Official Luthiers Forum!

Last week I had the opportunity to spend 7 days with Ervin Somogyi for his annual voicing workshop at his shop in Berkley Ca. This was a small class, it consisted of myself and my friend John who I have attended other classes and luthier functions with. We are both amateurs with only a handful of guitars under our belts. The class was supposed to be 4 attendees but two had to cancel at the last minute, which I feel worked out well for John and I as we are both at the same skill level and experience. All I can, as many have said before me, is that I will never build a guitar the same way again. Ervin's ability as a teacher is outstanding, as someone with 9 years of higher education I have had my share of good and bad instructors and Ervin is one of the best. There was not a single concept that he presented that did not "click" before the weeks end. The lectures, hands on work, and " homework assignments" were focused and well thought out. Make no mistake this was not an easy week ( I felt like I was back in college) We started the class with lectures on the biology of wood and how it relates to sound and ended the class with the ability and tools to look at any guitar (including our own) and predict how that guitar might sound and why. We learned tonewood selection, voicing, physical and structural aspects of all parts of the guitar. There were many steps in between but each day built on the next with the end goal of a full understanding of how the acoustic guitar works. Ervin has a great crew working for him, Lewis, Jason, Chris and Raphael are all very talented and were more than happy to help or answer any questions that we had. Make no mistake this class did not present guitar making in a "cookbook" fashion, Ervin does not have a secret bracing pattern or design that you are there to copy, but a theory of why and how an acoustic guitar makes the sound that it does, and he teaches that to you. Most questions are answered with a question and by the end you are well equipped to answer most of your own. I can say without a doubt this is the best money I have ever spent on learning this craft. It was not cheap but good advice and instruction never is.

Richard

Congrats. It is an absolutely great experience.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Yep
He is awesome. You are having the typical response after taking an Ervin Voicing class. Like you said and many of his prior students, you will never build a guitar the same way again.

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com