Author Archives: steve

About steve

Luthier in the northwest of the Northwest. Classical guitars, custom instruments, repairs and restorations.

Unwrapping and trimming the purfling

Posted on September 15, 2020 by steve

Another silent movie

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged plane, purfling, video | Leave a comment

Gluing/laminating purfling lines

Posted on September 14, 2020 by steve

A few minutes of bliss

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged gluing, purfling, workshop | Leave a comment

Nico’s Baritone is finished.

Posted on August 30, 2020 by steve

All strung up. The top is a satin finish with a golpeador, also low gloss. Cypress back and sides, spruce top. 700 mm scale. Tuned a fourth below normal. Nico Audy-Rowland is a composer and musician in the Seattle area. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Baritone, guitar, Nico Audy Rowland | Leave a comment

A zen approach to stringing the 6 hole tie block

Posted on August 25, 2020 by steve

When I started building in 1970, all tie blocks that I ever saw on classical guitars had 1 hole per string. It dawned on me then that there were other other options. For instance, pegs could hold down the strings, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 12 hole, 18 hole, 6 hole, bridge, strings, tie-block, video | Leave a comment

Dave Richman plays La Vie en Rose

Posted on May 14, 2020 by steve

Not too long ago, a guitar I built in 2002 came up for sale in a shop: Gruhn Guitars, in Nashville. This cat, Dave Richman picked it up, bought it, and started picking it. A transcription by Chet Atkins. Dave … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blackwood, Chet Atkins, Formal Black, Gruhn Guitars, La Vie en Rose | Leave a comment

Nico: Some wood sets for consideration

Posted on May 2, 2020 by steve

Wood for the back and sides. It has to be long enough for the increased length of the body. The sides have to a little longer as well. The pics below can be enlarged by clicking… First, I’ve had this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged back and sides, Baritone, birdseye, maple, movingui, Nico, palo escrito, Spanish cypress, tamarind, wood | Leave a comment

Kyle Kembunjong plays Toccata (Sandy’s Portrait) composed by Sergio Assad

Posted on April 22, 2020 by steve

Kyle is just getting started with his career. I believe he’s 18 now. Beautiful music Kyle! Good luck in the Ex-Aequo Competition 2020. Guitar: “Maxixe”, 2011 Romanillos style by Steve Ganz

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Khembunjong, Kyle, romanillos | Leave a comment

Jean-Hervé’ s 7 string

Posted on April 21, 2020 by steve

When Jean-Hervé contacted me (2002 or so) about a guitar it was we began to chat about what he wanted: 7 strings, the best wood, (my best work) special design and he specified that I have creative license. OK! As … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 7 string, African Blackwood, custom guitar, Jean-Hervé, tuners, tuning machines | Leave a comment

Jean-Hervé Paul.

Posted on April 11, 2020 by steve

A friend gave me the difficult news that Jean-Herve was killed in his home in Haiti in March of this year. He was 54 years young. I won’t go into the grisly details, preferring to recall a little about Jean-Hervé. … Continue reading →

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Another rendition of Reflection

Posted on April 8, 2020 by steve

A few days ago, I posted about Ana Pietrzak playing Reflection on my guitar… Here’s another rendition of Ana playing Reflection. She stopped into GSI in Santa Monica on a recent trip (pre-stay-at-home) to record this video.