One Three Guitar: Beyond String Theory

by Charles McGuigan 09.026

It’s a one-stop shop for everything guitar, and it’s located in the heart of Bellevue.

One Three Guitar, which opened its doors during the pandemic five years ago, has a three-pronged purpose. Not only do they carry accessories for guitars—everything from strings to straps; they also repair and sell used guitars and amps; and this too: they offer lessons from an extraordinary team of local guitarists.

The business name itself (a swift salute to the music profession) is an abbreviated form of the traditional count-off lead singers have used for decades as the group launches into song.  And the company was formed by a sort of triumvirate of men, each one of whom brought specific skill sets to the business.

It all began with the owner and founder, Matt  Avitable. “He opened a cable repair shop about eight years ago and along with repairing cables, he learned how to repair guitars,” says Jason Tyler, who heads up the guitar lessons component at One Three. “Matt repaired instrument cables, and XLR cables, and speaker cables, that type of cabling.”

Jason Hull (another Jason) joined Matt at the shop’s first location over in Scott’s Addition. Jason, a luthier with more than 30 years experience, is homologous to a seasoned internist who understands the inner workings of the body electric. So Jason can not only diagnose, he can cure what ails your guitbox. Prior to joining Matt, he had been employed for years at Guitar Works.

Jason Tyler remembers One Three’s grand opening back in 2018 in the same building that once housed Sound of Music. “I was like, ‘Hey do you need any teachers?’” he says. “And they said, ‘We don't have the space.”

That all changed a few years later during the throes of the pandemic when One Three Guitar moved to its current location on MacArthur Avenue.  “They decided at that point they were going to open up a shop that combined both of their areas of expertise, and I was hired as a teacher,” Jason Tyler says.

Jason Tyler has had his hand wrapped around the neck of a guitar most of his life. “I've been playing music since I was a kid,” he says. “I was self-taught. So I never really had a teacher. I try my best to learn as much as I can and to teach my students to not make the same mistakes I did.”

He later went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music at VCU.  At One Three he teaches acoustic, electric, bass, even ukulele, along with a smattering of music theory. And both Matt Avitable and Jason Hull also teach, as do Nat Quick, B. Minard and Reid LaPierre. In all they have about 80 students and are hoping to expand that number.

The younger you start learning how to play the guitar the deeper the muscle memory will be as you age. “The earlier you learn, the better,” says Jason Tyler. “And even if you don't stick with it, you’ll develop a sense of rhythm, a sense of melody, and a sense of harmony. It will help even if you want to sing or do karaoke. No matter what it is, having that develop early is massively important because I've also seen the opposite where people didn't develop it until they were much older, and it's just so much harder to get into it later. It's like a muscle you've never flexed.”
Lessons are $36 for a half-hour and $72 for a full hour.

And right now is a good time to sign up your kids, or yourself.

“We're actually running a deal for September and possibly through October for ten percent off everything if you sign up as a new student,” Jason Tyler says. “And if you’ve got a really nice instrument that you want to sell, we can sell it on consignment. Or if you’re looking for a guitar, we have them for sale.”

After a pause, Jason Tyler adds this: “You really need to come in. You can see the repair shop, you can see the lesson studios, and you can see all the guitars and accessories we have for sale.”

One Three Guitar

4021 MacArthur Avenue.

Richmond, VA

(804) 966-3038

onethreeguitar.com

Mon.-Thurs. 12-6; Fri./Sat. 12-4