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Frank,
I offer classes in lutherie and a class focused on
inlay design and execution in my shop in
Saylorsburg, PA in the beautiful Pocono Mountains
just under two hours north of you.
The building class in a five day long indtruction on
the entire build process. We start at 8 AM Monday
and have a guitar ready for finish on Friday afternoon.
The body styles are either a traditional OM or
Dreadnaught. In order to fit the build into the five day
class, the side are pre bent and the neck is a closely
rough shaped blank with a the tenon ready for
setting. The mortise in the neck block is also cut to
match the neck tenon, rostete is pre installed in the
top, the fingerboard is slotted and the bridge is
prefabricated. All top and back braces are shaped
and tapered for installation, but the voicing process
is performed during the class to be able to
experience the effects of slight changes in brace
mass on the braced top plate which is one of the
more interesting and intriguing steps in the whole
process. The voicing of the top has a profound and
noticeable affect on the subsequent tone of the
guitar and can become one of the most personal
factors in establishing a signature tone for any
builder's instruments.The fabrication of all parts is
explained, but to allow the class time to be spent on
the actual assembly of the guitar they're shaped prior
to its beginning. All bindings are either ivoroid or
tortoise style since they are much easier and time
efficient to use as compared to wood bindings and
purflings. The side bending that is discussed and
covered during the class is applicable to the bending
of wood bindings, so a good knowledge of their use
is gained as well.
I have held onto alot of traditional methods in my
building such as still hand bending my sides even
though i have two beautiful Fox bending machines
on a shelf here. Even though I've employed the use
of chaldnii patterns to document top response at
critical frequencies over the years, I still rely on the
simpe hearing of the plate's response during
voicing. the technology of vibration visibility helped
alot in establishing consistency in my standard
models, but each top exhibits obviously unique tonal
characteristics when they're finally married to their
respective sets of bracing wood.
Neck angle and approach to the body and final
setup are covered on the last day or two of the class
to touch on the preferences of different players and
their desires that cover the full spectrum of action.
Intonation of a saddle and bridge/saddle placement
is discussed and executed to provide proper interval
voicings on the guitar built.
One other facet of the class is that we take a lunch
break one day during the week and run 20 minutes
south to Nazareth for a quick tour of the Martin factory
to see the other end of the production of guitars.
There's certaily a place for the small shop or solo
builder like myself, but Martin and Taylor have
maintained a great customer base with the
implementation of all of the technology available
while still producing great guitars.
If you'd like me to drop a packet of info on the
class, let me know. I include a list of all of the build
process steps covered and all materials provided
which includes a TKL hardshell case for the model
selected and tuners. Drop me a hard mail address if
you'd like to see it.
I've done classes in the past for players and
aspiring builders and have done specialized inlay
classes for several artists interested in broadening
their horizons. It's a busy week with a load of
information changing hands, but it is a great
foundation for future efforts in lutherie.
On a final note, I have had some students leave
their guitars with me for finish application. I use
either nitrocellulose lacquer which take 6 to 8 weeks
to turnaround or my current UV cured polyester that
is being used by Taylor, Anderson, Collings, Olson
and Kevin Ryan which is has an almost
instantaneous cure rate (20 seconds of UV exposure
is equal to a 30 day cure for lacquer). The charge for
finish is reasonable the option is open for the
student to return for a day to do the bridge lacement
and final set up after the finish is applied which the
ideal situation. If we wait to do the final set up after
the finish is done, that extra day is included in the
class fee paid.
Dale Unger is a few minutes from me and is an
archtop builder and does offer a class in that area.
He builds a beautiful archtop in his shop under the
name of American Archtop and his prices put his
instruments in the reach of many players who can't
take the leap to purchase a D'Aquisto, D'Angelico or
Benedetto(Bob Benedetto was Dales mentor for
several years before he went out on his own.)
Regards,
Kevin Gallagher
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