German Guitars
I have spent years weighing the relative merits of different guitars and found things I love and things I really hate. I’m not a guitar factory, and the instruments I make are different than a factory guitar. Factories make money by moving more units, and they use machines to crank out thousands of identical parts with amazing efficiency. I use some of the same machines, but more as a way of doing intricate procedures than to create an assembly line. To me, each guitar is a living, functional sculpture and not just a product.
I worked in the repair shop at the Olde Town Pickin’ Parlor in Arvada for about 8 years. Repair work might seem like a lesser skill to the layman, but it is often more difficult than building something from scratch. If you are observant, years of working on both good and bad instruments will teach you a lot about successful design, troubleshooting, and fixing inevitable mistakes. I have made parts and jigs for many other guitar makers in recent years along with freelance finishing work on other luthiers’ instruments.
I now have a large basement shop in my house in Broomfield where I build and do guitar repair by appointment.
My medical illustration training has ingrained in me an attention to detail that I now apply to lutherie. I am still a computer modeler, and computer animation allows me to experiment with different instrument designs before they are built. It also is helpful in communicating my ideas to clients.
