An Amateur Luthier

[Dave Higham]

In another thread Steve Kinnaird said some very nice things about me http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...=464881&page=5 and I thought perhaps I’d explain a little.

About 15 years ago I was playing plonk-along bass in a little amateur folk-dance band and I thought “I could make one of these”. So I did, and having caught the bug I made 7 or 8 more basses. The first was a 5-string, neck-through, all-mahogany, ex-antique chest of drawers with Jazz Bass pickups.Then I made a 4-string, bolt-on, solid padauk (heavy) model with Seymour Duncan active ‘Music Man’ pickup and tone circuit. After that there was an hommage to Rick Turner’s Renaissance basses and an acoustic and an Ashbory Mk II, and a headless fanned fret and a ukulele bass, etc, etc. Steve knows about some of these as I posted them on other luthérie forums (fora?). I can show photos if anyone is interested, but this is the Acoustic Guitar Forum after all.

All this was a hobby and is what occupies most of my time now, since I retired 10 years ago. But I didn’t want to make an instrument for someone with the possibility that he/she (or I) was disappointed with the result, and the stress that would involve. As each instrument was different, I was as surprised as anyone else by the results.

Then one day my nephew asked me if I’d make him a guitar. I had made two guitars before; a classic in 1970 and a Dread in 1971. The classic turned out OK but the Dread wasn’t up to much. What’s more, he knew what he wanted, an OM with a cutaway! I finished up refusing, for the above reasons, and he didn’t insist, and anyway I was just starting on my latest bass.

But a year or so later I’d finished that bass and thought I’d have a go at the OM, but I wouldn’t tell my nephew, so if it was a disaster I could scrap it and no-one would be disappointed.

It actually turned out a lot better than I expected although there were a few disasters on the way. I’m telling you all this because I had an amazing amount of help and advice from professional luthiers. These guys make their living building world class instruments but are prepared to go out of their way to help a dabbler like me. So I’d like to thank in particular Steve Kinnaird, Pat Foster, Stephen Sheriff (Edwinson) and Steve Fischer among others.

This is the guitar in question. It had just about all the bells and whistles.
An adjustable neck. (Pitch and roll?)
A sound port
A ‘Manzer’ wedge.
An armrest bevel (thank you Mr Kinnaird).
An access panel in the blunt end (thanks to Kent Chasson).
And a ‘stealth’ truss rod cover.

[Silly Moustache]

Mmm, in my experience one man luthiers live in a competitive and often risky world - I don't think many get "rich", but they have chosen a path which gives them great satisfaction.

One might imagine that they keep to themselves but, again, in my experience, these guys share and assist each other a great deal.

If and when they go into "business" and employ others to do the making whilst they do the paperwork, and in spite that it becomes far more competitive, they still seem to share. This has been shown to me by guitar meetings where you'll see Bill Collings, Mr Taylor, Dana B etc., discussing matters.

And a comment or two from Bill.

Dat's nice. Of course they are all conspiring to make us spend money!

[Silly Moustache]

I commented on luthiers in general and completely forgot to praise the artistry and beauty of the OP's magnificent (and complicated) achievement.

That is remarkable for a third (?) guitar?

Make a video of it being played !

You are coming out of retirement.

[ukejon]

Fantastic looking guitar....most impressive. Look forward to seeing more.

[Dave Higham]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Make a video of it being played !

That's a bit of a problem as I'm in S W France and the guitar's in West Yorkshire.

If this works, this is my nephew Daniel rather nervously playing Martin Simpsons accompaniment to the Randy Newman song 'Louisiana'.

https://soundcloud.com/stream?return...2F950d752ac2eb

[LSemmens]

That is a beautiful looking guitar. I bet it plays beautifully too.

[TomB'sox]

Wow, Dave, Steve was right, you do amazing work. That does not look like guitar number 3, number 1 really, I am not counting the first two over 40 years ago!

Unfortunately, the link took me to a podcast, not the music.

What is the best part about this is the story of the help you received from these guys. I know two of them on the list and know they are top of the line guys, Steve and Steve. You had two of the best giving advise there. I follow Pat's work here, but don't know him. Well, it is so cool they helped you and I don't need to tell you what great people they are.

Congrats and your nephew is one lucky camper!!!

[invguy921]

GREAT looking guitar. I'd never have guessed you hadn't built a bunch of them. Really classy!

[RodB]

"Some of the finest work done anywhere" .... certainly looks like it!

Would be interesting to hear. Did you tell the story of the build elsewhere?

[redir]

Very professional looking instrument. Tell me more about the adjustable neck?

[Dave Higham]

Thank you for the kind words gents.

There seems to be a problem with Soundcloud, but I've never used it before. I find I have to click on the link a second time to open it. The first time I get a blank page.

There's a full build thread here:
http://luthiercom.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=133&t=5116
You have to subscribe to the Luthier Community (it's free) and that's where Steve and I became acquainted. There are some of my other instruments on there too.

[Halcyon/Tinker]

Looks pretty sweet. One assumes previous woodworking experience?

[frankhond]

Wow, that is a work of art! What's your next project?

[Dave Higham]

Originally Posted by Halcyon/Tinker

Looks pretty sweet. One assumes previous woodworking experience?

Well, I've always liked making things and for 20 years I worked for an industrial designer, first as an engineering draughtsman, which is what I was really and then making models, prototypes, in fact anything from a pair of garden shears to a set of traffic lights. I learned a lot there.

Originally Posted by frankhond

Wow, that is a work of art! What's your next project?

At the moment I'm making another OM with a more modern shape and a bit simpler. No cut-away, no wedge, no sound port, no arm rest. But since the OM I've made a few other instruments. Here are a few more photos.

A ukulele bass with silver-wound nylon core strings.


Another Uke-bass with polyurethane strings.


A Venezuelan cuatro. Same body shape as the Uke-bass (baritone uke) but as deep as an OM.




The last thing I made was this monster. It's called a Nordic Mandola and has a system of little screw-in capos that allow it to be played in various open tunings without having to re-tune.

[Halcyon/Tinker]

Looks like you're a natural!