Neptune, NJ -- Seeming like a guitar Mecca?

[tplyons]

I just found out Danelectro was in Neptune, NJ in the 50's and 60's. I've known about Kramers up until the 80's being in Neptune. What is it about this town that draws guitar builders?

I know a similar thing happened in Woodstock, NY, but there's music history there. What's special about Neptune?

[Peter McFerrin]

Proximity, but not adjacency, to a huge customer base in New York is my guess. Being a tourist area, the Jersey Shore probably had pretty low wages relative to greater New York as a whole. Even with CNC routers, guitar manufacture is a very labor-intensive industry, so you don't want to pay the higher wages that closer-in locations demand. It's the same reason that Orange County became the electric instrument capital of America in the late '50s: proximity to the music business in Los Angeles, but much lower labor costs.

[tplyons]

Sounds possible. Perfectly possible.

Just more Jersey pride going for me