Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm sure you all know the good lookin' guy on the right but some of you might not know the other fella. (yeah, if you live in a cave )
I had lunch with Jim yesterday and spent a few hours talking shop.
I find this experience to be rather timely as there was just some talk of veterans being "superstars" and having their heads high in the clouds. Man, nothing could be further from the truth with Jim. He's a very humble man that faces the same challenges that we all face everyday in our building. His work is truly brilliant and his tooling (which is the majority of what he uses his CNC for) is out of this world.
I brought him one of my guitars for him to critique. To my astonishment he loved it! With the exception of the nut (I cut the slot at the wrong angle so the nut looks like it's in backwards), he couldn't find anything wrong. I'll tell you, if that won't make a guy's head swell, I don't know what will. James Olson praising your work....whoosh!
Pwoolson39043.6176388889

Awesome Paul!! But you better tell Jim that he needs a couple more routers . I have ten already but it looks like he probably has more!

That is great news for you!! . I have talked with many great builders and I have to agree, they are typically very humble and sharing with their information and are always on the look out for a new idea, opinion or process. Their open minds are probably what have made them GREAT!

Shane

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Canada

[QUOTE=Shane Neifer] ... Their open minds are probably what have made them GREAT!

Shane[/QUOTE]

Hear! Hear! That and obsessive compulsiveness...

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Very cool Paul.

I can't agree with you more. Jim is one of the most humble and giving person's I have ever had the privilege of talking to. He is so giving of his time and talents.

Hey, wanting to know if you guys talked about his flat top design. After 1000+ guitars, I'm wondering about any failures he's had. I'll probably just call him myself about it, but thought I would ask you.

Also, what did you think of his bracing pattern? A little bit different eh?

Also, congratulations on the praise Paul, from what I've seen here, you deserve it.

Now come on down from the clouds and get back to work

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Rod, we talked a little about his flat top design though he's taked some pretty good heat about it in the past so he was a little reserved to talk too much. I could definately tell he believed in the design and didn't really care much what others thought about it.

Thanks Paul, I would think he has got some flack. There sure are a small number of "top end" builders doing the flat top design though including Kevin Ryan (I think), Charlie Hoffman (he says he does on his site), and I'm wondering if Mike Doolin does it as well. I would think there are more, but I don't know who they are.

Hesh. That would be cool, but Jim is not very computer savvy (at least with this stuff anyway). He told me that he doesn't even check email that often and if you want to order a guitar from him, it's all done over the phone or in person. That would be fun though. I suspect though, that with his output of more than 60 guitars per year, he's very busy.

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Yeah, he's lurked here a bit but he actually builds guitars with his time instead of chatting about them.

That's a good idea eh?

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Ouch... Touche!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Very cool, Paul. Great day for you!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Kevin Ryan most definitely builds with a flat top. His exact quote to me related to flat tops vs. tops with a radius (cause I saved the email) was:

"if you want your guitars to sound like everybody else's, then build it exactly like everybody else's."

If that sounds harsh, it wasn't, NOT AT ALL...he was responding to a question, and he was as polite and informative and I could have hoped. Class act that guy.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Quote: Yeah, he's lurked here a bit but he actually builds guitars with his time instead of chatting about them

       This is like watching the Wizard of Oz! When I expected to see James Olsen it would be a giant talking wall of fire and smoke!

     It must of been great talking to a guy like that! How embarassing, a backwards nut!

    As the other Ozians say "good on ya mate"! Congratulations!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)