Official Luthiers Forum!

Colin,

I'm very sorry to hear about your accident! I've always enjoyed your insights and experiences associated with your guitar building and especially, not surprisingly, the recordings you've sent me of your playing and your instruments.

You're a rarity as a guitar maker - with your balance of skill, understanding, elegance, perfectionism, adventurousness and as keen as an ear you have as and a perfect sense of aesthetics. I really admire that you've kept true to the spirit of the "amateur" (and I use this word solely in its strictest definition as a person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons. ). Your wife is blessed with her violin and your teacher with the guitar you made him - as you are with the many you have for yourself and as we all are for your recordings, insights, pictures, help and ideas (and certainly friendship).

Surely it must be disheartening to think your playing days may be over - and to be unsure about your future building. But if I know one thing about you, it is that you're full of talent and full of love for music. You've given a lot to this community and to me personally, probably often without realizing it. But one of the greatest things about having the kind of talent you do, is that it is as mental as it is physical and I know for a fact you'll not be able to let any physical impairment keep your talents from manifesting in the real world, in one way or another.

You've positively affected your students, your family, your wife and your friends. You've helped preserve, restore, study and document important historic instruments. You've given others great advice when sorely needed. You've done important work in important times (after the tragic tsunami, for instance). Most importantly, you continue to do these things.

You have a million things to feel good about and I'm positive that you know that, or you wouldn't have shown so much resolve in what you wrote here.

Keep in frequent touch and please let me know if I can do anything helpful. I'm looking forward to all your future insights and contributions.

Joshua