Sessions on Day 2

Day 2 started right off the bat with Teja Gerken showing us some Contemporary Fingerstyle Technique.  They really go beyond hammer ons and pull offs.

Teja Gerken in the distance

Then Santa Cruz Guitar Company was doing free setups on guitars.  I turned in my Gibson AJ and asked to have their new strings put on.  Interesting about Santa Cruz proprietary strings: no gauges.  Your choices are Low Tension (Lights) or Mid Tension (Mediums).  My AJ now has the SCGC Mids on them and they feel and sound awesome (but part of that could be the new setup too)

SCGC techs at work

Only available through SCGC website

Next I sat in on Howard Kleppers discussion on guitar conversions.  He tells us of an old Martin archtop that he converted to a 1930s flat top.  He does amazing work and the converted guitar sounds like a dream (unfortunately,I neglected to take a pic)

Howard Klepper on Martin Conversions

I next sat in on a discussion about a new guitar wood from Hawaii called Hawaiian Kiawe with Peter Howorth and Rick Micheletti (Guitar makers living in Hawaii...is there anything better than that?).  It's an extremely stiff wood that has properties that are similar to Brazilian Rosewood.  Sounded very nice but I wouldn't put it in the "holy grail" category of BR.  It's not that rare compared to Koa.  I'm not sure if it will catch on (but what do I know).

Peter Howorth & Rick Micheletti

Then I went to Fingerboard Explorations with Scott Nygaard.  He showed us many ways to play the major scale.  For anyone who may not know, Teja and Scott, come to us from Peghead Nation (pegheadnation.com), which is a site that gives online guitar lessons like the ones that we are subscribed to.

Scott Nygaad of Peghead Nation

Paul Reed Smith and his senior acoustic luthier Michael Byle talked to us about their visions for the perfect acoustic guitar.  Paul demonstrated the projection of his guitars and how loud they can be and how long they sustain.  PRS acoustic guitars ought not to be overlooked when shopping for acoustic guitars.  Even though PRS is known for their electrics, they want to compete badly with the other well known acoustic brands.

Paul Reed Smith & Michael Byle of PRS

PRS demonstrating how his guitar's sound fills the room (tent)

I dropped by on the discussion with Pacific Rim Tonewoods' Steve McMinn and Dr. Dave Olson who are doing a lot of tests on Thermal Modifications on wood (aka Torrifaction).  They are looking into baking the woods before cutting to see the effects.  No substantial test results yet.

Dr. Dave Olson on Torrifaction

Dana Bourgeois of Bourgeois Guitars does a voicing demonstration on finding a guitar top's sweet spot and setting the bracing to enhance it.  I had a chance to try out some of his high end models and to say that they were "sweet" doesn't do it justice.  They blew my mind as I felt the vibrations through my chest.  Dana is apparently known among the guitar makers community (at least those in attendance) as one of the leading experts in the torrifaction process.  He knows his stuff, trust me.

Dana Bourgeois talkin' guitars

Some of the talks that I missed (because I was somewhere else) are Jeff Traugott, who is a one man shop, but makes excellent guitars.  He had one of his best customers on hand (Guitarist Brady Cohan) to do demonstrations, Bill Collings of Collings and Waterloo Guitars, and interview with Bill Frisell, a discussion on Pre-WW2 Gibsons, Matt Munisteri's Blindfold Guitar Challenge (i.e. can we HEAR the difference between vintage priceless guitars and guitars that are more affordable to the general public, and a lesson on Travis-Style Fingerpicking.  Ah well, maybe next year.