Official Luthiers Forum!

Just finished Hesh and Dave's set-up class, building on their fretting class.

My 12- fret dread is now 4/64 on the high E, and just under 6/64 on the low. And assuming you're not thrashing on it, nary a buzz.

These guys really know what they're doing.

And the best part? Now, so do I.

Steve

Dave and Hesh are the best and most knowledgeable guys in the lutherie/repair business it has been my pleasure to know.

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Thanks Steve for starting this thread and for your kind remarks. You made our day by letting us know that you enjoyed the class and learned a great deal too. Many thanks!

Many thanks to OLFers John Ressler, Steve Wheeler, and Bob Iotta too - you guys all did great and it was a real pleasure having you for the class.

For everyone else this was our "Set-Up For Builders" class that was specifically engineered from the get-go to provide hand's on instruction in what to do when the wood working is finished and you need to turn your creation into a perfectly set-up musical instrument or, my favorite, a tool for musicians.

Our Set-Up class builds on our "Fretting For Builders" class and address all of the final set-up issues such as:

nut making
saddle making
compensation
bridge gluing with HHG
set-up specs and preferences
relief
how to cut nut slots very well AND low....
and a plethora of other things that come up while taking four guitars and getting them to sing for the first time

It's hands on instruction with an instructor ratio of one instructor for every two students. Our goal, which everyone did great with, was to have all four guitars very well set-up and singing by the end of the day.

I also wanted to mention that these guys built some very cool guitars that were a pleasure to play AND see too too. There is a LOT of talent in this group!

Thanks again guys you ALL did fantastic and it was a great time for Dave and I too!

Some more pics:

It didn't snow 12" & you didn't get stuck in the elevator?

Bummer.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Hey Kevin!

Yep it was a good day for me too and I didn't get stuck in the elevator, again....

It was a great day weather wise too and we had the windows open. Even the 150 protestors who passed under our windows chanting something about something seemed to be enjoying the weather too!

Hope that you are doing well Kevin.

Another fantastic class. I'm amazed at the systematic way you guys can codify some fairly esoteric knowledge and skills and teach them to others. I'm also amazed at how much I now enjoy playing my fine, $20 eBay Hohner guitar. :^) (As Steve said: a free guitar with every harmonica!)

Absolutely fantastic time, made some new friends and got to catch up with some old ones. We were even lucky to treat our guests to some nice weather, and chance to see some good old down home Ann Arbor protests parading back and forth in front of the shop.

I look forward to keeping in touch with you all, and thanks again for coming!

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Hey Dave, just a note to say that Linda and Peggy said to say hi. They actually said many nice things about you, despite what we all know to be true

S

David and Hesh,
Thank you for putting together such a fantastic class. As Max said, you guys really know what they're doing. David is an excellent instructor and was able to present the material so it was neither confusing to the less experienced students nor boring for the more experienced like John who has been building for 16 years and is an instructor himself. Dave's systematic approach to guitar setup is so logical you wonder why everyone doesn't do it that way. Not to mention all the little things I picked up on like the efficient layout of the work benches, where the most used tools are located, why the boss gets the bench by the window...
Thank you Hesh for noticing my injured right thumb was starting to slow me down and coming up with a simple jig to help hold the work piece.

Had a great time.

Steve

p.s. sign me up for the next fretting class opening(wife approved)

When do you guys do the west coast tour?

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Looks like all had a great time, I'm jealous! Shame you guys are so far away.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Another thumbs up. Great class. Well worth the travel and expense from Chicago area. We learned other things too - such as how not to go down a one way street and how to interpret the color of your pee!

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John Ressler

Thanks John and it was great meeting you and seeing your VERY cool guitar that was a cannon too! You even can sing which is a rare thing in our shop....

The "pee color chart" that we have in our rest room Dave put there because I get kidney stones far too often and don't drink enough (water....) so this was to help me know that I need to drink more. Likely too much information.... sorry....

We will have many more pics likely later today to post from the good camera so take a look again for some great shots of everyone.

Thanks again John AND if you and Steve want to take our fretting class let us know. We might do a special class just for you two if you want.

Here come the pics from the other camera.

More pics....

and more pics.....

and even more pics...

Wot, no more pics?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Had a client who found a set up of 1.4/2.4 mm (about same as yours, slightly lower on the high E) "uncomfortable" - said it was difficult to play.
I succumbed, sorry.
Suggested that maybe some more practice than his (apparently) then normal 1/2 -1 hr spread over a week would help to build callouses.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Love seeing shots of windows open in February!

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Hesh, are you in any of the pictures and what's going on at the belt sander?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Rusty!

I'm not in any of the pictures because if folks knew what I looked like I would have to kill myself... Just kidding... I am likely in back sleeping....

Seriously I'm the whack-job on the other end of the camera so I never get in the pics.

As for the belt sander that one was Dan Erlewine's Dad's by the way but what Dave is likely discussing is his "Know Your Platen" discussion. A decent belt sander will have some areas of the platen that are very... flat and predictably so. Other areas not so much but we can use those for imparting a radius, etc. on say bridge bottoms, etc.

That would be my guess what they are discussing along with a caution that we don't have a guard installed on the front of the sander and it just happens to be at just the right height to turn aspiring Luthiers into sopranos.....

Thanks for the post. Looks like a good time was had by all and a lot was learned. I'd be in for the West Coast leg of the tour as well but Ann Arbor is a little far to travel.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

Hey Alan! I'm concerned about sending Dave to the West Coast because he likely would never come back.... I spent much of my life on the "left coast" and loved it with a few exceptions. Sitting in a rental convertible latest model Mustang on the San Diego Freeway with 16 lanes of traffic at a dead stop on a smoggy day was not one of my better memories...

But that aside, I loved the place!