I assembled my first guitar during 1998 – 1999 from a Martin D-28 guitar kit. I enjoyed woodworking and playing guitar, so a kit from the world premier guitar company seemed like a good idea. And it was. The thrill of stringing up and playing a guitar that you constructed is fantastic.
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A few years later I assembled a second guitar from a custom-ordered Martin EC-28 kit. This guitar was a gift for our oldest daughter Tara for her graduation from college. This started a handmade guitar gift tradition that repeated for Rachel and Scott.
When I retired in 2007 from a 35 year career in engineering, I set out on a journey to learn to create outstanding instruments. This period was also marked by the pursuit of the phi proportioned guitar.
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Much of the how-to information has been gathered from periodicals such as Guild of American Luthiers, books, information on the internet, and in workshops at the GAL conferences and Healdsburg festivals.
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My initial efforts at voicing the guitar centered on Chladni patterns. Guidance for using Chladni patterns came from information shared by Alan Carruth and in a workshop presented by luthier Mark Blanchard. My recent focus has centered around books by Ervin Somogyi and Trevor Gore/Gerard Gilet. My guitars’ responsiveness and projection are improving.
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My personal style of play is fingerpicking, so most of my guitars are medium body guitars focused on that style. In my pursuit of visually attractive guitars, I slightly modified the shape of the body to conform to phi proportions. The relative dimensions and profile are described on my Phi Proportioned Guitars post in Luthier Notes page.
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Guitars are a unique canvas for unique woods. One of the joys of building guitars is hand-selecting the wood – feeling it, listening to it, and projecting how it will look in a finished guitar. It’s part of the organic experience of transforming wood into a fine musical instrument that makes guitar building so enjoyable.
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Learning to build good guitars is a journey. I feel that I’m making progress in my quest.