Snakes in Hawaii?

I got a telephone call from Dean Farley shortly after emailing him with questions regarding his Snake Oil Brand Strings. I had ordered and received a couple of sets from him, had strung up a Tele of mine with a Vintage Nickel Set, plugged in and played…and played and played. I actually found myself weeping as the tone and the feel of these strings transported me back to my youth in Southern California. Like Proust’s Madeline, the memories came pouring in and the tears came pouring out. Needless to say I am pretty jaded, I don’t drink anymore and I don’t cry at funerals or sad old movies. For me the tone was the trigger and I had to write this mysterious source of my strange emotional weather.

Over the course of a year Dean and I had many conversations and I had an opportunity to get to know him and for us to become long distances friends. Dean lost his mom in Feb. of '07 and as I work with Kauai Hospice periodically, hopefully I was able to offer some support in the way of strategies for dealing with loss.

In a recent forum post on the mother of all guitar gear forums, The Gear Page, a member said, and I quote loosely, “Dean Farley has forgotten more about guitar strings than most experts could hope to learn in two life times.” I don’t doubt this, his knowledge is encyclopedic, his memory is photographic and he owns one of the most acute and discerning pair of ears I’ve ever encountered. I’d have to count my best friend, Bay Area Bassist/multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Marsh right up there except he only has one functional ear. In a recent conversation with Tungsten Amplification owner/builder Adam Palow, Adam had this to say about Dean’s hearing: “You listen to something together and Dean explains what he hears, and what you somehow missed. After he explains it to you and you listen to the same thing again you hear it too.”

Dean is an articulate conversationalist and a wonderful teller of tales. His musical experiences are many and varied. The love and respect he holds for all players he has known is evident in his recalling and sharing these delightful bits of guitar history. Dean’s longtime friend, now departed amp guru Ken Fischer dubbed Dean, “The String King,” it is a title he humbly shirks but I believe it fitting if not a bit limiting.

Dean has been a contributing columnist recently for Premiere Guitar Magazine and his efforts are usually informative, often fascinating and at times controversial. I personally look forward to them with anticipation.

Dean told me he has been developing Snake Oil Brand Strings for 20 plus years now and has several innovative frying pans on the stove concurrently. In 2006 Guitar Player Magazine awarded Snake Oil Brand Strings its Editor’s Pick Award, the first I can recall ever given for guitar strings.

Guitars Kauai is honored to be able to bring Dean’s wonderful strings to players in the State of Hawaii and I consider myself fortunate to have become a friend of such a remarkable, outspoken and inspiring musician, journalist, alchemist and historian.

Aloha nui, until next time,

T.J. Barnes