ago.

I started working with these materials because I couldn’t really understand why we were still making guitars out of timber. It’s such an inconsistent, unsustainable and inappropriate material to make them out of, and I’ve never felt the need to follow the rules of how and why these things are supposed to be.

Changing the way players think about gear is great. The reason a Tele sounds like a Tele is not because Leo [Fender] put that much effort into making it sound like that. He wanted to build a cheap, affordable, easy-to-manufacture solid-body guitar for the masses and his design ended up sounding like that. Now that’s the accepted tone of a Tele. If you love that sound, that’s great, but it’s not a well-thought-out, set-in-stone, must-have sound. It works for some, not for others.

I’m using the Tele as an example, of course, because most people still believe it was the guitar that started it all. Try everything at your disposal. You might be surprised how good that old no-brand guitar sounds if that’s what you’re looking for.

Back to the Mosrites, there still seems to be a pretty consistent fascination with them in your work.
Like I said, it was initially through the Ramones but also because I just loved the look of them. They looked so organic and not many people were playing them, which also appealed to me. I’d see Mosrites on album covers like MC5 or see bands like Tumbleweed live and see them, but they were still pretty under the radar as far as the guitar-playing world was concerned. Not being able to buy one at the time, I just made one. I have since amassed quite a collection of them and they’re still my favourite manufacturer.

“I want to live in a world where things are still hand-crafted.”

How do you feel about having your work pop up on eBay for $1,000+, and at the same time seeing people try to off your gear on Gumtree?
It’s just the world we live in. It’s not a world I particularly like but I can’t really do much about it except what I do now. I completely understand the frustration around getting my stuff. The thing is, this is the way I do it and the only way I can do it. I make everything myself by hand, so obviously supply is going to be very limited.

I work with who I consider to be some of the most talented and incredible people on the planet, who are my idols and heroes. They work with me because they want it done this way. Some people don’t seem to understand that if I was a huge multinational corporation cranking stuff out in China, these people wouldn’t be working with me, and they in turn wouldn’t want what I was making. It’s because of how I do it that my stuff seems sought after, but then they complain about how it’s done?

I’ve written about this on my blog, but I want to live in a world where things are still hand-crafted with care and love by people who care, for people who care. Mass production and consumption is not only not sustainable, it’s not satisfying to anyone in the process except the people making the money. The fact that my stuff can go for huge amounts on online auctions is frustrating, especially when it’s still being made, but this is how the market works. I offer people their money back if they don’t like something I’ve made, as I know I can sell it to someone else who has been waiting. I don’t want someone buying something they don’t like. Who wins there? Unfortunately, this is not the way all people think.

What are your thoughts on the whole maker culture?
I love it. When I started making guitars I ran into dead end after dead end with advice and help. It was like a secret club where you had to be part of it to get help. I’ve never understood that idea. I’ve always pulled stuff apart and fixed stuff I didn’t understand. It’s how you learn. I always thought, What if someone comes to me asking about making a guitar and I say, “You can’t do it” and they were going to make the next evolution in guitar building, or make the best guitar ever made, and I stopped them? Then I’d be depriving the world of better guitars when I’m the one striving to do exactly that.

What about kit effects like Build Your Own Clone: how do you see these setups influencing those who make music?
Kit effects (and guitars and amps) are popular because people can make their own stuff, and it’s very satisfying playing stuff you made. It’s also fun to do. I find it very therapeutic making pedals. It’s very controlled, with a specific outcome. You put all these pieces here, and it will sound like this. Much more so than making guitars, which is always a pleasant surprise the first time to string it up and play it.

There are heaps of kit effects companies around now and I think if you have the desire to make some, try it. You might not be able to do it. You might be amazing at it. You don’t have to start a business doing it. Just enjoy it if you do. I think understanding, even on simple levels, how something works makes you in some way a little more empowered as a guitarist (or whatever your chosen field is) because you may understand how to go a little further in your search for what you’re after.

“Guitarists are very brand-driven and easily influenced by flavour-of-the-month stuff.”

The market is now flooded with ‘boutique’ makers and some of them are amazing [and] some aren’t. Natural selection will eventually even things out. Guitarists are very brand-driven and are easily influenced by flavour-of-the-month stuff but there are still people out there who just want quality, design and reliability. I may be a flavour of the month; it’s just been going for nearly 20 years now. I’m constantly honoured and appreciate that anyone wants to buy my stuff. I have never started a new idea with the aim of it making money. It’s never been a plan and I’ve never had a business plan. To me it should be organic. Everything I do is because I want to do it, and maybe other people will appreciate that.

Like I said, if you do stuff well that people want and appreciate, it will probably work. I worked part-time stacking shelves for the first eight years of Tym Guitars to get it off the ground. I never intended to have a huge shop in the inner city with vinyl records, a studio, practice rooms, my own label, vintage hire gear, doing in-stores with bands I admire, making pedals and amps and guitars for my heroes and people who understand what I do. That all just happened as it became viable or necessary. It’s been, and continues to be, a lot of hard work, but it’s very satisfying and I have the best job in the world.

Who’s been your favourites band/musician to work with?
That’s an impossible question to answer. I get to work with people I admired growing up and people I admire who I’ve just met. It would just seem like name-dropping if I started listing people or bands I work with. I don’t have an “artist” or “people who use my gear” page on my site for this reason.

I mention people on my blog and on social media because I think it’s good to involve people who follow my space with these people I’m doing work for/with. It’s exciting to be closer to these people. I understand it’s exciting to come to my space and stand on the stage and say “such and such played here, right here,” because I feel the same way. I am continuously amazed by the associations and friendships I have with these people.

Fair enough. You’re also known for your work mentoring local bands. What does this usually involve?
I’ve always thought that anyone, in any walk of life, that has any sort of influence or power, for want of a better word, should feed the bottom first and make sure it’s healthy so they have somewhere to operate from. Not that I think I have any kind of influence or power personally, but I feel I’m in a privileged position to have certain space that gives me the opportunity to help other people in being able to achieve things they may not have access to otherwise.

Whether it’s just offering advice or helping actually build rigs that help bands achieve their sound, or just offering a studio where bands can demo and record cheap or free. My mentoring totally depends on the bands’ attitude towards the outside world. I don’t have a lot of time or money, so I need to know both aren’t going to be taken for granted if I’m going to try and make it work.

It’s a very satisfying role helping bands like Violent Soho achieve some success. Watching them play my guitars, through my pedals into my speaker cabs and thinking, “Man, that sounds sweet” is a nice reward for the work I’ve put in. I look at the in-stores as being very similar to mentoring and supporting young bands. Giving under-age kids their first taste, or continuing opportunity to see live music, is a very satisfying feeling.

I’ve seen 14-year-old kids walk out of an in-store with a huge smile and next time I see them, they’ve started a band. I’ve written lots on my blog about endorsements and why I do things this way ’cause like everything, it’s about education first.

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Explore the beneficent Tym empire here, and Tym Records here.