Posts filed under 'Healdsburg 2007'Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: Howard KlepperHoward Klepper had a nice batch of guitars. As you can see from the closeups, he’s a man who really knows how to cut a dovetail. I played this guitar, and I have to say that it really sounded good. The half-and-half style of top has a balanced tone and a lot of clarity. I forgot to ask Howard about what sort of neck-joint he uses, but it would be very cool if used something other than a traditional dovetail.-MJS Add comment August 29th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: Allan Beardsell
Harold says: “Allan Beardsell’s work shows great versatility, adapting techniques from mentor Sergei de Jonge, and other luthiers, to produce instruments that combine Selmer-esque, traditional elements with modern sound distribution techniques such as side soundholes, and beautiful silhouettes.” Michael says: “I love Selmer guitars and Beardsell’s instruments draw on some of the visual elements of that tradition and incorporate them in his very modern designs. They are cross-braced like a traditional flattop instead of using the ladder braces of the Selmer. They have some of the Selmer’s sonic clarity wedded with the warmth and sustain of a flattop. The guitar on the right is strung with nylon and the one on the right is steel strung.”-HF & MJS Add comment August 28th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: Ken Parker
One one of the most visited benches at Healdsburg was Ken Parker’s. Parker was the subject of a New Yorker article a while ago, which created some buzz, but as you can see from the photos, even without the national press exposure, people would have been lining up to peek inside the unusual soundhole. Harold says, “The dauntless Ken Parker showed some examples of his current and past work, on the heels of a glowing article about him in the May 14 issue of The New Yorker. Never encumbered by history, Parker brought the ultralight “Olive Branch” archtop that the New Yorker featured. If you promised to mind your manners–and turn your belt buckle–you coulda tried it. The guitar is a first article, with great projection and sustain, and starts a promising next chapter in the saga of this unique builder, whom most know as the developer of the Parker Fly guitars.” MJS & HF Add comment August 28th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: Fred CarlsonFred Carlson had some of his marvelous creations on display. The one on the left is called a Sympitar and features a number of sympathetic strings that run through a hollow neck. The instrument in the middle photo is a Harp-Sympitar and includes sympathetic strings, sub-basses and super-trebles. I’m sure glad I don’t have to tune it but I do wish I was the guy who supplied Fred with strings. In the photo on the right that’s Fred in the hat with Gregg Miner, the Head Fred at Harpguitars.net and an FJ contributor. Speaking of Gregg Miner, NPR just did a segment on him and his harp guitars.-MJS Add comment August 28th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: A Good DeedFJ Contributor Harold Fethe, who attended the festival, reports on a team effort he witnessed: “A couple from Ukraine, both blind, came to the Healdsburg Guitar Festival so that the husband could try out a range of guitars. It’s an understatement to mention that the immense, meandering floor plan and crowded aisles of the festival weren’t particularly friendly to their mission. Several of the exhibitors took note, escorted the couple out to a bench, then enlisted one builder after another to bring guitars to their bench to be tried. FJ congratulates those who organized and participated in this effort—you know who you are—for following your best instincts.” Add comment August 27th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: Rod Schenk
Santa Rosa gets pretty hot during late summer. So hot, in fact, that this nice guitar from Rob Schenk burst into flames. Schenk may also want to rethink the riveted binding. That can’t be helping the tone. Actually, it’s one of his Killer Paint models with a very nice airbrushed paint job. (And yes, the Healdsburg Guitar Festival is held in Santa Rosa.)-MJS Add comment August 27th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: Michael Lewis
When I first saw the little guitar-shaped thing on the left, I figured Grass Valley luthier Michael Lewis didn’t read the washing instructions on the label and shrank a guitar in the clothes drier. (Remember, always line dry your fine fretted instruments.) But when I got closer I realized it was a very cool guitar-shaped mandolin. Lewis builds authorized replicas of D’Angelico’s archtops but as you can see from the instruments on the right, he has his own style as well.-MJS Add comment August 27th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007: Bryant Trenier
Bryant Trenier builds his fine archtops up in Seattle in a workshop that’s not much bigger than a walk-in closet. He said that he regards Jimmy D’Aquisto as the finest luthier ever, at least when it comes to archtops, and you can see definitely see that influence on Trenier’s work. Trenier likes to build purely acoustic guitars, although he will install a floating pickup if the customer requests it. The empty stand on the left was where he parked the first guitar he built with a pickup mounted in the top. I’d show you what it looked like but every time I stopped by to photograph it someone was trying it out in one of the quiet rooms. Trenier also offered a very nicely produced DVD that showed his building technique and guitarist named Tim Lerch playing the guitars built during the course of the filming. He said it wasn’t expensive to produce and I have to say it really illuminated Trenier’s building philosophy and the care he puts into each guitar he builds much more clearly than a paper catalog could. I hope more builders consider doing this.-MJS 3 comments August 27th, 2007 Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2007
3 comments August 27th, 2007
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