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Building a Monarch: Top and Back

The building of any guitar begins with selecting the woods to be used. A bookmatched set of Spruce or Cedar is selected for the top, and a back and side set is chosen for the body. Standard woods for the latter are Rosewood, Mahogany, or Maple. Many other woods can be used, and the choice […]

Building a Monarch: The Box

Bending Machine

Bending the sides begins the process of making a guitar body. A bending form is required for each type and size of body, and the appropriate form is installed in the bending machine. This jig uses a heating blanket and spring loaded cauls to gently bend the sides to shape. The sides are carefully laid […]

Building a Monarch: Binding

The quality of the binding and purfling work is one of the factors that makes a guitar a true work of art. Some builders install bindings and purflings in one step, and this can lead to less-than-perfect results. Dogwood guitars are bound using a multi-step process that ensures a tight, no-gap installation of the purflings […]

Building a Monarch: The Neck

Guitar construction can be divided into to major sections: The body and the neck. Neck construction begins with gluing up a blank. Although some guitar necks are made from one solid piece of wood, many builders make necks using a laminated blank. This adds visual appeal to the neck as well as making it stronger […]

Building a Monarch: Pearl Inlay

Shell inlays are a time-honored way of adding flair, beauty, and value to musical instruments. The two primary types of shell used in making guitar inlays are Mother of Pearl and Abalone. Each of these come in several color varieties. There are many options available for using inlays to dress up a guitar. Fretboard and […]

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Building a Monarch: Binding

The quality of the binding and purfling work is one of the factors that makes a guitar a true work of art. Some builders install bindings and purflings in one step, and this can lead to less-than-perfect results. Dogwood guitars are bound using a … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonial: Gibson Setup

"I thought my new Gibson acoustic played pretty well until I had Greg set it up for me. Wow! I could tell a real difference in the action. Based on that experience I had him do a fret dress on an older Ibanez and again, I was surprised at how much … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonials: Taylor 12 string setup

I had a well known luthier in Columbus do a setup on my custom Taylor 12 string including having a bone saddle and nut made. The work seemed good but a while later while using the guitar for recording I noticed a strange light buzzing sound in the B … [Read More...]

Why do old guitars sound better?

Why do some old guitars sound so good? Even inexpensive guitars can age into really good sounding instruments, and some old guitars attain legendary tone. Why is this? The answer can be found in one of three factors and the best … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonials: Monarch 12 String

"Greg Maxwell's 12-string Monarch guitar is the product of an artist. I played the guitar among a small of group of rock-climbing paramedics during my interim stay in Richmond, Kentucky, before returning to Kailua, Hawaii, and the comments about the … [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...]

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Technical Articles

Bolt-On Necks: High Tongue Frets

I am including this article as a special page in the Services Menu because of the frequency with which the issue of high tongue frets arises. The tongue is the part of the fretboard that extends into the body of the guitar. On acoustic guitars, the … [Read More...]

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Viewpoint Articles

The Three Elements of a Great Guitar

Guitar players and collectors have so many choices available to them. New, used, factory brands, custom 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 … [Read More...]

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