Bunker Guitars History, Dave Bunker, The Touch Guitar, Tension Free Neck

It was just another concert for Jimmy Webster, who was playing at Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus in the late 1950s. But it was a life changing experience for Dave Bunker, founder of Bunker Guitars. Jimmy Webster was from England and had developed a new tapping method for standard guitar. Dave Bunker was curious enough to research this technique for himself, but after experimenting, he found it a difficult fit for many styles of music. While the tapping format used on a single neck guitar could easily be used in pull-offs and tapping, two hands could still only play 6 strings with 9 fingers. But Dave remained intrigued by the concept. He asked his father Joe Bunker if he thought they could build a double neck guitar made for touching or tapping. His father, an established guitar craftsman, answered yes. In 1958 the Bunker Touch Guitar concept was patented under its initial name, the Duo-lectar. This was only the second US patent granted for a stringed instrument since the five string banjo. It took 30 more years of research and development to perfect today’s latest Touch Guitar. From that first patent in 1958 came many more corollary patents for fine tuners, on-body bridges, headless guitars and basses, the Tension Free Neck, the Electronic Mute and other refinements. Bunker Guitars first caught the attention of Leo Fender at one of the first NAMM (national association of music merchants) trade show in the Palmer house hotel in Chicago. Leo Fender watched the performance of a young artist and inventor, Dave Bunker who was experimenting with some innovative ideas on his recently patented Duo-lectar. Dave Bunker was creating quite a stir at this show in the Standel Amps booth showing and playing his newly invented Touch Guitar to other greats such as Chet Atkins, Mel Bay (founder of St Louis music) Joe Maphis and many others. Dave was co-sharing this booth with Barbara Mandrell and her father Irby who before he brought Barbara to fame sold products for Standel. Leo Fender approached Dave and asked him if he would be interested in selling the Touch Guitar and his related innovations. Leo offered Dave $20,000.00 and a 3% royalty which at the time was like a million dollars, but Dave felt that he wanted to further develop this invention by himself. He is thankful that he did. After many years of technological refinement, Bunker Guitar company now has a full array of industry-recognized innovations and patents: individual bridge designs, the Magnum bridge, pickup designs, electronic mute technology, tension free necks and a stunning line of new technology guitars and basses. And of course, the noteworthy fifth generation Bunker Touch Guitar is what started it all. Yet another specialty product from Bunker is the hand-selected tone-wood that is selected and milled for all Bunker instruments. “Stump to Stage” is the registered Bunker concept that controls guitar quality from the choice of wood through to the finished custom instrument. While Leo Fender first recognized the future of Bunker innovations, contemporary musicians like Touch Guitar owner Eddie Val Halen continue to honor the inspired engineering of Dave Bunker.

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