Ganz Guitars Blog

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 8 string, elderly instruments | 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.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blog, Website | Leave a comment

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/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Rich Rorex, workshop | Leave a comment

Recordings from Ian Hill

Posted on November 22, 2021 by steve

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

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

Posted in audio, Recordings, Uncategorized, video | Leave a comment

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 Visit | 3 Comments

Cedar top, 640 scale length, cut-away

Posted on June 14, 2021 by steve

Here is a quite nice instrument. Very easy to play. I wrote about it before on this blog. It is a sibling of the one I built for Pedro Cortes in 2019. It has been here all that time. I take it out of the case every once in a while to keep it awake and lively. I made this video to show the guitar plays well. I had fun trying some video skills I haven’t used before.

Posted in audio, cedar, cut-away, Rosette, sides, Uncategorized, video | Tagged 640 scalelength, cedar, cut-away | Leave a comment

A Post-Covid concert invite to Lummi Island

Posted on May 29, 2021 by ganzguitarscom

Earlier this month I got a call from Eric Warner at Pacific Rim Tonewoods. (PRT)

Eric wanted me to invite me to a concert that Miroslav Tadic was going to perform that evening. PRT has been involved in a project that commissioned 3 steel string guitars from a builder in Australia, and the concert was to show those three guitars. Miro is primarily a nylon string player, so I was invited to bring a couple guitars. He chose one to play with his partner, violinist Yvette Holzwarth. Their duo is special!

It was a fun house concert. After more than a year of virtual concerts, this was a real, in the flesh event! I am so happy to be invited to participate.

Thank you to Pacific Rim Tonewoods, Eric Warner, Steve McMinn, Miroslav Tadic, and Yvette Hazwarth for a lovely evening, along with with honor of representing classical guitar building in the Northwest Washington area.

This is the one that Miro chose that evening:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cedar, covid, miroslav, pacific rim tonewood, yvette | Leave a comment

Anna Pietrzak plays six small cupcakes

Posted on May 27, 2021 by ganzguitarscom

Seis Brevidades by Sérgio Assad

“The Seis Brevidades were written partially in Chicago and in Paris during 2008 and were dedicated to Odair Assad, a great guitarist and brother of Sérgio. Each of this short composition is very different in character and based on different sources of Latin American music. The whole set reflects brief moments of a journey through a single day.”

Guitar: Ganz Romanillos model