2 Brothers Tune-In to Sound Business

To hear Bill and Tom Zolla tell it, 19th-Century Frenchnovelist Emile Zola was just another talented relative.

Emile left his legacy in the novels he wrote and the Naturalist literary movement he founded. Bill and Tom, who are Coronado natives, are leaving their imprint on the world with the guitars they make.

“Zolla Guitars, Made in the U.S.A,” are handmade in a dusty, dilapidated shop--located in a crime-ridden area of downtown San Diego--that also serves as the brothers’ home. The Zollas may never become as famous as Emile, but their guitars are likely to last just as long as his books.

But, if the Zollas are related to Zola, what about that extra “l” in their name?

“When my grandfather came over from Poland, he added another l. (He) thought it would make our name look more American,” said Tom Zolla.

Poland? Emile was from France, but had an Italian father.

Could Zolla be a shortened version of Zolakowski? Did Emile’s father, who was a well-traveled soldier and engineer, also manage to spread a branch of the family tree in Poland? Or, did Emile, who was known to keep a mistress or two and had children with at least one of them, also have a Polish girlfriend?

“Well, we’re supposedly related. It shows in our artistic talent,” said Tom Zolla, who managed to suppress a chuckle with tongue firmly in cheek. “He’s a distant relative.”

“Yeah, we’re all related,” said an equally convincing Bill Zolla.

Meet the Zolla brothers, two bass guitar players who learned years ago that making guitars offered them a better chance to make a living than by making music. Bill, 35, and the company’s business manager, as such, has been making guitars for 11 years.

Tom, 31, does much of the actual work; cutting, routing and finishing the hardwood used to make the musical instruments. He relies on liter-size bottles of warm cola--strategically placed throughout the small 8th Avenue shop--to get him through the day, taking short drinks from the plastic bottles like a connoisseur savoring expensive wine.

“I’m always asking him, ‘Tommy, you want me to get you some ice?’ But he never does. It’s amazing, he prefers to drink it warm,” Bill said.

But a preference for warm cola is only one of the brothers’ eccentricities. After talking to them, one walks away with the feeling that making guitars, rather than making money, is their main pursuit in life.

“I love what I’m doing. I don’t make a bunch of money at it,” Bill said. “Part of it is bad management on my part, but I don’t make a lot of money because mostly I sell my guitars cheap. Too cheap. I do charge more for the extras that my customers want. But I don’t believe in charging a lot. I’m not out to screw anybody.”

Depending on the wood that a customer wants, the Zollas sell their custom guitars for $800 to $3,000. In a “good year” the brothers make 30 to 40 guitars.

The brothers’ earnings are also limited because they do not advertise. Instead, they rely on referrals from their customers for new orders. In addition, they have distributors in Europe who keep them busy with small, but regular orders for guitars and parts.

“Bill’s a good man, with a heart of gold. As far as I can remember, he’s never made any money from his guitars,” said Caesar Rosas of the East Los Angeles band Los Lobos. “It’s a shame that he just doesn’t charge what his guitars are worth.”

Rosas, who has been friends with Bill Zolla for about seven years, is one of many musicians who use a Zolla guitar. Doug Stegmeyer of Billy Joel’s band and Donna Summers’ bass player also use a Zolla product.

“They’re good guitars; good wood, good sound quality,” Rosas said. “I met Bill at a trade show several years back. He made me a Strat (Stratocaster). It’s kind of a strange Strat, one of a kind. But that’s what he does best, customized guitars.”

Stratocasters were first manufactured by Leo Fender, whose innovations made him the industry leader for many years. Other manufacturers have copied the traditional Fender Stratocasters, which are usually made from maple.

The choice woods for quality guitars are bird’s-eye maple, flame maple and swamp ash, Tom Zolla said.

“I’ve seen some nice things they’ve done at the trade shows,” said Doc Pittillo, who repairs guitars in Orange County. “Theirs is a custom shop. Their best stuff is the Fender copies they make. They’re as good as anybody’s.”

The Zollas make their guitars in an inconspicuous shop across the street from the downtown post office. Rock ‘n’ roll music, which is played loud and nonstop inside the shop, drowns out noise from drug activity and the frequent arguments between transients that take place on the street and sidewalk.

It is not unusual for the Zollas to shoo away druggies or transients from the doorway when they open in the morning.

“Officially, our business hours are from 8 to 5. But the time that we open in the morning really depends on the time that Tommy gets up to unlock the door,” said Bill.

It is with that easygoing style that the brothers run the business. A customer just does not order a guitar with a deadline for delivery. Because the instrument is made entirely by hand, and the Zollas are always juggling orders, a customer can expect to get the guitar only after it is finished.

Telephone orders from as far away as Europe are usually jotted down on whatever is within reach of the phone. Recently, while talking to a visitor, Bill took a lengthy order from a customer in New Jersey, and wrote it on the body of a guitar he was working on.

The shop floor is usually covered with a generous layer of sawdust, which hovers about like San Francisco fog. The sawdust, which the brothers inhale throughout the day without the benefit of air masks, and their constant smoking will probably be the end of them, Bill said.

“But I think Tommy has more to worry about. Who knows what all that warm Coke is going to do to him after it mixes with all the cigarette smoke and sawdust he inhales,” Bill said, laughing.

Although they will make any type of electric guitar, the brothers prefer to make bass guitars.

“The bass and drums are the backbone of the rhythm section, the heart and soul of a band,” Bill said. “I work with my customers in giving a guitar the tone quality they want. Nowadays, many people want a hard, bright tone. But I don’t like that. The brighter the tone, the less warmth you get out of a guitar.”

“A lot of studio people use my product. I’ve got a good name in the business because I have always made good guitar necks,” he added. “Necks are kind of a touchy thing. They have to be stable and straight to produce good sound quality. If you don’t know how to make a good neck, the wood structure will change in different temperatures, giving you an inconsistent sound quality.”

In addition to guitars, the Zollas also make necks and other parts for other manufacturers. The parts, like many of their guitars, usually carry another company’s name.

“But everybody knows where the guitar and parts came from. People in the business can look at pictures of guitars and tell you that’s a Zolla guitar or those are Zolla parts. I’m always finding my parts on other people’s guitars,” Bill said.