How It All Began…

Back in the 1990s, Susan and I had two kids, a dog, a cat, a bird, a rabbit and interesting jobs.  Susan was the Master Sergeant.  She ran the house, her career, and kept the animals alive, including the kids.  I mostly just floated along making merry and enjoying the good times.  We both had hobbies, but I was an addicted tinkerer.  Whether I was keeping our old cars running or making telescopes or remodeling our home, I was always messing around with something. 

I loved guitar and tried hard to be James Taylor, but I am no JT!  I always thought, “If I only had a better guitar, I could be great!”  The problem was, I didn’t have any money - so naturally I thought I could make one. 

The idea grew into an obsession, so I ordered a book by Irving Sloan, “Classical Guitar Construction” and dug in.  I owned the basic tools, and the interesting thing was the book emphasized building your own guitar tools, jigs, and fixtures.  Like it was the entrance exam.  If you can’t make the tools, then don’t even try to make the guitar.

I think the most important thing in the book was the section in the back, “Where to Get Materials.”  This was my introduction to Luthier’s Mercantile, a great company.  My first order was in 1993 and I accidentally made a fateful decision… I ordered enough wood for several guitars.  This is important because the first guitar was a disappointment.  But I couldn’t just quit!  I had bought all this wood and successfully made all those damn tools, jigs, and fixtures!  The second guitar was better.  The third guitar is my son Ben’s primary player to this day.  

So that’s how it started. “I bet I can make one” led to an awesome hobby. 

Time went by and Susan and I settled into the hurricane years juggling kids, careers, hobbies, and basic sanity.  Through all this, I piddled with guitars.  Remember, no internet in those pioneer days!  

My basic guitar building hobby was improving.  My job at NASA taught me a lot about structures.  Rockets, and the payloads that fly on rockets, are very sensitive to the forces imposed on them, especially vibration.  Every structure built has a frequency of vibration that “resonates.”  The shaking of a rocket as it blasts into space could destroy everything if the frequency is not accounted for. 

In an odd way, this is applicable to guitars.  A guitar is a structure made of wood and steel strings.  Now, to prevent a rocket from coming apart, analysts can calculate the dangerous frequencies.  I, on the other hand, take advantage of the resonant frequency to make my guitars come alive.  It’s the same analysis. The more resonance the better in this case!  I understood it and used it to my advantage. This is not a new concept, but my understanding of this informed my guitar making and made me really happy when the results started to sound great. 

So eventually my NASA career started to wind down.   I had another fateful thought - let’s build some guitars!  People like them, and I love making them.  The next step is when the magic happened.  The making of a small guitar factory led to so much more than Susan and I could have dreamed for.  But that’s another BLOG.  Stay Tuned!