Riversong Guitars, HD VIDEO — with designer Mike Miltimore and player Matt Stanley

Tony Clement (right), Treasury Board president and Conservative MP for Parry Sound-Muskoka in Ontario, jams with Mike Miltimore of Lee’s Music. Clement was in Kamloops last August and dropped in to sample Miltimore’s new Riversong guitar line.

"Some have praised the guitar as one of the best changes to guitar production in years and others have requested an instrument to play and review, something he's working on now." 

     Producing two guitars a month is manageable.

Bumping that number up to 100 or more in the same time period is another world completely‚ one in which Mike MIltimore is now residing.
     Miltimore's new Riversong guitar line http://riversongguitars.com/ has been greeted with such interest since he introduced it he's found it necessary to take the production line out of the basement of Lee's Music and into a larger building.
     The move has started into 450 Lorne St., the former location of Menzies Printing, and the goal is to be up and running in full production by September. 
     In the meantime, orders will be filled out of the Battle Street building that also houses Lee's Music http://www.leesmusic.net/.
Miltimore said he's also hiring staff, expecting to finally have about nine people working in production.
     The company's Tradition guitar series will also be moved to the Lorne Street site.
     "It's been crazy," Miltimore said. "How do you go from two a month to 100 a month and keep the quality and consistency there?"
     Helping are two Business Development Bank of Canada consultants, one a specialist in financial and strategic aspects and the other in manufacturing.
     The guitar design has been praised by experts for its innovative construction, which involves a neck that runs through the guitar body, attaching at the base and adjustable with an Allen key. In doing so, he's made the guitar easier and quicker to set up.
     Since showing the line at the National Association of Music Merchants conference in Anaheim in January,     
     Miltimore said, he's had requests from many guitar- and music-related publications to do stories on the line.
     Some have praised the guitar as one of the best changes to guitar production in years and others have requested an instrument to play and review, something he's working on now.

By Dale Bass
KTW STAFF REPORTER

dale@kamloopsthisweek.com

View online at Kamloops This Week community newspaper
http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/business/201966421.html

Video by Dave Eagles

KTW STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

dave_eagles@kamloopsthisweek.com