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DG Updates, General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile

Kim Walker Waiting List Closed Again

A luthier’s ability to succeed depends on a host of factors, not the least of which is their reputation, which can be a precarious thing. They need good tools, the best wood, a perfectionist’s disposition and a jeweler’s eye for detail. They need to be self-motivated, marathon woodworkers—and they need to be able to deliver on their promises. A luthier with a reputation for incomplete builds and exorbitant delays will not be long for the world of fine instruments. If, however, you have a reputation as ironclad and golden as Kim Walker’s, then you might just find yourself with eight years’ worth of builds on the calendar, and what do you do then? Close the book, and get down to business, which is precisely what Walker’s just done—again.

How has Walker achieved such a legendary status? Through years of honing his ears and his hands with an unwavering dedication to lutherie. Starting with George Gruhn and his repair shop, then graduating to Guild’s R&D department and custom shop, before launching his own Walker Guitars label in 1994, Walker has been at the forefront of both vintage restoration and contemporary innovation for his entire career. As such, Walker is one of a very select group of luthiers who successfully straddle the line between traditional and contemporary guitar building, the result of which enables his instruments to appeal to all audiences, from pre-war Martin collectors to the devotees of bleeding-edge luthiers like Steve Klein and Ervin Somogyi. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Walker has felt the need to close his waiting list again, in order to buckle down and dedicate his complete and undivided attention to the guitars already on his bench. Because Kim insists on working alone, he is able to ensure that every aspect of these guitars is 100% an expression of himself and his art. His way isn’t a school’s, or a builder’s with apprentices: this is one man with two hands, premium wood, and a studio space in which to create.

Given his sterling reputation and master skills, it’s hard to put a price on an instrument of this calibre, and as the opportunities to own one of Kim Walker’s guitars become fewer, the respective worth of any one of his instruments is correspondingly increased. The resale value of a Walker often exceeds the original cost of the instrument (a fact Walker himself notes on his website) because demand is so high: no one wants to get rid of theirs, once they’ve managed to beg, borrow, and steal to get it in their hands in the first place. In the world of high-end guitars, a Walker is worth its weight in gold, and nearly as rare. Will Walker open up his waiting list again? That’s certainly the hope, but who knows just how many years in the future he’s already booked himself: it could be a lifetime in the waiting.

2003 Walker Guitars SJ in Brazilian / Adirondack

May 5, 2016/by Paul Heumiller

Dream Guitars & The Golden Age of Lutherie

DG Updates, General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, News & Events

We’ve all heard the phrase “The Golden Age,” which is defined as “the period when a specified art, skill, or activity is at its peak.”[i] Lately the term has been used to describe this epoch in the history of guitar-building (lutherie). From the unique vantage point at Dream Guitars (www.dreamguitars.com), they couldn’t agree more: today we are definitely in the middle of the Golden Age of Lutherie, and Dream Guitars stands at the center of this renaissance.

“I have had the chance to play spectacular examples of instruments from the late 1800s and the first half of the 20th century. Many consider these early guitars to represent the “Holy Grail” of guitars, but I truly feel that the explosion of the independent guitar-maker has challenged this conception. There’s no doubt that some of the pre-war guitars are among the best instruments on the planet today, but now there are dozens of contemporary makers whose instruments rival, and sometimes even surpass, these ‘Holy Grail’ guitars–and their talents continue to improve on the best ideas of yesterday.” – Paul Heumiller, Dream Guitars owner

“We are very proud of our role in these great days of the guitar. From the very beginning, it was a sincere goal of mine to help luthiers market their craft. In the early days as I visited shops and got to know these great people, their passion and artistry captivated me and I wanted to be a part of their success.”- Paul

Dream Guitars has built a platform for luthiers to successfully market their work, which is backed by Dream Guitars’ reputation for expertise and honesty–allowing a maker’s instruments to be seen and heard by people all over the world. “We have been able to help many luthiers to not only find homes for their instruments, but also to increase their prices to provide fair compensation for the years invested in their craft.” -Paul

Like everything in the modern world, easy access to information, including books, videos, symposiums, guitar shows, and training courses has expedited the growth of talent in the guitar-making world. But there’s something more than simply the proliferation of information at play here: something special has happened in the acoustic guitar world in particular. Paul: “Many of the older guitar builders talk of a time not so long ago when everyone guarded their secrets, but they all agree that somewhere along the line everything shifted. In the last 25 years or so, guitar-makers have opened up to each other–and that sharing is, in my opinion, the impetus for our current Golden Age.”

Paul continues, “I get to spend a lot of time with guitar makers at the various showcases around the world, as well as visiting them in their shops. Time and time again, I hear stories of how one builder has advised or inspired another. They speak of each other in reverent tones, each one wanting to raise the bar, but do so with the utmost respect for their contemporaries. They all want to see the craft itself improve, and that’s what’s truly special about what’s going on now in 21st-century guitar building.”

Another obvious trend is this year a number of new guitar-makers are on the scene. There are now hundreds of independent guitar-makers hanging their shingles outside of shops which range from the corner of a basement to 5000 ft.² master shops. As a result, some say the market is flooded with too many new makers. At Dream Guitars, they see both sides. Dream Guitars is constantly approached by new makers wishing to promote their instruments with them. Most of the time, Dream Guitars demos and critiques their instruments and advises possible improvements where they simply haven’t mastered the craft yet. Occasionally a builder shows tremendous promise and Dream Guitars offers to work with them and continue to offer valuable insights along the way so they can blossom. Paul: “One thing I see a lot are makers whose first few guitars look beautiful, but they haven’t yet found their voice. By that I mean they’re building a guitar that is perfectly beautiful and functional but sounds no better than an inexpensive guitar off the rack at any big-box store. They’re missing what I call the ‘White Magic:’ that builder’s unique voice which makes a guitar inspirational. Master Luthier Ervin Somogyi once told me, “The first fifty guitars you’re just gluing wood together.” There’s something to be said for that: it’s the years of experimentation and feedback from great players that keep a builder striving and searching for that intangible something that makes one guitar better than the others.”

This is evinced by the handful of makers whose order books are strained by ten plus year waiting lists, or whose guitars finally fetch a price that’s commensurate with the years of work they’ve put into their craft. These are the instruments that collectors covet and professional players are inspired by. These are the ones that define the Golden Age of Lutherie–the guitars that they will be talking about for the next hundred years.

Dream Guitars was perhaps the first website on the Internet to record every instrument that they offered online. They have now amassed a library of over 5,000 recordings of the finest hand-built instruments in the world. They have also created a Listening Studio which allows anyone to search their library of recordings by a myriad of guitar specifications, and use the recording to educate themselves about various makers, woods and general guitar differences. Dream Guitars has also created video interviews of many of today’s makers, either in their shops or at trade shows. All of this footage is available for free on their website.

Dream Guitars owner Paul Heumiller is one of the premier experts on acoustic instruments. While not an active luthier, Paul has studied guitar-making with Kent Everett of Atlanta, Georgia, and has performed shop repairs at Dream Guitars since the beginning of the company over 18 years ago. Heumiller has also been the only shop owner to be on the board of A.S.I.A., the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans. Paul is also a professional musician who has spent many years performing and teaching Fingerstyle guitar. He has been quoted in numerous publications and books. Recently, in 2015, Acoustic Guitar Magazine printed a two-page article, “Dream Weavers,” on Heumiller.

[i](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/golden-age)

January 21, 2016/by Paul Heumiller

Another Henderson has emerged–The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile

Elle (Jayne) Henderson, daughter of Wayne Henderson, has decided to follow in her father’s footsteps, yet still make her own path. A few years back, Elle decided to take a pause from pursuing a career in environmental law, and instead learn the craft of guitar-making directly from her father.

It is clear that Elle Henderson grew up around guitars and her father Wayne’s workbench. But it’s easy to sense that she has her own dreams and desires for her instruments. Obviously Elle has a massive amount of respect for her father’s legacy, and in some ways wants to preserve that in her own work. However, there is a new twist to Elle’s work propelling her into her own standout brand.

Inlays on a 2015 EJ Henderson Slope Dreadnought

For instance her love of inlay artwork. Elle sees the guitar as a canvas for expression in a less traditional way than her father might. Her appreciation of the intricacies and detail of inlay work shines through and is clear in the end-product. As she explains on her blog on Luthier’s Apprentice regarding inlay, “I also enjoy attending to the minute details of shaping a piece just right, first with the saw and then with a tiny file, and I appreciate the challenge of routing a space in which the pearl perfectly fits.”

Elle is also interested in using more sustainable woods – something we are all inspired by. She is striving to use hardwoods such as local Maple and Walnut rather than the more exotic woods. She is aiming to build instruments that provide similar sound and beauty as those boasting a Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, but with fewer environmental impacts.

Elle (Jayne) Henderson

Interestingly, Elle’s pursuit of learning the craft began from her drive to be closer to her father. We can all relate to this in one way or another. Wayne’s demands of his career made it more difficult for the two of them to spend time together. While there is clearly a lot of love and respect between the two, life got in the way a bit for them to spend the amount of time they may have wanted in earlier years. By making the decision to pause her career in environmental law and become a luthier, she has taken a big step in getting closer to her father. Building guitars has now given them both another chance to spend time together, learn more about each other, and create an amazing legacy that spans generations.

Elle’s passion for learning, her commitment to family, and her drive to create beautiful guitars propels her to protect the family tradition and build upon it. We are very excited to see what new creations will come up out of the next Henderson to join the scene.

2015 EJ Henderson Slope Dreadnought

We were also very excited to learn that Elle is setting up her shop right here in Asheville, North Carolina just a few miles from us at Dream Guitars: we look forward to a long and close relationship to create some very special instruments together.

Be sure to follow Elle on her blog on Luthier’s Apprentice here

Also, like her Fan page on Facebook here

January 8, 2016/by Paul Heumiller

Q&A with Luthier Al Beardsell

DG Updates, General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Paul's Pick

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.

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.

November 30, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

Luthier Leonardo Buendia’s New Shop

General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Paul's Pick

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.

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.

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.

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.

October 30, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

A New Addition to the DG Line-up: EddieLee Brown

Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, News & Events

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.

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 he 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

October 19, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

Incoming Leonardo Buendia OM Build

Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming, Luthier profile

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

Update: Guitar in Finishing Process 12/1/15

September 18, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

Tom Rodriguez Guitars 20th Anniversary Guitar at Dream Guitars

Classical Guitars, Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming, Luthier profile, Paul's Pick

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

1800’s Brazilian rosewood salvaged from an antique table top

Detail of 40+ year old Sitka spruce top wood

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

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

Split Sitka spruce brace wood from a 1925 Cable piano

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

Headstock with 1800’s mahogany and Brazilian rosewood

August 17, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

Thomas Rodriguez Guitars 20th Anniversary Guitar at Dream Guitars

Classical Guitars, Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming, Luthier profile, Paul's Pick

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

1800’s Brazilian rosewood salvaged from an antique table top

Detail of 40+ year old Sitka spruce top wood

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

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

Split Sitka spruce brace wood from a 1925 Cable piano.

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.

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.

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

Headstock with 1800’s mahogany and Brazilian rosewood.

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.

Amount of wood that it took to create the bindings.

Detail of the complete binding.

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

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.

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

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.

Detail of the mother of pearl dot.

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

Finished bridge

The guitar coming together

Detail on back of guitar

Top and back

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.

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

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.

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

Completed binding

August 17, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

A Great Weekend in Memphis

General Interest Guitar, Luthier profile, News & Events

Dream Guitars at the 2015 Memphis Acoustic Guitar Festival

View All Interviews and Performances from the Show

The 2015 Memphis Acoustic Guitar Festival was great fun. I always look forward to the custom guitar shows as it affords me a chance to catch up with the many luthiers I am honored to call friends and see what wonderful creations they are developing as time goes on. This year I traveled to the show with Scott Bresnick, who works with me here at Dream Guitars. What follows is an understanding of what goes on at the shows, the story of a few guitars that truly impressed us, and some insight into the people who build these great guitars.

A custom guitar show is special in that you have the opportunity to play two, three or perhaps four guitars from each of the builders in attendance. Many of these guitars are custom-made for sale at this event. Others are already sold but they afford you a chance to hear multiple models and wood combinations at one time. That is what makes this type of show so special. Aside from visiting a shop like ours, it’s very hard to find all of these makers in one place. The 2015 Memphis Acoustic Guitar Festival consisted of one large hall that housed all of the luthiers and their instruments. Just outside this hall were other rooms for demoing guitars and additional smaller rooms with concert stages for demo concerts, workshops and listening concerts. There were also a handful of vendors, tone wood suppliers and manufacturers of guitar related accessories.

We arrived just in time on the first day to catch our own Al Petteway in concert. He played a rousing set of new material featuring many of the songs on the “Dream Guitars Vol. II: Hand-Picked” CD. This is a wonderful new album that features Al playing his and my favorite guitars that we pulled right off the walls at Dream Guitars. We also have a tab book for the entire CD and are producing video lessons for every song as well.

We have been working with many of the luthiers that attended the show for years. They’re always coming up with new designs, bracing changes and appointments, so it is always exciting to see their latest work. You can see a full list of the builders that attended the festival here. One such Builder is Thomas Rein, who recently revamped his bracing to incorporate a U-shaped brace on the lower bout. This guitar was my very favorite at the show. The tone was so round and lush while articulate and soul shaking. You can see this Thomas Rein guitar on our website complete with a video by Al here. We also interviewed Tom about his process and discovery of his new tone.

It’s no surprise that most of our other favorites at the show were the builders we already work with such as Bill Tippin, Bruce Petros, Brian Applegate and many others. I’ve been discovering and selecting builders at shows like this for many years. We are always on the lookout for a builder that is new to us and one that we believe our clients will find inspirational. This year I met Brad Daniels of Oxwood Guitars, Isaac Jang, Joel Michaud and several other rising builders that truly impressed us. We have invited each of these builders to make guitars for DG, so keep an eye (and ear) out for more on these folks.

There are also other builders that we meet at these types of shows and decide are not for Dream Guitars. We try to stay very true to what our clients expect, which is the best of the best. So for some luthiers at these shows, we provide constructive and honest feedback in hopes they can improve in time. An unseen part of what we do at Dream Guitars is to advise newer luthiers and tell them what areas of construction and tone they need to keep working on. We stay in touch and if they reach the level of expertise we require, we then begin to represent them. We truly enjoy supporting builders of every level and helping the overall craft.

Many of the attendees at the show are longtime clients and friends of the shop. We would stop in the hall and compare notes about what builders we’re enjoying at the show and the overall experience. One of my longtime clients commented that he loves coming to our shop because it is truly quiet, as we give each client a private appointment time. While the shows have quiet rooms, they are not that quiet. Often you are playing with two or three others in one open room and hotel conference rooms do not sound very good.

Scott and I brought along a video camera and throughout the weekend interviewed a number of the builders at the show. Our intention was to ask them questions to provide you with some insight into who these men and women are, and of course there is some guitar design discussion as well. We are after all guitar nuts, just like all of you. All of these videos can be found below and are also be available on our YouTube channel and featured on our website. We hope you find these entertaining and informative:

https://youtu.be/Vb6FTR_Sv7Q

July 20, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

Dream Guitars adds Ben Wilborn to its Array of Fine Builders

DG Updates, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, News & Events, Paul's Pick

Ben 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 something 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.

Custom Wilborn Parlor in Construction

February 17, 2015/by Paul Heumiller

Wayne Henderson Guitar Video Roundup

General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile

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.

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.

November 6, 2014/by Paul Heumiller

Three Decades of the Somogyi Sound!

General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming, Luthier profile

“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!”

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 to 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.

September 18, 2014/by Paul Heumiller

An Amazing Incoming Mountain Song Baritone Guitar

General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile

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!

COMPLETED MOUNTAIN SONG BARITONE

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 Baritone 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.

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.”

“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.

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!!”

“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.

“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!!

August 12, 2014/by Paul Heumiller

Intonation

Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile

By Nigel Forster – Luthier

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.

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.

May 15, 2014/by Paul Heumiller

Mountain Song Guitars by Ken Jones Available at Dream Guitars

Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Product Announcement

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

January 10, 2014/by Paul Heumiller

Exclusive Opportunity! Reserve this Stunning, Custom Grit Laskin Guitar, inspired by Dream Guitars, Today!

General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Product Announcement, Uncategorized

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.

September 6, 2013/by Paul Heumiller

Dream Guitars’ Paul Heumiller Talks About McConnell Guitars… and Plays His Custom McConnell, Too!

Classical Guitars, General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Music, Musicians, Nylon string guitars, Uncategorized

Our own Paul Heumiller recently sat down in front of the cameras to talk about one of Dream Guitars’ favorite builders, Jordan McConnell of McConnell Guitars (and the Grammy-award winning band, The Duhks) for a video interview. You see, Paul is not only has a savvy eye when it comes to great luthiers and their instruments, but also sees things from the mindset of a player. In fact, he’s a proud owner of a McConnell and shares his feelings about that fine, custom made instrument with the viewer. Paul makes clear the guitar’s ability to bring out the music and sound he feels inside, a rare trait for any custom instrument.

McConnell builds rich-sounding and versatile instruments in both steel string and classical models at his shop in Winnipeg, Canada, on the fringes of the Canadian Prairies. McConnell became enamored with the construction of guitars at a young age and has studied with famed Spanish luthier, Jose Romanillos, gaining a valuable education in the work, the craftsmanship.

Among his customers: Tim Sparks, an award-winning fingerpicking player, jazz greats Larry Roy and Harley Card, Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers and Irish player John Doyle.

So, Paul sat down in our Weaverville, NC, studio, to talk about this fine luthier, who works with his father on the construction of the guitars. As a builder, Jordan McConnell has become a hot name and his work is in demand. While we do not have currently any in stock, Dream Guitars is accepting orders for his custom builds. Paul will personally work with you to ensure you get what your music deserves. Contact us to discuss the possibilities.

Considering a McConnell now? You may also want to check out this video of Jordan McConnell at the Dream Guitars headquarters a few years ago, offering an exclusive performance. We also have several other video samples of various McConnell guitars on our YouTube channel as well as the Listening Studio on our home page.

Special thanks to Dan Crapsi and Ginny Temple, who visited our shop and filmed this interview for their blog, thegoodguitar.com.

July 2, 2013/by Paul Heumiller

Charlie Hoffman (Hoffman Guitars) on Minnesota Public Television

Luthier profile, News & Events, Uncategorized

Now online: Minnesota Public Television has posted their “Minnesota Original” segment – featuring Charlie Hoffman of Hoffman Guitars. It features an interview with the renowned luthier, as well as some great behind the scenes action of Charlie bending Indian Rosewood sides. Other highlights include a performance by fingerstylist Tim Sparks.

To view Hoffman Guitars currently in stock, please click the links below.

Small Jumbo

Piccolo

Jumbo and #532 (scroll down)

May 8, 2012/by Paul Heumiller

New Arrival: Bill Tippin Cuban Mahogany Staccato!!!

Luthier profile, Product Announcement, Uncategorized

Just in 03/13/12: We just received this wonderful new Tippin Staccato! More photos to follow soon.

When Bill Tippin sent the following photos of his incoming Staccato model (now arrived) – I was blown away by its elegance and by the natural beauty of the wood. Bill’s idea was to make this guitar with refined simplicity, maximizing superb tone, in an instrument that had understated aesthetic charms.

Featuring extremely fine Cuban Mahogany back and sides, this guitar promises to be exactly what Mr. Tippin intended. If you’d like to learn more about this cool new Tippin Staccato please call. It is arriving next week, and will not last long.

Please note: in some of the following photos, Bill applied Naptha to portions of the wood (which does no harm ) to give an approximation of how the color will appear when finish is applied.

March 13, 2012/by Paul Heumiller

New Arrival: Traphagen Dreadnought!

Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming, Luthier profile, Product Announcement

Just in 03/13/12: We just received this stunning new Traphagen dreadnought!

Over the years, luthier Dake Traphagen has built some of the finest classical, nylon and steel string guitars ever to grace the Dream Guitars Showroom and website. So it was with great anticipation that we awaited his newest creation, a dreadnought designed specifically with the flat-picker in mind. Simply put, this is an amazing new guitar. The tone is full and articulate, with incredible volume and projection. It is a joy to play.

Mr. Traphagen describes it this way – “The attack is strong and powerful yet smooth and even. With a little playing time this guitar will become even more powerful and colorful in tone. The entire building process went without a hitch, as if the guitar wanted to be made. Some guitars are more demanding while they’re being formed, trying to play little tricks on the luthier – but not this one.”

Materials list:

Master Grade vertical grain Brazilian Rosewood back and sides
Master grade Adirondack spruce top.
25.5″ scale
1 11/16″ neck width at the nut
Mahogany neck
Ebony fret board
Gotoh 510 mini tuners black
Hand applied varnish finish
Honduran Rosewood bridge

Please call for more details and learn how you can try this fine guitar for yourself.

March 13, 2012/by Paul Heumiller

TIPPIN GUITARS: Pink Ivory Crescendo

Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Product Announcement, Uncategorized

When chosing traditional tone woods, Pink Ivory is seldom the first species that comes to mind — primarily because it is next to impossible to find large enough pieces to build guitars with. But Pink Ivory is indeed a supremely fine wood — both visually and tonally. With that in mind, it is our extreme pleasure to show you this exceptional new Pink Ivory Crescendo, from the shop of Tippin Guitars.

Legendary luthier Bill Tippin, of Marblehead MA, makes extraordinary musical instruments that effortlessly blend sophisticated detail, advanced design, and remarkable tone. This guitar features a stunning black willow leaf inlay, which has held special significance throughout Chinese history, and was the inspiration for the Willow Leaf Saber.

Willo Leaf inlay

Tippin Crescendo - Pink Ivory

Luthier Bill Tippin

January 10, 2012/by Paul Heumiller

McCONNELL GUITARS – New 15″ model

Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Uncategorized

One of our favorite builders is the brilliant Jordan McConnell from Winnipeg, Canada. His guitars are impeccably crafted, and they offer stunning design and rich, articulate tones. Recently, Jordan informed us that he has developed a new model with the following dimensions.

Length: 19.5″
Lower bout: 15″
Upper bout: 11.25″
Standard scale length 25.25″

In Jordan’s words, “I like this shape for it’s versatility. It can be voiced to put the focus more in the midrange and trebles to create a very intimate and clear sounding guitar, but it doesn’t lack power and can still pack a pretty serious punch in the low end if that is desired. It’s a very comfortable size to play and can be more manageable than a jumbo sized body in a stage setting if someone is gigging a lot.”

If you would like to receive more information on this stunning guitar, or on any of Jordan’s other guitars, please give us a call. We’ll be happy to talk to you about these very special creations!

To see more photos, please click here.

September 11, 2011/by Paul Heumiller

JORDAN McCONNELL VIDEO INTERVIEW and PERFORMANCE

Luthier profile, Music, Musicians

Canadian luthier Jordan McConnell dropped by Dream Guitars last week and sat down for an interview with our own Paul Heumiller. For those who don’t yet know, Jordan is building outstanding, versatile instruments that are in high demand. As a touring professional guitarist with his band the Duhks, Jordan understands the needs of the guitarist, and his instruments deliver on all fronts.

August 9, 2011/by Paul Heumiller

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