Official Luthiers Forum!

Some of you already knew about the Colorado Custom Guitar Festival. We were fortunate enough to have Wayne Henderson and his wife Helen come to Denver to give a demo on guitar building and also give a concert Sat night 10/3. Wayne also brought with him, guitar number 400. I was lucky enough to spend lunch with him and visit with him at length about his building.

All I can say is that he builds them VERY light. I'd guess it was around 3 lbs for an OM shaped guitar. I also noticed that his fretboard was about 3/16" thick. Maybe that was one way he saved on weight. But I also noticed the guitar is already starting to give in front of the soundhole. He doesn't use a popsicle brace at all. Also noticed he didn't drill a hole for the truss rod adjustment, he said it scares him to put a hole in that UTB. Anyway, we do have some video of him playing one of Alan Dunwell's guitars on the CO Luthiers Home page. You will need to go to http://coloradoluthiers.org/ and click on the Colorado Custom Guitar Festival link, then click on 2009 Show Photos. The video is found under Bill Cory's pictures.

What a very nice man and true gentleman. Even got him to sign my book(Building Eric Claptons Guitar). After showing him the Centerline Finder, he said he wanted one, and was really excited about it. I'll be sending him one for free for taking the time to come to CO.

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

That's cool!

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Very cool, Tracy, having one of your creations in Wayne's shop!

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

That was cool !
L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

I loved reading Building Claptons guitar. An enjoyable read if your into guitars.

I am not surprised Wayne was interested, the Centerline Finder is one of the most cost effective and easy to use tools I have purchased.

Fred

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

Tracy,
That sounds great being able to talk to Wayne H. at length about his
guitar building you lucky guy you! I would Love to do that. Any other tips or
tricks you can divulge about Waynes' fine instruments ? That is cool that he is
excited about the centerline tool. I like it very much also,
It's such a time saver.
So how did #400 sound and play ?

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Dave,
Thanks, and yes I'm lucky to have been able to spend some time with him. He was most gracious, and let anyone play his guitar. He didn't even have it on a stand, he just had it laying on his table on a towel and would pass it around like a flask at a Dead concert. I was so surprised he wasn't as protective with it. People would just come by and pick it up and play it. I asked if I could play it, and he just shrugged and gave the go ahead. When I picked it up, I was first amazed at how light it was. After strumming an E chord, it was evident this guitar had tremendous bass response. Too my ear it was weak on the midrange, but loud on the bass and treble ends. He played without a mic at the concert in a school cafeteria, and people could hear it just fine from the back of the room. He uses a thumb pick and steel finger pics to play...looks like a banjo player.

One other thing I remember being discussed was whether he uses radiused tops. He radius' his braces, but he doesn't radius his rims. He leaves them flat and just presses them down really hard when glueing the top to the rims. This is a little different than most guys do it. When asked what radius he uses for his top and backs, he held up his thumb and index finger and said "about this much on either end of the brace". My guess was that it was about 30' or 40' radius on the top. Not sure about the back. Anyway, hope that was helpful!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Yeah,from the book he does kind of seem like a "build it as you go" kind
of luthier-not extremely picky like a lot of us are.
But they do come out real nice it seems. Clapton likes them!
I like his attitude about letting people play it.That's what they are made for. Just
watch out for the drunkin' guy with grease all over himself!!
Thanks Tracy, interesting stuff !

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Wayne lives a county over from me, I really ought to visit his shop some day. I knew a guy who won one of his guitars at a festival. It sounded quite good especially in his hands. And Wayne not only builds nice guitars but he can really pick one too which I find impressive.

Tracy, I have only seen Wayne Hendersons guitars in the Clapton book and on youtube so I am just guessing based on my experience...I have built a few guitars with arched braces and not radiusing the rims as Wayne described to you. These guitars have the appearance of the top giving at the soundhole from day 1. I noticed this after the first guitar I built with radiused rims....When the rims are radiused the waist becomes deeper(higher) since it is closer to the center of the dish, therefore allowing the soundhole area to be higher than it would be if not radiused. So, in comparison to looking at guitars with radius rims, the others appear to be giving at the soundhole. FWIW it does not seem to affect the sound of the guitar, IMHO.

Chuck

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