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We had the privilege of catching up with renown Canadian luthier, Al Beardsell and asking him a few questions on his building, interests and background. Following were his responses to our questions for him:

Q. What inspired you to begin building guitars?

A. My Dad, his workshop, my brother, Bill Lewis Music, Larrivee and Gurian guitars – probably in that order. My Dad was an amateur furniture maker, so I learned from him that if you want something done a certain way, do it yourself. My brother, who was a serial obsessive, made some guitars in high school, got bored and moved on to beer-making (he’s still a master brewer to this day). I swiped all of his guitar-making books, “borrowed” all his tools and wood, and got started. This brings us to Bill Lewis Music in Vancouver. In the 70’s, Bill had a music store that also supplied instrument building materials, plans and tools.  They also carried handmade guitars by Larrivee and Gurian, which I guess was a defining idea for me that you could actually make these things. This totally blew my mind – something so beautiful to look at and sound so beautiful. I was totally hooked.

Q. What builder(s) do you admire?

A. This is a long list but if I had to shorten it, a few standouts would be Pons, Lacote, Martin, Loar, Mario Macaferri/Selmer, Leo Fender, The Larriveans (Laskin, Manzer , DeJonge, Wren, etal), Collings. Builders who take an existing tradition and recontextualize it into something classic yet contemporary.

Q. How would you describe the voicing in your guitars? How did you find your voice?

A. Hmm, well the voicing is dependent on the needs of the player – a tighter sound, more open or separated notes, maybe more sustain for fingerstyle, maybe a darker sound – all these things are taken into consideration. It’s just years of trial and testing to arrive at where to make stiffer and where to remove stiffness, which woods to use, etc.

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New Beardsell 3GMS/25/27

Q. Can you explain your approach to sound ports? Why do you use two?

A. My approach has always been to offer the player something they may not have heard before – like what the guitar actually sounds like. The sound hole does a few jobs like allowing free air movement in and out of the box, tuning the air mode fundamental by size of aperture, and coupling the reflective and sympathetic sounds of the back with the top. There may be more to it, but these are the parts that I’m mainly interested in. Originally, in order to make the opening large enough to have a similar area as a 4″ soundhole, I split the sideport into two. This had an interesting effect of broadening the areas of the box being monitored and simply enlarging the sound projected. Also, moving the soundhole off the top does reconfigure the structural stiffness of the top. The soundhole does create a loosening of the top that must be counterbalanced by grafts and braces. By reducing this loosening, we can make the top thinner and therefore lighter. The main goal of the sideports in my mind is the acoustic connection made with the player even in amplified situations. Many times I’ve played acoustic shows where all I hear is amplified monitors. This tends to give the player a compressed dynamic range and they will pay accordingly – at top volume always. Having some sense of the instrument’s natural dynamic range will mean the audience will benefit from the player. The size has been reduced over the years to drop the air mode and develop more bass.

Q. What do you enjoy doing outside of building?

A. Curling, yoga, fencing, playing rock, being a dad

Q. What inspires you today?

A. I’ve been very inspired by the local music scene in Winnipeg. A year and a half ago, I opened a new shop (the former Garnet Amp factory) that is open to the public. We do repairs and pickup winding, restorations and, of course, guitar-making.  It’s a very different connection to the people who actually make music than the rarified environment of the luthiery shop.

Q. Where do you think your building style will take you in the next 5 years?

A. I’m looking at using more computer-aided design and control technology. I’m making more archtop electric guitars and pickups, and manouche guitars especially – my first love really.

Q. Which up and coming luthier impresses you the most?

A. There are a few in Winnipeg like Jordan McConnell, but he’s been around a while so he’s no pup!  I’m always amazed by the amount of new talent, all doing very high quality work. My assistant Lucas Roger is going to kick ass any day now.

 

 

Bookmark this page for frequent updates. (Please scroll down for additional guitars.)

 

2015 Osthoff Woodstock FS

Higuerilla and Port Orford Cedar

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2015 Oxwood Carmen

Cocobolo Rosewood and Engelmann Spruce

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1997 Collings OM3-BaA

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

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2012 R.E. Phillips Single Cone Resonator

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Bookmark this page for frequent updates. (Please scroll down for additional guitars.)

Schoenberg Soloist OMC

East Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

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As mentioned in a previous post, Leonardo Buendia, one of Ervin Somogyi’s current apprentices and an amazing up and coming builder, is wrapping up his 3 year apprenticeship with Ervin and is moving to his own shop in Oakland, California.

We caught up with Leo and asked him a few questions regarding his new shop.

1) Where will the shop be located? Why did you pick there?

Leo: My new workshop is located in East Oakland.  I was offered the space by Lewis Santer, whom I’ve known for 3 years and who for a long time shared this same space with Michi Matsuda.  Lewis has been in this shop for 10 years and it’s well-equipped and already set up in a very smart way.  It’s a pleasure to be able to work with Lewis, who was also Ervin Somogyi’s shop manager for many years.  The transition is going smoothly – I’m getting back into my rhythm quickly.

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2) How are you configuring your shop? Why will it be configured this way?

Leo: Since everything was already set up for the construction and repair of guitars, I’ve only had to put together two benches–one in the dry room and one in the common space.  In the dry room I’m going to keep all of the wood I will be using for the guitars commissioned for these next few years.  The dry room is also where I will be doing all of the gluing.  I will be using the bench in the common space for shaping, scraping, sanding, etc.

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3) Any sources of inspiration that you can point to in your new shop?

Leo:
Ervin Somogyi’s shop, of course, is a big inspiration for how I would like my shop to look. I love the use of different workstations and I’m emulating that.  It allows my work to be very efficient.  I also took away from my experience at Ervin’s that it’s extremely helpful to have plenty of backstock of blocks, braces, fingerboards, pre-bent sides, pre-bent binding, etc.

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4) Any neat facts about your building process in your new shop that you’d like to share?

Leo: In the near future I will be working on designing a different kind of headstock.  So far I’ve been molding the heads in the style of a classical/Spanish guitar.  In Argentina we play Spanish guitars, so I’ve always liked the headstocks I learned to make with Ervin, which are reminiscent of these. Now that I will have more time for experimentation and designing, I am going to make headstocks with a more modern style, while still avoiding the symmetrical and conventional.  This new design is more like that of my fanned fret guitar.  Another change that’s coming is that in about 6 months I will begin with a new model, the OO.  The big sound that it makes is very surprising given its small body. In fact, it’s the guitar I plan to make for myself.

Click here to learn more about an Incoming Leonardo Buendia OM Build

Click here to watch Paul interview Leo Buendia at this year’s Memphis Acoustic Guitar Festival.

Click Here to See What We Have In-Stock from EddieLee Today

We are pleased to add EddieLee Brown to our line-up of builders here at Dream Guitars. Let’s get to know more about this great up and coming builder.

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EddieLee Brown’s first love is music.  He played guitar and bass in a traveling rock band in the 70’s.  More recently he has fallen in love with fingerstyle guitar playing.  “Whether playing electric or acoustic, for me, tone is everything. I have always worked hard to develop a great tone as a basis for playing any instrument,” states EddieLee.

EddieLee has also been a photographer, a Bonsai artist and landscaper, and studied drawing.  Each of these helped him develop a sense of design, proportion, and what is pleasing to the eye.  He practiced as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine helping heal people with acupuncture, massage, and herbal medicine.  This helped him develop a sensitivity of touch and understanding that one part of a system will affect other parts. EddieLee also has a master’s degree in electrical engineering with a strong background in physics and mechanical engineering.  He loves physics and determining, from a scientific view point, how things work. This helps him be able to predict how a system will behave when one part of it is changed.

New ELB Guitars OM1937M-D

Brown had a nice stable of electric guitars and basses from his band days in the 70’s and 80’s but in the 2000’s, he found himself playing his acoustic guitar most of the time.  When he decided to upgrade his old acoustic, he found the world of hand-built guitars.  “The first time they handed me one, I could not believe the difference, and it changed my world.  I bought a Goodall Rosewood/Red Wood, Grand Concert and fell in love with the guitar all over again.  After playing and hearing the great tone and feeling how responsive it was, I would just stare at the beauty of the wood, design and construction.  That is when I got the desire to start building,” quotes EddieLee.

EddieLee has now been building guitars for about 6 years, although 20140912_201757he had studied guitar design and preparing a few years before that.  He also spent time prior to starting his first guitar honing the woodworking skills he would need to produce great looking instruments.  The first instruments he built were Native American Flutes which are wooden flutes. EddieLee has been playing these for many years, and loved the instrument.  Their construction uses many of the same techniques and skills used in guitar building, so it seemed like a good “warm-up instrument” for him.  “They are so much fun to make and I love the feedback I get from people when they get them in their hands.  Guitar building followed soon after.  It is a real joy to turn a pile of wood into a beautiful instrument and then hear other players make beautiful music with them,” says EddieLee.

Mahogany back of a ELB Guitars OM1937M-D

In EddieLee’s building style, he works to combine elements from his past careers.  “I think there is real value in mixing together the old methods using touch, feeling, and tapping and meld into that the newer science to produce a very vibrant instrument with great tone”, quotes EddieLee.  Among others, he is currently using Chladni patterns, along with traditional methods, for sound board voicing.  He also uses techniques to produce spectrographics of the sound produced by tapping the guitar and its components during the build process.  This tool gives a visual and measurable representation of what he hears when tapping the guitar.  “Although it can never give me all the information that my ears can, it does allow me to see the frequencies of the main vibration patterns, allowing me to adjust them precisely.  I believe these and other science based ways of measuring and determining how the guitar is operating, lets me produce an instrument with better and more consistent tone.  And for me, tone has to be there” quotes EddieLee.

Outside of building guitars, EddieLee Brown is still a musician.  “I play mainly fingerstyle guitar but still love to get an electric now and then a fire up the old Mesa Boogie Mark IIC”, says EddieLee.

“EddieLee is one of the guys you meet and just know that he builds a great guitar. He came to lutherie later in life and brings all his vast experiences to a new form of expression, the acoustic guitar. I was so impressed with the tone of his instruments that I broke my own rule of waiting until a maker has built 20 or more guitars. EddieLee has some special design elements as well like internal mass elements to manipulate the character of tone. Very fresh and exciting” – Paul Heumiller

Click Here to See What We Have In-Stock from Eddie Today

Leo Buendia, one of Ervin Somogyi’s current apprentices and an amazing up and coming builder, is wrapping up his 3 year apprenticeship with Ervin and will be moving to his own shop on October 1st in Oakland CA. At the same time, Leo is building for us an amazing OM featuring beautiful straight grain Brazilian Rosewood and a German Spruce Top.

Click here to watch Paul interview Leo Buendia at this year’s Memphis Acoustic Guitar Festival.

Following are the full specs and some images to go along with the current progress.

This one is currently available for purchase here at Dream Guitars – Please call the shop for more information 828-658-9795:

  • Soundboard, German Spruce
  • Back and sides, Quarter sawn, straight grain Brazilian RW
  • Cutaway, Florentine
  • 14th-fret to the body
  • Rosette, solid ring wood choice bordered in purfling
  • Bridge, hand carved Brazilian RW
  • Binding, Ebony with black/white purfling
  • End graft, triangular style that matches binding
  • Backstrip, matching with binding
  • Top braces, Sitka spruce
  • Back Braces, Mahogany
  • Neck, one piece Honduran mahogany
  • Headcap veneer, Brazilian RW
  • Back of Headcap veneer, Ebony
  • Tuning Machines, Gotoh 510 Series stealth in gold
  • Fingerboard, ebony with ebony binding and maple purfling
  • Fingerboard Radius, 20′′
  • Position markers, white dots
  • Case, Hoffee custom hardshell case
  • Scale Length, 25” for OM
  • Nut width, 1 3/4” Scalloped and compensated bone
  • Saddle string spacing, 2 1/4” Compensated Bone
  • Finish, nitrocellulose Lacquer

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Update: Guitar in Finishing Process 12/1/15

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This August is the 20th anniversary of Tom Rodriguez Guitars and his making of classical guitars. To commemorate this huge milestone, Tom has started on a very special 20th anniversary guitar. All materials on this anniversary guitar are old and extremely rare which Tom has been collecting through his years of building and saving for a very special occasion, such as this. Following is the list of materials included in this build:

Top – 40 year old Sitka spruce purchased from the estate of an old guitar maker. Tom hand picked it from 30 sets that were bought for its tap tone, stiffness and fine grain

Back & sides, peg head and bridge – 1800’s Brazilian rosewood from an old table top

Fingerboard – 40 year old ebony, hand picked for it’s beauty from a large selection of ebony fingerboards from the same collection of wood that the top came from

Neck – 1800’s Honduras mahogany, salvaged from an old 4 post bed – very dark in color and a singing tap tone

Brace wood – Hand-split Sitka spruce from the back supports of a 90 year old Cable piano

Linings – Quarter-sawn willow, the preferred choice of violin makers, 90 years old, from the same piano as the brace wood

Nut & Saddle – Fossil walrus ivory, 100 to 500 years old

Rosette & bindings – Brazilian rosewood, holly, cherry and ebony, all from various salvages and re-purposing projects

“One need only look at the quality of this wood, all of it having a history of it’s own, to imagine the character of sound that will emanate from this guitar. Celebrating 20 years of building is no small feat. Few makers ever reach that milestone and to do so you have to have an extreme love of the craft and desire to put music in the world. That’s what Tom Rodriquez and this guitar represent. We are simply delighted to be a part of this, this is why we do what we do here at Dream Guitars.” – Paul Heumiller, Owner

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1800’s Brazilian rosewood salvaged from an antique table top

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Detail of 40+ year old Sitka spruce top wood

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Quartersawn bridge blank cut from the same 1800’s table – underneath it is the trimmed off piece with the tax stamps still on it

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Detail of the hand split Sitka spruce brace wood from a 1925 Cable piano

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Split Sitka spruce brace wood from a 1925 Cable piano

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1800’s Honduras mahogany neck heel from an old bed – you can still see the edges of the turned legs before being trimmed away

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Headstock with 1800’s mahogany and Brazilian rosewood

This 20th Anniversary Rodriguez Guitar is now available in the shop. Please click here for more details.

August 2015 marked the 20th anniversary of Thomas Rodriguez Guitars and his making of classical guitars. To commemorate this huge milestone, Thomas started on a very special 20th anniversary guitar. All materials on this anniversary guitar are very old and extremely rare which Thomas has been collecting through his years of building and saving for a very special occasion, such as this. Following is the list of materials included in this build:

Top – 40 year old Sitka spruce purchased from the estate of an old guitar maker. Thomas hand picked it from 30 sets that were bought for its tap tone, stiffness and fine grain

Back & sides, peg head and bridge – 1800’s Brazilian rosewood from an old table top

Fingerboard – 40 year old Gaboon ebony, hand picked for it’s beauty from a large selection of ebony fingerboards from the same collection of wood that the top came from

Neck – 1800’s Honduras mahogany, salvaged from an old 4 post bed – very dark in color and a singing tap tone

Brace wood – Hand-split Sitka spruce from the back supports of a 90 year old Cable piano

Linings – Quarter-sawn willow from a 1925 Cable piano, the preferred choice of violin makers, 90 years old, from the same piano as the brace wood

Nut & Saddle – Approximately 20,000 year old mastodon ivory

Rosette & bindings – Maple, Brazilian rosewood, mahogany from a 1860’s square piano and red birch from an 1890’s piano

Tie block on the bridge — Ivory from a piano key from the 1860’s square piano

Inlays on the wings of the bridge — Mother of pearl cut from an early 1900’s lamp pendant

Position marker on the fingerboard — Mother of pearl from an 1850’s Martin bridge pin Thomas had from a restoration he performed

“One need only look at the quality of this wood, all of it having a history of it’s own, to imagine the character of sound that will emanate from this guitar. Celebrating 20 years of building is no small feat. Few makers ever reach that milestone and to do so you have to have an extreme love of the craft and desire to put music in the world. That’s what Thomas Rodriquez and this guitar represent. We are simply delighted to be a part of this, this is why we do what we do here at Dream Guitars.” – Paul Heumiller, Owner

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1800’s Brazilian rosewood salvaged from an antique table top

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Detail of 40+ year old Sitka spruce top wood

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Quartersawn bridge blank cut from the same 1800’s table – underneath it is the trimmed off piece with the tax stamps still on it.

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Detail of the hand split Sitka spruce brace wood from a 1925 Cable piano.

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Split Sitka spruce brace wood from a 1925 Cable piano.

Here is the neck blank for the 20th anniversary guitar, it’s cut from a bed post from an 1800’s bed that was found in the attic of a friends 200 year old farmhouse. there were 2 beds, the one I got was too damaged for restoration so he gave it to me for the wood. you can see the post turning on the heel block...

Here is the neck blank for the 20th anniversary guitar which was cut from a bed post from an 1800’s bed that was found in the attic of a friend’s 200 year old farmhouse.

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The headstock on the left is the old wood which you can see the rich color from over a 100 years of oxidation. The neck on the right is Honduras mahogany from the 1960’s, for comparison.

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1800’s Honduras mahogany neck heel from an old bed – you can still see the edges of the turned legs before being trimmed away.

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Headstock with 1800’s mahogany and Brazilian rosewood.

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Decorative trim wood for the 20th anniversary guitar was taken from this Rand square piano, dating between 1820’s to 1860’s.

All the veneer for rosette and binding, rosewood, mahogany and maple from the Rand piano and red birch from the 1890’s piano.

All the veneer for rosette and binding, rosewood, mahogany and maple from the Rand piano and red birch from the 1890’s piano.

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Amount of wood that it took to create the bindings.

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Detail of the complete binding.

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Rosette made up of wood cut down while Torres, inventor of the modern classical guitar, was still alive.

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Detail, Brazilian rosewood, maple, mahogany and red birch. Thomas opted to use the natural color of the wood rather than color dyed veneer. The rosette is 35 layers thick, hand scraped to be an exact thickness.

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Mother of pearl lamp pendant used for inlays on the bridge wings.

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The bridge is cut from the same 1800’s table as the rest of the guitar.  It is perfectly quarter sawn, super fine even grain and has oxidized to a rich, almost black color.

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Detail of the mother of pearl dot.

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Ivory tie block is from a piano key off of the 1800’s square piano.

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Finished bridge

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The guitar coming together

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Detail on back of guitar

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Top and back

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Bracing for the guitar, asymmetrical lattice bracing. Thomas engineered his guitar from the ground up over his 20 years of building, He’s very proud to be making his own guitar and not just another Hauser or Torres copy.

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All of the brace wood is Sitka spruce from the 1925 piano, hand split for the straightest possible grain.

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Willow linings, cut from the 1925 Cable piano. Willow is the top choice for linings in high end violins. The neck heel is painted to keep moisture from traveling through the end grain, a common cause of humps in the finger board where the neck meets the body.

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Big pile of spaghetti that will become the binding for the guitar.

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Completed binding

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Martin began making the 45 Style way back in 1904. The main feature of this trim style is abalone inlay along the top, back, sides, around edge of fingerboard, around the soundhole, neck heel, and tail wedge. Over the years the 45 models have been coveted by Martin fans the world over.

Today, many modern makers still emulate the famed 45 trim package. We happened to have a few in the shop recently and thought it would be fun to show you the wonderful variety of guitars that can be found with this popular adornment. A picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few shots of our three in-stock beauties: a 1991 Martin D-45, a 2008 Wayne Henderson D-45 and a 2014 Huss & Dalton Custom TD-R.

As you can see in the pictures below, while they all have abalone borders in the same places, the color and quality of the Abalone varies quite a bit. Like all building materials there are ‘grades’ of abalone shell. Nowadays builders also vary the width of the trim to add their individuality to a time tested inlay pattern.

Most players agree that the 45 style trim is quite beautiful and we sure are glad that it continues to thrive at Martin and in the hands of the many fine custom Luthiers in our world today.

Click on any of the images below for larger view.

Left to Right: 2014 Huss & Dalton Custom TD-R, 2008 Wayne Henderson D-45, 1991 Martin D-45

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The first two from the left below – The Henderson (Center Below) and the Huss & Dalton (Left) are Brazilian Rosewood. The last one on the right is the Indian Rosewood Martin. You can see how much variance there is in Brazilian, many colors, figure patterns, etc.

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The Henderson(Center Below) below features quality Abalone with a variety of hues in it, blue, gold and white.

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Nice quality Paua Abalone here on the Huss & Dalton below. Lots of Blue in this shell.

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A key element of the 45 Style trim is that the Abalone is featured on the top, back & Sides. Pretty fancy!

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wilborn-logoBen Wilborn is one of the builders that we have recently added to the array of fine builders that we represent at Dream Guitars. We receive numerous requests from builders, new and established, to be part of Dream Guitars. It’s very humbling to be the ones that they wish to represent their work. In the case of Wilborn guitars, we invited him to send us an example of his work because tone is the first thing we always look for in a new luthier’s instruments. It only took about 20 seconds to figured out that Ben knows how to get tone out of his instruments. We were also smitten with the fit, finish and overall design of his guitars – very elegant, leaning towards traditional but definitely having his own style…and so began our association with Ben.

We at Dream Guitars are known for commissioning unique custom instruments for clientele as well and we were excited to see al-wilsomething even more artistic from Ben. As a result, Paul Heumiller, owner of Dream Guitars and Ben went to work to decide on specs for a custom Wilborn parlor guitar. “I love to work with builders on custom instruments. Having seen thousands of guitars helps me develop an intuition for both stylistic and practical features on the guitar. At the same time I love to leave room for a builder to express himself. So Ben and I collaborated on a number of design elements in this parlor guitar, but then I left him to do the rest. I can’t wait to see the final instrument as I know it will be both beautiful and expressive aesthetically and musically.” – Paul Heumiller.

This incoming Parlor will feature Brazilian Rosewood and Vintage Sitka Spruce cut in the 1960s, Leapordwood Bindings, Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard and Bridge and a short scale, 12 Fret Neck. Yummy!

Click here to see our in-stock Ben Wilborn Guitars

Contact us to reserve this incoming Wilborn guitar or to inquire about the many custom builds we have in process at any given time. Capture your Dream Guitar.

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Custom Wilborn Parlor in Construction

One of the services that Dream Guitars offers is representation for entire or partial collections. We are very fortunate to have many of

1957 Gibson J-200 from a recently acquired private collection

1957 Gibson J-200 from a recently acquired private collection

the world’s top instrument collectors as our clients and at different times, and for various reasons, they may choose to sell some or all of their treasures. When they do, they call on us.

“The largest collection we’ve represented thus far was 65 classical guitars. Among them were many of the famous Spanish makers, a number of vintage pieces, and some very unique and rare instruments as well.” – Paul Heumiller, owner of Dream Guitars.

Often a collection has a general theme, like this collection of classical guitars, or perhaps vintage Gibson instruments, prewar Martin guitars, or a variety of independent modern luthiers. “Recently, we have been getting in a large collection of vintage Martin and Gibson instruments from a client that we have worked with for more than 10 years. It gives us a very rare opportunity to offer our client base some pieces that you never see in one shop at one time. It is very exciting for me and my team to get to see, play and offer these historic musical gems.” – Paul Heumiller.

Click here to read a collector’s testimonial for Dream Guitars

We also have a number of clients who have included Dream Guitars in their estate planning. They give explicit instructions to their family members to contact us upon their passing so that we can assist with properly selling and handling the instruments they worked so hard to collect. “It is very humbling to have a client call you and ask you to assist his family. It has been extremely rewarding over the years to assist surviving family members to get through one of the hardest times of their lives. We get to ensure that they are treated fairly and properly compensated in a way that our client would have wanted. We take great pride in assisting folks in this way.” – Paul Heumiller.

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Recent shipment of private collection to Dream Guitars

For our clients, this large influx of of incredible instruments is educational, exciting and downright fun. We get so many calls and questions when we get in a collection of related instruments. Simply by reading about 20 similar guitars in one grouping, our clients can learn something completely new about the world they love.  For instance a client who has never owned a vintage guitar can have a chance to read about many in one visit to our website. Conversely, a steel string player might get a chance to learn who the best nylon makers in the world might be.

“Offering large collections is pure joy. You can’t imagine how ‘kid-like’ we all get in the shop when 20 boxes arrive. It’s like Christmas for weeks.” – Paul Heumiller.

If you have a small or large guitar collection and are in need of help finding a home for some of your pieces, we would be honored to serve you and we will always do so with the upmost respect and gratitude.

Contact us today to discuss your collection 828-658-9795.

Click here to read a collector’s testimonial for Dream Guitars

Written by Paul Heumiller, Dream Guitars

Click on any of the images throughout the article for a larger view

For those who have never been to the Woodstock Invitational Guitar Festival, it is something quite special. Seventy or so of the top Luthiers in the world are invited by Baker Rorick to come to the small town in the Hudson Valley for a weekend of pure joy for guitarists. This is a small show and it’s overcrowded, but that’s a good thing. It ensures that the show will stay of the highest quality. Baker has no plans to grow the show or move it to a larger location and I think that will keep it very special. It’s already host to more guitars than you can possibly see properly in two days.

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For me this year’s show was extra special. It had a real feeling of brotherhood. Perhaps the last few years, very hard years in the guitar business by anyone’s account, have bonded us all. Many builders (and shop owners) have barely survived, others have been forced to go back to a ‘real job’, but most continue to hold onto the passion that drives them to build the finest instruments that we’ve ever seen. Immediately upon arrival I received hugs and handshakes from my friends, the builders who whittle wood to make music. Making the show even more memorable is the fact that Scott Bresnick, the man behind the machine that is Dream Guitars, met me at the show as well. Scott quietly does vast amounts of promotion for us and has been my sounding board since I started DG in New Jersey. So this year is, as I said, was just extra special.

Now for the good stuff, the guitars. Woodstock is like the buffet at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. More food than you can possibly eat, but you’re sure as hell going to try.

As someone who has played thousands of guitars and all of them the finest in the world, I’m struck with the amazing quality of the voices of the instruments here at the show. A large number of the guitars are nothing short of mesmerizing and inspiring. I don’t say that lightly as I am admittedly quite spoiled hanging out at Dream Guitars all day. At a show like this it’s hard to go 10 feet without running into someone else you know and stopping and saying “hi” and catching up. It makes the going slow but well worth while.

I started at the stage where my good friends John Buscarino, Chris & Jeremy Jenkins, Michael Bashkin and Bill Tippin all had their instruments displayed. John had his Autumn Leaves 35th anniversary guitar, complete with an amazing carved tree on the back of the instrument.

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Stage left was Keystone guitars from Japan, one of the newest builders to join the Dream Guitars family. Keisuke Nishi built a wonderful modified dreadnought for the show which I promptly snatched up for our clients.

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Down on the main floor were a number of builders including:

•    Cris Mirabella
•    Joe Veillette
•    John Osthoff
•    Bruce Petros
•    Kent Everett
•    Julian Gaffney
•    David Berkowitz
•    Bernie Lehman
•    Randy Muth – another builder we invited to join DG at this event
•    Ken Parker
•    Jason Kostal – indeed Jason Kostal’s guitars are the highest form of artistry
•    Pellerin
•    Tim Reede and Raymond Kraut, both joining the DG Family as well
•    Ryan Thorell
•    Paul Beard
•    Linda Manzer
•    Michael Baranik
•    And many more.

A veritable cornucopia of fine guitars. Some that have remained etched in my memory are:

Cris Mirabella’s arch top in black with maple accents:

mirabella archtop

Randy Muth’s guitars all have an amazing and unique voice:

Muth guitars

Julian Gaffney, currently apprenticing with Ervin Somogyi, built a stunning guitar that I played for some time and truly enjoyed:

julian gaffney and boys

There’s always a big amount of laughter as well, like when Tom Ribbecke decided to probe Kent Everett’s new Petite Model guitar:

kent_everett_funny

But this is just one room at the show. I stepped out the door and into the stage/bar area where there is constantly amazing music being played. All day long there are demo concerts and feature concerts and talks by prominent builders such as Bill Collings, Tom Ribbecke, Michael Gurian, Ken Parker, John Monteleone and Roger Sadowski.

panel of greats

Ear candy everywhere. A short walk across the drive and you enter the secondary room which houses a lot of tonewoods, Luthery tools and a fine display of guitars including multiple Grit Laskin guitars featuring Grit’s fabulous inlay work and two rare Steve Klein Electrics from the Jeff Doctorow collection (see photo below). Jeff is a good friend and fellow Jersey Boy.

John Slobod and his Circa guitars were also here in this room and he and I got a chance to sneak to a back office for some serious tasting. He had two small body guitars with him and each a cannon in its own right. He does things with Maple that are amazing, a lush full voice that’s even prettier than the insanely figured set of wood he actually traveled to Germany for. A few friends joined us as well so I got to hear the guitars from out front and in the driver’s seat and they are masterful.

Another great thing about shows like Woodstock is that it gives me the chance to touch base with Luthiers about what they’re seeing in the business in general. Most everyone has felt an uptick in 2014 with sales increasing. That coincides with what we have seen in the shop as well. Particularly high-end guitar sales have greatly increased in 2014. From where we sit, 2015 looks to be a great year for guitar makers and of course that means for guitar players. With instruments like this being crafted by great people with passion, we should all have plenty of inspiration to make our music for the world.

Below are a list of makers whose guitars we brought back from the show. Contact us here at Dream Guitars for more information:

•    Randy S. Muth
•    Keystone Guitars
•    David MacCubbin
•    Raymond Kraut
•    John Osthoff
•    Bernie Lehmann
•    Kevin Pederson
•    Tim Reede

Following are a few of the cool & unusual sights from the show as well:

Pellerin Harp Guitar:

Pellerin Harp

Jeff Doctorow’s Steve Klein Guitars:

jeff doctorow kleins

Lehmann Tiger Maple Bridge:

lehman tiger eye maple bridge

Manzer Unfinished Guitar:

manzer unfinished

For more information on the Woodstock Invitational Guitar Festival, please visit their official website.

We here at Dream Guitars are thrilled to have multiple Wayne Henderson guitars in-stock at the moment! We are taking full advantage of this and recorded another one of our guitar roundup video collages of Al jamming away on all three of these amazing guitars. Hear and see three of Wayne Henderson’s guitars side-by-side, played by one of the best acoustic guitar players on the planet, Grammy Award winner Al Petteway!

Wayne Henderson and his guitars need little introduction these days. Having built for an army of the best players in the world, both in the southeast where we live and for big names like Eric Clapton, his guitars are now legendary. But why? Tone, that’s why. No maker reaches the highest levels without killer tone.

henderson-3

Click here to watch the video!

The three Henderson guitars featured in this collage are a:

•    1996 Henderson D-18 Mahogany/Spruce – This D-18 style Mahogany Dread was the prize for the 1996 Wayne Henderson Guitar Competition and it has been put to good use since. The well-played spruce top is giving it’s all now, and it is extremely loud and clear as a bell.

•    2010 Henderson D-18 Mahogany/Adirondack (Red)(Sorry folks this one is already sold!!) This Henderson D-18 in Red Spruce and Mahogany is how a pre war style guitar should be done, and is a perfect example of why Henderson guitars are so sought after. This thing is a flatpicking cannon, it would be hard to find a better suited flatpicking guitar. When you pick this guitar up you instantly realize why Wayne is so well regarded in the guitar world.

•    2010/11 Henderson D-28 Brazilian/Adirondack (Red) – This D-28 in Red Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood is the bluegrassers dream, it has all the power to punch through an instrument heavy jam session, or take on the softer side and it fingerpicks beautifully. The voicing Wayne achieves, as always, is lovely. It is warm and has a great boom chuck.

Click here to watch the video!

Did you know that on top of being a master luthier, Wayne is also a heck of a player? Henderson’s top-notch finger-picking is a source of great pleasure and pride to his friends, family, and neighbors in Grayson County, Virginia. His guitar playing has also been enjoyed at Carnegie Hall, in three national tours of “Masters of the Steel-String Guitar”, and in seven nations in Asia.

This Henderson guitar roundup video collage is not the only one of its kind. We have also done collage videos of Ervin Somogyi, Kim Walker, and vintage Martin guitars. You can also view more of our videos on our Youtube channel by clicking here.

Bookmark this page for frequent updates. (Please scroll down for additional guitars.)

 

2011 Tippin Staccato

Brazilian Rosewood and Moonspruce

sneakpeek

 

Collings MT20 Mandolin

Flamed Maple and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2014 Gaffney OM

East Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2007 Rick Turner Model 1

Magnetic Pickup with “C” Electronics

sneakpeek

 

2010 Muiderman Steel String

Cocobolo Rosewood and Bearclaw Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

John Kinnaird “East”

Honduran Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2007 Ramirez 1a #2 of 125

Madagascar Rosewood and German Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2014 Lame Horse – Jenkins & Son Gitjo

Koa and Flamed Maple

sneakpeek

 

2010 Olson SJ

Pernambuco and Sitka Spruce

P1540762

 

1963 Danelectro U2

sneakpeek

 

2005 Brandt Concert

Brazilian Rosewood and European Spruce

sneakpeek

 

Bourgeois Banjo Killer Slope D

Figured Honduran Mahogany and Bearclaw Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2003 Carrillo Gabriela

Brazilian Rosewood and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

2010 Lipton “C” – 16″ Body Exhibition Grade Whyte Laydie

Collaboration between Walter Lipton and Bill Tippin. Engraved inlay by Doug Unger.

Brazilian Rosewood and German Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1979 Ramirez 1a Flamenco

Cypress and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

2001 Charles Fox C-Sierra Nylon

Brazilian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2002 Bown Stella 12-string

Koa and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1995 Franklin Stella 12-string

Mahogany and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1972 Kohno 15

Brazilian Rosewood and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

2010 Petros Yellow Rose FS Cutaway

Ceylon Satinwood Back/Sides, Englemann Spruce Top, Alaskan Yellow Cedar Neck

sneakpeek

 

1997 Klein M.43

Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

Buscarino Grand Cabaret

Black Acacia and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

1932 Gibson L Century

Maple and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1957 Gibson J-200

Maple and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1995 D-28S

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2005 Tippin Staccato

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek
sneakpeek2

 

2003 Martin D-45GE

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1988 Gibson Chet Atkins CEC

P1540386

 

1933 Martin 00-40H

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

P1540297

 

2012 Froggy Bottom Special Order C

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2002 Doolin OM

Macassar Ebony and Bearclaw Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

2014 National Dueco Tricone Gold

Steel Body with Gold Crystalline Finish. 1.5 Tricone Neck. sneakpeek

2006 John Walker “Wise River”

Mahogany and Adirondack Spruce sneakpeek

2007 Dupont Prelude

East Indian Rosewood and Spruce sneakpeek

2014 Ennis Unibody

Padauk and Spruce

sneakpeek

2011 Borges L-00

Figured Maple and Adirondack Spruce sneakpeek

Keystone Mod-D

Granadillo and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

MacCubbin CS-012 Tulip Magnolia

Sinker Honduras Mahogany and Tulip Magnolia

sneakpeek

 

R. S. Muth S16J

Tasmanian Blackwood and Lutz Spruce sneakpeek

R. S. Muth S15

East Indian Rosewood and Carpathian Spruce sneakpeek

MacCubbin CBG-02 Heron Sunset

Brazilian Kingwood and Sitka Spruce sneakpeek

Wilborn Orchestra/C

Cocobolo Rosewood and Bearclaw Sitka Spruce sneakpeek

 

Bookmark this page for frequent updates. (Please scroll down for additional guitars.)

 

2010 Olson SJ

Pernambuco and Sitka Spruce

P1540762

 

1963 Danelectro U2

sneakpeek

 

2005 Brandt Concert

Brazilian Rosewood and European Spruce

sneakpeek

 

Bourgeois Banjo Killer Slope D

Figured Honduran Mahogany and Bearclaw Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2003 Carrillo Gabriela

Brazilian Rosewood and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

2010 Lipton “C” – 16″ Body Exhibition Grade Whyte Laydie

Collaboration between Walter Lipton and Bill Tippin. Engraved inlay by Doug Unger.

Brazilian Rosewood and German Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1979 Ramirez 1a Flamenco

Cypress and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

2001 Charles Fox C-Sierra Nylon

Brazilian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2002 Bown Stella 12-string

Koa and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1995 Franklin Stella 12-string

Mahogany and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1972 Kohno 15

Brazilian Rosewood and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

2010 Petros Yellow Rose FS Cutaway

Ceylon Satinwood Back/Sides, Englemann Spruce Top, Alaskan Yellow Cedar Neck

sneakpeek

 

1997 Klein M.43

Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

 

Buscarino Grand Cabaret

Black Acacia and Cedar

sneakpeek

 

1932 Gibson L Century

Maple and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1957 Gibson J-200

Maple and Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1995 D-28S

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2005 Tippin Staccato

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek
sneakpeek2

 

2003 Martin D-45GE

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

1988 Gibson Chet Atkins CEC

P1540386

 

1933 Martin 00-40H

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

P1540297

 

2012 Froggy Bottom Special Order C

Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

2002 Doolin OM

Macassar Ebony and Bearclaw Sitka Spruce

sneakpeek

2014 National Dueco Tricone Gold

Steel Body with Gold Crystalline Finish. 1.5 Tricone Neck. sneakpeek

2006 John Walker “Wise River”

Mahogany and Adirondack Spruce sneakpeek

2007 Dupont Prelude

East Indian Rosewood and Spruce sneakpeek

2014 Ennis Unibody

Padauk and Spruce

sneakpeek

2011 Borges L-00

Figured Maple and Adirondack Spruce sneakpeek

Keystone Mod-D

Granadillo and Adirondack Spruce

sneakpeek

 

MacCubbin CS-012 Tulip Magnolia

Sinker Honduras Mahogany and Tulip Magnolia

sneakpeek

 

R. S. Muth S16J

Tasmanian Blackwood and Lutz Spruce sneakpeek

R. S. Muth S15

East Indian Rosewood and Carpathian Spruce sneakpeek

MacCubbin CBG-02 Heron Sunset

Brazilian Kingwood and Sitka Spruce sneakpeek

Wilborn Orchestra/C

Cocobolo Rosewood and Bearclaw Sitka Spruce sneakpeek

 

“The guitar itself has always been my best teacher.  She has always revealed herself to me bit by bit, taking her own sweet time.  I’ve been the student.” – Ervin Somogyi

We are extremely fortunate to have three Somogyi Guitars in-stock at the moment so we decided to record all three for another special video which we have named, “Three Decades of the Somogyi Sound!”

somogyi-3

Click here or on the video image above to watch “Three Decades of the Somogyi Sound!”

“Ervin Somogyi has long been one of my favorite builders. He was one of the original luthiers 80-somogyi-mod-dto create the open modern voicing that we now all think of when we hear fingerstyle guitar recordings. In the 1970s and 80s when artist like Alex De Grassi first started to record fingerstyle guitar, they went to Ervin Somogyi and asked him for guitars with more open voicing that would be more appropriate to make recordings with. The factory guitars of the day were simply not expressive enough for solo guitar pieces. To this day Ervin is considered one of the masters of guitar voicing and he has taught his ideas and techniques to many of today’s top luthiers the world over.” – Paul Heumiller

Here at Dream Guitars we have been a dealer for Ervin Somogyi for many years and he is constantly a favorite for our clientele. It is a sheer delight to have three of his guitars in the shop right now, each from another decade.

We simply could not resist recording them side-by-side to share with the world. Somogyi’s voice is one that all lovers of guitar should know and understand. It has so influenced modern guitar perhaps more so than any other single builder.

We asked Ervin Somogyi himself for a few thoughts on how his building has evolved over the last few decades and here’s what he had to say:

“Lately, some guitars of mine from the eighties and nineties have come on the market, and some of them have come to my shop for visits, checkups, or for a tweak or repair . . . or because the original owner was no longer playing guitar and wanted to see if I knew anyone who would want to buy their baby.  And so on.

I have been pleasantly surprised in every instance by how well they’ve held up.  Yes, they’ve had signs of wear and tear — if not in small scratches and such, then most notably in the look of the lacquered finish.  Lacquer has the capacity to separate from its underlayment, over time; and these guitars show small spots of lacquer separation/bubbling from the wood underneath.  This is not in the least bit serious; it’s cosmetic and easily fixable; a guitar simply looks not-brand-new in this regard.

Happily, not one of the guitars that I’ve seen or heard about, from this period, has been mistreated: they seem to be structurally sound.  And I’ve been pleasantly reminded of how far back I was using certain elements of decoration, or arrangements of bracing, that now seem to me like the most intelligent way to carry out this work.” – Ervin Somogyi

 

Click here to view our in-stock Ervin Somogyi guitars.

UPDATE: Paul’s personal baritone guitar built by Ken Jones and Mountain Song Guitars has been completed and added to the Dream Guitars website!! Sorry folks, this particular one is not for sale but you can order your own Mountain Song baritone through Dream Guitars! Click here for more info on Paul’s baritone and Mountain Song or click on one of the images below to watch Al and Paul jamming away on this beauty!

al-bari

paul-bari

COMPLETED MOUNTAIN SONG BARITONE

bari-comp

ORIGINAL BLOG DURING THE BUILD

Ken Jones is up to it again – this time this guitar is going right to our own Paul Heumiller. Ken is building Paul a very special IMG_5447-2Baritone featuring Padauk, Carolina Red Spruce and fanned-fret neck. The scale lengths range from 28.5″ on the bass side to 27.25″ on the treble. The body is slightly smaller than Jumbo proportions with a 16.5″ lower bout and 20.5″ body length, and a 4.75″ body depth at the tail, tapering to 4″ at the heel. Ken also offers the same body shape in a full-Jumbo size of 17″ LB and 21″ body length, with a 5″ body depth at the tail and 4.25″ depth at the heel. Top bracing is also Carolina Red Spruce.

“I knew for certain that I wanted the body to be Padauk Wood. The finest baritones I have ever played were made from Padauk. It has an amazing clarity that really helps the bass notes maintain separation when they’re tuned down to A or B. In recent years I have been primarily playing Fanned Fretted instruments and knew that I wanted that element as well. I play in many alternate tunings and it is key for me to have the bass strings longer than the treble strings. It insures that my bass notes will be strong and never floppy, while at the same time the trebles maintain a pleasant tension and sweet tone. Ken had a chance to get some wonderful local Carolina spruce tops from legendary luthier John Arnold so he suggested we use that for the top as it is wonderfully stiff and has incredible tap tone,” says Paul Heumiller.

IMG_5724

Other details include ebony headplate, fingerboard, and bindings, armrest bevel and ribrest bevel and a one-piece, carbon fiber reinforced Honduran Mahogany neck with double-acting truss rod.

Paul first played a Baritone guitar at Martin Simpson’s home in England many years ago. That very first moment he felt a wave of inspiration that has led him to continue to play in alternate tunings and on Baritones ever since. Paul states, “The most wonderful thing about the Baritone guitar is that you play exactly the same piece that you would in standard pitch but everything changes. The low register, rumbling bass and sweet, lucid trebles alter the mood and inspire the soul.”

IMG_5348

“I started to play the guitar for the sole purpose of writing songs. While I can do a lot of things on guitar, I consider myself primarily a  singer-songwriter. So whether an instrumental piece or accompaniment, my Baritone guitar offers me a voice that takes me into another world, another head space and invites me to write something I would likely never find at standard pitch,” says Paul Heumiller.

IMG_5891

Paul continues, “When I decided to invite Ken Jones of Mountain Song guitars to build me a Baritone instrument we had long conversations about the many Baritones that I have been able to play in the shop over the years. I am in the very fortunate position of getting to play the finest guitars ever made every day of my life. I have played many Baritones by Lance McCollum, Bill Tippin, David Berkowitz, Steve Klein, Ralph Bown and so many other of the finest makers in the world. So having the chance to collaborate with Ken was like dropping a three-year-old in the middle of a candy store with a credit card!!”

IMG_5043

“It’s been really enjoyable and informative collaborating with Paul on the various design elements, from the scale-length spread, to tonewoods, to the neck shape/profile. That was particularly interesting, since we were able to look closely at some of Paul’s favorite neck shapes, and come up with a hybrid that perfectly suits his needs. It’s essentially a D-shape with a slight V carved into the bass-side. We decided to keep the adornment to a minimum, with side dots only, and just a small inlay on the fingerboard at the twelfth fret. Being a large-bodied guitar, we agreed that an arm bevel was in order, as well as a super-comfortable ribrest bevel,” says Ken Jones.

IMG_5386-2“Paul has played more of the world’s finest guitars than just about anyone out there, and it’s been a pleasure and honor to learn from his insights what makes a truly great guitar,” Ken continues.

Great news! There are two more Baritones underway from Ken and Mountain Song Guitars – one in Quilted Maple and another in Cuban Mahogany. Ken is shooting to have these completed by the end of this year. These two will have similar features however it is still early enough for customizations.

Call today 828-658-9795 to reserve and customize your own Mountain Song Baritone Guitar!!

By Nigel Forster – Luthier

nfoster1

Instrument design involves shifting your attention. You shift it from subject to subject. Hopefully you remain on a topic long enough to think up an improvement or a refinement. You pick a topic, you examine, you contemplate, you experiment, you reflect, you move on.

I spent quite some part of 2009 studying, understanding and working on intonation. Its one of those “bottomless” subjects. Its a huge subject. To some extent it’s one of those doors you open only to wish you’d left it shut.

You realize that intonation is all one big compromise, that no matter what you do, choices have to be made which by improving something means making something else worse. You learn that even the ideals:Just intonation, Meantone and Equal temperaments are all compromises.

You also realize that you don’t have to actually understand intonation very well to make, play or enjoy guitars. Then you also realize that very few guitar makers or players understand it either.

You also make the discover that the type of instruments you make has an effect on how critical your instrument should be intonated. That in turn helps you see why so few makers either understand the subject or even want to understand the subject.

But what (if you’re a maker like me) do you do when you have a customer who is obsessed with intonation?

You either decide to learn about intonation or you ignore the customer.

Ive a friend and customer called Ian. He’s obsessed with intonation. It drives him nuts. In turn he drives me nuts. This had to stop. So, I decided to look into the issue a little deeper than I had in the past.

Ian now wanted the guitar to be as close to Equal temperament as possible as in the current crop of bands he played with he had to play in a lot of different and sometimes just plain odd keys. I mean, who plays in F#?

Ian does.

————————————————————————————————

Here is a brief rundown of my learning

“Perfect” intonation is impossible to achieve.

The luthier (and the customer) must be willing to accept some degree of approximation.

“But my old (insert the name of a guitar you’ve played/owned) plays perfectly in tune all up and down the neck”

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but…

it doesn’t,
it didn’t,
and it never will.

It’s not possible,
it never has been
and never will be.

What is possible are a couple of things: the instrument may have lacked the power and clarity that show up the many intonation errors which are inherent in all guitars. This is very common with guitars that follow the traditional American steel string design. (Think Martin.) Then there are our ears and our discernment of tuning which varies greatly. Some folk are blessed/cursed with perfect pitch. Such people really struggle with guitars. All guitars. Some folk can’t hear when its out of tune. They’re the lucky ones.

The ideal for many would be to have a guitar that plays in just temperament or just intonation (JI).

This is when chords sound in tune with themselves; the intervals are in tune with the bass string overtones and is what many players try to achieve by tuning the guitar to a chord. This is because it sounds nice. It sounds correct. But as soon as we change to a different chord shape on a guitar that has an equal temperament fretboard we expose the fact that the nice-sounding intervals are at the expense of others. The only way the JI can be sustained is for the player to tune the guitar so one chord (like an open E chord) “sings”, use only  that one chord shape and slide it up and down the neck.
The next best thing to JI is “meantone” temperament.

This is where some chords and keys are close to JI, but at the expense of other chords and keys which will be far worse. The groups of keys that work in the meantone scales I’ve come across are don’t work all the keys we want to use. Eg: E, A, C, G, F. And the corresponding minors.

Many luthiers have tried before.

Over the last few hundred years makers have tried all sorts to achieve JI or meantone scales:removable frets, semi frets, guitars with multiple and removable fretboards, more than 12 tones per octave and, more recently, wiggly frets. But still the results, even if executed well will give us a compromised result: some keys will be good but only at the expense of others.

So what do we do?

So if we are to play in more than one key a different compromise is required. The equal-tempered scale used today is in fact one of several options available (I discovered an online library of over 3,500 different temperaments!) but it is probably the only scale of any use if we expect to play reasonably in tune in several keys. This particular division of tones is now generally accepted, even though the only intervals that are in tune are the octaves; all other notes are actually sharp or flat of just temperament). The fifths are pretty close to JI but the thirds are all noticeably sharp (by around 14 cents) so this universally accepted compromise has flaws even if executed with precision.

Thanks to the nature of the guitar there are more obstacles to overcome – the act of fretting causes a string to stretch. In stretching, the pitch is raised by different amounts according to the distance the string has to travel, and how much further it is stretched once fretted. Add to this a rather complicated problem called inharmonicity, which relates to the inherent stiffness of steel strings. This stiffness means the higher overtones of the note sound sharper than the fundamental of the note being played. This is especially true of lower notes.

Further complications can be caused by string inconsistencies and/or the appropriateness of the string gauges used. Excessive neck relief, built in to allow for the vibration of the strings, can also compromise intonation. Its not easy. There is a lot to be said for making “warm” sounding guitars, as they mask so many of these issues. No wonder they’re so popular.

But what if we want to make great sounding guitars?

The long and short of it is the maker must change how they intonate. Learning to do so is a lengthy process involving measuring and adjusting the value of every note fretted and then calculating the position of both the saddle and the zero fret according to the string gauges used and tuning employed.

Complicated.

It involves a combination of a compensated saddle, something we are all pretty familiar with, and a compensated “wiggly” zero fret or nut.

The amount of compensation depends on the scale and the preference of string type and tunings to be employed. It is a laborious process but worthwhile.

guitar-neck

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve managed it, and so have a few other luthiers. Does it really make a difference?

Well, that depends, it gies back to what was said earlier about the type of instrument we make and the players discernment, but yes, it does make a difference, and it is the only way to achieve equal temperament (itself a compromise) on clear and powerful sounding guitars.

So what are the benefits?

  • You get to play equally out of tune in every key!
  • You stop noticing intonation.
  • You can forget about it, and remain with your music.

And that, as far as intonation and guitars goes, is about as good as it can get….

About the writer

Nigel Forster began guitar making in 1988 as an apprentice to well regarded English luthier Stefan Sobell. He worked for Sobell 1988-1990 and 1992-2003. He opened his own workshop in late 2004 making acoustic guitars, mandolin, cittern and celtic bouzouki and a revolutionary new design of archtop jazz guitars.

www.nkforsterguitars.com

For his acoustic guitars, and Celtic family instruments, Dream Guitars are Nigel’s exclusive USA dealers.

As well as making instruments, Nigel now spends part of each year away from the bench, on retreat, traveling, writing and volunteering. As a result the number of instruments he makes is now reduced compared to previous years.

Getting on the waiting list isn’t as easy as it used to be…

His first print book, a book about instrument design and a collaboration with photographer Dave Best is available:

http://www.ypdbooks.com/photography/366-between-the-ideal-and-the-possible-YPD00333.html

Standard Amazon shipping rates apply and appear at the end of the checkout process.

“Clearly straight fretted guitars work beautifully and have been around forever, but there are advantages to Fanned Fret depending on your playing style.” – Paul Heumiller

What’s up with the crooked frets? Yes the slanted frets on my guitars are awesome conversation starters. But that’s not what it’s all about.

According to Wikipedia, Ralph Novak, guitar builder and designer, patented the Fanned Fret at the end of the 80’s. While the patent has expired, he still holds the trademark of the term “Fanned-Fret”. Fanned Frets create a different shape to the guitar. The slanted frets lengthen the bass strings and shorten the treble strings. This is further achieved by positioning the bridge at an angle opposite to the nut.*

Fanned Fret guitars are multi-scale instruments designed with a real purpose.

To understand the concept, we need only look at non-fretted stringed instruments. Consider the piano and the harp dulcimer and you immediately notice the bass strings are always longer than the treble strings. The reason for this is to create proper tension with a longer, thicker string to produce full low notes. Conversely the treble strings need to be shorter so they can be tightened to produce the higher pitch. There is a beautiful resonance you get from a longer bass string. When you tune down to D or C or even further, a longer bass string makes all the difference in the quality of the bass notes. The treble string remains normal length or slightly shorter depending on what you need and can offer a great feel that allows for easy playing high notes, bending strings, etc. The combined string lengths or scales, can provide the perfect amount of bass, sweet trebles and playability that you want for your personal style.

Another benefit is slightly improved intonation. You can understand this if you look at a True Temper Fretted guitar like the Bamburg JSB currently on our website, a Micro-Fret guitar, or a Sitar. You will see that accurate placement for every note on every string would require many tiny frets. The Fanned Fret and its longer length bass strings help intonation across the entire fingerboard.

One other powerful benefit is simply the tension of each string in relation to one another. On a standard guitar as you play from the bass strings down to the treble strings, the treble strings are often more tense and noticeably tighter feeling. Fanned Fret guitars help even out the tactile feel and to me are smoother feeling when playing across the strings.

“There is also something about the splay of the fret that feels extremely comfortable, it seems to suit my hand beautifully, more naturally than straight frets.” Paul Heumiller

One other note I’d like to make is that there is very little difference in the overall feel of playing a fanned Fret guitar. I have handed them to many players in our shop without them knowing I was handing them a fanned Fret guitar and often they don’t even notice until they take a hard look at the fingerboard. On a technical note, you can choose where to place the one perpendicular fret and that decision will effect the feel at the first position and elsewhere. Common choices are the 7th, 9th or 12th frets. After owning several fanned fret guitars I’ve settled on the 7th fret for my playing. It keeps the first position very easy to play. “We once had a Jeff Traugott guitar where all the frets were slanted backward toward the headstock 10 degrees. This one purely ergonomic and can be comfortable to some players as well. Though you don’t get the multi-scale benefits.” – Paul Heumiller

Now let’s look at some common Fanned Fret scale combinations and the uses for each. Let me start by saying there are no hard and fast rules. I encourage experimentation and fearlessness in this regard. The least amount of fan that we typically see is a half an inch combining the two common Martin scales 24.9 inches on the treble to 25.4 inches on the bass. This is a great design for someone playing in standard and drop D and even DADGAD but not really going to lower tunings. You’ll feel very little difference at all but you will get improved intonation and clarity and the short trebles are a joy to bend. Other scales we often use for DADGAD players is 25 inch treble scale and 26 inch bass scale, Paul’s Somogyi employed this combination. This works great for DADGAD and even some C tunings. The one inch fan is still very manageable and very versatile. Both of these scales above can be used with standard gauge strings – light gauge works fine as well.

Paul Heumiller’s McConnell SJ Fanned Fret

For my personal McConnell guitar we elected to use 25.5 inches on the treble side and 26.25 on the bass side. Jordan McConnell and I decided on this scale combination as I primarily play this guitar in low tunings C9, Gsus4, and DADGAD down a whole step to C. Paul says “I left the trebles long because we wanted them to bite. But I can also put it in standard pitch and it works great. I use 12.5 to 55 gauge strings – just personal preference here.” On the longer side of Fanned Fret would be 25.6 on this treble side to 27 inches or so on the bass side. This big of a spread you’ll feel a bit more but it can go very low – all the way down to A or B, crossing into baritone territory. “I once owned a Traugott with this spread and it was killer!. Bill Tippin is currently building me a short Fanned Fret guitar, this one will be 24.75 – 25.5, I plan to play it mostly in Drop D and Standard and wanted really bendy trebles!” – Paul Heumiller

There’s really no limit to what you can do with the Fanned Fret to accommodate your music and your style of play. At Dream Guitars we are Champions of the Fanned Fret concept and almost always have one or two in stock. We work with many builders who offer Fanned Fret options and owner Paul Heumiller is currently working on a new Fanned Fret Baritone design with Ken Jones that will be available in Spring of 2014.

Give us a call to discuss your needs and see if a Fanned Fret guitar is right for you. We would love to help you design your perfect Fanned Fret guitar.


Sexauer Fanned Fret Guitar 24.9″ – 25.4″ Scales

“We all know that 12 fret guitars tend to have a different tonal profile than 14 fret guitars. Often they are often a little more complex and seem to just breath a little easier in the low end. This is largely due to the bridge position being shift down to a more central position in the lower bout. With a fanned fret guitar, the bass end of the bridge is in a ’12 fret’ position and the treble end is is in a ’14 fret’ position. This makes it easier for the bass strings to move the top and produce a nice full bass response. Meanwhile, at the other end of the bridge, the treble strings are still in a 14 fret position. The top is ‘tighter’ there and better able to produce good strong trebles. So… it seems to me that a fanned fret guitar, by virtue of the angled bridge,  gives us the tonal best of both the 12 fret and 14 fret design.” – Mark Blanchard – Blanchard Guitars

 

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanned_Fret_Guitars

The beginning of 2014 brings to us an amazing 2013 Mountain Song Odalisque Claro Walnut/Carpathian Acoustic Guitar, built by our very own Ken Jones. Ken is our primary luthier here at Dream Guitars for repair work. Ken, a proud member of the Guild of American Luthiers, also builds stringed instruments including custom, hand-built acoustic guitars and mandolins under the name Mountain Song Guitars nearby in Candler NC.  Recently we invited him to start building his amazing Mountain Song Guitars for us as well and this one certainly does not disappoint!!

The Odalisque is Ken’s original body shape and makes for a perfect midsize guitar that is about controlled power. For this guitar, Ken selected some beautiful highly figured Flamed Walnut and Carpathian Spruce. This guitar also features a Venetian Cutaway, a Custom Interlocking Ebony and Ziricote rosette, and comes with an Ameritage Hardshell case. “This is the best sounding Walnut guitar I’ve ever played . The bass projects perfectly, with a bit of OM style snap, the midrange is warm and lush and the trebles are sweet and blossom beautifully. Ken added wonderful touches including Armrest and Ribrest Bevel, Red Perfling lines around the entire guitar and an elegant Ziricote Fingerboard , Rosette and Bridge. Welcome Ken Jones to Dream Guitars!” – Paul Heumiller

“Ken Jones’ Mountain Song Guitars Odalisque is one of the best fingerstyle guitars I’ve ever played. It has beautiful woods and a perfect neck shape and size. The tone is balanced and clear with lots of sweetness in the high end and a nice controlled bass. I would buy it right now if I could. I love it.” – Al Petteway

Another note on Ken – He also offers individualized guitar building instruction ranging from one day workshops targeting specific aspects of the construction process, to long term courses covering the entire guitar-building process from wood selection all the way through to final setup.

“For me the best compliment I can give Ken Jones is that I have one of his Baritone Fan Fret guitars on order for 2014. I’ve been so impressed with the originality of his designs and most importantly the satisfying tone of his instruments that I just had to have one. Inspiration and passion are how I judge guitars and Mountain Song guitars have both in spades!” – Paul Heumiller

Dream Guitars is proud to bring you some exciting news from Tippin Guitars including a brand new model and incoming DG inventory!!

Bill Tippin’s New Forte Model

First off, Bill Tippin introduced his newest creation, the Tippin Forte, at the recent Healdsburg Guitar Festival in California. This is a new model from him and is one of his most creative projects to date.

The Forte, based on his Crescendo model, was inspired by Tippin’s own personal guitar preferences. He found a way to boost the richness of the Crescendo — he increased the width of lower bout while maintaining the balance — and it’s slightly wider (3/16th”) at its widest.

Our own Paul Heumiller and Al Petteway had the privilege of playing the new Forte while out in Healdsburg. “The new Forte model from Bill Tippin has everything I love about the Crescendo, balance, clarity, power and Bill’s trademark full trebles, but it adds a bit more fullness to the bass for the player that enjoys a bit more thump in the chest. Outstanding!” – Paul H.

The Original Tippin Crescendo Model

The Crescendo, which is considered to be the cornerstone of Tippin’s entire line of guitars, is large yet versatile. Imagine a 14-fret OMT with the rich tone normally found in an 00012-fret size. The Crescendo manages to combine the feel of a 14-fret OMT while preserving the rich tone of a 12-fret body model, replete with incredible tone, balance and projection.

Dream Guitars has a pre-owned 2005 Crescendo in stock featuring Brazilian Rosewood and Carpathian Spruce – contact us if you’re interested in acquiring!

And, by the way, our own Paul Heumiller is anxiously awaiting to take delivery of his personal, custom Crescendo. Paul’s model is made from Brazilian/Moon spruce with a cutaway, MOP sparkle trim. What makes this custom job so unique is that it includes a short-scale, Fan Fret design, which will perform well in Drop-D, DADGAD and standard tunings.

The Tippin Al Petteway Signature Model

Also, Bill has embarked on a new build of the Tippin Al Petteway Signature, also based on the Crescendo model. Check out this video demonstration of the Petteway Signature on our YouTube channel. This instrument is representative of Bill at the top of his game, and when you listen to our studio recording you’ll understand what we mean. Interested in purchasing the incoming Tippin Al Petteway Signature model? Contact us today to learn more about your reservation options.

We do also have a pre-owned Al Petteway Signature in stock as well if you would rather not wait for the incoming guitar. This 2008 Crescendo Al Petteway Signature was actually originally purchased by Al Petteway himself and was the first Signature model ever made! This beauty features brick red Brazilian Rosewood, Moon Harvested European Spruce, an armrest bevel, beveled cutaway, and new heel design. Click here to learn more.

This is exciting stuff, folks. We all know that Grit Laskin is one of the finest luthiers around and is widely considered as a master of inlay work. Today, Dream Guitars announces that he is working on a custom guitar that we have made available for reservation with delivery expected in December.

Our own Paul Heumiller worked with Grit to develop the basic inlay ideas and Laskin took off running. As you can see in these pictures, the design is amazing, intricate and just short of groundbreaking.

Here is some of what Grit himself had to say about this piece:

One of the most beloved and influential guitarists was the legend who passed away just last year, Doc Watson. I began thinking about Doc, and about the natural world and the title from Shakespeare popped into my head: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ which takes place in a forest. The more I read about Doc, the more his life inspired me: His musical beginnings, the events in his life that shaped him and the fact that what gave him the musical bug was the shape-note hymns sung by his mother. My brain locked onto that seminal influence and also latched onto the literal meaning of the word shape — this old-style singing shaped his life, yes, but the notes themselves also provided physical shapes in which I could place scenes and elements from his life. Bingo.

“I’m putting a large portrait of Doc picking a guitar on the headstock in the same realistic I used for John Lennon on the ‘Imagine’ guitar. Flowing down the fret board are the seven basic shapes of shape notes (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti) large enough to place within elements such as Doc’s earliest musical instruments, his early solo album, ‘Southbound,’ which  first brought him to prominence. In fact, the working title of the piece is ‘Southbound.’

Talk about creative thinking.

If you’re jazzed about this guitar and Laskin’s work no one would blame you if you missed our announcement, so here it is again: This guitar is available and you can reserve it now by contacting the Dream Guitars shop near Asheville, NC, right away. If you miss this opportunity, or want to see more of Grit Laskin’s work, check out the gallery on his homepage.

Seems like every day there is something new to be excited about here at Dream Guitars. Today is no different. In fact this may be one of the most exciting days of the year.

Our new inventory for the fall has been ordered. This means we need to make room for these new instruments and move out a handful of current guitars in stock.

In light of this, today we are kicking off our “10 DG Deals of Summer” which are our best prices of the year on some of our most desired inventory!!

Each day between now and the end of the month, we will be announcing a rock bottom price deal on an instrument we have in stock.

And as fast these deals come, they go as quickly. All deals during the “10 DG Deals of Summer” expire 10 days after being posted here.

So without any further delay, let the deals begin!!

Check back to this blog daily between today and the end of the month for New Daily Deals

Deal of the Day for August 21st – Taylor Presentation 12 String: Regular Price $6,175 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 22nd– Huss & Dalton TD-R Custom – Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar with Brazilian: Regular Price $6,175 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 23rd– 2010 Keller six string – OM – Brazilian Rosewood, Cedar Top: Regular Price $6,175 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 24th – 2004 Alberico, Fabrizio OM – German Spruce Top and Cocobolo Rosewood Back & Sides: Regular Price $5,660 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 25th – 1996 Collings 000-2HSB Sitka Spruce Top, Indian Rosewood Back & Sides: Regular Price $3,395 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 26th -2012 Bresnan GS – Brazilian Rosewood Back & Sides and Adirondack Red Spruce Top: Regular Price $6,175 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 27th – Klein Guitars 12 String, Bouzouki Acoustic Guitar: Regular Price $10,295 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 28th – New Greenfield G-3 in Palo Escrito and Moonspruce Acoustic Guitar: Regular Price $17,355 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 29th – 2010 Klein Guitars Pink Ivory Moon – Rare Pink Ivory Wood Back and Sides with Rosewood Interior Layer: Regular Price $15,445 – DG Deal of Summer Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Deal of the Day for August 30th – 2005 Williams Kiwi Guitar – Beautiful woods, Taraire for the back and Kauri for the top: Reduced Price $4,115 – DG Deal of Summer FURTHER REDUCED Price DEAL EXPIRED

 

 

Ready to Order? Call Us Today 828-658-9795

A while back, guitar great Al Petteway sat in front of the camera at our showroom in Weaverville, North Carolina, just outside of Asheville, and gave us all a lesson on how to play his own composition, “Tennessee Mountain Rag,” which is included on the “Dream Guitars, Volume 1, The Golden Age of Luthiers” CD and tablature book.

For the lesson, Al plays a Tippin Al Petteway Signature Model with Brazilian Rosewood and Moon Spruce, built by one of the great luthiers in the United States, Bill Tippin of Tippin Guitars.

“In this style of music, everything is out there to be had,” Al explains when discussing his writing method for this song, which taps into many other tunes and progressions in the genre, and the way he puts it all together to make it his own. This is songwriting, folks.

Al also details his chords as well as a cool “chicken picking” technique that he uses for a neat walk-down. He also details optional rhythm choices, which he points out are reminiscent of the style of Chet Atkins. He also shows you a neat lick he learned from listening to Atkins.

You can watch the video here on our Dream Guitars YouTube channel. The “Dream Guitars, Vol. 1” CD and complete book of tablature is available in our online store. All of this and more is available in the online shopping cart.

You should also visit his website at www.alandamy.com to learn more about Al Petteway, his wife, Amy.