Official Luthiers Forum!

The BBC in the UK is running a two part documentary about the guitar and last night part one featured the evolution of the Acoustic - OK it was top line, rapid and giving CF Martin about 15 seconds, Interview with George Gruhn etc, but for me the most interseting was seeing around Wayne Henderson's modest workshop. Introduced as the man who once made Eric Clapton wait 10 years for a flattopand how recently one of his guitars fetched over $300,000, I was surprized and perhaps a tad embarrassed to say I had only ever heard of the guy as a bluegrass champion and not a luthier! Shame on me!

They showed him entering his workshop vault to reveal a rather amazing stack of Brazilian, at which point his eyes seemed to glaze over, become misty eyed and emotional

So what do you know about the guy and his obviously rather wonderful guitars? Would be nice to get a bit more info on what makes his guitars so coverted. There were some great shots of him scolloping braces with a small pocket knife which he said he used for all his 'tinkering' - classic.

Frank my friend there is a good book - Clapton's Guitar, that was written mostly about Wayne. I would recommend this book, it's a very quick read and the perspective, although not intended solely for builders, is pretty interesting anyway.

What do we know about Wayne? Lots and it all came from the above book. One thing that I recall is that Wayne is known to use a pocket knife where ever possible expounding when he does that his intent is to cut away anything that does not look like a guitar.

Check out the book I am sure you will find it a good read.

greetings all- hadn't been around the forum here in awhile, missed it, and just had to check back in... does anyone know if the vid of Wayne mentioned in this thread is available online at all? I did find a 3 minute portion of him playing outside with Herb Key at the BBC website but couldn't find the workshop tour portion which I'd love to see!
Thanks

A lot of BBC radio and television programmes are available (free) for a week after transmission on the BBC iPlayer. But, for some cockeyed reason, the TV programmes are only available to UK residents (so I don't get to see 'em). Perhaps if you could fool the iPlayer into thinking your e-mail address was in the UK ? ....

So he's a modern day 'Stradavarious', but why? It would be interesting to hear if someone has played his guitars, and what is going on with his products, why is he so covetted? Was he one of the first independant luthiers, any video clips on 'Claptons' guitar.

Obviously for an English TV show, Clapton makes a good story, that he had to wait 10 years, Ferrari would make Royalty wait in a cubicle for hours, just like everyone else...

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Go to Youtube and search Wayne Henderson guitars there is quite a few videos of Wayne and others with his guitars and some interviews with him.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

the "story of the guitar" is a very well made, three parts (3 hours), BBC documentary.

you can find it via torrent!

cheers

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everything you know is wrong

Looking forward to seeing the BBC documentary. Clapton's Guitar is a good read. Wayne is very endearing. I couldn't help but notice that he is a traditionalist. He (apparently) makes copies of pre-war Martins. Doesn't feel the need to improve on perfection, as he puts it. I love that he is such a philanthropist. You wouldn't believe what he charges for his guitars ($1,500 as of the writing of the book) not bad for a $30,000 guitar, eh? His guitars have certainly grabbed the attention of of a lot of people. There's a good sound clip of the sister guitar to Clapton's on Allen St. John's website Allenstjohn.com Click on "books" and scroll down to "Sally Anne"

Ok, this is a good video, explains alot of the issues, Clapton, etc...has Clapton playing the Henderson that inspired him to get one, Wayne needs to be 'bugged' alot to finish your geetar, so thats why Claptons took 10 years.


Very cool, modern 'Stradavarius' may be correct!

Doesnt use Hide glue that I could see, uses plastic binding, pocketknife, no dustmasks, etc.. but at around 4:32 the guy points out something about the sound, and the strings, etc...

This really helps put my guitar building in perspective, he is a true 'artist' type, thats what is going on. He's totally into the geetar as an instrument.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36udapkeICI





.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Sorry to bother you, but how would you use 'torrent' -totally ignorant!

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Looking at Youtube, they seemed to have missed the first 400 years. Looks like Political Correctness, and ignorance have struck again. The 'geetar' goes back to European Renaissance. Unless they go back that far...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWHrXheoNA8


No Gaspar Sans??

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Clapton's Guitar was making rounds to quite a few OLFer's courtesy of Rod True, and it was a great read. (thanks Rod)
His philosohy is, building a guitar is simple. Start with a piece of wood and cut away anything that is not a guitar.

I wish.

Vince

I really need to visit Wayne's shop some day especially since he's just down the road from me and I know some of the people mentioned in the book. The Claptons guitar book was a good read and gave some good insight into the personality of the guy.

Thanks for replies and links all. Looking forward to checking them out!



For me, it's just outstanding that Wayne is such a class act. Everything I've read about him says that he treats everyone the same and with dignity and is a pretty down to earth and nice guy. Henderson guitar owners seem to be unanimous in saying how light, responsive, and great sounding they always are with top notch build quality throughout. Truly one of the U.S.'s most highly regarded and sough after acoustic guitar builders these days. The fact he keeps his prices at a level where his friends can still afford one of his guitars says alot I think when he could pretty much command any price he wants given his reputation and all the PR from the Clapton book.

Well, I may get tarred and feathered for saying this, but I played a Henderson guitar a few years back, before I knew who he was, and before I started making guitars. It may have been the old strings on it, I don't know, but I put it down pretty quickly and went back to one of the owner's other guitars, a '92 Martin OM-21 that is still one of the sweetest guitars I've ever played... go figure

Now that I know who he is, I want to give that guitar another test drive. But at the time... I wasn't impressed. The owner was trying to tell me a little about Wayne, how he went about things, etc. Turns out that he's the connection between Clapton and Henderson, and the reason Clapton fell in love with Wayne's guitars, and had one (two actually) made, which led to the book. I don't guess he'd mind me telling this here... if you've read the book, you know that the owner in question is Tim Duffy, who founded Music Maker Relief Organization with the proceeds from selling the 'original' Henderson that he had, after some fellow came into his recording studio and offered him 6 figures for 'that guitar that Clapton raved about'.... it's all in the book. Tim's pretty modest about it all. Clapton's just one of several giants in the music industry that are on Music Makers' board of directors. It's a wonderful thing that they're doing with the Relief Organization, helping dozens of musicians who've fallen on hard times or who just need a little help.

Yeah, so, one day I'm going to ask Tim to let me play that guitar again. It's really got me wondering... I'd at least like to take a closer look at it (and especially inside it, with an inspection mirror and flashlight!!)

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

Clapton was totally blown away, and listen to the video I posted, something about the strings can make different tones or octaves or something...

Very cool video.

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

I've played a few Hendersons, and to be quite honest they have all looked and sounded about how I would expect a chunk of wood carved out with a jack knife and strung up to sound. I really don't know what some are seeing, but there's certainly a strange cult following around them. A modern day Stradivari he is not. In fact I would say I've been much more impressed by most of the work I've seen from members on this forum.

Sorry, but I gotta be honest. It baffles me how these things get going - I'm guessing right place, right players, right story, and a lot of rather indiscriminate reviewers. I do know for certain that quality does seem to have much effect on demand in this business though. Maybe there are some gems out there I've not seen and I just ran in to a few lemons. Still, from what I've seen I think they could be called a good guitar, but I wouldn't refer to them as much more.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

It sucks for the rest of us (outside the UK), but they pay for the BBC programming with their taxes so it wouldn't really be fair for the BBC to just broadcast everything for free outside the UK. On the other hand, I'd be quite willing to pay a charge to see a lot of the BBC programming online. The documentary is a small loss...but not being able to see Top Gear without a hassle (ie: bittorrent) outside the UK, now THAT is a shame!

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Thanks for posting that, David. My exact sentiments. I almost didn't sent my post, and was wondering "Am I just way off, or what?' But your comment echoes with what my (sometimes poor) memory was telling me. I certainly remember not being impressed, and putting the Henderson down rather quickly.

David Collins wrote:
"I've played a few Hendersons, and to be quite honest they have all looked and sounded about how I would expect a chunk of wood carved out with a jack knife and strung up to sound. I really don't know what some are seeing, but there's certainly a strange cult following around them. A modern day Stradivari he is not. In fact I would say I've been much more impressed by most of the work I've seen from members on this forum."

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

Hey Ken - I started to post something earlier, but deleted it figuring I had no interest in starting a squabble. But, since you started it anyway, I'm always happy to throw fuel on the fire.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

As long as we are approaching blasphemy, the guy who used to be called God never impressed me...
Love Albert King, JJ Cale, etc., and forgave the near note for note covers that defined Clapton's sound, but when he said "it could have been anyone" referring to Jimi, he made my list.

Not out of animosity for Eric, but when the radio told me that it wasn't Eric who was on the chopper, but Stevie, it felt like a punch in the stomach.

Never played a Henderson myself... and I'm sure I couldn't play it as well as Clapton if I did.

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Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

I became acquainted with Wayne back in the early '70's when I lived in Southwestern Virginia for a summer. He used to play music with some friends of mine, and I enjoyed a few sessions with him myself. Just about a year ago, I took my son on a road trip through the Southern Appalachians as a sort of musical pilgrimage, and we stopped in at Wayne's shop one afternoon.

This was before I had heard of the book Clapton's Guitar. I have since read it, and I will say, to my mind it quite accurately portrays the man and his work.

He worked nearly constantly amid lots of other activity and visitors. I asked him about mandolins (my son is a player) and waiting lists (there was a guy in the shop wearing a ballcap that read "Hey Wayne have ya started my guitar yet") and he smiled and said "Well - I know folks say I'm slow, but I did build 30 guitars in here last year." Last summer he played here in Maine at a festival and was playing his #400, a BR OM shape - beautifully inlaid.

As we continued the discussion of mandolins, he said he regretted not having one of his own there for my son to try out - then he led us into a back room, opened a safe, and took out a mandolin and handed it to my son, who's eyes were bugged out of his head - the "Holy Grail" of mandolins right there in in his hands, 1924 Lloyd Loar F5.

I'm not an expert and won't presume to say whether Wayne's guitars are exceptional, beautiful, among the best - or are merely good, over rated as has been stated above. To me they are as nice as anything I have ever played. You may be sure he is not someone to blow his own horn about them. Wayne is one of the most modest luthiers I have met.

Best to you all,

David

Bob, I shouldn't really tell you this, but I am The Stig.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Which one of all the rumoured seven (or seventeen or whatever...) of THE Stig´s there are rumoured to be?

Thanks for the posts all. It's good to hear all sides and opinions!