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The Next Four Guitars

Handmade Classical Guitars in Progress

These four guitars have been in the works for quite some time and are finally nearing completion. From front to back they John Gregerson's Honduran Rosewood Guitar, Stephen Mattingly's guitar, the GFA guitar and, after three years of working little by little on the weekends, my very own guitar using wood that I brought back from the Peace Corps in Jamaica. 

 

To Bee or Not To Bee? - A Story About Guitar Making and Forgiveness

Luthier Attacking Bumble BeeThat was the question as I stood there in the shop strategizing how I was going to smash him while he was still mezmerized by the florescent lights hanging above my workshop bench. Sometimes stuff happens when you are working on guitars. Bad things happen to good guitars, and good guitars in progress. Most of it can be prevented, but this...not this - and something had to pay.

Making the Cut

Handmade Classical Guitars - Milling Western Red Cedar SoundboardsI always get a little nervous when I start prepping a log of future guitar soundboards for milling. Making a good cut takes a good deal of patience and experience that I am always worried I won't have.

Lessons In Making Soup

Making a Batch of SoupTwo weeks ago I got weary of cooking every night for myself and decided that it was too time consuming, so on my ritual Sunday afternoon grocery store trip I shopped for the would be ingredients in one giant kettle of soup that would last me through the entire week of building classical guitars. My soup making skills leaned particularly hard on my Peace Corps experience in Jamaica.

The Way We Look At Things...

Classical Guitar BracingToday I was staring down my miter joints as I inlayed the purfling in one of my classical guitars. It's a very exhausting thing - applying the binding and purfling to a guitar. Of course, it would be a lot easier if I didn't care about the outcome. It was about 3pm, and like lots of people in my time zone, I was beginning to lose concentration.

Working Harder or Smarter?

Guitar No. 6It's good to be productive. Some of it is hard work and some of it is ingenuity. By the end of this week I will have a couple of guitar frames hanging in my humidity room ready to get fitted for both their top and back. It's so much faster than I had previously been building guitars, yet my process has changed very little.

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