The man behind LA’s Old Style guitar shop – known for his much-loved rubber bridge refits – is the subject of a new film, featuring The National, Phoebe Bridgers and Jackson Browne
(Image credit: Really Good Rejects)
Reuben Cox, the LA luthier and owner of “America’s second best guitar shop” Old Style, is the subject of a new documentary, Really Good Rejects.
The film is directed by Alice Gu and premiered at Austin’s SXSW festival on Sunday (March 13). It tells the story of how Cox got his start making guitars from old furniture, through to the development of the distinctive rubber bridge instruments that made his name and the establishing of his Old Style guitar store in Silverlake.
Alongside Cox and his wife Miwa Okumura, there are interviews with an extensive list of musicians, which run the gamut from Jackson Browne to Jim James, Aaron Dessner, Phoebe Bridgers, Carrie Brownstein and Jeff Tweedy.
As mentioned, Cox is renowned among musicians for the unique sound of his builds, which – as Orla Gartland explained to us last year – are often based on retro-fitting once-maligned vintage models from the likes of Kay and Silvertone with rubber bridges and piezo outputs.
The resulting tone is uniquely thick and yet still resonant. His sought-after builds have appeared all over the recordings of indie’s great and good and featured heavily on Taylor Swift’s Folklore record.
As Deadline’s Anna Smith observed in her recent write-up of Really Good Rejects: “The double meaning of the title becomes clear: not only does Cox make guitars out of vintage flea market instruments; but those who play them often felt like outsiders – talented folks who didn’t fit a conventional mold.”
Matt is a staff writer for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.