Sexauer '24

[massimo]

Oops, sorry, it was the street address not the year of build.
My bad!

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by massimo

Oops, sorry, it was the street address not the year of build.
My bad!

A lot of buildings in NYC have their date of construction carved in Roman Numerals. It always takes me a couple of minutes to convert them to Arabic Numerals. Thank goodness it not their address as well in Roman Numerals … although it might slow the manic pace of the city down to a more tolerable speed!

[Palladio]

Since this thread has been fairly quiet lately, I thought I'd give an update as Bruce's most recent custom build customer.

I'm now 2+ months in with my new Brazilian/German Spruce JB-16. I'm still amazed how Bruce absolutely hit the nail on the head for what I wanted in a guitar.

I just did a comparison of the JB-16 with some exceptional Martins from 1931, '38, '39, and '41, as well as Gibsons from '36, '44, '45, and '46. All of those guitars weren't just from the "golden era", but were culled from a larger group of guitars from that period based on their exceptional sound qualities. Each one has a unique voice, and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite. What I can say is that the Sexauer held its own with all of them, and I'd have happily chosen it if I could only choose one. So hard to put into words, but Bruce's guitars feel as alive and responsive as the best vintage ones, then bring their own personality to the party too.

To my ears, eyes, hands, and heart.... guitars don't get any better or more beautiful than the ones Bruce is building right now.

[BrunoBlack]

I’ll jump in here as well. I’m celebrating my 1-year anniversary of enjoying my Sexauer FT-16 (https://sexauerluthier.com/2023-Haasome.html) that was delivered last June. I can happily report the sentiments expressed above by Palladio are spot on. Guitars simply don’t get any better. Thank you Bruce.

[Rob L]

+2
I have a BRZ/Adi JB 16 that came in 2022 right before Palladio's. Amazingly light, alive and responsive. So much fun!

[iim7V7IM7]

I own fortunate to own five of Bruce’s guitars that I commissioned between 2014-2020

- 2014 FT-L00 (German Spruce | Pernambuco)
- 2015 JZ/2-15 (German Spruce | Carved Bigleaf Maple)
- 2017 FT-0 (German Spruce | Brazilian RW)
- 2018 FT-16 (Red Spruce | Australian BW)
- 2020 FT-000 (Red Spruce | Oregon Myrtle)

I can also attest that while they are all different tonally based on their size and materials, Bruce’s guitars are all a joy to play, never getting between the player and your music and yes, one and all they feel truly ”alive” to the player.

[Portland Bill]

One of Bruce’s guitars was going for a great price when the UK dealer TAMCO was winding down, I could kick myself for hesitating and missing it, although I hadn’t played it, it was one of those guitars you just knew was not going to disappoint.

[hubcapsc]

I traded into a 2004 Schoenberg made by Bruce... I posted a
video of it when I got it. Just strumming a chord on it sounded
like a studio recording, none of my other guitars do
that... I haven't recorded my "new" J-35 yet though ...

-Mike

[Bruce Sexauer]

My heartfelt thanks to all of you for the supportive comments. I think it took me about 25 years to bring my guitar work up to a professional level, making one at a time and constantly metamorphosing my concept. That brings us up to about 30 years ago, and I have continued to grow as a luthier ever since. My current work is better than I thought it could get, and there seems to be little to no evidence of my being post peak, so far. Gotta wonder how far this can go!

[Palladio]

I had the pleasure of dropping by Bruce's shop yesterday. My GF was with me, so it was more of a social visit than my previous guitar nerd Q&A sessions.

I did get a chance to play a few of his new shop guitars though. They confirmed what I've felt for a while - Bruce is building guitars that are as good as it gets on planet Earth in 2024. Each was just a different flavor of "wow", in both sound and form. All of them had the exceptionally balanced, light, and alive feel that is Bruce's trademark. I'd be thrilled to own any of them.

Standouts for me today were the JB-15 WRX in Cambodian Rosewood/Adirondack and the "Dread Lightning". It was the first time I'd played the dreadnought and it surprised me. I am lucky to own a '41 D-18 and '46 J-45, that to my ears are as good or better than any I've had the chance to play. So I don't often bother to pick up a traditional dreadnought or jumbo to try anymore. That search is over for me. However, "Dread Lightning" tempted me for the first time in a long time. It has beautiful clarity and a sustain I did not expect from Mahogany. I think that guitar is a knockout punch, especially at Bruce's asking price.

I have another favorite, but I'm keeping that to myself for now.

[Treenewt]

Checking in on ya, Bruce. Miss seeing your builds in the feed! Hope you're doing well!

[Samiamx]

I’ll second this! I miss reading Bruce’s musings on any topic. He’s a biker, car enthusiast and I’m sure has many thoughts on many of life’s pleasures.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Yes, I am around and active. Not too much to say in the AGF though as I do not have a current guitar project on the bench. There is plenty to do, of course.

The shop is no longer unbearably hot during our summer heat waves. I installed an 18K MrCool mini-split heat pump and though I have not heated with it yet, it does a great job with cooling my 900 square foot work shop. So far, there seem to be no serious humidity issues associated with the “improvement”, only about a 5% drop. I’ll keep my eye on the hygrometer.

My wife’s car has been a Hyundai Ioniq plug-in hybrid which we bought new in 2018. It replaced a Prius she’d had since 2006. The Ioniq seemed the better car in very way, and was actually fun to drive, which I could not say about the Prius. When the all electric Ioniq 5 appeared in 2022 it seemed very interesting, but the local dealers wanted $20k OVER invoice, and there were very few cars In anyone’s lot. This year is nearly the opposite, the dealers have more cars than they have room for, and one local dealer is asking $11K UNDER invoice. Linda’s new car’s color is “Digital Teal”, and depending on the light angle and intensity, can appear gray, blue, green, or (surprisingly) red.

I am working on my music. My fiddle skills are rising, which they should be 24 years in, and I continue to play the guitar daily. Over the years I have recorded (GarageBand, mostly) perhaps 300 tunes. Some are embarrassing due to bad notes or questionable tuning, but many others fail to offend me. I am organizing them into what I hope will be three “albums”, one of guitar/guitar, one of guitar/fiddle, and one of string bass, guitar, fiddle, and vocal. All Sexauer, of course., though I did not make the bass.

Or perhaps the phone will ring and I’ll build a guitar.

[Treenewt]

Glad to hear you’re doing well, Bruce. Sounds like you have plenty to keep you busy! I love the work on your music! Would definitely be interested in hearing the results. I always enjoy your playing.

Great job holding out for the deal on the new car!

That brings me to another question: what is the status on your book! :-)

Here’s hoping the phone rings soon and we all get to follow along on another Sexauer build!

[Bruce Sexauer]

I will be hosting a meeting of the Northern California Association of Luthiers (NCAL) in my shop this Sunday, July 21, from 1 pm through 4 pm. Any interested person is welcome, and the address is on the Contact page of my website.

The book progresses very slowly, and currently it appears unlikely to be completed unless I pick up the pace. I seem to be better at creating content that modifying it. As it sits it may be unreadable, as I have given galleys to several people who seemed interested, and only one has gotten back to me. It’s been a year or more.