Customer Testimonial: Dogwood Monarch

“I loved my handcrafted Yamaha LX5 until I played my brother’s Larrivee. So I bought a Larrivee. The Dogwood acoustic makes my Larrivee sound like my old Yamaha. The Dogwood is superior to my Larrivee D-03R in every way – tone, action – even looks. I was in love with my Larrivee D-03R until I played a Dogwood!”

— Don S. Columbus, OH

1977 Martin D-18 Restoration

Older Martins often need substantial work to restore them to excellent playability. Recently a 1977 Martin D-18 was brought to me for evaluation. The guitar needed a neck reset, fret work, bridge plate repair, and cracks in the top repaired. A new … [Read More...]

1932 Martin 0-18 Parlor Guitar

It's not often that a luthier has the opportunity to work on a pre-war Martin. This little 1932 Parlor 0-18 came to the shop in very rough condition. It took a tumble down some stairs, resulting in a long crack in the treble side of the body and … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonials: Martin Fret Work

"I took my Martin D-28 to Dogwood guitars to get it worked on, It was in pretty bad shape when I bought it used. Someone had tried to install frets on their own and it was buzzing and the action was hard to play. I called Greg and he said to stop by … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonial:

"My stage guitar had buzzing strings and the sound from the pickup was unbalanced. Greg made me a new bone saddle to replace the poorly fitted plastic one and did a setup, now I have a guitar with no issues. His knowledge of guitar geometry is … [Read More...]

Building a Monarch: Final Assembly

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 … [Read More...]

Lutherie Classes: Setup and Repair

Acoustic and Electric Guitar Repair and Setup Classes Want to learn how to work on your own guitars? Or maybe you want to earn some extra cash doing setups and repairs in your community. These classes, offered when it is convenient for you, will … [Read More...]

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Voicing and Tap Tuning of Acoustic Guitars

Voicing and tuning are important elements of great tone. A great guitar has great tone, great playability, and great appearance, 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...]

The Three Elements of a Great Guitar

Guitar players 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...]

Customer Testimonial: Dogwood Monarch

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Technical Articles

Voicing and Tap Tuning of Acoustic Guitars

Viewpoint Articles

The Three Elements of a Great Guitar