Meeting Notes

On the evening of November 8, 2005, the ever-widening horizons of the Seattle Luthiers grew to encompass special guest Julius Borges, who travelled from Littleton, Mass. with a visual tour of his shop there and comments on tools and production techniques.

Michael Gurian hosted the election-night event aboard his ever-popular, slightly offshore woodworking Mecca, and provided about two dozen guests with refreshments that included barbequed chicken wings. Cat Fox introduced the program, which for the first time featured a computer-based slide show using a digital projector.

Mr. Borges' talk centered on new and old uses for old and new tools (among them the possibility of employing air-driven attachments for dealing with unpleasant neighbors) but touched upon that staple of luthiers, the hide-glue pot; and small wonder since another purpose of his visit was a workshop to be held three days later on Friday the 11th at the relatively new shop of Dave Krause.

Besides offering chuckles and useful hints, the night provided something else -- a glimpse of how the lutherie tradition can work, in this case the story of a builder helping a big company recover a construction technique that they had once been known for but had abandoned.

If an "annual" potluck and bonfire can occur a second time in a year, that's pretty much what happened on the evening of Tuesday, October 11, 2005, as about fourteen hardy luthiers and guests, not counting dogs, gathered on the beach at Golden Gardens in Ballard.

As on that prior occasion, members brought food and beverages, plus bits of fuel, many of them instrument-related, the most advanced being an entire guitar contributed by Cat Fox. Talk centered on the weather (this being the only rain-free day during a week of unexpectedly early autumn), on the next month's planned hide-glue program, and on the progress of member Brent McElroy, who is recovering from a non-lutherie-related accident.

The pre-guitar community was also well represented, and each participant was given a symbolic oud stave to add to the pyre, which was ignited at sunset and burned splendidly long into the night.

Eventually celebrants began to leave, but at that moment Gary Wagner arrived with a batch of hard cider to rekindle enthusiasm.

Shown here are Michael Gurian, Cat Fox and Robb Lane with the guest of honor, a psychedelic six-string from a bygone era.

Assistant Editor Robert Lane reports that the September dinner meeting featured excellent food, a request by Cat Fox that MSG not be used in its preparation, compliance by the staff, a rare attendance by Jason Lollar and his entourage, and Tales from the Dark Side of lutherie, including horror stories ranging in subject from customers to runaway sawblades.

Not to dwell in the past, there was also talk of future meetings, mainly bringing Julius Borges from the East Coast to talk to us in one or two sessions; and of a bonfire/potluck in October, reprising the popular event from last Spring.

August saw a return to the Gurian shop and a program about guitar frets featuring two justly popular lecturers, Jay Hargreaves and Cat Fox. As expected, the two presentations differed considerably (one with jigs but no hammering; one with hammering but no jigs).

Potluck supper came first, and there were new guitars to be seen by David Haxton and Jay Gordon, and, fortunately, to be played by the visiting Steve James. John Butterfield brought the first lute he has sold, and with it of course an entirely different method of attaching frets. So good a time was had by all that many were still aboard at ten o'clock.

The July dinner meeting materialized as a potluck supper at the Gurian Instruments headquarters very near the shores of the historic Lake Washington Ship Canal. Sated with free wood and sausages, about three dozen fans of lutherie enjoyed a Northwest twilight.

There were a number of instruments present (or parts of instruments, like those brought by Brian Arnason) but in terms of performance at least, twelve-strings dominated the evening, including a handsome one by Jay Gordon and a daring two-hole model by newcomer Nate Johnson.

Otherwise the entertainment was pretty low-key, highlighted perhaps by a list of suggested names for all-luthier bands.

Another month without on-the-spot coverage, but it is known that John Saba presented a program at the Dusty Strings shop comparing devices for amplifying acoustic instruments. We look forward to publishing the results of the listener survey conducted there.

Although absent from the May dinner meeting, your reporter was nonetheless present for gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Northwest Folklife Festival Musical Instrument Makers Showcase.

Pictured from left to right, Dave and Sam Krause; Hammering Man Ray Moores; the human face of McElroy Guitars; Pete Daigle; Scott McKee; Michael Tagawa and Gary Wagner make cameo appearances at the Sound Guitar Repair table

Evan Davis made his long-anticipated Seattle Luthiers debut on April 12, 2005, before a crowd of nearly three dozen at Gurian Instruments.

For Mr. Davis, an early interest in guitar acoustics led not just to the construction of several instruments, but to a doctoral dissertation on the subject. This combination of theory and hands-on experience made for a particularly interesting, and occasionally very amusing, presentation.

One way to understand the effect of a design choice is to look at the limits of its range. A vibrating plate like a guitar top can move air efficiently whether its edges are firmly clamped or entirely free -- but structural concerns and the need to end up with the right mass may push the decision in a particular direction. Photo by Rob Girdis, all rights reserved.

The same kind of analysis applies to other choices -- instrument size and shape, sound hole size and position, bracing system, bridge mass and placement, even string stiffness. There was enough algebra to look scientifical but enough analogies to make the information useful on a common-sense level.

Quite apart from the presentation, there were several other pleasant surprises. Founding Father Paul Hass made one of his rare appearances from his current home in New Mexico. Both Rob Girdis and Jay Gordon brought new parlor-size guitars to show, and for the truly curious there was an oud awaiting its new Gurian Instruments pickguard. Several others left with quantities of fingerboard bindings. At the end of the day, a good, not to mention enlightening, time had been had by all.

There were fourteen for dinner at the Sea Garden on the night of March 8. Two tables shared a number of dishes, beginning with soup and Honey Walnut Prawns.

Jay Hargreaves collected money for a long-anticipated group purchase and distribution of radiused workboards. The Steering Committee handed out a questionnaire designed to guage interest in a number of possible future activities, ranging in scale up to part- or all-day workshops. And three guitars materialized, to be played and passed around.

The planned talk by Evan Davis was postponed until April, but a general get-together and Winter Wood Swap took place at David Haxton's shop on the evening of February 8.

The Seattle Luthiers Group First Annual Listening Session took place on the evening of December 9. Other "firsts" included the choice of day (a Thursday) and the venue (the Mt. Baker Park Presbyterian Church). Stormy weather and traffic kept some away, but the event was nonetheless well attended. Further, though the program was scheduled for two hours, some were there for nearly five, indicating a high level of interest.

The concept was to provide musicians to demonstrate classical and steel string instruments for comparison and analysis, but the instruments on hand exceeded the established number of categories. Fortunately, two of them came with their own luthier/players.

Rob Buckley began the evening by playing the steel-string guitars present, by luthiers David Haxton, Bob Julin, Jay Gordon and Wayne Taggert.

Classical guitars, not always well represented at the group's exhibitions, dominated the evening. Tobin Buttram began by playing an instrument, clearly a favorite of his, by David LaVallee. This guitar has an unusual feature -- a fingerboard with a deliberate twist to allow for greater bass string relief. Several others during the evening would show more innovation than might have been expected in the narrowly-defined world of the classic.

There were plenty of classical guitars to support two performers, so part way through the evening Brett Johnson, shown at right, took the stage. An aspiring luthier himself, Brett also brought his favorite instrument and told what is known of the story of its hard life.

Robert Lane was the organizer and emcee of this event, which could become a real favorite in future years. On this occasion, the success of the program itself precluded the suggested visit to Robert's home and shop nearby.