Greg has restored several vintage Martins and Gibsons that were considered beyond repair, but are now making music again. The fully equipped shop handles all types of in-depth repair work, such as bridge repairs, neck resets, crack repairs, finish chips and dings, electrical repairs, pickup installations, and new bone nut and saddle making.
Services
Fret Work
Your guitar’s frets are like the tires on a car; they need to be kept in good condition for optimum performance, and they need to be replaced when worn out. Great fretwork is a learned art. Greg has done many hundreds of fret jobs. The shop is equipped with a state of the art neck jig , permitting great accuracy when leveling frets.
Setups and Adjustments
Buzzing guitar? It may just need a simple adjustment of the truss rod, or the nut slots may need refinement. Perhaps a single high fret is the culprit. Greg can quickly diagnose the problem and give an estimate to correct it. Free assessments and estimates for every customer!
Acoustic Guitar Building Class
Guitar Building Class
Have you ever wanted to build your own high-quality acoustic guitar, but were intimidated by the number of tools, jigs, and skills involved? Here is your opportunity to work one-on-one with an experienced professional luthier and builder to make your own guitar in beautiful rural Knox County Ohio.
The class is two weeks in length for a total of twelve days in the shop. At the end of the class, you will have a completed all-solid wood acoustic guitar “in the green”, strung and playable and ready for finish. You can take it home and finish it yourself, or leave it at my shop for a professional high gloss lacquer finish for an additional cost. We will build a student version of my Monarch model, with Rosewood or Maple back and sides, a Sitka Spruce top, laminated Mahogany neck, double action truss rod, bone nut and saddle, Ebony or Rosewood fretboard and bridge, bone nut and saddle, wood bindings, and sealed Gotoh tuning machines.
You will learn all the fundamentals of guitar construction, such as side bending, plate joining, rosette making, neck carving, fretting, and setup. We will cover the basics of voicing and tuning including placing resonances to avoid wolf notes. Learn how to bind a guitar with wood (not plastic) bindings, and how to make a bolt-on mortise and tenon neck joint. We will make a bone nut and saddle for your guitar from scratch. Depending on your skill level and meeting our daily work schedule, we may even have time for a lesson on pearl cutting and inlay.
Classes of this depth often run $4000 to $6000 plus materials. You can build a guitar with me in two weeks for $3000 plus materials (approximately $600-$700 depending on a few options and including a laminated Mahogany and Maple neck.) There are several hotels located nearby. John Glenn International Airport (CMH) is located about an hour away from the shop, which is near Mount Vernon, Ohio. During your time in the evenings and on Sunday, the 14-mile paved Heart of Ohio bike and hiking trail runs along the rear edge of the property with direct access to the trail.
Whether you are a complete novice or a craftsman with experience, you will come away from the class with new skills, good working knowledge of guitar construction, and some awesome memories. And, a great guitar that you can proudly play for many years! Contact me at 614 348-2147, or via the Contact Page, for details about reserving your class for 2019. Classes are available from March through September this year. I look forward to discussing your build with you.
FAQ’s
- Can I design my own peghead shape, body style, etc? For the sake of time and to stay focused on the fundamentals, we will build a student version of my Dogwood Monarch model. The student version has a standard OM style peghead shape, pearl fretboard position markers, Maple binding with bwb purflings, and a Herringbone rosette with bwb rings. If there is time, we may be able to do a simple shell inlay on the peghead. Customizations are limited to your choice of Maple or Rosewood back and sides, and nickel or gold tuners.
- What are the finish options? Your guitar will be completed “in the green” and ready for finish. You can take it home with you to finish yourself, or if you prefer I will apply a high gloss lacquer finish for you at a cost of $500. I can discuss various finish options you can apply as part of the class.
- Are cases available? I can have a Roadrunner molded ABS case available for purchase, or you may bring your own case. Check with me for dimensions as you are responsible for the guitar fitting your case.
- Can I supply my own materials? The bulk of the materials for your class guitar will be ordered from Luthiers Mercantile Int. and shipped to my shop in advance of your class date. The materials and supplier have been selected to ensure that you will have quality experience. Students are strongly discouraged from bringing their own materials.
Raw materials used to build the class guitar. - How is this different than building a kit? This is not a kit! We will begin with a stack of raw materials, similar to those I use when I build one of my custom Dogwood models. We will cut out parts, bend sides, shape braces, cut a rosette, carve the neck, make the fretboard, bridge, nut, and saddle from blanks. Furthermore, you will have access to all the tools and jigs required to build a guitar, things you will still need to buy when attempting to assemble a kit.
- Will I build the guitar myself? We will work together, one-on-one, through each step of the build. In some cases, I will demonstrate a technique and then you will repeat it. Your experience with power and hand tools will dictate the level of your safe participation, but even complete novices will have plenty of hands-on time.
- Can I split up my two weeks? Yes. Although it is recommended that students schedule their two weeks together if at all possible, the class can be divided up into two two-week sessions scheduled according to my availability. While there is some overlap, the first week focuses on the guitar body, the second on the neck and final assembly. If you need to split your two weeks, I’ll store your work in my climate controlled shop until your second session. All classes need to be completed by the end of September.
Acoustic Guitar Voicing and Tuning Class
Acoustic Guitar Voicing and Tuning Class
This is an advanced class that explores the principles behind great acoustic guitar tone. This class is intended for the experienced builder, and knowledge of acoustic guitar construction is essential in order to get the most from the class. The class focuses on the importance of material properties as they relate to tone and responsiveness- properties such as stiffness, density, and mass. You will learn how to thin individual tops to a specific deflection based on modulus, rather than using a predetermined thickness based on species.
This three-day class includes instructions on placing the three main fundamental resonances- top, air, and back- to specific targets. This process helps to fine-tune the tone your guitars while avoiding wolf notes and dead spots in the completed instrument. We will also discuss how to evaluate acoustic guitar tone, and you may bring your own guitars for assessment if you wish. In-depth information on bracing and brace carving is included, as are several other tips and tricks for building better sounding guitars.
Many builders use some version of hand flexing and ear tapping to voice guitars. The resuts can be somewhat arbitrary and often fail to use property measurements as part of the process. Others apply a mathematical approach that, while effective and repeatable, can be difficult to learn. My method combines the best of both: Using repeatable measurements to thin tops to to a specific deflection, using analysis software to place main resonances, and ear tap-tuning for purity of tone. The result is a more accurate understanding of the science and art of voicing and tuning, more consistent and better tone in your guitars, and shaving years off of the learning curve usually required to learn these skills. You no longer have to build 100 guitars to understand how and why great guitars sound the way they do.
If you are not satisfied with the voice of your completed builds, if you are tired of hearing that thunky G note on the bass E string, or if you know that great tone is the result of much more than simple Rosewood Vs. Mahogany comparisons, then this is your class!
The cost of the three-day class is $900. Limited availability based on Greg’s build schedule. Contact Greg for the next opportunity.