Lutherie

I've always been interested in tweaking things, and instruments are no exception. When we moved to the ranch in '96, I suddenly had a lot more time and space to mess around with instruments and have been taking full advantage of the situation.  Prior to that, I've been messing with my own instruments for about 15 years.  I do guitar and mandolin setups, including neck resets, nut/saddle installations, re-fretting, and general setup repair work. My rates are reasonable (and flexible) and I like to schedule instruments so that I can get them back to the owners quickly instead of leaving them sitting around. I like to give a good value for the money spent and enable you to afford to have your instrument worked on.

Please note that I am NOT a restoration specialist.   If you need ultra-precise, highly polished, exact match, or "exactly like original" work done, look elsewhere.  If you are more concerned about function than flash, that's me.  If you have a 70's Martin that you'd like to get playing its best, that's me. 

Brief resume: I've worked on guitars for several well-known players, including Gary Gordon, Joe Reyes, Steve Kaufman, Steve Smith, Dede Wyland, Jason Burleson, Joe Carr, Gerald Jones, Steven Stone, Mike Finders and many, many lesser-known but talented players.  I've been Kamp Doctor at Steve Kaufman's Flatpicking Kamp 2002, 2003, 2004 (and planned 2005), where I worked on approximately 45 guitars in 1 week, and Camp Doctor at Acoustic Music Camp in 2010 and 2013.  While I don't have any "formal" education in lutherie, I've questioned, learned from, and stay in contact with a stack of great luthiers including Randy Lucas, Lynn Dudenbostel, Frank Ford, John Arnold, Mario Proulx, Dan Lashbrook, and others.  I don't hesitate to ask them for advice or run a difficult problem past them.  I am no wizard and can't promise miracles, but I do what I can do and try to do it as best as I can.

Business Stuff

• Rates and Discussion What I charge, plus pros and cons of various modifications.(#1 page!)
• Warranty and Disclaimer!  (PDF)
• Shipping an instrument: how to pack and ship.
• FAQ- Neck shaving, neck replacement, will you work on ______?. 
   

Discussion

• Setup  My philosophy and specifications.  Two schools of instrument setup (YouTube)
• Neck relief  3 pages on neck relief and its effect on string/fret clearances.
• Martin Tuneup Martin Guitars! I love 'em and they're easily modified for more sound. This is what I like to do to a newer Martin HD, GE, or similar.
• GE vs. '36 : Differences between Martin's GE reissues and The Real Thing.
• Problems   A page of problems that I commonly see.   Good reference if you're in the used guitar market.
• Evaluating a 70's D-28.  Problems and things to look for on late-60 to early 80's Martins.  What to do with the bridge.
• Popsicle braces  The infamous and nefarious "popsicle" brace AKA "upper transverse thingamijig".
• Homemade humidifiers Why pay big $$$ when you can make a better one for pennies?
   

Reference

• Bracing  Shots of scalloped/non-scalloped bracing, neck blocks, top plates, more! 
• Bridges and Bridgeplates  Pictures of Martin bridges, my bridges, and bridgeplates.
• Slotted bridges   Slotted vs. ramped, and why I like 'em.
• Tuners: description and photos of the various tuners I use on repair jobs
• Pickguards: Updated with the actual pickguard material I have in stock.
• Pros and Cons of Stainless Steel Frets (YouTube)
   

Techniques

• Stringing up.   Some tricks and preferences for stringing up guitars.
• Removing a long saddle The technique I use for removing a glued-in long saddle
• Neck resets 
• Making a nut
• Removing a mandolin back to replace missing tone bars
• Scott Sullivan's "Katrina" guitars- restoring hurricane damaged Martins.
   

Stuff I Sell
 

If you learned something from the Lutherie section and would like to contribute to the upkeep of this site, consider making a small donation.

• 

  K&K Pickups and Preamps. 

Home   Home page with links to Ranching, Dirt Bikes, The Gospel, and more.....