BML Guitars: Music Makers and Works of Art

What’s rocking in Suite 123 at the Business Development Center?

Retro-futuristic™ guitar designs focused on superior sound, a unique look and the best in playability, according to BML, Inc. partners Bruce Bennett, Kevin Maxfield and Steve Lewis.

BML’s hand-crafted axes break the electric guitar mold with original contours, colors and top-of-the-line components. The distinctive guitars, designed by John Backlund, a South Dakota illustrator and artist, appear to be in tune with pickers.

"We have a unique design and it’s working for us," Bennett says. "Sales are climbing daily for an item that ranges from $2,800 to $4,200. It’s like an economic about-face."

The partners, who think of their BDC space as a High-Efficiency Custom Shop, say the guitars they make are a mix of 1959 and 2059 in terms of style. On his website, Backlund describes one model as "the result of crossbreeding a motel sign, dinette set, and maybe a vintage kitchen appliance or two with an electric guitar."

And admirers who like the tear-drop shapes, mahogany bodies and steel-plated accessories think of the guitars as works of art, as well as musical instruments.

In 2001, Bennett and Backlund met in an online chat room where Backlund had posted his guitar "doodles." The two worked for seven years on the first prototypes, the JBD 100 and 200 models. Bennett says Backlund’s drawings take months to engineer into reality, but the innovative designs could revolutionize the electric guitar industry.

All BML guitars feature the latest in pickup technology, quick-change string modifications, built-in chromatic tuners and locking tuning keys.

"We have been called the next iconic guitar style," Bennett says.

While BML works on projects on an order-by-order basis, Bennett says they hope eventually to make a few standardized guitars. They are also working on amplifiers and effects pedals designed in the same style as the guitars.

"We would like to bring about a whole new look to stages everywhere," Bennett saya. "Most contemporary guitar designs are 40 to 60 years old now; it’s time for something fresh and exciting."

Bennett is the master luthier for the shop, while Maxfield handles most of the marketing and artist relations. Maxfield is also director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, located in the BDC.

"The personal and business relationships that have been formed at the BDC have been a very important part of the successes that we are seeing," Maxfield says. "We have done business with at least nine different companies that are located in the building with us, and the proximity to a support group is extremely important."

After several years of executive management with local manufacturing companies, Lewis is co-owner of Go Fish Clothing & Jewelry store on Frazier Avenue. He handles a large part of the day-to-day operations of the BML enterprise. According to Maxfield, BML sales are domestic for the most part, but the company’s guitars are gaining interest in England, Italy, Australia and Canada. "Japan loves these guitars," he says. "We are having a lot of inquiries from other countries, and we’ll be participating in international trade shows in the coming year."

BML, which is advertising in Guitar Player magazine, counts Austin blues master Dizzy G. Gillespie among its customers.

For more information about BML contact Bennett at 423.643.4999 or at beml@comcast.net.