Official Luthiers Forum!

Well not really as nothing got broken.
We had a fabulous time at John Watkins shop yesterday. It was great to see old friends and meet new ones. Saw many beautiful guitars, electric and acoustic. Good food and beverage. Just an overall good time.
Thanks again to John for opening his shop for the event and to John Ressler for setting this event up. Thanks to all who attended for sharing their work, knowledge and general enthusiasm for the insanity of Luthrie.
Finally a big thanks to Ellie's friend (sorry I didn't get your name) for the use of his leatherman tool which was insturmental in recovering my keys from my locked truck.

Now who's got the pictures?


Steve

I had a great time, got to meet some nice people, and there were some beautiful guitars. Can't wait for the next one. I too thank you John Watkins, and John Ressler good job.

Had a great time. Really enjoyed watching your neck carving demo John. You definitely get the Big Bag of Picks award for hosting a great event. And a big thank you to John R. for the time and effort spent helping to set it up.

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Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Great Job by everyone. It was great to see some old faces and to meet some new ones.

We need to do this more often!

Thanks again for having me out!

What, no pictures? That's just wrong.

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Aoibeann

I echo the above comments - Thanks to John Watkins and John Ressler for doing all of the hard work.

Thanks to all who donated door prizes!

It was fun to see everyone, old friends and new, and so many instruments. No pics from me, sad to say.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Chicago was certainly our kind of town on Saturday. John's building was the perfect venue for the event and we all had a wonderful time. Many thanks to all of the Sponsors who donated door prizes. I'll leave it to someone else to name them all lest I forget one or more.

I would personally like to thank John Watkins (my favorite golf partner ) and John Ressler who did the heavy lifting of organizing the event. Thanks again. And a special thank you to the lovely and gracious Liz Watkins (the often bragged about Mrs. Watkins, and for very good reason!) and her equally lovely and gracious sisters for preparing the fantastic lunch and beverages!

OK...so I took some pictures and hopefully others will add to the album as well.

Check them out:

Liz Watkins in the center with her sisters. Definitely some good genes in that family!


Here's John and "Vanna White" presenting the winners of door prizes.


John on the right consuming massive quantities of Milwaukee's finest in preparing to operate dangerous equipment in his bid to hand carve a neck in 15 minutes!


Joe White, Lance Kragenbrink, Steven Ziegenfuss, Paul Woolson

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Here's Ellie from the MIMF. Sorry but I can't identify her friend.


Ray Lee, Kent Fishburn, Martin Brunkalla


Joe White showing Mark Swanson and friend his series of progressive bursts and toners. If you can't find what you want from these samples, try black!


JJ's guitar playing sons...Frank & Joe. Frank is playing John Ressler's latest OSB guitar. Quite impressive actually!


The Zootman couldn't make this meeting but he was there in spirit!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Jim Worland and mark Thorpe


Steve Wheeler, ?, ?, Kevin, Ed


Joe White gave an excellent demonstration of many of the techniques he uses in prepping a guitar for finishing.


That's all folks! If anyone else has some pics, please add them at your earliest convenience.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

That was me (Martin Lane), in the blue shirt and the black hat, in the above pic.

Here's another shot of Joe and Mark:



It was really cool to meet all that were there. I really appreciate the welcome attitude directed toward the newbie!

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

Thanks again to John Watkins, John Ressler, Joe White, and everyone else that made this event a success. I had a great time and am looking forward to seeing everyone at the next one - wherever that may be...(Ohio is close to everywhere, right?)

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Anthony J. Lembo
Lembo Custom Guitars - www.Lemboguitars.com

[quote="JJ Donohue"]John on the right consuming massive quantities of Milwaukee's finest in preparing to operate dangerous equipment in his bid to hand carve a neck in 15 minutes!


Next to John is Chris who came in from Ohio. I believe he works with B.C. Rich, I'm not sure if I remember that correctly. The third is Zach Ehley in from Wisconsin. They grow the boys big up there.

Thanks for sharing JJ. It looks like it was a great event.

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Aoibeann

[quote="JJ Donohue"]Steve Wheeler, ?, ?, Kevin, Ed

Next to me in this pic is Gene Liberty. He brought some drop dead gorgeous gutars with him. Very cool guy. Left handed player who plays right handed guitars. Makes his own CNC machines.
I'm sorry I can't name the other guy.

Great pics JJ. Thanks for taking and posting them.

Well we had bigger turnout than I think anyone would have anticipated when we started planning this thing, and I think everyone had a good time. I know I did.

I'd like to thank everyone for coming, especially those who came from far away. Chris from BC Rich gets the distance award I think. He came all the way from Cincinnati and left here at 9pm to drive back. Yikes! (talked to him yesterday, he made it back just fine)

Also, a very heartfelt thank you to everyone that went in on the amazing gift of a foursome at TPC Deere Run. It was totally unnecessary, but deeply appreciated. I promise to post scorecards, however pitiful they may be.

I'd like to also thank everyone who donated prizes. We ended up having enough for everyone that attended to receive something. Here's the list of donors. I deeply apologize if I miss anyone. With all the preparation going on, I forgot to make a list.

Shane Neifer - High Mountain Tonewoods
Joe White
Steve Wheeler
LR Baggs
Stewart MacDonald
Luthiers Mercantile Intl
John Mayes
Kevin Ryan
Bob Cefalu - RC Tonewoods
Hibdon Hardwoods
Tracy Leveque - Luthier Suppliers

Last, but certainly not least, a personal thanks to John Ressler for instigating and coordinating this effort.

The guy in the middle of that one picture that no one recognized is Don Filerman. He's a local cabinetmaker and hobbiest builder.

Anyone else have pictures to share?

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John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

Thanks again John, and John
It was a great time! Id do it again in a heartbeat!

I have some pics but they are still on my camera. Ill try to get them
downloaded today.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Don't forget Lance who was able to give away the last of the ubiquitous "OLF Man-Bags"!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

AND THERE ALL GONE NOW! YES!!!! IM FREE!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Here are a few photos. Had a great time. I was impressed by how many people traveled quite a distance to attend. Thanks again to John W and his family and Charlie for allowing us to invade their place of business.

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John Ressler

Thanks to John Watkins and John Ressler, and everyone else! This was a very fun time for me. I really don't post half as much as I should so it was really cool of everyone to include me here! Next time I might even bring a guitar!
It was great to see Lance and J.J. and Joe...and everyone! I always get super-charged when I go to a gathering like this. Now, on to build more things!

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

Here are a few pictures I took!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Stephen and I hit Chicago a little early, so we took a stroll down Navy Pier.





Pretty cool place!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Looks like a super time... I am supremely jealous !!!!

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Wow! Looks like a missed a great time. I was in Hawaii with my wife and daughters this past two weeks. While I would have loved to joined you guys, my trip was awesome and well needed.

joe desperado

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Joe

You picked Hawaii over us? (good choice)
You were missed - we'll have to get a few locals together later this summer

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John Ressler