It is now time to assemble the guitar, dress the frets, install the bridge and pins, fit and install the tuners, make the nut and saddle, and set the final action. A pickguard is usually installed and the completed instrument is polishes and strung up. It is an exciting day when the guitar is played for the first time! See the work involved in bringing the new guitar to life in the gallery below.
Voicing and tuning are important elements of great tone. A great guitar has great tone, great playability, and great craftsmanship in that order. Fancy wood, a high gloss finish, and lots of Abalone inlay are visually beautiful but have nothing to do with making a great sounding guitar. What is voicing and tuning? In a nutshell, voicing is the process of building a guitar using carefully made decisions and techniques with the goal of shaping the tone in a specific direction. … [Read More...]
Guitar buyers and collectors have so many choices available to them. New, used, factory brands, hand built...how do you narrow down the choices to the best option for you? In my opinion, any guitar should be measured by three characteristics: Tone, playability, and appearance. I list these in order of priority. While all three should be excellent, many players go for the eye candy first. But first and foremost a guitar must have great tone to be a great guitar. Abalone trim, perfectly … [Read More...]