How I Got Started
In 1995, again remembering the Westovers, I decided it would be neat to make a guitar. For this effort I got Guitar Making and Technology by Cumpiano and Natelson. Until reading the book, I thought that if I can make a violin, a guitar ought to be easy. After reading about truss rods, I opted for building a classical for my first guitar effort. I used the tightest grain pine I had in my cabinet shop for the top, Spanish cedar for the sides, mahogany for the back and neck, and cherry for the fingerboard. I guess I didn't know that it's customary to make the sides and back out of the same material. Next came three more flat top fiddles in 1997, and another violin in 2000 to replace the one that was stolen. Later in that year, I embarked on my greatest challenge to date and decided to make an F-5L Style mandolin. For this project, I got Roger Siminoff's book Constructing a Bluegrass Mandolin. What a challenging but rewarding project! My youngest daughter, Lauren wants to learn to play the Mandolin, so we’ll start working on that this fall. From there, I went back to Cumpiano and Natelson's book and this time built my first two steel string guitars. One is made of Palo Escrito with a spruce top and the other is flamed maple and spruce. It is owned by my cousin, Warren Peterson, who has been in the music business in Nashville for many years. It got used in a recording session a while back! Several times through the years, I thought how great it would be to go to one of the Luthier schools, but never could make the time. Finally, after researching various options, I decided George Morris' Vermont Instruments was the best fit for me and took his basic class in June 2004. George is a fine teacher and builder and I came home with a wealth of new understanding on guitar making and a great guitar. I’m currently working on guitars number 11-14. As a Christian believer, the Lord has put it on my heart to let my instruments be a witness, so I now incorporate the ichthys (fish) symbol somewhere on my instruments. My prayer is that the Lord will bless my instrument building and help find good homes for the instruments I build with the talent He's given me. Christian recording artist Steve Green now has the guitar I made in Vermont and plays it on his fly dates and overseas trips. Thanks for reading. Hill Country Lutherie Phone: 830-796-3120 |
I suppose it
could be said that Hill Country Lutherie began in early 1991. That's when as a sometimes
bored cabinet-maker, I saw an article in the March/April issue of "The Woodworker's
Journal" for a flat top Folk Fiddle written by Allene and Harold Westover. The first
paragraph caught my attention. They wrote, "While making a musical instrument may
seem frightening at first, remember that it is just woodworking, and that following
step-by-step instructions makes it achievable." I thought to myself, "I can do
that." I made the top out of local cypress, the sides out of scrap birch, the back
out of a piece of 1/4" knotty pine plywood fall off, and the neck from scrap pine.
What a thrill it was when I strung up that first instrument, drew the bow across the
strings and it made music, sort of! (I bought the bow) Of course it was awful music
because I had no idea how to tune the thing. With the help of our church organist I solved
that problem, but the sounds it made could still hardly be called music because I also had
no idea how to play a fiddle or any instrument for that matter. I resolved to take lessons
and learn to play this new creation, and I gradually got to the point where I could
scratch out a few tunes by ear and memory. During this time a local fiddle player gave me
a badly damaged old violin of unknown origin and said I could have it if I wanted to fix
it. After bringing the old violin to life, I remembered Westover's comment and decided I
could make a violin, given good directions. I got H.S. Wake's book, The Techniques of
Violin Making and sometime later had the joy of bringing instrument number two to life. I
was very proud of that first arch top effort. It actually played and sounded very nice.
Sadly, our house was burglarized in February of 1992, and the two violins were taken. The
scoundrels must have figured the flat top was homemade, 'cause they left it.