On the bench – 640 Cedar

Posted on June 29, 2022 by steve

640 Cedar top (5 fan bar bracing I’ve been using on cedar for a few years).
Movingui back and sides. Body is my “Bebe” style. Just a bit smaller my typical full size, but not as small as my Torres FE 05. Very comfortable to hold.

My usual nut is 52 with string spacing of 43. At saddle 58, but I might go a but wider at the saddle.

Cedar 640 is not particularly rare for me. It’s my preferred scale length and has been for about 25 years!

I’ve been using Movingui for about 4 years, but this is the first time using the “Ribbon” grain figure.

This is a spec guitar, but it’s specs are such that I would like it! Probably will be strung up late July, and I plan to take it to California for a show in Sept.

I’m not sure yet about case and tuner options.

What do Cedar and Movingui sound like with this bracing? Here is just an example. Well my recent post has a nice example.

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Bolero (Arcas)

Posted on June 9, 2022 by steve

A simple hypnotic tune…

Not easy to play flawlessly, but William Bajzek makes it look easy. Besides enjoying classical guitar (and playing celtic flute) William likes to build electronic stuff. I like to build wooden stuff (guitars) and this is a beautiful cedar top with movingui back and sides.

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Left-handed complement?

Posted on May 11, 2022 by steve

I made a custom guitar for Jake Carlon in Pullman WA. Jake came to Blaine last summer to meet me and look at my shop and some of my woods. He expressed a couple of preferences then. First and most important, he plays lefty. Second, he wanted a Torres FE5 body. Third, he loved the Movingui that I had for back and sides. So I made him a guitar. He is a rare player in that he plays guitar with the strings reversed – Left Handed. Most guitars are optimized for fretting with the left hand and plucking with the right hand (right handed). Setting up a guitar for a lefty player enables them to play easily and in tune. Here’s what Jake wrote about his new guitar.

Steve,
After spending some time for a few days with "Luz" I have to say this is incredible. This is one of the finest instruments I've ever owned/ played.
The Movingui looks absolutely stunning and goes so well with the Spruce, very handsome pairing. Overall aestetics are really tasteful and fun. The dark purfling and rosette is a wonderful contrast to the light color of the main body.

The tone is waking up more and more every time I go to play it and I can hear the harmonics and fundamental so clearly and the overall sound is incredibly clear. The whole register has a nice bold voice, and the top end really sparkles and doesn't become muted like other guitars sometimes do in the extremes of the registers. In comparison, my Cordoba sounds and feels so muddy and clumsy (guess that's what you get for buying a low end factory-made classical). 

Playability is perfect. Action is right and the slightly larger frets really make fretting and vibrato easier than the smaller standard frets. The smaller body size of the instrument is also great, easier to rest my arm on while playing and I don't feel like I'm losing circulation.

You definitely made a lot of my colleagues jealous when I brought it to school earlier lol. 
I want to say thank you for such incredible work and for making a real piece of art. I'm very glad I chose you to realize my new instrument.
Best, 
Jake

I made a short video with pictures of Luz, played by Jake… He also wrote the tune!

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The passing of Jose Luis Romanillos

Posted on February 14, 2022 by steve

I met Jose Romanillos in 1996 at a meeting of the Guild of American Luthiers in Tacoma. I was immediately intrigued with his approach to making guitars. In particular, the way he worked the top with a wooden plane, and measured flexibility with his hands. His process of assembling pieces of the guitar was distinctly different from any other that I knew of. He was sure about what he believed about guitars, but he recognized that there were other valid approaches… just not for him.

In 2004 I jumped at the chance to build a guitar in Spain with Jose, his son Liam, and Gerhard Oldiges. I learned a lot in the Romanillos workshop, and the model based on Jose’s design has become one of several designs I build. The Romanillos design is sort of a “touchstone”, a reliable base to which I return, often interspersed with trying some new fangled approach. 🙂

I have a picture of myself with Jose, but I like the following one. It shows a person who was gentle and enjoying and sharing their work. My sincere condolences are with his family and friends.

Jose having a laugh

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Blast from the past… 8 string guitar offered – used

Posted on January 11, 2022 by steve

I get emails from Elderly Instruments in Lansing Michigan. They have a guitar which I built a while ago. Here’s a screen dump of a part of the listing.

You can find more information about the instrument at the link below.

https://www.elderly.com/products/steve-ganz-8-string-classical-1997

This was the first guitar with 8 strings I made. April 1997 according to my records. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this guitar. It looks to be in pretty good condition. I cannot resist noting this elderly instrument (25 years old) is at Elderly Instruments. !

But the action looks perfect, the finish looks good. The top shows some playing wear, but there is thin golpeador on the top that protects it.

Posted in cedar | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Support your local guitar support

Posted on January 10, 2022 by steve

I regularly visit a guitar bulletin board: the Delcamp Classical Guitar forum .

Another member of the forum, Amy Gaudia, has made a guitar support that is getting great reviews. It’s called Amy’s Handmade Guitar Support. (Click the link!)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/729731575/amys-handmade-guitar-support

I’m plugging Amy’s device for fun. She’s a guitar lover who has made a neat thingamajig.

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I don’t have popup windows…

Posted on December 21, 2021 by steve

I hope that’s true. If you ever see them on my blog, please let me know.

When I visit websites nowadays I’m immediately bombarded with a popup window, asking me if I want to subscribe, or be notified of every update, or follow, etc. I just want to get to the content. The popups are annoying. I frankly do not care if there are enough people to ‘monetize’ the website. I don’t take ads from other businesses.

I figure, you came here out of an interest in guitars, or building, or to investigate what I do or what I build. Possibly you might be interested to do business with me. Maybe buy a guitar, or have one made.

Part of the reason I do the blog is just for myself. The blog is a way to represent, to myself, what I do. What my efforts are about; music and guitars. It’s an active way of sharing. I do plenty of receptive sharing too…

If you find any of what appears on the blog interesting or helpful, I welcome you. Without popups or annoying requests for personal information.

Steve

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Rich Rorex visit and video

Posted on December 14, 2021 by steve

Rich and his friend Karen Ruth Foster Erickson, came to visit the workshop this fall. She is a videographer, so…

I’m the guy who talks a lot. 🙂

Find Rich Rorex at https://www.richrorex.com/

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Recordings from Ian Hill

Posted on November 22, 2021 by steve

Ian came to Blaine in 2014 to pick up his guitar,

Milonga
Milonga 2013

then he took it back to Vancouver. I attended a recital in which he played it. He posted a video. That’s Ian on the right, Saul Domingo Morales on the left.

So a few years go by and now I hear from Ian. He has recorded a bunch of great pieces and published them for download. He is calling the collection “Hobbies and Homebodies” and you can find it here. It is worth finding and having a listen.

https://ianrmhill.bandcamp.com/album/hobbies-and-homebodies

Let’s try this…

https://open.spotify.com/track/5Sj8QPRHevw2feoO52yvq4?si=bf2b255ef3b34e3c

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A visit from another Steve

Posted on October 12, 2021 by steve

Steve Oliver has commissioned a guitar to be built. Actually I’m right in the middle of constructing it. He came to my workshop to visit and check the progress.

Thanks for visiting, Mr Oliver. It’s a pleasure to share conversation about guitar with someone so passionate about learning more about our instrument.

I have to mention that I have been happily busy building instruments for the last few months. Too busy to represent what is up in the shop on these blog pages. Building amazing guitars is engrossing. Forgive me, perhaps I’ll improve.

Posted in sides, top, workshop | Tagged | 3 Comments