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Reno, Nevada-based luthier Ben Wilborn has just embarked on an epic build–coming soon to a Dream near you. This time we’re looking at Ben’s Modified Dreadnought, his WarHorse model, with Brazilian Rosewood carbon dated to the late 19th century and Tunnel 14 Redwood on top. Add to that a cutaway, arm bevel, Curly Koa bindings, 25.4-24.9″ multiscale fretboard, and Visesnut flight case to the mix; if there are any stops left to pull for this build, it’s only a matter of time until Ben finds them. As he does, and the WarHorse approaches, we’ll keep you posted here!

3/27/19 Update from Ben: “the laminated sides are done, and built up into the finished ribs, complete with basswood arm bevel support and Kevin Ryan’s A-5 kerfing. The fingerboard is jet-black Gaboon Ebony, cut in a 25.4 to 24.9 multiscale. Moving right along.”

4/29/19 Update: Ben: “Woodworking is done. Into the booth we go!”

7/1/19: Nearly here! The WarHorse rises up, freshly glossy. It won’t be long before this beauty touches down at our doorstep.

Friends, here’s a guitar for the ages. One of our favorite builders of late, Leo Buendia, has come together with us on a custom project for one of our longtime clients that’ll stand apart from the already distinct group of custom Buendias we’ve commissioned over the past few years. This time, a one-piece back from The Tree Mahogany. Yes, you read that right. And it’s paired with a master grade Adirondack Spruce top, itself appointed with a chip carved rosette with Cedar insert and red Washi paper backing. To say this is a one-of-a-kind guitar feels like a gross understatement. Keep up with our build thread, and watch as Leo brings this beauty to life!

Model: OM
Fretboard: 14th-fret ebony fingerboard
Bridge: hand-carved Ebony
Bridge pins: Ebony with Pearl dots
Top braces: Sitka spruce
Binding: Ebony with black/white purfling
Saddle, 2 1/4” width, compensated Bone
Nut: 1 3/4” width, scalloped and compensated Bone
Truss-rod: lightweight, double action, including wrench
Head-cap Veneer: Highly-figured “The Tree” Quilted Mahogany
Back of Head-cap veneer: Ebony
Tuning Machines: Schaller M6 in gold with Ebony buttons
Fingerboard: Ebony, with Ebony binding and Maple purfling
Fingerboard Radius: 20′′
Case: Hoffee custom hardshell case
Scale Length: 25”
Soundboard: Master-grade Adirondack Spruce
Back and sides: Highly-figured ‘The Tree’ Quilted Mahogany
Cutaway: Florentine
Rosette: Hand-carved design with Cedar insert and red Washi paper
End graft: Custom hand-carved design to match rosette
Back Braces: Lattice Honduran Mahogany
Fingerboard Custom Inlay: 3rd to 19th in Spalted Maple
Back of the neck: Rectangular purfling Spalted Maple custom inlay
Body Wedge: Manzer-style tapered body
Headstock design: Wide shape with custom, hand-carved design to match rosette
Finish: French Polish body, Nitrocellulose Lacquer neck

3/29/19 Update:

7/3/19 Update: At long last, finished. We’ve had a few days to play this incredible instrument from Leo, record it and photograph it, and now it’s time to send it on to its new home. Here’s a link to the full listing! https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/2019-buendia-om-cutaway-the-tree-mahogany-adirondack-spruce-053.html

We recently landed an incredible new OMC-H from Portland, Oregon-based luthier Gage Halland. Right out of the box, the gorgeous sunburst and energetic tone were the first things we noticed, and it’s only gotten better each time someone picks it up. To celebrate our new relationship with Gage, we sat down for a quick chat about life and lutherie, his work with Michael Greenfield and John Greven, and where his builds are taking him. Give it a listen, and be sure to check out our listing of the sunburst OMC-H pictured here: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/halland-omc-h-sunburst-mahogany-sitka-spruce-002-17.html.

 

LW: I’d like to start with an obvious question. Why guitars? What first drew you to build these instruments?

GH: I started playing guitar in jr. high with big dreams of being great at it…I wasn’t. As early as 16, I was drawing acoustic guitars in all my notebooks at school, but still didn’t have a passion for playing them. I was daydreaming about building them and didn’t know why. As far as I knew, the major manufacturers were the only ones building guitars so I moved onto other things. It was another ten years before I was given a book that pointed me to the door of John Greven (who would become my first mentor) and introduce me to the work of a man that would later become my master, Michael Greenfield.

LW: You describe your work with Michael as a time where “the perfectionist nature of Greenfield Guitars perfectly suited my obsessive “always make it better” attitude. Can you expand on that? In what ways do your and Michael’s philosophies dovetail?

GH: I have this incredibly irritating habit of seeing how something is done (no matter the task) and asking, “why are we doing this? Is this the highest/best approach to the task? How can we make it better?” I must have shortened Michael’s life by a couple years when I got there! Once I quieted that part of my brain and started listening to what he had to teach me, I realized that his approach was very much the same. He never left good enough alone, and it was incredible to see/hear guitars at this level and see their creator sweating over how to improve them still.

When I returned to Portland to create my own instruments I found Michael’s shop motto far more ingrained in my psyche than I had realized: “Perfection is acceptable.” That has become the driving force behind my work now. I want to always be improving and exploring new ideas, techniques, materials, etc. I doubt I’ll ever be content with the what I’ve done before, I’ll always be pursuing perfection.

LW: That’s an appropriate motto for both of you. After such excellent tutelage, what is your current approach to voicing an instrument? How do you continue to experiment?

GH: I’ve had two incredible teachers with very different ideas of what makes a guitar sound great. Greven taught me about the history of the steel string guitar and his approach is to make an incredibly light, responsive guitar. Greenfield showed me what the modern guitar is capable of and his measured approach to instrument construction. I would say my instruments definitely lean more towards the Greenfield camp.

When it comes to voicing my own instruments I aspire to the sound of grand pianos and old church bells. These things have undeniable tone and you’ll never find a lightweight version of either. I like to think of it as mass applied musically.

I’m constantly researching new materials and methods for creating a better musical instrument (I currently have some components that are manufactured by defense contractors!). I’m not afraid to deviate from the guitar construction norms to get to the sound that I’m after.

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

GH: Michael Watts’ emotive, “warm-honey” style of guitar playing is one of my favorites. I recently received Forest Bailey’s new album and his smoother take on the percussive style is really great. Of course I have to mention McKee, McManus, Bensusan and the like, these players where my introduction into fingerstyle guitar and I’m still amazed every time I put one of their albums on.

At heart I’m a singer-songwriter fan and I’ve had the privilege of building guitars for some of my modern heros. Barton Carroll is one of the best songwriters out there and quite the guitar player to boot (listen to his song “Every Little Bit Hurts” if you want prime examples of both)! I was also able to deliver a guitar to Al James whose knockout songwriting was the driving force behind his band Dolorean for many years. The band broke up a few years ago, but I selfishly hope that a new guitar might inspire some new recordings in the future!

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

GH: Aaaah my shop, well it’s…humble. I work out of a single-car garage in Portland. It started out as a temporary workspace three years ago and I just haven’t found anything better to date. It’s not my dream shop by any means, but I’m grateful to have anywhere to work within the city limits. I’m a little over the commute though.

I’d say my workflow follows the traditional lutherie shop, in that everything is done on one bench in the middle of the shop. I’d love to have task specific stations to speed up construction but there’s no space for that right now. The focus of my shop and workflow is to make efficient strides in the schedule that allow me to slow down and really sweat the details that set my guitars apart.

LW: So what’s on your bench right now?

GH: Right now I’m fortunate to be building two very special guitars.  A non-cutaway OM-H with some very special Brazilian Rosewood and an ancient Cedar top. The other is the first of my new body style which is similar in dimension to a traditional Dreadnought but most definitely has a modern shape with modern construction methods. This guitar is African Blackwood and Euro Spruce with all the bells and whistles (armrest, ribrest, cutaway, multiscale fretboard and some other features I can’t reveal just yet.) The OM-H is commissioned, but the new D-HC is available for adoption.

LW: That sounds exciting! What music are you listening to right now? What kind of music are you yourself playing?

GH: Mostly Folk and singer-songwriter stuff, Jeffery Martin, Barton Carroll, Dolorean, Derik Hultquist, Corb Lund and Hayes Carll are some of the names that immediately come to mind.

I’ve been working on Michael Watts’ tune Vetiver for quite a while. Every time I think I have it nailed I go back to listen to him play it and immediately head back to my practice space. I just can’t wring all the emotion from every note like he can!

LW: These days, there’s quite a bit of competition in the boutique guitar market. What sets you and your guitars apart from the pack?

GH: Pursuing tone, volume, clarity, sustain, and balance are the keystones to my approach in guitarmaking. The sound of my instruments definitely falls into the “modern fingerstyle” category, so note-to-note delineation is very important. I don’t want the player’s musical choices to be dictated by the sonic limitations of the instrument.

I’ve spent years tweaking my instruments into what I feel is a cohesive design where the shape, the feel of the guitar in your hands, and the restrained decorative elements give you an impression of the guitar’s sound before you pluck the first string. Fit and finish is where my obsessive nature shines through. Clean joinery is paramount. From my signature lambs-tongue detail on my arm and ribrests, to the beveled edges on the bridge, I want anyone who buys one of my guitars to get the sense of how much of myself I put into these instruments.

LW: You’ve definitely nailed the visual presentation: the fit-and-finish was the first thing I noticed when we unboxed your Mahogany OMC-H. If you had not become a guitar maker, where do you think life would have led you?

GH: This is a hard one. I have a deep fascination with old wooden ships and timber frame homes. I’d probably end up doing either of those things very happily.

LW: Okay, last question: what was the first guitar that you played where you really “got it,” where you fell in love with the instrument? Do you feel as though you’re trying to incorporate that feeling into the voice of your own instruments?

I was very lucky to find a 30s Gibson L-00 in the used guitar section of a huge music store chain.

It had mile-high action and had obviously been abused, but it also had all that wonderful L-00 tone and volume. It’s the only one that I regret selling. I don’t build in the traditional style, and I’m not going after a vintage sound, but instruments like that definitely leave an impression and that’s what I’m after, the lingering impression left by a well-built, handmade guitar.

 

We’re obviously stoked to strike up a relationship with Gage; his work speaks for itself. Do check out our sunburst OMC-H here: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/halland-omc-h-sunburst-mahogany-sitka-spruce-002-17.html. Cheers!

We’ve locked in a custom build of another of Christopher Holcomb’s Kodiak resonators for one of our clients after we sold the first one we’d had (in “The Tree” Mahogany! https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/brand-new-c-f-holcomb-kodiak-the-tree-mahogany-k16025.html). This time we’re looking at a Kodiak with some gorgeous Quilted Mahogany and a Cocobolo neck. Follow our build thread here to keep up-to-date on Christopher’s progress!

3/5/19 Update:

And that’s a wrap! We landed this beautiful finished Kodiak last month, and the new owner is more than happy with the result. Here’s a link to the complete listing: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/brand-new-c-f-holcomb-kodiak-quilted-mahogany-k19037.html. Give us a shout when you’re ready to build one for yourself!

We recently met up with a dynamic young player, Yasmin Williams, who was on the hunt for a quality steel string to take her playing to the next level. Here’s a sample of the kind of tone we’re talking about here: https://www.facebook.com/dreamguitars/videos/2022839427746979/.  After taste testing nearly every guitar we had in the shop, she finally found what she was looking for in Eric Weigeshoff’s Skytop Guitars. Yasmin had a few additional requests, and after working out the details with Eric we’ve settled on a custom build with a Teredo-holed Sitka top, multiscale fingerboard, and a few other juicy details. According to Eric, the Sitka came from a “log that was a float log in Alaska for about 50 years, and the mollusks got in then. Most of it was used for firewood, but I got a stash of it that’s been great to use as soundboards. This will be my 4th Teredo-holed guitar.” Eric has already started the build, and we wanted to keep you all in the loop as it progresses. Stay tuned and keep checking back, there’s a lot more coming down the line!

Custom Skytop Grand Concert
Multiscale fingerboard: 25.4″ to 24.9″
Back: Indian Rosewood
Top: Teredo-Holed Sitka Spruce
Binding & end graft: Curly Koa
Top/back purfling: B/W/B
Side purfling: Maple
Neck: Honduran Mahogany, C Shape
Nut: 1-11/16″
Saddle spacing: 2-1/4″
Bridge: pinless Ebony
Fretboard binding & 12th fret: Curly Koa
Headstock veneer: Ebony
Backstrap: Indian Rosewood
Tuners: Gotoh 510 Cosmo Black
Florentine Cutaway

9/28/18 Update: It’s been a few weeks, but Eric’s been busy at work on our custom build for Yasmin Williams. Now he’s finished building the jig for the multiscale fretboard, roughed-in the soundports, and glued and carved the back braces. Stay tuned for more!

10/11/18 update from Eric: “Got the top braced and carved, and closed up the box this week.”

11/5/18 update from Eric: “All coming along swimmingly at this point. Got the box closed and bound, and now working on the fretboard.”

12/3/18 update:

We recently signed up with French-born luthier Benjamin Paldacci after having met him at the Woodstock Luthier Invitational, and we wanted to get a little better acquainted with the man behind the chisel, so to speak. We’ve had a Malaysian Blackwood OM of his that’s already sold (couldn’t keep it on the rack long enough to gather a speck of dust), and we’re excited to start working with him on the next one. Here’s a link to that OM to tide you over until the next one comes along: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/new-paldacci-om-malaysian-blackwood-carpathian.html. See below for our chat with Benjamin!

LW: For starters, why did you leave your home country of France to study at the National School of Lutherie in Quebec City?

BP: I grew up in an artistic family. My parents were psychoanalysts (my mom) and in the human-resource world (my dad), but we were listening a lot of music from Classical to Blues, Rock, or French-variety. Our parents encouraged my sisters and I to draw, to play an instrument, or anything that we would love. At 19, I decided to learn how to play guitar, and as I was afraid of hurting my fingers, so I started to play electric guitar, not classical or acoustic. Yeah, I know, it is not traditional at all, but well, the principal reason is that I was fond of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Hendrix, Pink Floyd…that kind of stuff. And I learned that even with electric guitar…your fingers hurt…so bad, ha!

 So, when I graduated from high school, I started post-diploma courses, but it was not my thing…at all. It had nothing to do with guitar building, and I was not happy about it. So, I quit and I decided to find a professional way to pursue what I love. I wanted to set up my electric guitars for me and my friends, and the best way to do that was to find a master for an apprenticeship, or a school. I didn’t want to stay in France, so I started to research where to find a proper school outside of my country.

Roberto Venn, Bryan Galloup, Newark School, there are plenty of great ones in the world, but back in the days, my English was terrible (well it is way better right now, but I still need to improve myself about that). Fortunately, I saw that there were two schools in Canada where they spoke French, at Quebec, Montreal (Bruand School) & Quebec City (The National School of Lutherie). As I am not a fan of big cities, I decided to go with the second one. I applied to it, and they took me in 2009.

At the beginning, as I said, I wanted to set up instruments & build vintage guitar replicas (Les Paul, Stratocasters, Telecasters), but after two years of study, I totally changed my mind and said, “Damn son, you will be an acoustic-guitar maker!” and the story begins!

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

BP: In the third year at my school, we needed to design our own guitar shape. We had the luck to have an AutoCAD course, one of the best things my school provided to us IMHO. So, I started to research it, and I discovered the work of Michihiro Matsuda. It totally blew my mind, and I was like, “But…how is it possible to have this kind of approach on an instrument?!” I have always been a fan of design (Philip Stark especially) in architecture, sculpture, and cars since I was a boy. My father told me that when I was three years old, I was able to tell the brand of each car in the street. So, Michihiro’s work was a blast for me.

I am not sure if I have an archetype, properly, but I have a philosophy. Of course, my principal inspiration comes from my mates in the lutherie world, but as a craftsman, I try to find inspiration in whatever I see in my life. It could come from a dollmaker, watchmaker, from a furniture restorer or an insect. I think that craftsmanship is a whole thing, like a gigantic tree with tons of branches, and I am one of its tiny buds. Leonardo DaVinci definitely is a good example of what I am talking about: he was a man of many talents who mastered so many things with one thing in mind: curiosity.

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

BP: In the modern electric guitar world, John Mayer definitely is one of my favorite players. Unfortunately, Mike Bloomfield passed away, but he clearly is, for me, one of the most powerful symbols of the old times. In the Acoustic world, Tony McManus definitely is one of my most favorite musicians. When he stopped at my booth during the Santa Barbara 2016 show (SBAIC) and played one of my guitars, it was a blast for me, probably one of my best memories since I became a luthier. You know the guitar he played, because you had it in your shop. It was the Malaysian Blackwood OM (https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/new-paldacci-om-malaysian-blackwood-carpathian.html). It would be a dream to build a guitar for that kind of incredibly gifted musician, but their guitar collection is well provided. But we never know how life could turn out!

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

BP: Having a workshop is complicated because of all the machinery I have. I had the luck to find a good place to stay in Quebec city, in a peaceful and green spot. As do a lot of us, I basically live in my shop, it is part of my apartment. One of the great thing about that, is when you sand some aromatic pieces of wood, all your apartment smells incredibly good. I am especially thinking about African Blackwood. But it’s a cursed when it’s time to sand a piece of bone!

As you could see in the photos I sent over, I have a basement and two rooms for the workshop. The first one is dedicated to wood and parts storage, hand tools and stuff. It is wood dust free (well, I am using a jointer and a drill press in it, so let’s call this place the minimum dust room). It allows me to assemble my instruments, glue some things with a Hot Hide Glue, fix a setup, or to french polish easily. Plus, I have two windows which give me a wonderful light. It is very important for my eyes. Nothing is worse than working with a candle as only source of luminosity.

The other room is dedicated to woodworking with a bandsaw and drum sander. I am working a lot in this room, and it is one of the most important of the three because I calibrate all my pieces in it. The basement is the third place, where there is the most dust, because my compressor and sanding machines are there. It is not a sexy place, I must admit, and I generally get out of it covered of wood dust, but that is one of the most amazing feelings for me. I am really carefull about my health, so I have two big dust collectors which work perfectly and protect me from it [the dust]. As you can see, I don’t have a booth to shoot finish because I don’t have the room for it. That’s why I send my guitars somewhere else for this step (polyester UV-cured finish). I can do french polish, but it is very fragile (but beautiful though).

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

BP: Well, Ervin Somogyi’s book was at the origin of my voicing philosophy. I build my guitars lightly but strongly, as responsive as possible. For me, the top and back of the guitar work like a drum. That’s why they are thin, with high and light bracing (I carve it to obtain this result). I am using, principally, the deflection test to get the result I want, but I am working with my instincts: I touch the wood, I twist it, weigh it, and I use the tap tone a lot.

For the soundboard, I love the double X bracing because it allow me to have the balance and homogeneity I want for my guitars. When I am using a more traditional bracing pattern, I still modify it to reach the result I want. My backs are active, three or four tonebars. It depends on the result I want. Again, each piece of wood are different, so I work with each of them differently. They need to work in harmony, and this is what I am trying to push myself toward day after day. As Socrates said, “I know that I know nothing,” and when I see incredible guitars my colleagues build, I know that it is my motto.

 LW: What’s on your bench right now? Any new design features you’d like to share? 

 BP: As I am going to Vancouver International Guitar festival (VIGF) in August, and Woodstock Invitational Luthier Showcase (WILS) in October, I am pretty busy. Six models:

OO-12 Higuerilla/Lutz

OM Higuerilla/Carpathian

OO-12 Honduran Mahogany Old Growth/Lutz

OO-12 African Mahogany/Engelmann

OM Claro Walnut/Sitka Bearclawed

Grand Auditorium Wenge/Red Spruce.

This last model is pretty special for me, because I designed it especially for WILS. I wanted to design this shape for a long time because a lot of my mates have this shape in their catalog, and it is a perfect way to make the transition between my OMs and my Dreadnoughts.

I have two guitars for customers I will receive back from my finisher soon. A Flamenco Spanish Cypress & Carpathian Spruce (new shape), and an OM in Koa and German Spruce.

LW: What music are you listening to right now?

BP: The last Foo Fighters album, Concrete And Gold. I just love this group, their approach and their attitude. It is pretty rare to have such an incredible leader like Dave Grohl these days. This person is authentic, an incredible drummer, and an awesome composer/entertainer. I saw them two weeks ago at the Festival D’Été de Québec: best show in my short life. I tried to approach them to let them play my instruments backstage, but as I supposed, it was incredibly difficult, and impossible. So, guys, if you are reading this interview… 

LW: There’s a lot of competition in the fine lutherie market. In your eyes, what sets your guitars apart from the pack?

BP: Well, our market is definitely competitive, because a lot of us are incredibly gifted, and new builders are coming every years. But we all are in the same boat, and our community is super helpful and full of kind people. I’ve had tons of great experiences and good relationship with my colleagues, and when someone needs help I try to be there for them. In the contemporary world, the word “competitive” is only half appropriate because we all build instruments in a very personal way. My philosophy is, “I strive to build my instruments with the finest Tone, Ergonomics, & Aesthetics.” I call the rosette/headstock/endgraft the Holy Trinity because they are a huge part of my identity in terms of style. I love Art Deco, and I try to explore this style with marquetry techniques and the color/texture of the wood. It is incredibly fun for me to push myself a little in terms of craftsmanship, guitar after guitar. My sound is, of course, my main goal. I always keep in mind a certain balance, clarity, and definition for each string. I love when my high frequence shine with, of course, a strong 6th string presence too.

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

BP: Cooking is one of my hobbies, and food is one of my favorite ways of life! I think I would tried to work in a kitchen if I was not a luthier. But we’ll never know! As I said once, “Building a guitar is just like being a master chef: you need to use the best ingredients to create the best result possible. Skills, experience, vision, and precision are all fundamentals in the making of a wonderful instrument.” I have nothing else to say. Thank you for this interview, I really enjoyed it and it is a privilege for me to be at Dream Guitars. The Malaysian Blackwood OM was a beautiful experience, and I’m glad to know we can do it again!

We can’t wait to see what rolls off his bench next, and if you’re like us you can hardly wait to see it!

 

Michihiro Matsuda stands at the top of the food chain when it comes to innovative lutherie, functional works of art, and a visual aesthetic eons beyond the ken of many of us. Matsuda has built numerous guitars for our clients over the years, each one a testament to his unique flair and spirit of experimentation. Some of those clients, having received one work of art from Michi, are so enthralled they commission another on the spot. Here for our latest collaboration with Matsuda, we’ve got an electric guitar on the bench that we’re confident the world has never quite seen before. Please keep up with our updates as Matsuda progresses in the build, and you’ll definitely want to check out our listing once the instrument is finished and we can showcase it in style! Are you excited yet? Cuz you should be. Stay tuned!

Here’s Michihiro’s premise:

“It is going to be a one-of-a-kind acoustic/electric, something in between my archtop guitar I made in 2017 and my deconstruction guitars. It will also be a sculptural piece of art. The top is hand-carved Sitka Spruce. The body is partial sides, and partial hand-carved back. I will use figured Maple for that. The basic tonal idea is the same as my deconstruction, so there is no sound box. I will use figured, tempered Maple for neck, and Mahogany with some Rosewood for main structure of the body. I will use two humbuckers. Controls will be simple: one volume, one tone, and one pickup switch. I am also going to design a new style of bridge.
 
It will not be an archtop guitar, not a solid-body, not a hollow-body electric.”
 
 

9/4/18 Update

12/3/18 update:

12/11/18 Update: Coming soon to a Dream near you! We’ll do a full work up with pics and video once it’s in hand.

Peggy White’s been hard at work yet again, this time crafting her Premier model with a jaw dropping set of Amazon Rosewood for the back and sides and Italian Spruce on top. Manzer body wedge for player comfort, and the next Kandinsky-inspired rosette (here in Ebony, Koa, and Maple). You can see this beauty for yourself at the 2018 La Conner show, so keep your eyes peeled!

Check out our previous Peggy White guitars here: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/builders/white,-peggy.html

Premier Model
Italian Spruce Top
Amazon Rosewood B&S
Manzer Wedge
25.5″ scale length
1.75” nut width
2.25” string spacing
Evo frets
Ebony Binding and Appointments
Kandinsky-Inspired Rosette made with Ebony, Koa & Maple
Polyurethane Finish
Hiscox Case

We recently had the great pleasure of chatting with fingerstyle-songwriter virtuoso David Wilcox about his complex (to say the least) journey through the world of guitar amplification. Years of teasing out the proper application of each kind of pickup have resulted in a system that employs over five pickups–for one guitar! You’ll want to listen with a pair of good headphones in order to hear the subtle variations David demonstrates here, but even regular earbuds will go a long way.

David has upcoming shows at the Songbirds Guitar Museum in Chattanooga, TN on Friday 4/27/18, and at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, GA on Saturday 4/28/18. David’s new record “The View From the Edge,” will be released on May 11th. People can pre-order the digital download version and listen to excerpts from the record here: http://smarturl.it/hawa3q.

The first two videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX9rY… and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93NJM…

David will (busy guy) also be doing a Facebook Live session on Friday (4/20/18) at 6:30 PM eastern time with Jorma Kaukonen, live from Jorma’s Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio. Find out more here: facebook.com/davidwilcoxmusic

We don’t rest on our laurels, and neither does Bill Tippin. Bill just finished the latest Al Petteway Signature model, which we sold in a few days, and the next week we went ahead and locked in the next build for one of our clients! Bill is already hard at it! Here’s a couple of preliminary photos, and stay tuned for more as Bill moves through the building process.

Tippin AP Brazilian back place

Tippin AP Brazilian headstock overlay, Abalone trim. The inlays are only resting on top, they haven’t yet been installed.

Tippin AP Brazilian headstock overlay, Abalone trim. The inlays are only resting on top, they haven’t yet been installed.

Tippin AP kerfings installed

1/8/18 Update (Bill’s cranking away!):

Brazilian Rosewood back braced with Spruce

Center strip inlay with a twist.

Rim assembly showing the arm bevel from below.

Rim assembly showing the arm bevel from above

Rosette installed!

4/11/18 Update: We’re very nearly there! Bill’s finished construction, and it’s in finish now. Here’s a few shots to tantalize you.

Arm Bevel

Fresh, clean, contemporary lines.

Gorgeous pairing of Abalone and sapwood

Neck carve on the jig

Close up of the neck pocket and cutaway

Close up of the neck pocket and cutaway after the bevel has been added

Bill’s signature soundport

Bill’s rosette

Our client wanted a reminder of his mother inlaid into the guitar. Bill threads the needle, so to speak!

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.

We’re more than happy to announce our latest partnership with Glenn Nichols, restoration maestro and electric guitar experimenteur. The curves of his Corralitos model are velvet smooth in hand-rubbed varnish and a dark burst, with McNelly Bliss humbuckers and adjustable bridge (more on that later), and it’ll be available on our site soon. In the meantime, we chatted with Glenn about how his journey into lutherie and all the ways he’s pushing the envelope with his Corralitos model, from varnish finishes and Cedar necks to vacuum pressing the top laminates and implementing a wedge-adjustable saddle. Once we unpacked his guitar and tuned it up, the immediate response was, “Woah.” And it continues to wow us, even now. Enjoy our conversation with Glenn below, and look out for that Corralitos soon!

LW: You’ve been in the repair business for some time. What came first, fixing guitars or building them.

GN: My journey into restorations is the opposite of most repair people. I started at the end and worked my way backwards. My first job in the industry was in the finish department at Santa Cruz Guitar Company. I attended the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in 2003, which resulted in an entry level position spraying lacquer for SCGC. As my skills developed, I found myself running the finish department. This ultimately made every ding, scratch, or crack that happened in production my responsibility to fix. When you are repairing an old guitar there is some acceptance that the damage may show. When you are repairing a new guitar, it has to be perfect, or it’s no longer a new guitar. By the time I started to do restorations and structural repairs on my own, it all made sense to me. My time spent at Santa Cruz gave me the confidence to take on high-end and vintage work. I knew that in the end the repair would look good, because that’s what I had been doing for years.

LW: Your finish work is particularly impressive. Have you always gravitated towards finish work, or did you just wake up one day surrounded by air brushes and cans of lacquer?

GN: Ha ha! I have been a visual artist for as long as I can remember. I received a Bachelor degree in Fine Art from The Montserrat College of Art in 2002. I guess I traded in my paint brushes and tubes of paint for air brushes and cans of lacquer. Lots of builders come from a woodworking or engineering background, and when it comes time for finish the struggle begins. This is why so many builders farm out their finish. I’m not making judgements, it’s just that the learning curve is tremendous! After I spent nine years at SCGC learning nitro, I went to work for Kenny Hill Guitars to learn French Polish. This opened up a whole new world of materials and processes. I experimented with all sorts of shellacs, resins, oils, and alcohols. I started to mix my own varnishes. Again, by starting from the end and knowing the results that I wanted, it was easier for me to manipulate the materials. You won’t find lacquer on my guitars. The neck is a spirit varnish, taken from the European classical tradition. In my opinion, it just feels right, a hand-rubbed finish in your hand. The body is an oil varnish, taken from the marine industry. This varnish was originally used on Spruce masts, very durable and tough, but allowing for movement and vibration. My finish choices are not afterthoughts. The guitar is constructed as a canvas for these different finishes.

LW: I’ve seen an adjustable bridge & saddle setup like the one on your Corralitos model before, but I’m curious about its origins, and how you came to use it.

GN: I first saw this style of bridge on one of Christian Mirabella’s archtops. I had developed a similar, two-piece bridge that was not adjustable. The saddle had to be sanded to drop the action, just like an acoustic saddle. A traditional archtop bridge floats on two adjustable posts between the bridge and the saddle. This method has been used forever on great-sounding guitars, but I wanted a solid connection to the top. Everything that I had learned in the flattop and classical world depended on tone transfer at the bridge. Once I saw the wedge bridge, it all clicked into place. I may be able to have my cake and eat it too. Before I began, I emailed Chris Mirabella out of respect and asked for his blessing in exploring the design. A true gentleman, he promptly returned my email, offered his help and support, and told me the history as he knew it. Chris got the design from one of his close friends and mentors, Jimmy D’Aquisto, who had taken inspiration from a German upright bass maker. It was very important for me to have permission, and to do what I thought was the right thing. There is a lot of borrowing and appropriating in guitar building. I’ve found that in my generation of builders, we are very open and willing to share, as long as it is done honestly.

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

GN: I am married and have two daughters, so they keep me busy. My new shop is in my home, so my family is a huge part of my life. I also have to admit that I’m a bit obsessed with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It was something that I picked up in Santa Cruz to relieve stress. I think most artists and musicians can be a little obsessive compulsive. It’s important to have a healthy outlet.

LW: I understand that you now share a shop with one of our favorite luthiers, Bill Tippin. What’s it like to work along side Bill?

GN: Bill is a long time friend and I think we have a very special relationship. I spend a couple of days every week working in Bill’s shop, doing whatever is on the agenda for the day. Bill is first and foremost a craftsman, and his shop is set up as such. He doesn’t have an assembly line, or a strict list of processes that are never to be broken. He is open, and creative, and willing to take chances. That’s why his guitars are so special. He allows for growth and progression. Bill could build you a guitar, a table, a fishing rod, or a boat. And they would all be top notch! We drink coffee, listen to blues, and solve problems. We laugh, and cuss, and work on guitars. Bill pushes me to do the best work that I can. Sometimes, he pushes me past what I think can be done, just to see if I can do it. I am very fortunate to have him as a mentor, and it all runs pretty smoothly, as long as I put his tools back where I found them.

LW: What music are you listening to right now?

GN: The Marcus King Band, I think they may be from your neck of the woods. Great guitar playing, solid band. I always have blues playing in the shop. I’ve been on a Hound Dog Taylor kick this week. I’ve been teaching my daughters how to play slide guitar. My seven year old plays a killer slide version of Beat on the Brat by The Ramones.

LW: What’s the most interesting repair or restoration job you’ve ever worked on?

I’m really lucky to have a lot of boutique and vintage instruments cross my bench. Sometimes the expensive ones are just guitars, and the cheap ones will put a smile on your face and leave you scratching your head. Sometimes a guitar will live up to its reputation and you may have to stick a mirror in the soundhole and figure out where the magic is coming from. I had a couple of laminate top restorations come through my shop that changed my life. They were an old Gibson ES- 225, and a Martin GT-70. They both really struck a chord with me, and when a guitar builder gets Guitar Acquisition Syndrome it can be a problem. Being in my line of work, I couldn’t afford to buy one, so of course I decided to build one. I started building the jigs and fixtures in a small shed in my backyard in Corralitos, CA. Those funky old laminate guitars were my inspiration for the Corralitos model.

LW: Lastly, can you speak to what kind of play feel and voice you’re shooting for with your Corralitos? What sets it apart

 from the pack?

GN: My goal with the Corralitos is to bring boutique methods of building to what is historically a factory guitar. The old laminate tops of the 50s and 60s were stamped out with large hydraulic presses, using three or four sheets of Maple or Birch. While they sound good amplified, acoustically they can be dead, flubby, and sometimes tinny and thin. The general rule with electric guitars is, if it sounds great unplugged, it will sound great amplified. I use six thin, alternating layers of Maple and a vacuum press to form each layer, plate by plate. The result is a very light, yet stiff top. Traditionally, top woods are chosen for their strength-to-weight ratios. The use of a vacuum press insures that there are no voids between the plates. The wood is not crushed into shape, it is pressed in an air tight chamber. (I have written a blog on my website that goes into greater detail of the laminate top process) [you can find that blog here: http://glenn-nichols-guitars.com/]. Attention to the details of the plate construction and bracing can produce a top that is very lively and responsive when played acoustically, while the alternating laminates help to reduce feedback when played at high volumes. The use of a varnish, rather than a lacquer, helps to add a beautiful warmth to the tone. I believe that the varnish makes the guitar feel more broken in than a brighter-sounding lacquer finish.
Another difference that doesn’t stand out unless you pick it up, is the overall weight. This particular guitar weighs in at 5.4 lbs , which is very light for an electric guitar. I used Spanish Cedar for the neck, blocks, and kerfings. While Spanish Cedar is a staple in classical guitars, it is not often used on electrics. I perform a lot of French Polish restorations on classical guitars and I believe that a French Polished Spanish Cedar neck is the perfect feel for any style of player. The use of Cedar not only cuts down on weight, paired with the varnish and French Polish, it also smells wonderful.
The pickups are handmade McNelly Bliss humbuckers. They are a low output pickup, based on old PAFs, but with a little more presence. They are very sensitive, and the clarity vs breakup can be easily dialed in by raising or lowering the pickup to taste. I used a 1950s style wiring with paper in oil caps to bring the full vintage vibe to life. I designed this guitar to be able to handle sweet and clear acoustic tones, to jazz comping and soloing, to overdriven blues and rock.

Excited to see this Corralitos for yourself? It won’t be long! Coming soon to a Dream near you.

Just when we thought 2018 couldn’t get any better for our lineup (we hit the ground running by recruiting Stuart Day), we landed a gorgeous guitar from Santa Cruz-based luthier C.F. Holcomb. This Kodiak resonator comes with more bells and whistles than a steam engine train–“The Tree” Mahogany body, Lollar P90, spider cone bridge and bone saddle, one-piece Cocobolo neck (the first one we may have ever seen), Christopher’s signature emblazoned across the headstock plate. This beautiful example of his prowess will be available soon, and in the meantime we had a quick chat with Christopher about life & lutherie, and of course dogs. Check it out!

LW: Many of the photos of your shop and those you post on social media have at least one dog in the frame. What’s it like to have canine companionship in lutherie, a famously solitary profession?

CF: I am lucky in the sense that I live above my shop with my wife Kira and two dogs, Penny and Greta. As peaceful as you would think working by yourself might be, I am surrounded by constant activity and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It is pretty common for me to find focus even when the dogs are howling.

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

CF: I don’t know if I have a favorite guitar player. I’m constantly finding new music to fall in love with, but it is always nice to turn on the radio and hear one of my guitars. I feel a close bond with the people I build guitars for, and that is even stronger with those who make their living making music. Some of my favorite musicians and bands I’ve worked with are Lech Wierzynski (the California Honeydrops), Sam Chase, Aaron Lanes and Thomas Beneduci (The Good Bad), and Ben Morrison (the Brothers comatose). There are several other amazing musicians I’ve worked with, but it would be ridiculous to list all of them.

LW: You’ve been able to work with some industry giants like Scott Walker, Rick Turner, Jeff Traugott, and Richard Hoover. In what ways has that exposure impacted your approach to lutherie?

CF: Each one of my teachers has shown me their approach to the guitar building world. I don’t know if it’s luck persistence or both that put me in a situation where I was able to learn from such amazing luthiers. Collectively I would say the best gift they gave me was the guts to take on a project that might be outside of my comfort zone. Building solid bodies, acoustics, arch tops, semi-hollow, and Resophonic guitars is a tall order. I can look back on what I have learned over the years and not only design something that works, but every once in a while come up with something truly innovative.

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

CF: As a luthier working alone, I think it’s difficult not to experiment. When voicing an instrument I try to think about who will be playing it and how they play. It is great to think that you can build an instrument as light as possible but in the hands of certain musicians they will destroy something like that within months. If I am working with someone who is into playing with a light touch, I will make the instrument as light as possible.

LW: You offer quite an array of models. What sets them apart to your eyes and ears?

CF: Usually the reason I design a new model is because someone is looking for something that isn’t out there. It’s not so much what sets the guitars apart to my ears as much as the musician. I like starting an instrument with a sound and look in mind. It gives me focus and intention with my work rather than just pumping out the same thing over and over.

LW: Any interesting facts about your voicing technique or shop arrangement that you’d like to share? 

CF: My shop is relatively small, but it works out great for one person. To me it’s just a room full of toys. This is my second shop (the first was a one-car garage), and there is something special about being the one who sets it up. It’s like an extension of my body. There are also a bunch of surfboards and bikes floating around which add their own little charm to the place.

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

CF: Kira and I are always diving into projects in Santa Cruz or Sebastopol on my family’s ranch. We go surfing, hiking, and all of the other stuff that goes with living in Santa Cruz. It’s pretty nice.

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

CF: No idea.

LW: What music are you listening to right now?

CF: Charlie Parr, Gregory Alan Isakov, Jason Isbell, etc.

LW: Here we are at the start of the new year. What are your goals for 2018, in lutherie and life?

CF: I recently started an apprenticeship with a Timber framer in Bonny Doon. I’m learning how to make buildings with traditional jointery, hand hewn beams, and sustainable logging techniques. To me guitar building isn’t just about guitars, it’s to gain as much knowledge as I can from as many different masters as possible. If I’m lucky, I will be a lifelong apprentice.

Christopher’s Kodiak resonator has been difficult to put down since the first day it arrived at our shop. Stay tuned, this gorgeous guitar is coming soon to a Dream near you!

This is one of my favorite parts of the business: working directly with our builders to come up with an exciting instrument just for Dream Guitars! Stuart Day recently joined our ranks, and to commemorate the occasion I had a chat with Stuart about life & lutherie, which you can find here: https://www.dreamguitars.com/welcome-aboard-stuart-day-newest-builder-joins-dream-team/. Stuart’s busy building us our first Day OM, which will feature some of his latest design features. I’ll keep you all posted as the SD1-VC build progresses, see below for specs.

SD1- VC (OM – Venetian Cutaway)
Back and sides – Cocobolo
Top – AAA Sitka Spruce
Neck – Honduran Mahogany
Fretboard, headplate, bridge – Gaboon Ebony
Tuners – Gotoh mini 510s
Binding – Ebony

Cocobolo back and sides

Cocobolo back and sides

Cocobolo back and sides

Stuart’s rosette and headstock design

Shooting board for truing up the segments for the rosette

Assembling the various pieces of the rosette

The rosette’s final shape

Sitka Spruce top

We have a long list of clients looking for certain instruments on our Dream Catcher Watchlist. If you have one of the instruments below we may be able to facilitate a quick sale for you. Call us today or contact us online.

Have another high-end instrument for sale that is not listed below? Let us know! Call us today or contact us online.

  • Kris Kristofferson Signature Gibson SJ guitar (Signed)
  • Gibson J-35 30s/40s
  • Gibson Southern Jumbo 40s/50s
  • 1965 Martin D-18 As Original As Possible
  • 1936-44 Martin D28: Must have scalloped braces and diamond inlays; Original top and pickguard, not a total refinish.
  • Martin D-28 GE
  • James Olson
  • T.J. Thompson
  • Kim Walker
  • Wagner
  • Dammann

I’m now living my first winter in my Civil War log cabin heated primarily by a wood stove in the mountains of western North Carolina. I absolutely embrace living this way and enjoy the peace and serenity. The atmosphere here is perfect for making music, and I’m playing more than I have since I was a teenager. However, the dryness of winter and the wood stove have made it impossible for me to keep my guitars hanging on the wall; even with three “whole house“ humidifiers running. Feeding them 12 gallons of water a day, I cannot get the cabin to stay above 20%. This comes as no surprise to me as for years I’ve repaired cracks in the guitars of people that heat with wood, and forced hot air is just as bad. I have had to begrudgingly resort to keeping my instruments in their cases this winter, where they can be protected by D’Addario Humidipaks. These wonderful inventions originally come to us from NASA. They maintain a consistent 45% humidity by either emitting or absorbing moisture. That said, I really don’t like having my instruments hiding their cases. Here’s why.

As owner of Dream Guitars, many people might think that I’m a collector of instruments, but I’m really not. I do have a number of them but they’re all tools for songwriting. I play guitar in order to write songs. And I want them around me all the time so that when

inspiration strikes I can grab the right tool for the job. My baritone for something very emotive, or an electric guitar when only volume will do. Most of

my life, I’ve been able to do this because I have lived in modern homes that were built tight, so a quality room humidifier was all I needed to keep my babies safe. This winter, that’s simply not the case. if I want to play a guitar, I have to search for the right case, twisting three or four latches, remove the Humidipaks, then tune it up and make sure nothing’s wrong–all the while hoping the original burst of inspiration is still within me. In practice, I’m mostly playing my carbon fiber guitar that hangs ten feet from the wood stove without issue or complaint. I recognize this is a first world problem, but even though the carbon fiber X20 is a fine guitar, it doesn’t inspire me like my McConnell or Mountain Song baritone. So if you keep your guitars in cases and you’re finding that they don’t get enough sunlight, I’d like to suggest you find a way to keep them out and within arm’s reach. Just try it see how much more you play, and how much more you smile.

There are several ways I’ve achieved this over the years. If you own your home, for about $1,000-1,500 you can install an evaporative humidity system directly to your furnace. This is by far my favorite approach. It’s a healthy humidity, it saves you having to carry water every day, and there are huge benefits to the human body having moisture in the air around us. Depending on where you live, in the summertime you simply disconnect the unit. All winter you’ll sleep better, feel better, and your guitars will too.

Idylis 4-Gallon Console Evaporative Humidifier

If you don’t own your home, or for any reason cannot install the above, get a quality whole house humidifier, even if you’re only humidifying one room. Don’t believe the square footage that they tell you they will cover. They will not! Make sure that it has a automatic humidity sensor so that you can set the percentage you want and forget about it. 40 to 50% is the range you want all year long. I would also get one that holds the most possible water, five or six gallons. You’ll be amazed how much water it takes to keep the room at 45%.

Guitar Habitat®

If you have just a few guitars, a great option is a humidified display case like our friends at American Music Furniture (http://americanmusicfurniture.com/humidity-matters/) offer. These are not only gorgeous pieces of furniture, but they can maintain a perfect environment for your dream machines. Since your instruments will still be in plain sight, you will continue to grab them all the time. Another big benefit of having your instruments visible is that you’ll be able to take better care of them. When a minor issue arises you can deal with it then, rather than two years later when you open the case to discover a major problem. I myself am the extremely satisfied owner of a case from AMF that can hold 15 guitars. One winter down and the next one starting up, I feel completely at ease about the safety of my collection.

There are so many guitars that have been decimated after being stored in the case for long periods. Dryness and inconsistent temperature are serious problems: just ask my repair team. If your only option is to to keep your guitars in their cases, you should definitely use something like the D’Addario (https://www.dreamguitars.com/product-category/accessories/humidification/) solution and force yourself to take them out and play them. They miss you.

Dream Guitars is happy to announce that we’ve embarked on a custom build with a luthier we’ve been following with interest for several years now, Mr. Stuart Day of Stuart Day Guitars. Stuart is known for both his archtops and his flattops, and his unique design features and inlay techniques. The SD1-VC he’s begun building for us will feature Cocobolo back and sides, a Sitka Spruce top, and a taste of Day’s latest aesthetic flair. We couldn’t resist the urge to chat with Stuart about what’s going on with him in life and lutherie these days, and we discovered some fascinating projects he’s recently embarked on, including building a permaculture farm! See below for our conversation with Stuart, and stay tuned for a separate blog post to chronicle the build process for our in-the-works SD-1VC. We’re grateful to finally start this project with Stuart; thanks so much!

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

A perk of working with Tom Ribbecke for so many years was that I got to work with a lot of exceptional musicians. Including some Grammy winners. But the first time I built an instrument for an artist whose music I personally really enjoyed for a long time is happening right now. I’m building a semi-hollow carved top instrument, similar to a Gibson 335, for a guy named Mike Love. I guess you’d say he’s a reggae musician, although I think he’s much more than that. He is a one-of-a-kind talent in musicianship, arrangement, vocals, and guitar. It’s exciting building for him because he’s such an adventurous player that I know he will find every nook and cranny that my guitar can take him and then some. 

Other than Mike, I would really like to work with Kinloch Nelson, George Benson, and Julian Lage.

2. What builder(s) inspire you today?

So many. 

Michihiro Matsuda for his courage in pursuing his unique style. 

Jason Kostal and Michael Greenfield both for being examples of how to succeed in this craft, in business and in life. 

Bryan Galloup and Sam Guidry for their relentless work on understanding the physics of instruments and education. 

Michael Bashkin for having this immense knowledge and skill in the most humble and gentle personality. 

And all the young bright and über talented makers who keep me on my toes and inspire me to continue to better myself. Tyler Robbins, Tyler Wells, Maegen wells, Tom Sands, Ben Paldacci, Jeremy Jenkin, just to name a few. 

So many more…Everyone seems to bring something to the table that is admirable.

3. Please describe your goals in voicing an instrument. How did you first find your voice, and how do you continue to experiment?

Well, there are certainly some parallels but the answer to that question differs greatly depending on whether I’m talking about archtop guitars or flattop guitars. The two are extremely different in both the end tonal goal and also the approach. 

Having the privilege to be exposed to Tom Ribbecke and Ken Parker, as I’ve developed as a builder has allowed me to really understand how the archtop guitar can be so much more than so many people believe. So, in archtops I’m really trying to create truly exceptional acoustic instruments with a lot of the dynamic range, responsiveness, low and mid-range response and texture that you would expect from a truly great flattop, but with the precision, projection, focus, and separation of chorus that you would expect from an archtop.

That process is much more intuitively based. Lots of feeling and listening. 

On my flattops, I’m trying to achieve a piano-like balance and depth. I like instruments which have range, drama, and balance, but that do not sound too sterilized. I like a little throatiness in the mid range, and some texture and thickness in the trebles. I use a lot more science and data in my flattop builds to try to achieve some consistency and control. 

I think my flattop building approach and philosophy is really informed by my archtop building experience. So I’ve been told that my flattops tend to have very even and flat response rates up the fretboard which make many players feel they are very versatile. I had a musician from Spain borrow a 12-fret OM for some gigs he was playing on the east coast and he remarked when he returned it to me that he found himself playing a lot of Jazzy and Spanish kind of things that he normally would stay away from on his flattops. I thought that was interesting.

4. You have a distinct aesthetic that sets you apart from other builders. Could you describe your aesthetic approach, and how it has evolved over your career?

It’s been important for me from day one to establish a unique voice for myself both in tone and in aesthetic design. I have a background in fine art and design so I’ve always approached lutherie as a mixed media art form. It’s a craft that is impossible to excel at unless you are quite exceptional in skill and vision. Which means that your fellow luthiers all pose some pretty significant competition. It’s like an industry full of Michael Jordans. So I think differentiation is important. 

Earlier on I really just let myself go wild…I had a lot of fun pushing my hand skills to their limits, trying to bump up against that edge where I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull it off. As time has gone by, I’ve tried to pull things back a bit, take the ideas I felt that were really worth pursuing, try to perfect them and bring them down to a refined level. Occasionally giving myself an opportunity to do something fun and different like my faceted cutaway, which is my very challenging, slightly masochistic, version of a Florentine cutaway. 

My interest right now is in taking this great wealth of traditional techniques and methodology from generations of lutherie and furniture making and coupling it elegantly with a contemporary aesthetic and use of material and techniques. Hence my new rosette I’m making for my first instrument with Dream guitars. Using that contemporary offset vibe mixed with pretty traditional classical and steel string rosette elements.

To me, aesthetics are not just decoration. They’re a form of communication. We are communicating our values, ethics, skill level, creativity, etc. through our aesthetic design and execution. If people would like to hear more about my thoughts on this, I have a two video series on my YouTube channel discussing my thoughts in more detail. 

(http://www.stuartdayguitars.com/OnTheBench.asp)

5. I know you’ve started a permaculture farm, and you’re moving your shop out there soon. What changes would you like to implement to your shop arrangement and workflow in the new location?



Yeah, and I can’t wait to end the days of my long commute. 
The first few years of being on my own were pretty nuts. Shops, designs, tooling, jigs have all come and gone. I’ve been working on finding myself as a builder while at the same time trying to survive as a business owner and run a full service repair and restoration shop. It’s felt chaotic at times, and as I’ve experimented trying to find what it is I want to be building, it’s been difficult for me to hit my goals in terms of production. 

So, I think this next chapter will see things calming down a bit. I know what I want to build now, I have a few years of tooling and shop building under my belt, my wood supply has been steadily growing, as well as the health of my business. So, I think in terms of work flow and things I’m ready to start refining my process so I can hit my production goals more efficiently. 

I do everything by hand. Partly out choice and partly out of necessity. To make that efficient I really need to make sure I’ve designed my processes as well as I’ve designed my instruments. Now that I know I’m on my right path as far as my designs, I can start to do that.

6. While we’re on the subject, why permaculture? Do you have any plans to marry it with your guitar building?

Well, that’s a long discussion. Farming was not something I planned for myself. It sorts of came out of nowhere in life when my partner, Jade, and I moved to the farm that she grew up on. I just started looking around at my surroundings wondering what we could do with it all and I discovered permaculture and agro-ecology. The more I researched and learned the more I felt like it was a perfect fit for me. It offers me the opportunity for self-sufficiency, to contribute positively to my community, to work outside and be physical and to work positively towards a better environment.

Permaculture is essentially a farming style which tries to use evolutionary aspects of the local ecology to create food. You are facilitating a healthy ecology and thereby reducing the work load and input needed on your end. For reasons I haven’t been able to put my finger on yet, I feel like there is something about good permaculture which mirrors good lutherie. Maybe it’s the fact that a great guitar is essentially a perfectly balanced system. It’s my belief that a sustainable career in lutherie also requires a very healthy balance of work and life. So, in a way, good lutherie is a parallel to a healthy ecosystem.

Time will tell. We are still very early in the planning phase of all of this. We haven’t actually officially started the farming business yet. My first priority is obviously just getting my shop moved in March and getting back to work as soon as possible. But yes, the ultimate goal, which I think is possible with a good plan and time management, is to marry the two trades together so that they both strengthen each other. Both have their own inherent instabilities and I think it may be possible to merge them so that together they create a good stable income and career for people in trades like lutherie. I’m excited to see what this adventure brings. 

One of my goals is to start sourcing a lot of my own timber. We have a lot of maple, walnut, and cherry on the land. A lot of it comes down in storms and so there is a lot of possibility there for me to begin milling wood for furniture making and hopefully for a lot of instruments.

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

I really have no clue. I’ve always been really into nature and animals, so I assume that if it weren’t for lutherie I would have gone in that direction. I was always pretty interested in marine biology. I was also pretty happy as a finish carpenter and high-end deck builder so who knows.

8. What music are you listening to right now?

I’ve been listening to a lot of Neil Young ever since he put his whole song library online for free.
I’ve also been pretty addicted to Kendrick Lamar’s new album DAMN. One of the best hip hop albums I’ve heard in a very long time.

9. Heaven forbid, your shop is going up in smoke. What’s the one tool you’d grab?

The fire extinguisher 😉

Stay tuned for the upcoming build thread to document Stuart’s process of building our SD1-VC!

With so many great builders to choose from, you’d think it would be hard for Dream Guitars owner Paul Heumiller to pick the proper luthier for his next instrument. However, if you’ve ever played one of Leo Buendia’s masterpieces, you wouldn’t be so surprised to learn that one of Leo’s 12-fret Jumbos was in Paul’s sights. A Buendia is the complete package: rolling curves, flawless fit-n-finish, sensuously colorful voice, unflinching projection. We took a minute to chat with Paul and Leo about the process of working together for Dream Guitars’ owner, rather than one of our clients. Scroll through, and don’t forget to check out some photos of the bulding process below!

PAUL: “After being incredibly inspired by several of Leo’s instruments, I decided that he would be the maker to add a large-body instrument to my collection. We had a jumbo of his a few years ago that simply rocked my world, and I knew it was a voice that could inspire me to write. I had the great opportunity to play eight or ten of Leo’s guitars before ordering my own and I sat with Leo last summer with two of his guitars in hand. We discussed what I liked and didn’t like about them, and I described in detail the voice I was wanted to get out of the next instrument for my music. Leo and I are brothers in guitar, so I knew he understood what I wanted and I’m super excited to finally have the instrument soon.

“My role in this process is exactly what I do when I help any of our clients build a custom guitar. I understand completely what the player wants and make sure that the maker gets that message. I know enough about lutherie that I can talk in detail with the builder until I’m confident he understands what we’re looking for. In this case, I asked Leo to make sure that it’s a little tighter and more focused and that I can hit it very hard and have it hold up and be extremely resonant. Being a large body I did not want the top too thin or floppy. I made sure he knew the tunings and strings that I like to play and I asked for a custom longer multi scale fretboard similar to my personal favorite guitar by Jordan McConnell, so it will be 25.5 inches on the treble to 26.25 inches on the bass. This is scale that I’ve found works for me over the years through trial and error. I’ve had the pleasure of playing thousands of guitars, and each one teaches me something that I can use to help others, and myself, create great instruments with great builders.

“One unique story about this guitar: Leo and I were together at a show and were able to choose the master grade Adirondack top together from my friend Randy Lucas. Randy had a special stash with him and we found one that rang like a bell. I can’t wait to record this guitar and share it with you all. And thanks in advance to Leo! It’s been so nice to be able to trust you completely in your passion and understanding of the guitar. I have complete confidence that once I hold it it will be love at first sight.”

LEO: “I’m in love with this guitar, and I’m happy I’ll be able to play it in the future [once it’s finished]. Honestly, I’m expecting a very unique-sounding guitar. For sure, it has a different character than other guitars I have made. I’m very much looking forward to stringing it up soon. It was such a pleasure to make a guitar for Paul, who has a vast knowledge of guitars and such passion for them. We had the good fortune of having time together in person at The Swannannoa Gathering last summer where we were able to spend a long while playing and sussing out just what he was looking for. He had a very clear vision and it was really gratifying to go back to the shop and bring it to life.”

Specs:

Base Model, Small Jumbo #034/2017
Soundboard, master grade plus Adirondack Spruce
Back and sides, old growth Brazilian Rosewood
Cutaway, Florentine
Rosette, custom segmented broken w/green burl Maple tiles
Neck, Brazilian Rosewood
Bridge, hand-carved Brazilian Rosewood
End graft, custom green burl Maple
12-fret to the body fingerboard
Bridge pins, ebony with Abalone dots
Binding, Ebony with black/white purfling
Top braces, Sitka Spruce
Back Braces, Mahogany
Saddle, 2 1/4” string spacing in compensated bone
Nut, 1 3/4” width, scalloped, in compensated bone
Head-cap veneer, Brazilian Rosewood (curly with curve inlay beside triangle)
Back of headcap veneer, Ebony
Tuning machines, Gotoh 510 Stealth in antique bronze and black buttons
Fingerboard, Ebony with Ebony binding and white Maple purfling
Fingerboard, custom inlay at 12th fret w/green burl Maple
Scale length, multiscale 25.5” to 26.25”
Truss rod, double action
Fret wire, medium nickel-silver 18%
Fretboard radius, 16”
Case, custom carbon fiber Karura hardshell case
Wedge, Manzer-style tapered body
Back strip, interrupted, green burl Maple
Strap buttons, Cocobolo
Finish, French Polish

Buendia’s graceful multiscale bridge

Paul’s personal Brazilian Rosewood

Old-growth Adirondack Spruce from Randy Lucas, Multiscale from 25.5″ to 26.25″

Manzer-style body wedge

Paul’s personal Brazilian Rosewood

Paul’s personal Brazilian Rosewood

Florentine cutaway, body wedge

2/2/18: Strung up and shining like a diamond, Paul’s Buendia made the rounds at NAMM with some great friends. Next stop, Dream Guitars!

Baker Rorick, founder of the Woodstock Invitational

Lance Allen

Leo at the booth

Paul’s at the booth!

What happens when you put Al Petteway in the same room as one of our long-time client’s personal guitar treasure trove? Something like The Collector’s Passion! Al sets down a permanent record of some of the finest guitars we’ve ever seen, from Somogyi & Traugott to Greenfield, Lowden, Olson, Martin—the track list goes on. Al’s fingerstylings render Tony’s exquisite collection in full technicolor, a rare glimpse of what must surely be guitar heaven. Available now at Dream Guitars!
https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/guitar-accessories/music-cds-tab/the-collector-s-passion-by-al-petteway.html

We’ve sat Al down with Paul to discuss how this CD came about, Al’s recording process, and how the various guitars complemented each piece. This interview is an excellent companion to the record.

Here’s the interview! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxaYC_1TznA

The ToneDexter makes microphone tone possible through pickups in a way we’ve never seen before. The process of creating a WaveMap for each of your instruments is straightforward: one training session and you’re all set!

After you’ve plugged the microphone and pickup in to the ToneDexter and you’ve entered training mode for one of the 11 preset slots, it’s a simple matter of playing your guitar (or mandolin, or violin, or cello, to name a few) for a few minutes. In that time the ToneDexter will analyze the individual signals from the mic and pickup and proceed through nine stages of learning. As it progresses, you’ll first hear a dramatic change for the better! As it gets close to finishing, the changes will become increasingly subtle, but if you have headphones on it’s easier to pick up on them. Throughout this process the ToneDexter identifies the gaps in the pickup’s signal and offsets them with the acoustic color and tone from the microphone. Once you’ve completed the ninth learning stage, you can review the sound of the pickup, microphone, and WaveMap separately to make sure it’s a great fit before saving it to one of 11 presets.

The end result is a WaveMap for that particular instrument, mic, and pickup combination which sounds like it’s just the guitar and mic–but without the hassles which plague a microphone setup. We have a video demonstration in the works to show an in-depth look at the training process, so stay tuned!

Paul: “There are tons of new electronic gadgets on the market for guitars these days, but only a few are really pushing the envelope like Audio Sprockets’ ToneDexter. I immediately got one for myself, and couldn’t be happier!

Get yours here: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/amplification/preamps-and-di-boxes/audio-sprockets/audio-sprockets-tonedexter.html

Here’s a demonstration and general how-to by fingerstyle virtuoso Doug Young: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH9Qs3FZLYc.

Folks, there’s a hot new item on the market for gigging and traveling musicians. One which eliminates the stress of microphone feedback, sidesteps navigating mic stands, yet offers the kind of tone you can only find with your favorite microphone– in fact, the exact tone of your favorite microphones! This lovely tool analyzes the tonal differences between your chosen microphone and your instrument’s pickup, then creates a WaveMap preset which will replicate the tone of your favorite mic with only the ToneDexter preamp and your instrument’s pickup. No more mic stand clutter, no more feedback woes from a hot microphone!

When you first get your ToneDexter, you do a one-time training session with both a mic and the pickup plugged into ToneDexter. This way, ToneDexter can listen to both signals simultaneously and learn the difference between the two. By playing for about a minute, ToneDexter figures out how to simultaneously correct for the pickup’s deficiencies and restore the missing body tone to the pickup signal, and creates the WaveMap. With a simple press of a button, ToneDexter stores that WaveMap in one of the eleven available preset locations. You can then put the microphone away and enjoy beautiful, lifelike sounds from your guitar, violin, mandolin, or other acoustic instrument.

Impressed? You’re not the only one–we can hardly keep these ToneDexters in stock! You can see our full listing here and snag one for yourself: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/amplification/preamps-and-di-boxes/audio-sprockets/audio-sprockets-tonedexter.html

Here’s a demonstration and general how-to by fingerstyle virtuoso Doug Young: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH9Qs3FZLYc.

We had a lovely visit with E.J. Henderson just the other day and an incredible 45-style 0 guitar hot off her bench. We couldn’t resist the temptation to snag a few photos (or a few more than a few) while this beauty was in the shop! Its proud new owner will be taking delivery of this 0-45 any day now, and we’d be lying if we weren’t a tiny bit jealous. Especially considering it’s only a few days old, the voice was crisp with great projection.

Adirondack Spruce top, Pink & Paua Abalone Shell

Adirondack Spruce top

Black Walnut back and sides

Black Walnut back and sides

Ebony belly bridge, inlaid wings

Adirondack Spruce top

E.J.’s namesake on the headstock

Adirondack Spruce top, Pink & Paua Abalone Shell

Pink & Paua Abalone Shell

Ebony belly bridge, inlaid wings

Top-of-the-line Waverlies

E.J.’s namesake on the headstock

Adirondack Spruce top, Pink & Paua Abalone Shell

Pink & Paua Abalone Shell

Pink & Paua Abalone Shell

To everyone who’s bid on a charity guitar, everyone who’s gotten the word out to lend a hand, everyone who’s just donated straight to the cause—Dream Guitars thanks you from the bottom of our hearts. We’ve been able to raise thousands of dollars for Puerto Rico hurricane relief, to support hurrican soup kitchens in Houston, Texas, and to help fight the forest fires plaguing California. But the fight is far from over! We want to wrap up 2017 with a strong display of solidarity for these and other causes. This time we’re auctioning three guitars at once! Help us help those in need, and get a great deal on a unique instrument in the process. These auctions are open until 12pm EST December 17th in order to make sure everyone has a chance to bid.

A Brand New Ribbecke Halfling to support the Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration (SBAIC) & Celebration Lutherie Education Fund (CLEF) in its efforts to support music education and provide instruments for disadvantaged and disabled youth. This guitar was originally $14,995, but bidding starts at only $8,995. 100% of the net proceeds from this sale are fully tax deductible and will be used entirely for non-profit benefits. https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/brand-new-ribbecke-halfling-indian-rosewood-cedar-1191.html

A 1997 Linda Manzer 12-String for the California Fire Foundation in their unflagging work to support the brave people risking their lives to contain the fires raging in California. This guitar was originally $12,495, but bidding starts at only $8,495. https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/manzer-12-string.html

A 2011 Mario Beauregard OMC to continue to support the United For Puerto Rico Fund providing food, water, and more to an island still struggling to survive. This guitar was originally $9,995, but bidding starts at only $4,995. https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/2011-beauregard-om-african-blackwood-cedar.html

25% of each winning bid will go to the corresponding organization as a tax deductible offering for you. Please email bids to [email protected], and we will keep you informed as to the current bid during the auction. This auction is scheduled to close on 12pm EST, December 17th. Domestic bidders only, thanks.

The boutique guitar industry is chock full of unique experiences, and we’ve certainly had our fair share of them take place in these very showrooms. Recently, we found ourselves with no fewer than five Traugott R models at the same time (some have already sold by now). When Al rolled in on Wednesday for our regular recording session, we seized the opportunity to taste test the five Traugotts (from a 1994 Koa model all the way to a 2016 with Adirondack Spruce) and get Jeff Traugott’s own feedback on how he heard his individual sound manifested in each individual guitar. It was a pleasure both to analyze the common threads of Jeff’s voicing, and to delve into the minute idiosyncrasies by which each model R stood out from its siblings. Below you’ll find the The Traugott Five: From 1994 to 2016 compilation video, and each Traugott’s individual video with Paul and Jeff’s commentary. Tell us what you think!

1994 Traugott R (R.009.07.024) Flamed Koa & German Spruce

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/traugott-r-17532.html

Paul: This doesn’t sound like your dad’s Koa. The bass is tight and defined, which I expect of Koa, but the brightness in the trebles has a roundness that’s something else entirely. This one is well played in, and responds accordingly. I’d describe the energy as wide open, but precise.

Jeff: The Koa guitar has a beautiful range with bright lows and mids and fat highs, but the overall tone is less complex than the Brazilian. Not in any negative way, just that to me it’s not as deep and varied as the sound I can I get with Rosewood. Like the 6-12 string guitars, the Koa has a smooth, warm, sweet character, and they are all getting better with age.

2004 Traugott R (R.000.130.104) Brazilian Rosewood & German Spruce Matched Pair

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/traugott-r-15688.html

Paul: This one has a mature, seasoned voice. Strong trebles, and a little more warmth in the lower mids than others. Both this and its 12-string twin have lots of headroom. This one in particular has that glassy top end you only find with Brazilian Rosewood.

Jeff: The 2004 pair of 6-12 strings sound so rich and smooth with a balanced range and super thick highs. They’re getting better with age.

2004 Traugott R 12-String (R.000.126.064) Brazilian Rosewood & German Spruce Matched Pair

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/traugott-r-12-string.html

Paul: Just like how the Koa Traugott isn’t your usual Koa guitar, this R 12-String ain’t a regular ole jangly strummer. The voice is much more focused and doesn’t suffer from the harsh brightness of other 12-strings. It’s tough to describe it other than it’s more musical, more nuanced and dynamic, than what you’ve been conditioned to expect from a 12-string guitar.

Jeff: The 2004 pair of 6-12 strings sound so rich and smooth with a balanced range and super thick highs. They’re getting better with age.

2012 Traugott R (R.000.202.082) Brazilian Rosewood & German Spruce

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/2012-traugott-r-brazilian-rosewood-german-spruce.html

Paul: Ah, now that’s some gorgeous Brazilian. Old school, nice and straight-grained. The bass is a bit more prominent in this one than the others, and there’s great note separation and clarity. The tone is focused with bright trebles, and I’d describe the energy as forward-voiced.

Jeff: The 2012 and 2016 have a notable boost in the low end and low mid range with some wild overtones and killer volume while still maintaining the strong mid-range and fat high end which I try for in all my guitars. I made an effort to get this kind of sound in 2006 when I made some significant bracing changes including my design for the floating back brace.

2016 Traugott R (R.001.230.086) Brazilian Rosewood & Adirondack Spruce

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/2016-traugott-r-brazilian-rosewood-adirondack-spruce.html

Paul: Rich sonority was the first thing I noticed. The lower mids are particularly rich as well. This one the Brazilian glassiness just like the 2004 6-string. The notes have that elusive bloom, where there’s a kind of overtone swell that blossoms after the initial attack starts to fade. It’s a rare thing, but I’ve seen it in a number of Traugotts.

Jeff: Both the 2012 and the 2016 started life big and bold and to me have a huge tonal range and a complexity that is stunning. This is the case with all my current guitars and I’m loving that. I just strung a new Model R Fan Fret today with the sister set of Brazilian to that of the 2016 R and it is crazy good! I hope I can hear the 2012 and 2016 in 10 to 20 years and see how they have developed like these others.

 

Further, Jeff had this to say about the collection: I believe strongly that the more a guitar is played and the older it gets, the better it gets. When someone owns a guitar and plays it year after year they mingle their DNA with the guitar’s DNA and this can create something very special! In truth I would love to own any one of these guitars. I’m very pleased to hear this mini retrospective of my work and thankful to Al, Paul, and Logan at Dream Guitars for putting together such a lovely soundscape! Thanks also to everyone who has bought or may buy one of my guitars, many of you have become friends over the years and that has been a wonderful experience for me! Anyone with questions about these or any of my guitars are free to contact me!

Dream Guitars is also here to talk with you about Traugotts past, present, and future. We hope you enjoyed this glimpse into Paul, Jeff, and Al’s respective ears–and we hope that this compilation can help establish both a thread of continuity across Jeff’s guitars and a greater understanding of the subtle nuances that makes each of these hierloom-quality guitars distinct.