Official Luthiers Forum!

I thought some of you might be interested in the following videos of the morning session of the Luthier Showcase at the Guitar Foudation's Convention. This is the session my guitar was in, along with Marc Dickinson, Greg Byers, and others. It's in two parts. The names of the builders are superimposed in the videos. Each player played a 60 second segment on each guitar - One traditional and one modern.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks for posting that, Waddy. It's really awesome to hear all those guitars side by side.

Hey, some big congrats! Not only that it has a nice tone, and sweet even if with carbon, but it is also pretty loud and louder than many others in there.

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Build log

Sounds Great Waddy! I am glad everything went well.

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http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

That's awesome Waddy! I had the opportunity to hear Stephen play my two guitars a few weeks ago. It was the first time I had heard them in the hands of someone who could really play guitar well (my guitar teacher plays left handed so has never played them). It was quite a thrill to hear my own creation in the hands of a good guitarist, so something like this luthier showcase must be amazing.

Great sounding guitar Waddy!

Did they have voting this year? if they did, who won.

I went to GFA last year in Austin, and got to sit in on the morning session. It was great to hear so many great guitars at once. The only issue I had with the whole process is that since they keep playing the same piece, over and over, I get "saturated". after a while only the loud guitars sound good, because they stand out.

Anyway I plan on showing in 2012 in Charleston, see ya there.

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Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

Thanks, Matt, and thanks to the rest of you.

I'll see you in Charleston for sure, Matt. That's going to be a big one. Very popular place. Expensive too, most likely.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hey, there's no carbon in my guitars!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Wow Waddy, I like your guitar's sound.
Your guitar is noticeably louder than the others.
And the trebles ring with more clarity.

The other guitar which I like is Byer's guitar which sounded very even throughout all the notes.

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

very nice Waddy. great to see your work

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Congratulations Waddy...it sounded great. Which guitar (#) is it?

I will tell you that while I agree that the Greg Byers guitar was very balanced and even across its whole range, personally I find his lattice braced guitars much less pretty a tone than his fan braced guitars. The sound while even lacked much color in its bass so that it did not have a bass that would boom to accompany the trebles. To me his guitars sound like they are getting closer to a Hauser III rather than a spanish guitar in that Hausers are not known for their big voice but rather their even balanced range.

Waddy...what I really like about your guitar (one of my top 3 of the bunch) is that it had everything I expect in a spanish guitar in that the bass was open and round in tone with plenty of resonance at different overtones. The trebles on the other hand rang the way you want as a spanish classical guitar uses ringing trebles to accent the musical line. There were other guitars that had a big sound but several were not very focused which became obvious when open strings were struck.

There were several guitars which were just okay and I was surprised that even some of the better known builders guitars didnt sound as warm and full as they could have. For me the instrument that failed on this part was the "viennese Staufer" style guitar which sounded small and boxy to the point it almost sounded ladder braced. Gary Southwell builds in that style but his guitars still sound much bigger than they are.

This is not meant to be in any way critical of any of the builders whom I assume are all good craftsman but rather as a player who prefers a spanish guitar sound.

To truly appreciate the nature of this event you have to attend one.
Some "potential buyers" sit at the back of the auditorium with a note pad and mark down the guitars they think are the loudest, it's just that simple.
Luthiers usually sit at a reasonable distance to hear the actual comparative tone of the instruments and are usually very complimentary to each other.
The net result regardless of the subtleties one might detect is that virtually all of the guitars would be more than sufficient for a player to use in pretty much any situation.
Only very rarely have I heard an instrument in this setting that I thought actually sounded "bad", though of course I have my own preferences.
After these sessions it's interesting to watch those who were at the back of the auditorium stalk the vendor fair seeking those builders that they noted.

Congrats Waddy
That is a beautiful sounding guitar.

What kind of bracing style did you use?
It has great growling basses and bell like trebles.
very impressive.

I was dying to go to GFA this year but could not make it
I'll try for next year.

Thanks to all for your comments.



Shawn, it's #8.



Elman, It is Romanillos braced, but I have adapted the bracing to my likes. I now use a wider and lower brace than what the '73 plan calls for. My braces now range from 4.5 mm wide x 5.5 mm high at the center, getting wider and lower to the outside to 6 mm x 3 mm in the wings(approximately for all measurements). Most of the other braces follow the plan for the most part.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Very impressive, indeed, Waddy!! Looks like you're doing all the right things and hanging in the right circles...I think you may just be on the road to "arriving" with only a bit more exposure required. Constantly comparing our efforts to those we admire has a way of making us reach ever higher...I'm sure you returned from the show inspired and full of new ideas. Kudos and congrats, Amigo!!!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com