Official Luthiers Forum!

Great news Heshie! Looks like I'm getting a customer out in AA in my new business venture so I'll definitely swing by to check out the place! Super exciting! Pass along a warm hello to Dave please.

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Great to hear back from you Hesh, and good luck with your new venture.

_________________
Dave
Milton, ON

I've not posted much nor built many guitars but I remember your helpful posts and great guitars very well Hesh. I wondered where you'd gone and the hole that was there without your presence now seems filled in a very good way. Hope you are able to post a little more even though it looks like you'll be very busy. Best of luck in your new business.

_________________
Thank You and Best To All

.



May sunshine and lolly pops,

and rainbows and everything

thats good and wonderful

bless you and Ann Arbor Guitars

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

Hey Brother
So good to see you posting here again!!! Im not the only one by the looks of it.... Also, glad to hear things are moving forward for you in your luthierie endeavour my friend..... it'd be great to see you here more, ......
my main man Hesh! All the best to you!

Cheers
Charliewood

Charliewood!!! It's been a while my friend but it's great to hear from you! I hope all is well with ya and that your garden produced some mighty fine veggies last year. Thanks for the good wishes Charlie!!!

Duh Padma my friend - thanks for that and I now feel blessed! Your poem is going to get printed out and grace the wall of our new enterprise/shop if you don't mind? Thanks for the well wishes too!!!

Hi Larry!! I remember you from the early days of the OLF and it's great to see you here too! Thanks for the very fine comments and the invite to participate too. I'm pretty busy with very long days and as an example I just took 20 minutes to eat dinner and now have to continue a restoration of a old, custom made strat that the owner simply loves.... Thanks for the well wishes Larry and I hope that all is well in your world too!

Hi Dave! Now you live close enough to come visit us some day and see what a very busy Lutherie shop looks like. There is always something interesting happening and we see many pretty cool instruments too. The store that we contracted with was/is an authorized Martin repair center so we did and do a lot of work on Martins as well. If you want to come visit please bring one of your absolutely stunning arch tops that I have always loved and wanted to play and see in person? Great to see you here too Dave!

Hey Andy and let me know when you are dropping by so I can have a tuner there for you to have as a gift from your friend Heshie. I hope all is well with you too and look forward to seeing you soon!

Dear Colin: You were very much one of the greatest influences that I had in the early days of my Lutherie journey. I found early on that things such as the simpler styling without much bling, parabolic/tapered bracing, judicious use of purflings, etc suited my design eye very well.

You and Dave White and Russell were very kind to me when I was a new builder and as such I learned a great deal from you all.

I also remember that pic of you with a b*njo.... , your 600 year old home, and how you do and/or did restoration work for prestigious museums! It was not easy for me to get to know so very many fine folks here and as is my way on a personal level too when appropriate. But you UK guys were some of my very favorite folks and always will be.

Thanks a million Colin for your steady, qualified, help that you sent my way!!!

Hesh, it's good to see you here again, and I know we'd love to see some pictures of the new shop when you have time.

I was just looking at the Lenawee site last weekend. I was following some threads on using epoxy to glue fretboards and decided I'd see what was going on over here

James!!! I was hoping that you would stop by and say hello! I hope that all is well with you too and IIRC from lurking didn't you get married recently? If I have this correct here is some belated congrats to you and the Mrs. from me!

The new shop is approx. 900 square feet, in the epicenter of Ann Arbor with one heck of a view from the third floor windows (especially in the summer....). We have a dedicated spray booth/room, dedicated tool room, five benches, an office, and even a toilet and shower too! It was built to be a Lutherie shop and other than some of the dated power tools that basically suck.... it's adequate as is.

But we plan on moving our own stuff in there soon, rearranging things to our liking, and brightening the place up a bit too. It's also rather filthy at the moment too so I have to take valium before going there (just kidding.... ).

Anyway when we spruce up the place I'll send you some photos. But for now I took some photos the other day of my own shop at home for insurance purposes and thought that I would post those for you guys.

Here are some shots of my home shop including the main shop, storage area, various views of where I do Loofierism, the office/break room/place where I play Call of Duty and smoke snot nosed brats all over the world...

Great to hear from you James my friend!

We've never met Hesh, but gud luck in your new venture.May good fortune in health and business follow you.sincerely ernie.

yes feel free...

oh and you might wanna clean that shop up a bit ~ customers ya know.


blessings
?adma

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

Hmmmm.... I always thought a clean shop was a sign of a sick mind?

I also have a couple black & white, framed photos on my shop walls. Townes Van Zandt is one, and John Hartford is the other. Once in a while I'll change them out for Lloyd Loar and Jimmy D'Aquisto. Depends on the mood I'm trying to set for myself....

Oh, and be careful not to clean away too much history from that old shop space you're moving into. Anyone can have shiny and new, but old and well-worn is like a Grandparent; to be respected and admired for what it is.

Hi Ernie - Although I've never met you either I greatly appreciate the well wishes my friend and thank you kindly for same!

Thanks Padma my friend and it's already been a problem because some of my clients call my shop an "operating room...." What are ya going to do? Does Stew-Mac sell canned dirt? Spray-on dirt?

We could not agree with ya more Mario and I have to be especially careful not to pitch stuff that may have some vintage or historical value. I'm still working on my own work area in Ann Arbor and trying to get it so I don't have to carry my hand tools back and forth every day.

I really, really liked your comment about respect and grandparents - classic, clear, profound, sage, and super accurate council from You as always Mario! Thanks again for all that you shared, the patience that you sent my way which I sure needed..., and setting the example for the rest of us of why we share info on these sites! I'm also very glad that I got to meet you some years back and absolutely loved playing one of your superb guitars too!

Mario remember our invite this summer when you are passing through?

Hi Hesh, Great to hear from you again. I see that no dust has landed in your shop since the last time you were here!
Honestly though, it looks like a very comfortable space.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Hi Hesh, good to have you back! Sorry to see you haven't manage to kick that disgusting tidyism habit of yours, though. I thought maybe the reason you hadn't been around in a while was because you were in some sort of rehab and would come back an unorganized, messy oaf like the rest of us, but I guess not. Hopefully your new environment and some new friends will start cluttering up your benches and misplace your tools for you, wouldn't that be nice... He-he

Best wishes and good luck!

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin

So Miles Davis replaces Jimi Hendrix pictures. Lol


Sent from my walkie talkie using Tapatalk

_________________
"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Hey Hesh. Good to see you. Really respect the progress you've made.

Barry

Hi Hesh,
I always enjoyed reading your posts. I am presently building a black faced baritone, inspired by one of the guitars you posted to this forum.
Congratulations on the new shop!

Hey Hesh! Good luck with the business!

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Nice looking shop. Good luck to you and your new company.

I would say your repair advise is very good not only to learn different building techniques and how guitars break down over time but also because they help pay the bills!

Good grief! How the hell did this thread slip by me? Congratulations to both of you Hesh and David. I have been meaning to give you a call Hesh, we have to catch up. So glad things are going well for y'all!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

_________________
jw ( o)===:::

Hesh - congrats on the new venture! I wish you and your pardners the best.

That is one clean and well organized shop, at least by my standards!

Hesh used to build guitars in an apartment/condo with a white carpet on the floor. He knows how to keep things clean!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars