Official Luthiers Forum!

I am planning to attend ASIA in May. This is the first lutherie convention
for me. After over 10 years of building I've never been to Heldsburg or
Newport or anywhere else. I will be there not as a vender, but just a guy
with a guitar. Is it cool to walk around with a guitar all day? I'm picturing
a seminar or workshop with 60 people in folding chairs and 60 guitars
cases lined up against the wall... Is there a guitar livery??   Is it better to
leave the guitars at home and bring pictures??   

I was hoping some of the vets. could give me a primer on what to expect,
and maybe some tips on what those attending can do to get the most out
of the time spent there.

Thanks everyone!

Long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

More than likely, you will see folks with notepads and the like. For me the hilight of the last one was sitting around the tables for meals talking with different folks I've never met before, who all have the same passion as me.
You'll have plenty of opportunity to pull out the axe during the evenings when everyone finds a jam session to participate in, or just to sit back and watch & listen.

It is a great experience!

_________________
"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."

Springfield,MO May 24-27. If bring family and want to do other things, Branson is 45 miles south. Home (well one of them) for Grizzly. Bass Pro. Nice golf courses.

http://www.guitarmaker.org/#

Go there and click on the huge banner that says "SYMPOSIUM 2007, click here for registration and details" and all will be revealed.

It's on a college campus. There are a bunch of builders all over the place, on there way to a session, meeting old friends, or showing off a latest build. Everybody is pretty open and you can join in any conversation.

There will be a schedule of sessions and you will have to make choices as to which ones you wish to attend. Most sessions do not have an advanced signup but once in a while a hands-on session may require you to sign up when you get there. The organizers usually do a pretty good job of putting all the sessions that you really want to attend at the same time while putting those that you aren't interrested in at the same time as well. So you will have to miss something important and then have an hour to just hang out. I've often learned more just hanging out with builders. Al Carruth, for example, is a compulsive teacher and spending an hour with him could very well be time better spent than attending one of the sessions. That is true of many others there as well.

There will be a vendor room. In there will be lots of tables with wood, pearl, jigs, and tools. Some of the tables will have instruments on them that you can lookat or play, but not too many of those. The ASIA conferences that I have attended did not have sales theme and there was no public open day for builders to sell instruments. I think they used to do that in the past but now it is just builders and those interrested in building.

If you are new to building, this is a great show. If you have been in the business for 30 years, this is also a great show.

Go, if you can, and, if you can't, go anyway.

Thanks for the responses guys,   I think I will be driving to Springfield, so
deciding what to bring will be easier.

Thanks again.

Long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

The highlight for me at the last ASIA symposium was going out to eat with Lance, Don Williams, Bob C and his wife, Don Atwood and his wife, Tom Dowey, and John O. We went out to a resaurant to eat before getting back for the evening concert and the auction.

So here we all were at Dinner and the waitress comes over and asks where we are all from to which we say all of the parts of the country we are all from. SHe gets a puzzled look and asks, Do you guys work together? We respond no, we are all best friends but this is the first time we meet each other . Even after we explained to her about the ASIA symposium and all I am sure that she never did figure it out.

ASIA, much like GAL's conference, is all about learning alot of things that will help advance the way you build guitars but more importantly is as Don and Mike have said, the conversations, the playing each others guitars, buying wood and other supplies and meeting alot of the same people that you have read about here.

The part about these conferences that continues to blow me away is in the same group you have everyone from living legends to guys that are just starting out building and everywhere in between.

If you think the exchange on groups like this is great, wait until you get to a place where you can see the instruments, and ask question in real time. I've never been to a luthier's meeting where anybody outright refused to answer a question, or held back, and have lost count of the times when some 'legend' has offered up information unbidden. As has been said, in any other business what we consider 'normal conversation' would be seen as 'industrial espionage'. It's reason this is the 'Golden Age'. Go if you can.

I was at the dinner with Shawn and the rest of that crew, that was really fun. Unfortunately, as I posted in the another thread I can’t go this year and the line-up of presenters looks great.


[QUOTE=Bob Long]    Is it better to leave the guitars at home and bring pictures??   [/QUOTE]

Absolutely. Bring guitars! You will get more feedback from that than you can with pictures. Last time I bought a table space in the vendor area (it was cheap ~ $30) to display the guitar. I really just got the table as placeholder for junk and a little extra support for ASIA. Once again it is not a “sales” show like Newport or the HGF, so I did not expect anything from my table. I set a 00 out on the table and just left it there, even while I attended the seminars. People looked at it and played it. (Bob C kind of kept and eye on it, thanks Bob) I ended up selling it to dealer and since then have done lots of business with him. So you never know.

Enjoy the show, they are really informative, and fun.

[QUOTE=johno] I ended up selling it to dealer
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that guitar left with him before I got a chance to play it!   

I was happy for you that you made a sale, John. I won't be making it to ASIA this year, either, but I look forward to our next crossing of paths. Will you be in Montreal in July?

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks again everyone!
I guess if I made a list of what to bring to ASIA it would look like this...

notebook
camera
guitar
open mind
MONEY

did I leave anything out?

long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Yes, bring $$$$. Once again I will be on the hunt.
My memoriew of ASIA 2005 is dominated by the generosity of all there to share information. As Alan says, "this is the Golden Age". I love these forums, but to meet you guys face to face -- that's the best. If your a player and like to jam or sing around that's fun too. My flight is booked and I am going to register today See you there.

Todd,

Yes I will be at the Motreal show.

Bob,

If you are driving, bring extras ... A fan is a good if you are staying in the dorms unless they have AC at the new venue. (They did not in Maryland and it was brutly hot in 05.

Hey Everyone,

Here's some info I just received from Bill Moll concerning the dorm rooms.


" The single rooms at this joint are more like a Marriot than “dorm” rooms. The whole building is new, and is air conditioned - each room has an apartment sized refrigerator and microwave in it as well. The building with the double rooms is older, but is still air conditioned, and has plenty of amenities. "

Sorry to say, there are no side benders in these rooms...

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Paul Bordeaux
http://www.bordeauxinlay.com