What better way to learn what makes a guitar really sing than by first resurrecting hundreds of choked starlets? Enter: Butch Boswell, veteran of over 20 years’ experience in the repair world whose own guitars belt it out with clarity and gusto. We recently got to check out a guitar Butch had custom built for a client, and that got our attention in a big way. When Butch approached us to sell another custom build, this time a 0.5 12-fret in Brazilian Rosewood and Italian Spruce, the answer was a resounding yes. Butch was happy to sit down with us to talk about life and lutherie and snap a few photos of his (impressively clean) shop and wood collection. Check out that conversation below, and stay tuned while we finish the listing for the Boswell 0.5!

LW: Before building guitars, you enjoyed a successful career in repair work. Can you speak to the ways in which your building has informed your subsequent repair work, and vice versa?

BB: I think that repairing instruments all these years influenced my current work more than the other way around. Throughout my career in guitar repair, I performed every step involved in guitar building hundreds of times. When it was finally time to build a guitar, it was just a matter of stringing each step together in the proper sequence. Having said that, building, especially at this level, has still proven to be a huge challenge. But, learning the fundamentals through years of repair work truly helped to lay a very solid foundation.

LW: Talk to me about your current shop arrangement. How do you manage workflow?

BB: I absolutely love the space I’m currently in. It’s well lit, small, easy to keep clean, and probably most importantly, very efficient in how it’s laid out. I can build for a few hours, then if I have to, I can easily segue into some accumulating repair work. As far as how well I manage my workflow, well, that’s something I’m still trying to figure out! For one person to manage what is essentially two completely different careers, both of which could keep me pretty busy, has always proven to be the challenge. (see photos)

LW: Who are some of your favorite guitar players? Have you built instruments for any of them?

BB: I don’t really have a favorite player, but I could take up this entire blog with players I admire and listen to! I listen to music in my shop all day, every day. I have several players in my accolades section that are absolutely the top of the top. Tim Pierce, Steve Trovato, Danny Pelfrey, Danny Weis, Tim Bluhm. These are all guys that have played with every big name out there, and their catalogue of work is seriously deep. They may not be immediately recognizable household names, but these are some of the guys behind the names we all know. They are all fantastic players and performers, and I’m so proud to have each one of them playing my instruments.

LW: Many builders have a particular guitar that has heavily influenced their body of work. Do you have an archetype of your own?

BB: For me, having come up in the repair and sales world, I have had my hands on more vintage Martin guitars than probably anything else, but I have also worked closely with Santa Cruz Guitars, Collings, Taylor, etc. My repair work has been a study in the evolution of the flattop steel string acoustic guitar. So, when I built my first guitar, you can imagine what it looked like! It’s a dead ringer for a 000-28. Do these makers still influence my work today? Probably not. I have stepped out into my own look and sound over the past few years, including my own aesthetic and combinations of materials, my own take on bracing and strength of materials, and my own sound.

LW: Please describe your approach to voicing an instrument. How did you first find your voice, and how do you continue to experiment?

BB: Like I said before, when I first got started with building, I was a repair guy, and really just copying what I had seen for years, both inside and out. But as I began to find truly inspiring materials, which wasn’t easy, and as I started to experiment with my own bracing ideas, my instruments started to sound more and more my own. I have tried various forms of voicing techniques, but the one thing that I always seem to come back to, the one thing that seems to never let me down, is my ear. I have worked in guitar shops and played music professionally for upwards of 25 years now. I always say that tone is the last thing for a player to learn. Developing one’s ear is not an easy thing to do. But, when you are subjected to it day in and day out for more than half of your life, inevitably it becomes somewhat engrained. When I first started building, I already knew what I was hearing when I would tap on a soundboard even before I could describe what was going on. Nine times out of ten, when I look inside of a production guitar, I see a very over-built instrument. They’re having to do that to protect themselves against warranty claims, but they’re also killing the tone of the instrument. Many things have led me to where I am today with the voice of my instruments (playing music, repairing, my education in engineering), but the one thing I know I can truly count on every time is my ear.

LW: We recently received your 0.5 #0026—woah. What were your goals in building a guitar halfway between a 0 and a 00?

BB: Well, this wonderful little box was a custom order for a customer. He wanted the vintage Martin style framework, but with a little more umph under the hood! So, I had this incredibly special set of Brazilian that was just a touch small for a traditional 00 size guitar. So, we reduced it slightly to make the set work, but still managed to keep it a bit larger than an 0 size. Coincidentally, I got several very old Italian spruce tops from a retired builder. They were much too small for most current popular models. The two were perfect for one another, and No. 0026 was born!

LW: What do you enjoy doing outside of building and repairing instruments?

BB: I’m a dad and husband before everything else. So, when I’m not getting my ass kicked in the shop, I’m usually getting it kicked at home. I have three little ones, ages 8, 6, and 2, and they love to play with Dad. I’ll come home, ice my shoulder, then go jump on our huge trampoline for an hour or so, come back in and ice something else. I love playing with my kids, and I love being a dad. Outside of that, Bend, OR is an amazing place to be if you like being outdoors. I do a lot of mountain biking, and have vowed this summer to take my family camping several times.

LW: What music are you listening to right now?

BB: At this exact moment, it’s Ry Cooder, Into the Purple Valley, and Jackson Browne, Saturate Before Using. I have a record collection that is a touch out of control, so it can be VERY different on any given day! (see photos)

LW: Your current models appear to be firmly rooted in the traditional style. In your eyes, what sets your guitars apart from the pack?

BB: Most of my body shapes are very traditional sizes, but they have been changed slightly to suit my goals. More and more though, I’m excited to be able to experiment with more and more interesting wood combinations and aesthetic. Rosette work is one of my favorites, and my “Tiled Mosaic” look is getting more and more popular (see photos). I strive to keep a high level of consistency in color, grain, and materials throughout a build, and I think I am somewhat blessed with an eye for putting together interesting and complimentary designs. One of the biggest things that separates me from the pack though, would be my experience in a very high level of repair work I’ve been involved with for 20+ years. Making a great-sounding box is one thing. Putting it together with the neck correctly, setting the neck angle, fretting it, and making it play masterfully is another set of skills altogether.

LW: If you had not become a guitar maker, where do you think life would have led you?

BB: Politics. Ha! No way. I see every day how lucky I am to have three healthy children. They play hard, they’re smart, and they have a leg up in this world because they have parents and family that care about them so deeply. A lot of kids don’t have that. I think about that sometimes, and I wish I could be more involved as a Big Brother, or involved somehow in helping kids that are just less fortunate than my own. If I wasn’t building guitars, I truly have no idea what I would be doing. It’s a terribly hard path we luthiers have chosen, and there are days I have felt like giving up, but it’s what drives me. To say I’m passionate about my work is a gross understatement. I love it, and I’m so fortunate to have what I have, and be where I am in my career at this very moment.

Our Experiences and Take-Aways from 2016’s Santa Barbara Acoustic Instruments Celebration & Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase

People often ask us how we find all the splendid guitars that we offer. Of course we have numerous methods for finding these fine instruments, but one of our most exciting avenues is attending guitar shows. Each year there are a few great shows that feature custom guitars by independent luthiers, often working in one-man workshops and with an unparalleled attention to detail. Dream Guitars owner Paul Heumiller recently came back from two such shows, the 2016 Santa Barbara Acoustic Instruments Celebration and the 2016 Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase. Heumiller: “At these shows many of the top luthiers in the world display several of their most recent developments, which gives us the rare opportunity to play a few different models of each maker. Being able to play more than one at a time is key for us at Dream Guitars, because it gives us a chance to honestly evaluate newer makers and evaluate their builds for consistency and quality of tone. It’s also important to meet up with established makers that we already work with in order to pick out our new favorite instruments to bring back for our clients.”

These shows invite between 80 and 120 guitar makers and are open to the public, which is another reason that we like to attend. Heumiller again: “It’s a joy to finally meet clients that I’ve been working with on the phone and over email for years. The shows are a great opportunity to see the faces and shake the hands of clients with whom I’ve worked for the past 20 years. It’s a part of the business I truly love, since guitar people are all great folks and we all have so much in common. I’ve made several dear friends while running between the shows over the years.”

As we mentioned earlier, the shows are one of the key ways that we discover new talent. This year was an exceptionally rich one for identifying younger makers that had something worthy of the Dream Guitars name. At most shows we expect to perhaps find one new builder that impresses us, maybe two, but this year we found no fewer than six! Heumiller again: “I think the fact that there are so many stellar young builders has a lot to do with the sharing of information these days. Young makers have so much access to good information that if they have talent they can much more quickly reach a high level of quality both in terms of construction and tone.”

At the Santa Barbara show we invited Hollywood, California-based luthier Isaac Jang to join us. “I’ve been watching been him for some time now, and at Santa Barbara his OM just blew me away; the timing was right to start a relationship. Jang’s work has impressed me for years, and during that time I gave him advice and my honest opinion of his work. This year he did something about it, so we decided to purchase the Brazilian Rosewood-and-German-Spruce OM that he’d brought.”–Heumiller. We were also delighted to learn more about Jang’s past, namely that at age 17 he asked Kathy Wingert for an apprenticeship. Kathy wisely told him that he had to graduate from a lutherie school, get a job working in guitar repair, and then come see her. Isaac did all of that by age 19 and returned to Kathy’s door. He apprenticed with Kathy for a number of years, and it shows. Isaac is now a teacher at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.

While we were there we also made good on our long-standing respect for Michel Pellerin of Canada by offering to represent his work–and we brought back a beautiful Sunburst Jumbo he had recently finished. In addition, we met the truly inspiring creations of Benoît Lavoie. None other than Pierre Bensusan bought Lavoie’s guitar which we planned to get after the show! We are delighted at Benoît’s success; just goes to show we have good taste if Bensusan beat us to the chase, and we’ll wait until the next one is finished.

We also got to see the new work of Noemi Schembri from Italy. The tone of her guitars mesmerized us at Santa Barbara, and by the time we saw her again in Woodstock we simply could not resist any longer: we brought back an Madagascar Rosewood SJ and a Koa Baritone.

In Woodstock we were introduced to the inspirational work of Canadian builder Loïc Bortot (of Bouchereau Guitars fame). After playing a few of his instruments, it was clear why he graduated first in his class at Quebec City’s National Lutherie School, and is now a teacher there. From that week we brought back his wonderful slotted head Mistral model. Speaking of teachers, we were also able to connect with Sam Guidry, a teacher alongside Bryan Galloup at the American School of Lutherie, and get one of his Maple OMs for the shop. Paul: “Bryan told me I had to look at Sam’s guitars, and I’m really glad I did. I’ve long respected Bryan, so when he tells me about someone new, I listen. At Woodstock I got to spend a lot of time with Sam after events; he’s a great fellow to be around, and he’s incredibly passionate about his craft. As soon as I played this Maple guitar I fell in love. It’s voiced for a big, round attack with superb clarity across the registers–which is why I’m stoked to get in the shop!”

Paul: “The other aspect of the shows that is pure joy for me is seeing my old friends that I’ve known for many, many years. Many of them I met as young upstart builders when I first opened Dream Guitars’ doors, and they’re still building guitars today. The many dinners and glasses of wine from bygone years allow us to really get to know each other as human beings that share a common passion in the art of the guitar.” This time around it was wonderful to make a new friend in Richard Hoover, the founder of Santa Cruz Guitars, and Joe Glaser a repairman beyond compare. Paul: “I was delighted when Richard Hoover asked me to introduce him to a few talented young makers. He was beaming over the fine work of Isaac Jang and Leo Buendia like a high schooler opening his guitar case for the first time. Clearly the passion is still inside of Richard, and he so gracefully complimented his younger peers on their fine work. He told me later that ‘just when he thought we’d gotten this guitar making thing down these new guys come along and make it harder again with their new ideas!'”

The one common thread that binds these young makers together and excites us so much is their open mind, open heart approach to the craft. They don’t just want to build good copies of guitars, they want to push the envelope in all the right ways and create innovative musical tools to inspire musicians in ways not yet known to us. Paul: “This is something you can’t just feel by just looking at their guitars necessarily, but trust me: as I dined with these folks and taste tested dozens of their guitars I could feel the boundaries they were pushing and hear the voices they were pioneering.” These new builders are seekers chasing down their crazy dreams–while they fulfill the dreams of players the world over. We are beyond excited to consider what will become of the guitar world in the years to come. This is the golden age of guitars, and it’s not stopping any time soon. Let’s hang on and enjoy the ride!