Trevor Gore has a goal to build better guitars. To that end, he has applied the full force of his expertise as a professional engineer to research and document the physics of how acoustic guitars work and develop the methods to control the sound. Trevor lays all this out in his two-part book, Contemporary Acoustic Guitar Design and Build, co-authored with Gerard Gilet. For episode 32 of the podcast, I sit down with Trevor after his modal tuning workshop and he gives us an overview of his approach to designing guitars. Trevor then tells us how he went from an engineering student racing sailboats in the UK to living in Australia and how his dissatisfaction with his own guitar started him on his quest to build a better one.    Links Trevor Gore Guitars Roberto-Venn Guitars (this week's sponsor)

 

When you look at a Sean Kochel guitar you will notice the shotgun shell knobs, the bullet casing fret markers, and the 100 year-old woods from demolished buildings that are featured in all his guitars.  For episode 31 of the podcast, we visit Sean's remote shop in the mountains outside of Missoula, Montana. It takes us a little while to discuss to his cool guitars, because Sean has quite a history: from working in Alaska's oil fields, to snowboarding and bee keeping, all before starting his successful guitar business. Finally, Sean tell us about his Croatian grandfather's tamburtiza instruments and how these could be the inspiration of the original Fender headstock.   To learn more visit: http://www.kochelguitars.com/   This episode is sponsored by Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, Gibson Guitars, Martin Guitars and Carter Vintage. 

 

For our 30th episode of the podcast, we talk with Colorado-based instrument builder Jeff Bamburg. Jeff tells us about his multifaceted approach to the guitar business; including running a retail shop, his custom line of Bamburg guitars, his production line of Rocky Mountain guitars, as well as teaching lutherie and doing repairs. Jeff also explains why one of his goals is to build a business that he can sell,  and about his experiments with double-top and true-tempered guitars.     Link: https://www.bamburgguitars.com/

Roger Sadowsky makes guitars for many of today's top professional guitarists, and his instruments are in heavy rotation on stages and in studios across the world. For episode 29 of the podcast, we caught up with Roger at the 2019 winter NAMM Show.   Roger shares his thoughts on electric guitar tonewoods, neck design, and the story of how in 1972 he put down the scalpel and picked up a chisel. It would start him on the path to becoming one of the world's most highly respected guitar makers.  

https://www.sadowsky.com/

Michael Watts is a London-based guitarist deeply steeped in the custom guitar world. Michael knows how to have the "tone talk" both with guitar builders and players. For our 28th episode, Michael discusses his latest CD, gives advice on ordering a custom guitar, and shares his insights into the relationship between luthiers and musicians.  

https://michaelwattsguitar.com/home

 

For Episode 27 of Luthier on Luthier, we sit down with Farhad Soheili,  who was as self-described guitar-infatuated teenager playing and working on instruments 10 hours a day. More than 20 years later, Farhad now owns FSC guitars based in Brooklyn, New York, where he builds incredible vintage-inspired electric guitars and runs a full service repair shop. Farhad shares his insights into running a small business in a big city and how he keeps inspired.    Links: https://fscinstruments.com/ http://www.fslutherie.com/

For our 26th episode of Luthier on Luthier, we sit down with veteran guitarmaker Ric McCurdy of McCurdy Guitars. Ric takes us from building guitars barefoot in Santa Barbara, California to his busy NYC shop where he now makes some of finest archtop and electric guitars around. Ric also shares his insights into voicing archtop plates and changing the resonant frequency of a guitar neck. At the end of the day, Ric sums it up like this: "If I can help a musician get their art out and play a little better, that's what I want."

Marc Beneteau has successfully navigated a career in building custom guitars since 1974. For our twenty fifth episode, Marc takes us back to his early years, talks to us about forging his own path and describes how he has remained focused and passionate about guitar building over all these years.    Links: http://www.beneteauguitars.com/ http://www.foxsearchlight.com/youngatheart/  

 

Evan Gluck runs New York Guitar Repair and is often asked to lecture on aspects of running a small business. This is a bit ironic considering that Evan claims "my profession is not to work." In fact, there are many counter-intuitive things that Evan says and it is all part of his unique perspective on guitar repair and life. Also, according to google, Evan is the best guitar repair person in the world.       https://www.newyorkguitarrepair.com/