Springtime at the Shop
We had a spring storm rolling over the mountains yesterday evening and I was able to capture a few photos of the rainbow and the contrasting clouds from the back deck.
Articles
Moving Shop and Home
These are some pictures that display a hint of the viewshed from the back deck, inlcuding a view of what the stars can look like without light pollution.
The house is perched on a ridge line that climbs about 800 feet out of a bench from the Cumberland Plateau. It's actually about 25 miles from the main body of the Cumberland Plateau, but the western escarpement includes many outlying plateau islands that gradually descend into Tennessee's highland rim. The house rests on such an island, known locally as Linder Mountain.
Roland Dyens
Roland Dyens departure from the world of the living leaves a gaping hole in the classical guitar community. One of the best ways that we can give thanks for life is through our work. But we don’t show gratitude by always doing what’s expected and acceptable to everyone.
Roland Dyens showed gratitude for life by continually challenging the status quo and moving what was expected and acceptable a bit further and now that he is gone, what he brought to us will be greatly missed.
Defining Good Tone
What is “good” tone? It seems like a subjective inquiry that will lead to unjustifiable arguments; however, I believe that today’s classical guitarists can easily come to an agreement on whether a tone is either harsh or pleasant.
The modern classical guitar and its technique are the product of centuries of development. The scale length establishes a particular range that the cavity and plate resonances are intended to amplify in the most efficient way to its audience. Those variables narrow the field of success results.
Classical Guitar Tone Production
For many of us, it’s the sound of the classical guitar that drew us to the instrument. Any of us who have attempted to move passed the role of listening and into that of playing have realized that the very sound that drew us to the instrument doesn’t easily emerge from beginner fingers. In the end, the the sound we achieve is a combination of our conscience and the instrument we play, but I think it’s important to address the mechanics. This means looking into our technique, fingernail shape and our ability at manipulating both while using your ears as a guide.
Dogal Maestrale String Review
I recently tested out some low tension Dogal Maestrale treble strings and thought that I would share my thoughts (FYI - the strin
About Guitar Design
Once I received an email from a friend of his new idea for a top bracing pattern with the question, “Do you think that this design will make a good sounding guitar?” It was actually a creative idea and it certainly didn't fail to peak my curiosity, but it was the question itself that stuck with me and deserves an honest an
Defining the Handmade Guitar
The word “handmade” is one the oldest, feel-good labels we can attribute to a product and it is the prerequisite of each customer on the market for a concert quality classical guitar. But what does this word mean today and what qualities should its products possess?
A Visit from an Antonio de Torres Guitar
On June 20, one of my customers brought by an original Torres made in 1883. The guitar sounded great though it obviously had lots of restoration work. I checked the Romanillos entry of this particular guitar and most everything matches his description except the bit about the four piece top.