Official Luthiers Forum!

Here are some pics of something you don't see everyday.
These were guitars entered into the Steve Devries guitar critique masterclass at RRCC this past weekend.

Wow! Some wild rosettes going on there....

Robbie - Is there a video (really good quality) of this class? I would pay money to see it.

Finding a professional player that will give you a real critique of your work is FREAKIN IMPOSSIBLE!!!! They all wanna be so nice and say how nice it is....drives me nuts.

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

Looks like Steve is not a blue grasser....!!!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

So, what's the deal?
Are they all yours?
Somebody should try playing bluegrass on a classical.
I'm sure it's already been done.

The problem is that everyone is so stinkin' polite when you ask them to play your guitar and tell you what they think. So, I asked Steve Devries to come to Colorado and take the gloves off and really let us know what he thought of our guitars. What exactly does a professional musician want in a handmade guitar anyway? Well, we found out and for some it wasn't pretty. For others he wanted to take their guitars home!!

There were 30 guitars entered by students. Some were first time guitars, others had built just a few and still others had built many.
I have professional quality video and audio of the entire class. Who knows, it might be available as a dvd someday but I have too much going on right now to take on another project. I am saving it for a rainy day...or year!

Actually Steve is one of the most versatile guitarists I have ever met. He is well rehearsed and comfortable playing many styles and genres, inlcuding bluegrass.

I'll second Chris' sentiment...I would love to see video of the event! I would also be interested in participating if you ever do this again.

Hey Robbie,

I had a great time there and it was a superb experience to have someone come out as a connoisseur of hand crafted guitars and be brutally honest from that perspective. Extremely and beneficially informative, well worth the time spent, and Steve is really a great guy (as I'm sure the Kinniard brothers can attest to), as well as a superb guitarist. Wish I could have stayed for the entire concert Saturday night but I had to get my uncle back home. I appreciate your thoughtfulness of arranging this session. This kind of meeting benefits the go-getters. I'm a go-getter BTW.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I agree BIll. Glad you enjoyed it.

What is "RRCC"?

And can someone's ears stay sharp while testing 30 guitars?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

RRCC = Red Rocks Community College

Don't know about the ear thing - some are better than others, same as memory!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Howdy Howard,

RRCC = "Red Rocks Community College" (specifically the Lutherie school). The test was not primarily regarding tonality though that was a small part. It was primarily as far as I understand, about fit and finish, along with playability. Other things as well but that was the jest of it. Robbie can add more if he needs.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Howard,
That guitar that he is holding in the 2nd picture from the top is mine. I was one of the lucky few that he wanted to take home.

This is the way it worked...he arrived Thursday night, and started evaluating guitars at 10am on Friday. Every guitar was given a number, and he made notes on every guitar throughout the day. That night during the critique, he didn't really play the guitar, but rather talked about things he liked and things he disliked about the guitar. But first, he opened the critique by explaining all the items that he looks for in a guitar. I was surprised to find he checks the neck first(preferring a 1.75" neck), then moving to fit and finish, then sound. If any of these 3 are not satisfactory, it was on to the next.

I learned so much just listening to him talk about what he liked in a guitar. It wasn't just him telling all the things he liked in a guitar, but also about what professional musicians are looking for. We covered design, shape, sound ports, neck widths, action, etc. Super informative, and suggest other luthier groups do the same if they can find a really good musician that is good at critiquing.

By the way, Steve performed on 2 Charis guitars, one cedar/coco and one sitka/rosewood. Both were incredible sounding and looking!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Congratulations, Tracy! Is that a new one?

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Robbie: Not steve, there are no dreadnoughts to be seen....!!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Actually there was one buried in there somewhere.

Robbie: Right you are.Pic # 12,first on left in back row.It's in a couple of other pics also. Real nice looking batch of guitars and a lot of work. Congrats.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Hear here!!! I'd love to see this - participating would be even better.

I participated in a similar process at an ASIA event - critiques of "first guitars"... I got so much out of that - especially because the reviewers were quite candid, and not afraid to point out where my guitar really needed work. That experience was extremely valuable.

Waddy, I think you were in that session, too...

Yes I was. It was a good experience, but the judges weren't into classical guitars much.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Yeah. I got much better critique from Paul Huemiller at Dream Guitars. He did some serious criticizing! That's why I went thought. I learned a lot.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars