They may only have become mates four years ago, but the similarities between Bruce Trappes and Stuart Phillips are evidently strong.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pair, who live a few doors down from each other at Swan Point, both spend their days crafting unique, custom guitars.
Mr Trappes, a blues afficionado, focuses on cigar box guitars – instruments with a name that’s self-explanatory, as he crafts them out of imported, diverse cigar boxes.
Mr Phillips uses his modelling skills to craft electric guitars out of an array of rich and unique Tasmanian timbers.
Guitars haven’t been a long-term hobby for either man – they both have honed their skills and focused on their businesses after retiring by the tranquil Tamar River.
The pair were acquaintances and knew each other from around the community, but became great mates after an encounter at a fair which caused 70-year-old Mr Phillips to greatly admire 68-year-old Mr Trappes’ creativity.
“My lovely wife dragged me out to Stringfest one year at Deloraine, and I saw Bruce's display out there and that was it, I was caught up," Mr Phillips said.
Soon after, he took advantage of the convenient distance between them.
"Stuart actually wandered up to my place a couple of days after Stringfest with a very strange looking guitar that he made out of a fence, and a few other bits and pieces,” Mr Trappes recalled.
“I was quite impressed with it, and [our friendship] sort of developed from that."
Despite their shared passion for the instrument, neither Mr Trappes or Mr Phillips can actually play the guitar.
“Neither of us play, I can pluck out a few tunes but that's about it," Mr Trappes said.
"It's not uncommon for guitar builders to not be professional players," Mr Phillips said.
They both agreed that people were surprised by the fact they weren’t able to strum away on their own handmade wares.
Before they were chatting music over cups of teas and examining one another’s handiwork in their retirements, the two had very different careers.
Mr Trappes was born in Tasmania, but was raised in rural Victoria.
He went on to have a very varied career, holding jobs as a saddler and in the printing industry, as well as acquiring a diploma in social science.
Mr Trappes decided to return to his birthplace, Tasmania.
"Thirty years ago I decided, right that's it, I was born here I should live here, don't know what the reasoning behind that was but that's basically how it happened," he said.
"I like Tassie, there's no two ways about that but I've got two children who are both adults...so I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to.”
Whilst on the job as a traffic controller about four years ago, Mr Trappes was hit by a car and seriously injured his legs.
"I loved traffic control because I was out in the countryside, it was brilliant," Mr Trappes said.
“When your job depends on standing on a road for the whole day, it’s pretty well ruined [by these injuries]."
After the accident and retiring, Mr Trappes’ interest in guitars piqued.
While Mr Trappes’ career was unpredictable, Mr Phillips was steadily contracted by the Australian Maritime College for about 30 years.
Mr Phillips grew up in Albury, near the Victorian and NSW border.
He moved to Sydney and worked in the model-making industry, before moving down to Tasmania and purchasing a boatyard with an associate before working on modelling for the AMC.
He left the AMC last year and increasingly focused on StringWorx Custom Guitars.
"I've been doing the guitar stuff and just enjoying life,” he said.
“You can't make a living out of it, it's a fun retirement thing and you do it for the enjoyment and every now and again you accidentally sell a guitar and cover some expenses."
It seems serendipitous that Mr Trappes and Mr Phillips ended up living so close to each other, sharing such a unique interest and discovering the parallels of their pasts.
Mr Phillips’ favourite wood to make StringWorx guitars with is celery pine, and he is currently working on fashioning a wooden toilet seat into a guitar.
He has a penchant for recycling – on his work bench lies a guitar constructed out of an old salad bowl and a dog’s water bowl.
Meanwhile, Mr Trappes will expand his collection of cigar box guitars and recyclable, musical wonders.
One guitar in his shed is attached to objects including a bicycle, door knobs and a clock.
Mr Trappes said he named Devil Guitars Tasmania at a time when the Tasmanian Devils were becoming plagued with facial tumors.
He donated $10 from every guitar sold to fighting the disease.
The name also payed homage to the legend around blues star Robert Johnson, which claims he did a deal with Satan in order to create his renowned music.
The duo agreed that they’ve learnt innumerate lessons from one another.
“We're at opposite ends of the scale - Bruce is more inventive than I am, I'm sort of bit more of a stickler to convention," Mr Phillips said.
“Stuart's the other end of the scale,” Mr Trappes said.
“He's got a history in professional model making, you look at the stuff he makes and it really blows me away."
