Official Luthiers Forum!

As a corollary to Hesh's post on 2007 goals I thought it might be interesting to take stock of what we've done during the past year and list significant accomplishments. Here are mine:

1) Completed and finished 1 guitar

2) Completed 3 guitars ready for finish

3) Added a tablesaw and bandsaw to the shop

4) Built a professional woodworker's workbench.

5) Built jigs that included the following:
...Woolson neck tenon jig
...FB slotting jig
...FB radiusing jig
...Bridge making jigs

6) Did my 1st mitred purflings

7) Resawed zoot for Bridges and Fretboards

8) Learned French polishing and completed an entire guitar (elbow still sore!)

9) Watched as my 3 sons grew taller than me!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Wow JJ not bad at all!!!!
Good for you, imagine what youll crank out over the coming year.
Cheers
Charliewood

Wow great thread guys. Hesh very well said and 4 awesome guitars. Here's to a great 2007 for all of us. One suggestion for this thread would be to post pic's of your work. Would be nice to have a year in review page. Hint

PS: Anyone want to buy a mink coat cheap?????? Bobc39082.8917939815

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Made the twin cherry dreds.
Made an OM mold and bending form.
Made a roll around table for the go bar desk.
Almost installed my dust collector.
Met some fine olfers at Bruce's Arkansas Bash.
Talked to Serge on the phone (highlight for me. ).
Obtained some nice wood, including mac ebony, and an "O" size set of BRW.
Made 10 bridges and two extra necks.
Spent wwaaaayyyy to much money for a hobby.
Cleaned my shop twice.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Very cool guys.

Hesh you are a good man.

Ok for me, the year started out with a new baby in the house, our second and my son

January 20, 2006


December 14, 2006



Ok, that is really the best part of 2006 for me. But back to the guitar shop.

Finished my 4th, EIR, cedar top, with the florentine





Did a re-finish on # 3 same specks as # 4





And halfway done the maple cedar (stupid me accidentally erased most of the pics of the process)



-Made the Doolin side bender (it rocks)
-Got some more wood (Lutz from Shane, Cedar from CVtonewood, EIR from OLF auction and some lacewood from Allied)
-Increased my postings here by a bunch.

I also did some things here that I wasn't proud of, but have made amends as best I could.

I have also made some great friends here at the OLF, which I certainly hope to meet sometime in the future.

Let's have a great 2007 folks.

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

JJ, great thread and achievements and future goals also Bro!

Hesh, it felt great to revisit Fort Erie one more time, i was still sharing how i felt on that day with my brother Martin tonight, how you you made me shake in my running shoes and sweat and tears and all that stuff that came out after receiving that awesome gift on that day. That also made us become closer than just online friends. Your loyalty to your friends and to our community is to be applauded, we all make mistakes and we all become better persons because of them and i want to say that you are one special man, a very great man bro!

Rod, great memories and post too bro!

What have i done in 2006?

Joined december 25th with my very first post of now close to 7000 which weren't always clever and they must have annoyed some while they pleased others but i do feel better with that crazy number nowadays!

I built this and quite few more jigs


Bought my very first tonewoods from brother Shane who like BobC and Doug Kleist was more than just a sponsor but became a very good friend, The Lutzii experience was just awesome on no 2 after making my first guitar out of oak ply!



rearranged the shop quite a few times



Had some troble with a power tool


Broke a jig and received one by brother Mike Tobey that i broke also and made one similar to what he had sent me



Finished no 2 and gave it to Mom!



Went to Fort Erie and was struck by Hesh's lightning and by everyone who was there, it was like in a dream, great friends, guitar paradise! cannot forget Mom Rosie and Bob's Hosting, they were just fabulous! And great food too BTW!





Been spoiled by Brother Rod and Brother Ron, Shane Neifer and BobC and Doug Kleist by Brothers Russell Rose and Colin Symonds, my great bud Alain Desforges, Coe Franklin, Andy Zimmer, Anthony Zlahtic, Bruce Dickey, Charliewood, Michael Payne, JJ Donohue, Al Peebels for his hreat jig's plan, John Lewis and many more that i probably forget, the OLF in it's entirety and all the members have been a true family and a great blessing in my life , i owe you all more than i'll ever be able to repay, i consider my OLF bros and sisters like my second family!

Cheers

SergeSerge Poirier39083.2005092593

Also went to Segei DeJonge where he threw a special gathering and gave me the thumbs up for my no 2!


And met my bud Warren Gash!

Nothin'. I did nothin' in 2006.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Well I finished no.1 very early in 2006. (Sorry no pics at the moment...)

Then I started and completed no.2!








And I've started no.3.



Now I've got to get back in gear and finish it!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I started number 6 and 7 acoustics, and then managed to cut the flexor tendon on my left middle digit.   I’m not big enough or mean enough to walk around flipping off the world. Two surgeries and hours of rehab and I’m still not back to playing. My surgeon tells me it could take as long as 2 years.
My greatest accomplishment for 2006 was inhaling and exhaling repeatedly through out the year.
Dave Rickard39083.4408449074

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

One guitar and 5% of number two...




Sam Price39083.4888310185

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Nothin'. I did nothin' in 2006.
[/QUOTE]
Wrong, Don! You built a new way to enable WAS!

I've had a depressingly unproductive year, really;

- started several builds, finished none
- drawn up/jigged up for several more

Mostly, I've been idiotically busy, and had 5 weeks of building planned to finish off 4 instruments, but a broken arm tends to mess with those kinds of plans!

On the plus side, what I did do was:

- buy a giant bandsaw of doom
- acquire proper shop. It's tiny, but it is mine
- Watch my stash of zoot grow to maturity. Ish. Looooots of zoot buying. Oh yes.

Well done JJ! (That's pretty darn good for hockey player wannabee )

Hesh I love that picture

Hesh I think and others will agree -- you judge yourself far too harshly. (Same comment applies to you Don)

Rod -- who could forget the best looking mitre of the year

2006 was a pretty insignificant year in building for me for which I have no regrets. On a very positive note --I sure made a bunch of great new friends through the OLF, whose friendship will stand the test of time. I think you know who you are!

This year was pretty busy and I had a blast from the git-go. Accomplishments:

Built two Spanish Cypress flamencas plus one in Primavera and one in Granadillo.
Got half way through number 5 (cypress).
Built a go-bar deck.
Built some jigs to help in making bridges.
Resawed some EIR, Cocobolo and Kingwood for bridges and head veneers.
Attended my first Guild of American Luthiers convention.
Participated in french polish course given by Marshall Brune'.
Joined the OLF.

I can't believe how lucky I am to be doing this! And I only did about 40 years of the old 9 to 5 to make it possible

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

This past year was a good one for me. I was booked from February thru the rest of the year. My goal for last year was to build 3 guitars for my self in addition to what ever commissions I got. Well I never had time for even one.

I think my major accomplishment was the Narra/Carp SJ. It was the pinnacle of my craftsmanship to date. Both in tone and cabinetry. Sad to say FedEx did not think as much about it MichaelP39084.6678240741

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Nothin'. I did nothin' in 2006.
[/QUOTE]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllll...not entirely. You:

1) helped walk a total newbie through building his first kit guitar, and gave enough generous advice to have written a book...
2) founded New England Tonewoods, began stocking inventory and became forever known as, The Don...
3) built at least 3 awesome vacuum presses (perhaps more) that I'm aware of...
4) generously donated to several "fundraiser/charity" type events on the OLF (and still are)...
5) had one of your guitars presented in the "eye candy" section of Guitarmaker magazine...
6) had Taylor guitar clinician Pat Kirtley publicly claim one of your guitars to be "one of the best custom guitars he has ever played"...
7) started building 4 Williams binding jigs (which are now near completion) and most importantly,

acted as advisor, friend, all-around "good ear" and a walking, breathing example of Christian love to a very confused, depressed gentleman from North Carolina who desperately, desperately needed someone to be there in a very dark period of his life. Something, I might add, he will forever be grateful for.

Not a bad year, my friend...not a bad year at all.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Yeah, that Williams kid--what a slacker!

I am digging the whole retrospective thing here so:
I had a big year as well. I think I will just focus on guitar like things that I got done.

1: Quit my job building for someone else and started to build my own guitars.
2: Finished up 5 guitars this year and hoping for about 25 next year.
3: Found this forum and learned a lot of new ways to do things ( many of which have been incorporated into my new builds)
4: And like the rest of you, gathered a pretty good start on my stash of wood.

Hope next year is even better for me and for all of you. Happy new year!!

Homeboy

Cool thread!

1. Finished up my first commish and got it out the door before the end of the year.

2. Finally built a Williams/Fleishman binding jig and Sylvan's guitar vice.

3. Got my next commission.

4. Moved into the new shop (yahoo, heat and air).

Probably did some other stuff as well but my memory won't allow me to think of anything else right now.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Hurraay for the Don!

Wow, Don, I had no idea Pat Kirtley said that. His version of Si Beg Si Mor
or whatever you happen to call it, was the first I heard and still my
favorite.

I built my tube amp (Matchless Lightning clone).

Have worked on my acoustic through the top and back voicing. Tried
bending with light bulbs and ordered a blanket.

Finished and refinished my telecaster. Realized I ordered the wrong
hardware for the look I was going for.