That;really;depends;on;the;design;and;tonal;goals;of;the;project,;but;
my clients tend to drive this decision based on what they want from
the;guitar.;I;am;fortunate;that;we;have;Jason;Lollar;nearby.;I;use;his;
pickups in most of my guitars because they are well made and they
bring;out;the;nuances;of;my;guitars;quite;well.;His;ability;to;nail;a;
custom design is uncanny. If I have a selection I need to choose from, I
use my ears.
How has your approach to building guitars evolved or changed
over the years?
My;approach;has;always;been;experimental,;and;that;has;allowed;me;
to;explore;construction;concepts;and;theories;that;are;unorthodox;
and somewhat radical. I also get to design and build some pretty
out-there stuff. I still believe the guitar is an acoustic instrument,
and this has shaped the way I design and work. But my craft continues to evolve due to the fact that I am constantly learning about
what;makes;a;great;guitar.;What;I’m;building;today;I;feel;is;light-years ahead of where I started. I hope to look back in five years and
think the same thing about today.
What do you consider to be your most unorthodox and radical
theories and approaches?
From;a;theoretical;perspective,;I;do;not;differentiate;between;acoustics;
and;electrics.;I;see;them;at;opposite;ends;of;the;same;spectrum.;The;
concept of a solidbody acoustic allows me to incorporate ideas from
both;ends;of;the;spectrum.;Without;giving;too;much;away,;I;will;say;
I do not build replica
guitars. My goal is to expand
the concept of the guitar,
to refine and evolve it into
something new.
that I have developed acoustic designs that allow characteristics of a
solidbody;to;shine;through,;and;vice;versa.;The;design;and;construc-tion;techniques;play;out;more;in;my;semi-;and;full-hollowbody;and;
acoustic-style;guitars,;which;are;much;more;complex;structurally.;Being;
self-taught, I design bracing systems to fit the design I am working
with.;So;the;“out-there”;construction;concepts;relate;to;blocking;and;
tonal-structural bracing designs that are very different than the typical
X-;and;parallel-bracing;systems;employed;by;the;vast;majority;of;gui-tars;today,;both;acoustic;and;electric.;Just;take;a;look;at;the;Flaretone;
design;or;my;Hollow;Dragon;to;see;some;of;these;concepts;at;work.
I understand you burned a guitar you deemed a “tonal dud.”
Others might have passed it off as a factory second.
The;guitar;that;I;burned;was;a;simple;case;of;catharsis.;It;was;a;very;
early;guitar;for;me—my;seventh—and;I;was;exploring;the;concept;of;
