Official Luthiers Forum!

Got back from Seattle today, where Rick Davis (Running Dog Guitars) so graciously and generously hosted the first West Coast OLF get-together. Great group of folks. I had a great time, and learned a lot. Friday afternoon we met at Rick's shop, had a show and tell from Brent McElroy on a Lasking armrest he'd done, visited the Dusty Strings hammered dulcimer and harp factory, then Mexican dinner and back to Running Dog to chat and look at and play instruments. Saturday, we went to Dusty Strings retail shop and looked at more guitars, lunch, then a visit to Michael Gurian's barge. Incredible place and a towering figure in luthery. Then over to Cat Fox's shop for a grind and polish demonstration. I had to leave then, so I don't know what I missed Saturday evening and Sunday. Can somebody fill me in? Here are some pics from Cat's shop. I kept forgetting to bring my camera in from the car for the other events.


Rick and Bob (? from Vancouver BC with the trailer, I never got your OLF "handle", please correct me if I'm off here) at Cat's shop.


Cat checking action on a 12-string Taylor.


Some back bow shows up with the strings off.


Cat explaining some finer points.


Christian getting some clarification.


Bob(?), Doug and Bill(?).


Re-crowning.


Rick, Lillian and GD looking on.



Final cleanup before the strings go on.

It was really great meeting everyone and having faces to go with names. A fine weekend it was! Thanks to all, especially Rick and Cat. PM me with your email addresses for high-res image files.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Looks like it was a lot of fun!!!!!

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Hey Pat, thanks for posting these pics! Saturday evening we went back to Rick's shop for some dinner and more chatting and such. Sunday was great too - we met at Rob Girdis' place for brunch and then had a tour of his shop. How did your little girl's recital go? Here are a few pics as well-


Pat (center) - Since you weren't in any of your own pics, I had to prove you were there


Rob (center) and the rest of us at his shop.

Rick and Cat - Thanks for being such wonderful hosts and allowing us the opportunity to meet other builders as well. It was great getting to meet Brent McElroy, Michael Gurian and Rob Girdis.

Thanks all for putting up with all my novice questions!!!

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

[QUOTE=azimmer1] Looks like it was a lot of fun!!!!![/QUOTE]
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that part. It was!

[QUOTE=Chansen] Hey Pat, thanks for posting these pics! Saturday evening we went back to Rick's shop for some dinner and more chatting and such. Sunday was great too - we met at Rob Girdis' place for brunch and then had a tour of his shop. How did your little girl's recital go?
[/QUOTE]
You're welcome, Christian. My daughter got cold feet at the last minute, so she didn't perform, but did go to the recital and had a good time. What was the visit to Rob's shop like?

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Hesh - Don't worry, I'll be ignoring you as well if I make it there.

Pat - Rob's place was really quite a shop and very well set up. Rob started pulling out all kinds of terrific looking top and b/s sets that I was drooling over all morning. One set was nicknamed the "Mother of Curl" it was a beautiful Curly Koa set.

Christian

_________________
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Now that I know what you all look like it will be easier to avoid you at Healsburg.... [/QUOTE]

Hesh, we'll be ignoring you first!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I'd like to add my thanks to Rick & Cat for hosting this event. Had a great time!
I enjoyed meeting you all & putting faces to names.

Thanks for posting pics. Do I really need a hair cut that badly and is it really that grey?

GD

Rick and Cat were great hosts. I learned a lot, had a great time meeting everyone.

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Aoibeann

Rick and Cat were incredibly gracious hosts.  The generosity in sharing their time, knowledge (and beer ) was nothing short of overwhelming.  Thanks so much to both of you!

The list of incredible people to thank is a long one:

Thanks to Lance and Brock for creating OLF and providing the opportunity for events like this to come together.  Rumor has it that you hosted dinner one evening - we had Thai - good choice!

Thanks to Brent McElroy - a very talented luthier and a good guy to hang out with and talk guitars. Nice job on the Laskin bevel.

Thanks to Ray and Sue Moers, the owners of Dusty Strings, for the warm welcome and the guided tour by Ray through the factory.

Thanks to John Saba the extrordinary luthier in the repair department at Dusty Strings' retail shop.  John was very generous to spend time in his shop talking about the art and craft of repair.

Thanks to Michael Gurian - what a treat to get a tour of the barge. Incredible!  Oh, and thanks also for the opportunity to buy some first class zoot.  

Thanks to Cat for the demonstration on doing a fret grind and polish and final setup.  That alone was worth the price of admission.  Oh yeah, it was free!

Thanks to Rob Girdis.  What a guy!  How many people do you know would cook brunch for a bunch of strangers and then spend the next couple of hours showing them their shop and talking about his art and craft?

Thanks to all of the other OLF'ers that attended and made the weekend such and enjoyale experience.  Good people all.

And finally another special thanks to Rick Davis.  Rick's knowledge of lutherie is only matched by the generosity of his spirit.  Rick opened his shop, made the arrangements, provided food and refreshments and was nothing less than a fabulous host.  Thank you Rick!  (Have you had a previous career herding cats?)

To all of you who are kicking yourself for not being there (which should be everyone) stay tuned for information from Rick and Cat for information on upcoming opportunities. 

Doug

PS - thanks on behalf of everyone here at OLF to Hesh for the advanced warning that you are going to be at Healdsburg.

PPS - I write Oscar acceptance speeches on the side.

  

Wow, I'm impressed guys. You lucky rascals. The OLF is a powerful tool for bringing folks of LUTH together. Got any more pictures? Load 'em please!

Long live the OLF.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Pat,
It is not "Bob" in the first picture with Rick it is David O

I really want to thank Rick and Cat for pulling this whole thing together and making us feel so welcome...first class job!

All of our tour guides were so great, open and genuine. I really learned alot.

Rob Girdis, what an insperation and true craftsman. He is a professional Luthier, with a big beautiful shop. He does not have a thickness sander in it. He hand planes his work. These are true hand built guitars!

I think Michael Gurian is a contact everyone would love to have. I really appreciated him welcoming us and showing us his factory.

It was a great trip. I enjoyed meeting everyone there. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

GD I talked to Bill about sending me some plans to build a cajon, but I didn't get his email address from him. can you PM it to me.

Thanks Lance and Brock you guys rule!

davidO

What is a cajon? Looks a lot like Cajun?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

[QUOTE=davidO] Pat,
It is not "Bob" in the first picture with Rick it is David O[/QUOTE]
My apologies, David. I have a terrible time with names sometimes.

Sounds like I missed a good visit with Rob Girdis.

I heard talk of a raffle? Who won it?

Doug, you reminded me what a great bit of time that was with John Saba. It's a rare treat to get such a glimpse of ethics and customer relations/psychology.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

[QUOTE=Doug O]

PPS - I write Oscar acceptance speeches on the side.
[/QUOTE]

Looks like everyone had a great time.  What fun.

At writing acceptance speeches, work on your brevity.  The music started right after, "Thanks to Cat for the demonstration...."

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Man, you guys go all out for a get-together! It looks more like a mini-symposium (where's that envy emoticon when you need it?), only better 'cause you got free food! Anybody invite Cat Fox to the OLF? Another experienced repair person is always welcome.

So, what's the story with Gurian's barge?

[QUOTE=CarltonM] Man, you guys go all out for a get-together! It looks more like a mini-symposium (where's that envy emoticon when you need it?), only better 'cause you got free food! Anybody invite Cat Fox to the OLF? Another experienced repair person is always welcome.

So, what's the story with Gurian's barge?[/QUOTE]

Carlton, it was Rick who went all out. It was a mini-symposium. I and I suspect others really learned a lot.

My personal impressions of Gurian's barge: Well, it's a really big boat. I didn't see all of it, but it's like a smaller-sized industrial building, except it's on a boat with four levels (or was it three?). There's a picture of it on his web site. It's full of wood, veneers, some logs, machines everywhere. Organization and madness seem to coexist there. Michael is an energetic, warm, generous fellow. Seems that, if you wanted something done for an instrument, Michael and his crew could do it. If they can't, I'd venture to guess it probably can't be done. It was one of the highlights of a great weekend.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thanks, Pat. Yeah, I wish Rick had more time to join us here. He always has interesting things to say.

Hey Rick! If you're listening, invite Cat to join us!

Pat-
About that nice set of Mahogany... We put everyone's name in a hat (including yours and Lillian's) and even though I had my fingers, toes and even eyes crossed, good ol' GD took home the prize. I'm sure he'll put it to good use. Have fun with it GD! And thank you to Michael who is the one who put it up for grabs in the first place!! That was extremely nice and generous to do that.

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

Hi all-I enjoyed having you over for brunch and a shop visit. I wish the weather would have been more agreeable though..
I spent my first decade of building instruments on a small island with mostly time to myself and not many visitors, so I enjoy making up for it now. Feel free to visit any time!
Also, any OLFers please drop by my Healdsburg table and say hello.

[QUOTE=Rob Girdis]Hi all-I enjoyed having you over for brunch and a shop visit. I wish the weather would have been more agreeable though..

I spent my first decade of building instruments on a small island with mostly time to myself and not many visitors, so I enjoy making up for it now. Feel free to visit any time!

Also, any OLFers please drop by my Healdsburg table and say hello. [/QUOTE]

Hey Rob,
Thanks for chiming in here! It really was a pleasure seeing your shop and getting to know you a little bit. Hopefully I get another chance to visit your shop some day. I'd be interested in learning to make some of those tools you showed us like the rosette cutter.
I still can't get over your parlor guitars... the detail was just amazing. You should post some close-up pics of that ebony parlor that you showed us (the featured guitar on your website...here). I really liked the rosette and all that koa for the purfling.
Thanks again for the brunch and the chance to visit.
Christian

_________________
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

Thanks to everyone for showing up and participating in such an enjoyable weekend! Cat and I really enjoyed meeting you and talking lutherie. Thanks also to Rob Girdis, Michael Gurian, John Saba and the Dusty
Strings crew, and Ray and Sue Mooers for their time and generosity.

Here are some shots I took on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the camera to the Dusty Strings factory on Friday afternoon, so there are no pictures of that trip and the incredible facility
the Mooers have for harps and hammered dulcimers. Ah well, next time!


Here's the crew at Gurian Instruments. From left -- Doug, Dave, Lillian, GD, Pat, Christian (back to camera), Bill, and Michael G.


Lillian receiving a planed piece of fine rosewood from Gurian's Rotoplane
as Doug looks on.


Cat about to karate chop a 12-string Taylor neck; Doug, Christian, and Bill wait for the carnage.


Pat tries out the 12-string after a quick fret grind-and-polish and set up.


Rob Girdis showing the group some of his wood stash during Sunday's shop tour and brunch.


Rob was very generous in sharing information about wood choice and construction techniques with all of us. Thanks Rob!



It was great meeting all of you and getting to spend the weekend talking about guitars and wood. Thanks for coming!

Rick,

Thanks for posting the pictures. I had a great time too. Thanks again to you, Cat, Michael, all the folks at Dusty Strings, Brent and Rob.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

OK so many pictures I have are similar, so here are a few that are different:

Doug playing one of GD's many interesting instruments. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong GD) it is a resonator tenor mandoline:


Rick leading a discussion about differences and similarities to various sound boards (no, the sound boards were not particularily odourous )


Micheal Gurian and group at shop, NOTE: apparently if you go by his shop on Thursdays (before Rick gets there) you can get all the scraps like the ones under the table, out of his dumpster