Blog
June 15, 2020
When you say Nick Lucas in the acoustic guitar world, most people think of the Gibson model that bears his name, the deep bodied flat top that was first issued in 1927, in the shape of an L-1, then an L-00. Few people remember that Nick Lucas was the person that replaced the tenor banjo in 1920’s dance bands with the guitar, or that he had the first solo guitar record that sold a million copies. His 1922 record of […]
August 5, 2018
Guitar cases are an essential commodity for a guitar builder. Standard size cases can be purchased fairly easily, for a reasonable price. If you make and instrument that doesn’t fit into a standard case, your options are to have a custom case made, or to retrofit an over sized case. I have a few models that don’t fit into standard cases and require custom cases. I’ve had custom cases made by a variety of manufacturers and for one reason […]
May 18, 2018
Several years ago, during a time that I was playing a lot of upright bass, I had a dream that I was inside a stone grotto. In the center of the grotto there was a metal pipe coming out of the ground. Attached to the top of the pipe there was a neck for an upright bass. In the center of the pipe a bridge was welded and at the bottom of the pipe there was a tailpiece. I […]
July 31, 2017
My creative spirit feeds off of unusual sounds and images. I love to try and figure out what kinds of instruments made the sounds on old records and what musicians were photographed with. The more unusual the instrument and its sound the better. I am especially fascinated by the instruments that came from small, independent shops. I have puzzled over country music pioneer Ernest Stoneman’s Galiano, Willie McTell’s Tonk Brothers 12 string, and Lydia Mendoza’s Acosta 12 string. I have […]
January 18, 2017
In the early 1900’s decorative decals were often used to add a little pizzazz to household objects. The guitar industry embraced the decal as a way to dress up very plain instruments. I don’t think that any company did this to greater effect than Oscar Schmidt, who used decals to imitate fancy rosettes and backstrips, and to add a touch of class, whether it was with ivy, musical instruments or beautiful ladies. I’ve had quite a few of these instruments […]
November 30, 2016
Much of my work has been influenced by the work of Italian immigrant luthiers who worked at the early part of the 20th Century. Initially I was drawn to the work of the Italians who worked at the Oscar Schmidt factory who built Stellas, Sovereigns and other brands. Later I became fascinated by the Italians who worked in small shops, either by themselves or with a few other people, at times with their family. These men came from Naples, Sicily, […]
March 26, 2016
Guitar cases are an essential commodity for a guitar builder. Standard size cases can be purchased fairly easily, for a reasonable price. If you make an instrument that doesn’t fit into a standard case, your options are to have a case custom made, or to retrofit an over sized case. I have a few models that don’t fit into standard size cases and require custom cases. I’ve had custom cases made by a variety of manufacturers and for one reason […]