Did you do any other type of wood working before beginning to craft guitars?
I started building all kinds of things when I was a kid. We didn’t have much money in my family, so if there was something I wanted chances are I would have to build it… guitars, surfboards, jewelry, whatever. The only formal woodworking training I received was a half of a semester in Junior High School. I also designed and built custom art furniture while I was building guitars. It allowed me to take ideas that wouldn’t fit into my guitars into my furniture.

What was it that made you decide to devote your life to crafting instruments?
I built my first guitar because I couldn’t afford to buy a good one. I got into bands, I was passionate about music, so it just kind of happened. I loved working with my hands, I loved building guitars. My grandfather was a pipe organ builder… maybe it was in my blood.

Did you find that the guitars on the market lacked something that you thought you could improve upon, which made you decide to become a luthier?
Back when I started building I had no idea if the industry needed anything or not. I just wanted to build. After several years at Fender it was obvious what “we” needed… custom instrument capabilities. That ultimately led to the development of the Fender Custom Shop

How long have you been crafting stringed instruments?
I built my first guitar from scratch when I was fifteen years old… that was 40 years ago. I dinked around with modifying guitars a couple of years before that though. Man… forty years… it’s a bit scary to say!

What do you look for in tone woods?
Well there are several things… first off I need to make sure that the wood species, and the actual piece itself, are structurally capable of doing the job I need it to do. Next I want to make sure the piece has a nice resonance to it… that it has an acoustic “life” when activated. A dull or dead sounding piece of wood will result in an inferior sounding instrument. Lastly I’ll consider its aesthetic appeal.

Are there things unrelated to the guitar that inspires a new idea or concept that you incorporate into guitar building, like certain architecture, or nature, etc?
Absolutely! Most of my inspiration comes from old cars and cool buildings. Art is art… wherever it’s used!

Where do you draw inspiration from for some of your builds?
Well, as I said above, some of it comes from cool old cars or buildings. I’ll see a line, or a series of lines, and think “wow… that’d be amazing on a guitar body!” Other times it might be a musician I hear or see… where the power of their performance inspires me to create a guitar. I’ve got a bunch of them still stirring around in my head… it’s just hard to find the time to build them all!

What is your philosophy in regards to guitar crafting?
I want to create instruments that inspire their owner to be as creative as they can be… timeless instruments that can last generations. I am not interested in building topical guitars that are hip for a few years and then are discarded. My goal is to make inspirational heirlooms.

I noticed that handcrafted guitars are equal parts instrument and artwork/sculpture. How long did it take you to hone your carving skills, and what was the most difficult carving you have done to date?
I don’t consider my guitar building skills to be “carving”, so I’m not sure what you’re thinking of here. If you’re thinking about my art pieces, like “Woman is the Machine” that is a style I’ve been working of for many years with my non-guitar art… like my art furniture and sculpture.

How long does it typically take you to build a guitar for an average client?
My process takes about 100 hours over the course of at least nine months.

Is the entire guitar handcrafted, or do you use CNC machines for any part?
I do not use CNC machines, just classic woodworking tools… band saw, hand routers, pin router, drill press and sanders. All my wood finish sand, as well as all of my finish paint sanding, is done by hand with a block… no power sanders. I feel I can get a much better and flatter surface that way. I can also maintain an almost perfectly consistent edge radius. It’s tough on the arms but I feel it’s important.

Being a luthier myself, I find that I love the smell of exotic woods as I cut and shape them. What are some of your favorite species of woods, scent-wise?
Hands down Port Orford Cedar! I remember when I picked up my first batch of it and brought it in my shop. The only way I could describe it was “It smelled like god walked in the room”… it was amazing!

What are some of your favorite species of woods to work with, carving-wise?
Again, I’m not real sure what you mean “carving-wise”. Right now I’m really partial to Port Orford Cedar, Black Limba, and some amazing feather crotch Walnut I picked up… beautiful stuff!

Have you ever encountered a project that seemed too much of a challenge for you to take on?
I have a real problem saying “no” to anything. I have pretty much always believed I can do anything, and I usually can. Unfortunately I usually lose tons of money on those projects too!

For anyone out there, thinking of a career in lutherie, what kind of advice would you give them?
Read everything you can find on guitar building, ask every builder you meet lots of questions, and buy some wood and start cutting! Experimentation is everything in this business. Some folks like to go to Luthier schools, that’s not really my recommendation. I’ve had bad luck with people I hired from those schools. To me, nothing teaches you as well as doing. You will make mistakes… that’s okay, learn from them! You will have successes… great remember them! Buy junky guitars and tear into them, see how they’re made, figure out how to do it better. And maybe most importantly, make sure you want a career in guitar building because it’s your passion. There are much more lucrative careers out there if you’re just interested in making money, but if you’re building because it’s your passion you’ll be rich in many other ways!