My newest harp guitar was premiered at the 2011 Harp Guitar Gathering which was held in Milford, CT this year and hosted by John Thomas. 'La Mer', features beautiful curly maple on the back/sides/neck, and a sitka spruce top.  Sort of a thematic concept here, the idea being that the curly figure will look like ripples in the water.  The lovely mermaid was done for me by Lori Hlavsa (ArtbyLori.com).  The instrument is available for purchase through Dream Guitars (www.dreamguitars.com)

NEW KILLER ACOUSTIC SETS !!!!!!!

I recently purchased some incredible sets of wood: several nicely figured sets of Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii);  three sets of figured Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa) from Mexico; and I actually acquired two sets of beautify 'Quilted' Mahogany (Swietentia macrophylla) from 'THE LOG' (featured article in Fine Wood Working Magazine Sept/Oct 1985, no. 54; written by Mark Berry entitled, "Quilted Mahogany: The Tale of a Magnificent Mutant".

Here is the link to the article:  Quilted Mahogany

Contact me ASAP if you would like to order an instrument using any of this incredible wood, it won't last long!

Quilted Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) from 'The Log'

Figured Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa)

Figured Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii)

Figured Tasmanian Tiger Myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii)

A.S.I.A. Symposium 2011:

I just returned from the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisan's Symposium 2011 that was held in E. Stroudsberg, PA.   I had the pleasure of giving a presentation on "Harp Guitar Designs: Past, Present, and Future?".   All seemed to go well ( I was not tarred and feathered) and a fun time was had by all. Thanks to David and Nadine Nichols, Bear and Tina Acker, and Dick Boak for putting on another great event. 

New Electric Guitars Design

The 'Delta Prince' is the latest instrument to come out of the shop.  My friend Ernie Southern was looking for a light weight blues machine to supplement his arsenal of National metal body guitars.  I have a 1935 Rickenbacher Electro 'Spanish' guitar and a Supro Ozark (the one covered in MOT) that Ernie is fond of.  This instrument is sort of a hybrid of the two.  It has a small semi-hollow body of mahogany, with a Macassar ebony top plate, white & black striped ebony binding and fingerboard, and a Lollar P-90 pickup that just sounds sooooo good.  Everyone is happy!

Video Samples Are Now Up !!!!  Please check out the links to the video samples on the 'Players, Friends, and Links' page.  Many thanks to the players that have allowed me to utilize the video of their performances for my unabashed self promotion :)  Don't forget to select the 'view in high resolution' tab when you get to the You Tube ste.