There is a great program that matches active duty Service Members with guitar builders here: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/cbgsforsoldiers The idea is that a lot of people serving our country would like to play an instrument in their time off away from their families. Right now I have 2 Ukuleles and 4 Cigar Box guitars in progress to […]
When I was in college I met and Made friends with a guy named Bernie Larsen. Bernie Had moved to the desolate upper peninsula of Michigan to be closer to his dad, but he had the great past of playing with some fantastic musicians including David Lindley and El-Rayo-X, and later Melissa Etheridge. I first […]
I traded a ghettoshorty for this sweet little 6w all-tube amp from Valve Child. The mastermind behind this creation and Valve Child amps is Mark Carter. Mark re-purposes old tube tube radios and other audio goods into sweet amps and preamps that have real soul. This particular model features a 12ax7 preamp, a single el84 […]
While guitars are a rewarding hobby for me I do have a day job that pays the bills. I work as a consultant on HR related issues and Human Performance. I also write a blog that supports that business and I recently published the following blog that draws some parallels between guitars and my day […]
Truth is that guitar string manufacturers and guitar manufactures have been lying to us, the thing is really there is no good reason for it. Most prepackaged guitar string sets are all wrong because they are not optimized for the notes and scale lengths that they are intended for. The fact is that for every […]
I’ve been playing with zero frets a bit lately and I’ve decided that I like them. So what is a zero fret? A zero fret is a fret in the position that a nut normally would be and the concept is that an open note will have the same character as a fretted note since […]
So I had a parking lot conversation the other day about intonation, and it really occurs to me that many players look upon the concept like it’s some sort of mystery and are sometimes intimidated by it. This is my attempt to simplify without over simplifying the concept. Scale Length = the distance between the […]
As a custom builder, I’m going to work with you to build something that is uniquely yours. I really derive a lot of my satisfaction from meeting a customer’s vision for thier unique creation. When you leave it up to me, I’ll build something great, but there’s that little tinge of loss that I feel. […]
My preferences in music and playing styles have always leaned towards the earlier versions found in the genre. When I listen to punk, I like old punk. Reggae = roots, blues was born in the delta, etc. I’m also a huge fan of slide style playing both lap-style and bottleneck. Now that I’m building instruments, […]