Category: Lutherie

Categories
Bluegrass Music Lutherie

Getting Ready for SPBGMA/Fesley Body Finishing

I leave for Nashville in less than two weeks for the SPBGMA conference, and I am getting ready in more ways than one. Packing clothes and medicines will get done a few days before, but what I am doing now is getting things done for my networking down there.

I have already posted two new songs on my ReverbNation page, and I may tag on one more before the week is over. I have learned that it is easier and less cumbersome to upload songs on the ReverbNation page and hand out business cards than making a bunch of demo CDs and handing them out. My problem is still getting the nerve to approach artists that I don’t already know.

I really didn’t do any jamming last year, so I plan to try and get into it more this year. I’ll take the Sevillana guitar down with me. Last year I took way too many guitars and a bass with me, and hardly opened up a case let alone jammed. Plus, It takes up way too much room in my small car.

I have already set up some time with one songwriter to hopefully do some co-writing. The conference ends Sunday, but I’ll be sticking around Monday just for the reason of possible songwriting work.

I’m not sure if I will be doing any contacting for article writing. I haven’t heard back from my editor at Fiddler Magazine in a long while. I sent in an article recently, and ever since the magazine went online-only, It has been hard to stay in touch.

I’m also taking down a lot of 12-packs of Vernors Ginger Ale. This is a Detroit staple, and I know a lot of friends down there that crave it and can’t get it in Nashville.

If the weather is behaving, I will probably hit Rosine, Kentucky on the way down and pay my respects to Bill Monroe. It is a time-consuming detour, but I feel it has to be done when the opportunity arises.

Of course, I have to hit the Waffle House, Jack’s BBQ, and I hope to visit another Nashville eatery institution, Prince’s Hot Chicken. The original location is just a few miles from my hotel down there, so I don’t have an excuse. While I’m not a big fan of hot chicken, I do like to try places that are featured on food-related television shows and YouTube channels. I’ve seen some great stories about Prince’s, so it is a must!

Changing topics, I decided to get started on finishing one of the guitar bodies. I’m starting with the Fesley Strat body, since it was the best set-up already smooth sanded. I buffed it a bit more with OOOO grade steel wool. It is too cold to do spray painting outside, and I don’t have good ventilation for spraying inside the house, so I’m trying my hand at stain/finishing it with a combination stain and polyurethane coating and a brush. It is a lot more difficult to work with than I imagined, as the stain does not seem to go on that even, perhaps due to the polyurethane. I will probably end up doing at least five or six coats and sanding between them. I do like the color that came out. I am using a stain labeled Mahogany, and on the mahogany body, it darkens it nicely. The label says you can do sanding and re-coating after an hour, but I plan to let it dry for a day and see what happens.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Lutherie Music

Unique Stamps and Wood

A couple of crazy things happened to me this past week. Crazy as in “good” crazy, and both are music related.

First, I went to my local post office a few days ago to pick up some stamps. I happened to be wearing a t-shirt with some fiddle bows on it forming the stripes of the US flag. Anyway, he hands me a small sheet of ten Forever stamps. They happened to be ones dedicated to bluegrass music, complete wit guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin. I asked if he purposely got me these stamps, and he said that they just happened to be on top of the pile.

I’m not using these. This sheet is going into a frame.

Next, I was talking to a co-worker that does some woodwork, While I dabble in lutherie, she is more into making furniture. We are talking about places to get wood, and she mentioned a small store near where I live called Homestead Hardwoods. The place deals with special woods like mahogany, walnut, and other pricier choices that craftsmen like to use for furniture, shelving, and wall covering. I do not have a Facebook account, but the store does, and I checked out a recent posting that stated “Reject Wood from Gibson.” I was curious to find out what Gibson they were referring to. The store is mostly by appointment only, but are open for a few hours on Friday and Saturday, so I went after work this past Friday.

I had passed the place hundreds of times on my way home, but never thought to venture in. This time, I entered to be greeted by the friendly co-owner. Before I could finish asking my inquiry, he confirmed that the small slabs of mahogany (roughly a 2×4 about 18 inches long) came from the Gibson Guitar factory in Nashville. These particular pieces were meant for the bodies of Les Paul Junior models but rejected by the factory inspectors. The guy at the shop told me that he occasionally gets wood meant for guitars and stays in touch with area luthiers. He also told me that he makes banjos on the side. I will definitely be keeping in touch with him.

Just the fact that they were from Gibson made me giddy. This was no ordinary wood – this was potentially going to be a solid-body guitar! I snagged a few that day, and went back today (Saturday) for more. Another co-worker who is also a guitarist told me that he would be interested in a few pieces for his curious collection.

I plan on saving a few for a possible guitar project, but I am also thinking of making a table out of a few, with perhaps the Gibson logo on the face. I am just fascinated with the background of this wood. While it is not a piece of unique history (I actually have a piece of the floor from the Grand Ole Opry that I cherish), this wood does hold a small place in my musical heart. I hope to make good use of it.

In the meantime, I‘ll still be working on guitars and such, thinking of great ways to use this great wood.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bass Guitar Bluegrass Music Lutherie

Leo Jaymz Guitar Kit/Amazon Scam/Larry Sparks

So even though I haven’t even started on the two guitar kits I already have, I purchased a third kit. This kit comes from Leo Jaymz, and is pretty similar to the Fesley kit I purchased a few weeks ago (https://luegra.design.blog/2024/05/19/inexpensive-guitar-kits/).

The big difference with the Leo Jaymz kit is the Strat-style body. They have routed it for the customizer, with spaces for humbucker pickups in the neck and bridge positions. The pickguard is still set up for three single coils, and wiring has connectors, so no soldering is needed. The instruction manual has no text, only pictures showing how to install each component. It really could not get any easier, I guess.

I had to take a second look at the body, though. As pretty much with all electric guitar bodies for this low price, it consists of poplar pieces glued together, then cut with a computer-controlled router. The grain of all of the pieces should be running length-wise from bridge to horns. However, this particular body seems to have a slight angle to the grain. It’s not drastic, but is noticeable to someone looking a little closer.

I still want to stain one of these guitars a unique transparent color, so I have to look all three bodies over. As stated previously, the Fesley body is ready for finishing, while the Ktaxon Tele needs a lot of fine sanding before any finish work. This Leo Jaymz body is sort of in between the two as far as surface texture. It is somewhat smooth, but could probably use a buffing with some super-fine steel wool to get it ready.

I am still interested in looking at and reviewing some bass guitars for young students to work with. I did order through eBay a really short-scale (25.5-inch) mini bass put out by Glarry. I plan on reviewing it here, and possibly on my YouTube channel, once it comes in. I was going to purchase the Ktaxon Fender Bronco copy bass that I briefly discussed in a blog three weeks ago (https://luegra.design.blog/2024/05/25/ktaxon-the-latest-cheap-guitar-brand/). I had recently won a gift card for Amazon, and when I went to the Amazon website, I saw that the bass had a price cut from $59.99 to $49.99. A nice incentive to purchase, so I clicked on the order. Well, shipping for the sale-price bass was $29.99, while shipping for the regular-price bass was $19.99, so there was no difference in the final cost. I wrote to Amazon about this, but have not heard back from them. Hopefully, no one fell for this hidden scam.

Finally, this past Thursday I went to see a bluegrass legend perform at the Kentuckians of Michigan hall in Romulus, MI. Larry Sparks, who has been performing for over 61 years as a solo artist, as well as with the Stanley Brothers, Ralph Stanley, and the Lonesome Ramblers, has had to cancel a few previous performances due to health concerns. I figured that I better go to this show, even though it was on a weeknight, because The Man may stop touring altogether. I was even able to talk by bluegrass buddy Ken to go, as he keeps missing local bluegrass shows for numerous reasons.

Larry was just doing a few shows, no festivals booked, with a small combo. No banjo player at this show, so we actually got to hear his smooth vocals and distinct guitar playing a lot better. He is definitely old school, playing a three-minute song, then bantering for 10 minutes more. However, he is a legend, and you listen to every word he has to say because he has great stories to tell and is somewhat of a rural philosopher. I am so glad that I got to see Larry perform, and it was worth going to work Friday morning on about four hours sleep.

Next week’s blog will probably be a bit late, as I will be at the Charlotte (MI) Bluegrass Festival all weekend.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Electric Guitars Lutherie

Inexpensive Guitar Kits

A few weeks ago, I was watching a video from one of my YouTube subscriptions called The Bald Shredder. He is one of the many guitar experts (i.e., nerds) that reviews guitars, amplifiers and effects. This particular video has him reviewing a Strat guitar kit from Fesley, available on Amazon for $89.00.

His opinion was what I figured. For the price, it is a good way for the beginning guitar builder or luthier to learn the basics. The actual finished guitar is in no way comparable to a Fender Custom or other US-manufactured Strat. He had the Amazon link for the kit in his video description, so I took the plunge and ordered one for myself. With shipping and taxes, it came out to just under $100.00.

The kit came in the mail a few days ago, and it was everything that the Bald Shredder stated. All of the parts are there, the neck and the body are both unpainted (there are painted versions of the kit available) with a clear coat on them, so they have a great smoothness to them. The neck back is smoother than a lot of other guitars that I have used. Like the Bald Shredder, I plan to keep the body in its natural clean finish. The grain is nice, nothing outstanding but not fake looking either.

The kit comes with a great manual for assembling the guitar, as the instructions are easy to follow and extremely useful photos. I haven’t started putting the guitar together yet, as I just got it a few days ago and have a lot to get to around the house before this. Maybe during a rainy day or perhaps during the winter when I am forced to stay inside.

While ordering this kit, I also came across Tele and Strat kits from Ktaxon for $59.99 each. For kicks, I decided to order the Tele kit, which after taxes and shipping came out to a little over $80.00. I found this kit on my porch yesterday (thank God there are no porch pirates in my neighborhood, and luckily I have two larger shrubs that block the view of my porch from the street), and was also what I expected for the money. The body and neck are rough sanded, so will definitely need some final sanding before I do any finishing. The pickguard/neck pickup are already mounted, so that will need to be removed for any body finishing. The instruction manual is practically useless, so fortunately I have some experience with working on electric guitars. It does have everything needed, including a cheap guitar cord and strap.

Again, I don’t plan on working on this kit for a while, and this one I do plan on putting on some finish to the body. Once I get the final sanding in, I may attempt to stain it with a unique transparent color before clear coating. I also need to check out the tuning gears for their quality, as they may need replacing. However, I don’t want to invest too much, as I don’t play electric guitar much (and have better guitars for any time that I do), and am looking at these kits for more lutherie experience than playing.

NOTE: The Fesley kit sold out a few days after I ordered mine and is currently unavailable. If interested, keep checking Amazon for re-stocking. The Ktaxon kits are still available as of this writing.

https://amzn.to/44n3McG

(Sorry, WordPress wouldn’t let me upload the Ktaxon link. Go to Amazon and search “Ktaxon Guitar Kit TL”. I’ve also seen this kit on eBay.)

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Lutherie Musical Instruments

Amnon Weinstein RIP

On Friday of this week, I learned of the death of Amnon Weinstein at the age of 84. He was a luthier living in Tel Aviv and had run his violin repair shop there since 1986 when he took over the business with the passing of his father. Like his father, the trained his own son to become a luthier as well. He was known internationally for his repair work, but it was his special work over the past four decades that brought him his highest acclaim.

Amnon’s parents left Lithuania (part of the Soviet Union) in 1938 and moved to then Palestine. They left almost all of their relatives behind, most of whom would perish in concentration camps during the Holocaust. His father was a violinist, but found better work as a luthier, and trained Amnon to do the same. He did not know much about his relatives that died in the Holocaust, as his mother was very subdued about that information.

In the 1980s, as he started taking an interest in learning about his ancestry, a survivor of Auschwitz came to his shop for a violin repair. As Amnon took the violin apart to assess damage, the body had ashes inside. It turned out that this man had played the violin at the camp to prisoners that were being led to the gas chambers, and these ashes were remnants from the air near the crematoriums. It moved Amnon so much that he went on a quest to locate violins that had been played by Jews either imprisoned or used as slave labor.

The book Violins of Hope by James A. Grymes covers the stories of these musical instruments, as well as what happened to the owners. Amnon restored over 60 of these violins, and founded an organization, also called Violins of Hope, that loans out these instruments to professional musicians to perform with at concerts and educational programs. His work was highlighted in a 2016 PBS documentary.

I happened to come across the above-mentioned book through a clearance house and ordered it. The stories within the text of prisoners, slave laborers, and resistance fighters who relied on the violin to provide comfort was so moving, I was brought to tears. While I have read dozens of books on various aspects of World War II, including the Holocaust, this book was especially moving, due to my love of music as well.

The Violins of Hope collection has toured all over the world and has received enormous praise. Amnon’s work in restoring violins that were close to disintegrating from age and lack of care is extraordinary. I implore you to read more about Amnon Weinstein in this New York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/arts/music/amnon-weinstein-dead.html), as well as find a copy of the Violins of Hope book. You will learn how important music is to a culture, even in the the most tragic of times.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Lutherie Musical Instruments

Pink Fiddle Part 2

I got around time this past week to work on the pink violin that I talked about a few weeks ago (https://luegra.design.blog/2024/03/02/working-on-a-pink-fiddle/). Basically, it needed a new bridge, strings, and replacing the bow. The results of my work was a bit of a let down, but not a failure.

I purchased a replacement bow through eBay. I didn’t want to spend a lot on one, just around $15 for a student model. One seller had some colorful ones for that price, and I asked for a red one that would go with the fiddle. They sent me a blue on instead. I’m not going to go through the trouble of returning it, as I have had problems with another eBay seller accusing me of stealing from him when I returned a product.

As for the bridge, that was a bit more of a problem. I ordered one bridge from an eBay seller that turned out to be unfinished. As anyone that works with violins knows, the bridge has to be carved a special curvature for the strings, as well as a certain height from the fingerboard.. I tried my best to cut, file and sand the curvature, but was not able to get it correct. I have since then ordered some violin bridge templates, just in case I attempt this job again. With one bridge ruined, I decided to spend a few bucks more and get a finished bridge from Fiddleshop.com in Pompano Beach, Florida along with some rosin. The bridge only requires a little fine sanding before putting in place. Unfortunately, the soundpost inside the body is placed a bit too far back from where the bridge is supposed to rest on the body, so the tone is not that great. I don’t have the tools nor the patience right now to re-adjust the soundpost.

Stringing a violin can be a job to say the least. Unlike a guitar that has a set bridge/saddle and tailpiece, all of the string contact rely solely on the pressure of the strings. That is why when changing strings on a violin or viola, it is usually done one string at a time so that the bridge remains in place. In this case, I had to attached each string to the tailpiece and the tuning peg, making sure that each string was taut but not tight, then fitting the bridge under the strings in the correct position on the body, then correctly tuning each string. Tuning pegs on a violin are not geared like guitar tuners, so any little twist can send the string into a two- or three-note change. The fine tuners found on beginner violins are usually only good enough to adjust a semi-tone. For new strings, you need to work with the tuning pegs a lot just to get the strings stretched.

Finally, getting the strings relatively in-tune, I rosined up the bow and took Ms. Pink for a test-drive. Eeeek! The curve of the bridge is good, and the fingerboard/string contact seemed fine, but the tone was very weak. Granted, this is a cheap, made-in-China violin not meant for concert performances, and as I said before, the soundpost is not in the best position within the body. However, I would have hoped for a little bit better tone given that the violin is in good shape structurally. It is another lesson learned.

I definitely do not plan on keeping this violin, but I do appreciate the lutherie lessons learned while working on it. Hopefully I can find some young girl who is interested in learning the violin and will appreciate having this as her first fiddle.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Lutherie Musical Instruments

Working on a Pink Fiddle

I’m starting to get back into doing some small repairs on musical instruments again. I have a Yamaha acoustic guitar that needs some work on it that may take some time, so that one is on the back burner. Currently, I am working on getting a violin back into playing order.

While scanning eBay a few weeks ago, I came across a pink 4/4 size fiddle that needed some TLC. The cool thing was, the seller was actually only a mile or two away from my house. I contacted him to see if I could buy it direct, and we agreed. When I opened up the soft case, I saw that it needed a lot more work than anticipated, but nothing that I couldn’t handle.

The body and neck are fine, but it was missing the bridge and endpin. The tailpiece and chinrest were there but not attached. The bow was a complete mess and not worth re-hairing, so it will be trashed. I ordered a new bridge and endpin and got them a few days later. The endpin proved to be too large for the end hole, so I ordered a violin peg reamer and got it a few days ago. This tool is a worthwhile purchase for anyone doing work on string instruments, especially the violin family. It is basically a tapered file that slightly widens a hole where a tuning peg or endpin should go into an instrument. I was able to get the endpin here to fit in a matter of seconds with a few twists of the reamer.

The way that the violin is strung up, it relies on each component resting on another to get the best vibration with the wood. With the endpin in place, the tailpiece can be looped over it, but it is not secure unless the strings are attached and wound to the tuning peg. The strings also have to be resting properly on the bridge, which needs to be placed in the correct spot on the top of the body. The bridge is probably the most important part of the actual violin, as it transfers the vibrations of the strings directly to the body, working against the top as well as the soundpost directly underneath inside the body. Bridges found on beginner and student violins are very basic. Professional violinists and fiddlers usually have a luthier carve special bridges that have a certain thickness (as thin as possible), weight, height and curvature to get the best sound.

While I am not concerned with getting a bridge that will cost three or four times as much as what I paid for this violin, I still want to use this as learning experience, so I will be working on making the bridge that I purchased to be better quality than when it came to me in the mail. This will entail thinning the entire piece with sanding, as well as adding a slight curved face to the side facing the neck. Thank goodness that there are a number of videos on YouTube that give some advice on violin repairs.

I already ordered a new bow, just a student one for under $15.00, as again I don’t want to invest too much into this project. I’m not interested in making this thing a professional fiddle, just a playable one that will inspire some young girl to want to play the instrument. It also gives me a chance to learn more about the skill of working on repairing and maintaining stringed instruments, something that I wish I could do as a full time job.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Lutherie Songwriting

Back to Work!

Well, we laid my mother to rest yesterday, and I feel that I should get back to busy-ing myself in order to keep my mind alert and my slightly arthritic hands working.

Yes, I missed SPBGMA, but I am glad to see that it was a success. Lots of jamming, and plenty of surprises. I am committed to being there next year!

I will still be moving back into my mom’s house and selling my house, so the clean up will continue, along with cleaning out some of my mom’s stuff from her house. As for me, more selling off of music equipment, especially amplifiers and other electric guitar-related stuff that I never use any more. I’ll be also selling some jackets that don’t fit or never fit in the first place but I was too lazy to get rid of. My advice is, if you are in the Detroit area, keep checking Craigslist and look for “Dearborn/Hamtramck” as a location.

I will be trying to hit more shows as well. Not much offered during February and March, but I will keep checking and hope to find a few major bluegrass shows that I can have guitarists try out the 2208! I will definitely try to hit a bluegrass festival as well, but with Milan and Blissfield both cancelled, it will be either Charlotte or something on the west side of Michigan.

And back to practicing gutiar and fiddle, as well as songwriting. Taking care of mom took a lot out of practicing, and I was not motivated to do any songwriting, Hopefully, I can get inspired. I plan to attend more Songwriters Anonymous meetings, as they have always had supportive people.

And finally, lutherie. I definitely want to get back to maintenance and repairs of guitars. I plan to start simple, like setting up that $47.01 bass guitar that I got a few months back (https://luegra.design.blog/2022/12/17/the-47-01-bass-guitar/). I still have a few Yamaha acoustics that I want to set up, one that needs some repairs, and a lot of other minor jobs. I really enjoy working on guitars, and I want to accomplish a few things before the Demon Arthritis takes over.

Next week, I should have a blog full of rants and raves. Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Music Bluegrass vocals Lutherie

What To Do During The Winter?

Winter is around the corner. More time indoors, most of the time outdoors (especially north of the Mason-Dixon Line) is spent shoveling and snowblowing instead of out on the road heading for a festival or jam session. There is little to look forward to during the next few months. Even most bluegrass bands go into hibernation, since most of their in come comes from performing at outdoor events.

This doesn’t mean that everyone (including you) have to forget about anything musical until March or April. This is the perfect time to better yourself for the 2023 bluegrass summer season. There are a number of activities that you can do to busy yourself at home while improving on your musical skills.

Practice – That concept cannot be repeated enough! There is always something that you can learn to improve on your playing. Time spent outside gardening or lawn maintenance can be spent indoors (once the driveway and sidewalk are shoveled) learning new things on your preferred instrument. There are tons of books, videos and YouTube channels devoted to lessons on all stringed instruments. Moreover, I have discussed jam-along videos in previous blogs that can help you improve your playing with others (https://luegra.design.blog/2022/06/11/a-look-at-bluegrass-jam-tracks/). I have also mentioned checking out instructional videos from other genres (rock, blues, jazz, Celtic, etc.) to see if there is any tips that you can pick up.

Learn Another Instrument – So you play guitar and that is the only instrument that you own. Get a beginner bass guitar rig, or a mandolin, and transfer some of your skills to one of those instrument. How about a tin whistle? Those are extremely inexpensive, and you can pick up a few tunes within a week or so. If you want to stick with strings and have a little more dough to blow, start working on a good banjo, dobro, or fiddle. Make yourself more viable at the jam sessions next year.

Vocals – If you are a lead singer, keep stretching those pipes! Do warm-up exercises every day. Sing loud, like in a band, not in a lower talking volume. If you are not a singer, then start working on it! I did a two-part blog on bluegrass harmonies (https://luegra.design.blog/2021/03/11/bluegrass-harmony-singing-part-1-either-you-have-it-or-you-can-learn-it/ and https://luegra.design.blog/2021/03/19/bluegrass-harmony-singing-part-2-you-gotta-work-on-it-to-be-good/). Bluegrass vocals depend on great-sounding two- and three-part harmonies. Some people have an ear for harmonizing naturally. Others need to work on it. Now it the time. Find some bluegrass recordings with great harmonies, and pay attention. Then, tune-in to those harmonies and see if you can match the pitches. Find some solo-singing bluegrass vocals and try to harmonize. This is something that takes a lot of work, but again, makes a bluegrass performer more viable. If anything, you can check out Cary Fridley’s YouTube courses on singing.

https://www.youtube.com/user/cfridley

Basic lutherie – This does nto mean to try and build a guitar or mandolin on your own (although if you have the time, money and passion, go right ahead!). Do some basic maintenance besides changing strings. Clean the fingerboard, polish the instrument, perhaps even do some more advanced work like crowning frets or adjusting the truss rod. Again, there are a number of books on guitar/musical instrument maintenance out there, plus dozens of videos on YouTube that can walk you through simple maintenance.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle Bluegrass Music Lutherie

Tidbits #5: Hillbilly Thomists, Brittany Haas, Iris Carr

I have talked about The Hillbilly Thomists before on this blog almost two years ago (https://luegra.design.blog/2020/12/04/the-hillbilly-thomists-more-bluegrass-meets-cathoilicism/). I just picked up the band’s latest CD, Holy Ghost Power. If you are into The Earl Brothers/Mumford & Sons/Avett Brothers style of bluegrass, you definitely need to pick this disc up! While every song has religious overtones, it is not the strict gospel songs that one hears in church. The best cut IMHO is “Good Tree.” The mood that this song sets will move your heart.

What surprised me to see in a pleasurable way was finding a YouTube video of the band performing live on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville! If they weren’t wearing their Franciscan robes, you would think that they were another quality bluegrass band. Besides good musicians and excellent harmonizing vocalists, they have a great stage personal, and communicate will with the audience. This performance was in conjunction with a convention of the Knights of Columbus being held in Nashville. I guess that the only bigger stage for a band like this would be the Vatican!

Brittany Haas is probably my favorite living fiddle player. I am so amazed by her work with Hawktail, as well as numerous other projects. While her forte is bluegrass, she can easily spin into old-time, country, Celtic, Texas swing, and the blues. Her playing never lets me down, and I am so proud of her accomplishments over the past few years. I want to let everyone know that she is putting out a new video instruction series through ArtistWorks called “Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddle with Brittany Haas.” This promises to be a rewarding educational series for beginner and intermediate fiddlers from the best in the business. It comes out in December, and the ArtistWorks YouTube channel has a sneak preview. Great lessons from a great lady!

Also be sure to check out two new videos on Darol Anger’s YouTube channel where he is duetting with Brittany. Here’s one of them.

A luthier that I have been following for a while is Iris Carr from England. She writes a blog about some of her more exacting repairs to violins, violas, and cellos (https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/112171145). I absolutely love to see her expert work, which is so professional that I often call her “Dr. Carr” in the comments section of her posts. Iris has recently started an online course for repairs and restorations of stringed instruments. From what I have seen of her previous repair work, a beginning luthier will learn a lot from this lady.

New Online Course available now!
Iris Carr Restorations

Chew on it and comment.

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