Official Luthiers Forum!

Tim Shelton ( hockeygoof on OLF ) strung up his guitar today, the guitar needs a bit more work on the setup and a saddle made to replace my test saddle that is currently used on it. It sounds good and Tim was smiling ear to ear when he first played it.

OM style with Honduran Mahogany back sides and neck, Adi top, ebony binding. Hopefully Tim will check in to the thread when he gets tired of playing it.

I posted some pictures and videos on my photobucket http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z228/fetellier/Tim%20Guitar/







Fred

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

Sweet. I like the inlay on the headstock - just enough. Congratulations Tim

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Very nice indeed!

The finish looks amazing.
Lots of nice touches for a first - the inlay - the mitered purfling at the end graft.

Congrats to both of you - two firsts!

Fred it`s a beauty.Did you take him on as a student and guide him thru the whole ordeal?
James

_________________
James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

No doubt that the both of you are proud on this one!
Really nice looking guitar!

Wow! Great looking guitar you made Tim!
You should take a recording for us to hear it and your very good playing (I know I ask for alot )
Cant see them too close but the purfs and bindings look great.

Fred, you have to be proud to have your first student achieve such a good result.

Outstanding! I'll bet you both learned a lot.

_________________
http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

Well James it is a long story, Tim and I met at a Michigan Fingerstyle workshop with Al Petteway in Sept 2009 and he tried my guitar. A few weeks later at a open mic at our buddy Paul Murphy's music store he asked if he could come over from Detroit and see my shop. The next thing I knew we were building the guitar I think it was a non hostile takeover. Tim has become a good friend over the last year and has learned a lot as did I, explaining something to another person really helps understanding things better.

We will make a saddle as the guitar has my test saddle on it right now, the nut is still rough and the action needs to come down when we make the saddle. Tim's place is about 1 hour away if the border is not busy, so he comes over for a couple hours of work at a time. We did about 2 1/2 today and he had to get on the road so things didn't get finished.

The picture with Tim and his guitar was taken about 5 minutes after we tuned it up and each had picked it a little. He was so excited that he left without his cell phone and a salesman does not forget his phone.

Fred

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

Very nice, thanks for sharing. T

Great story and a great looking guitar Fred.

Very nice indeed.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Turned out nice Fred! I also like the inlay. Looks like a great experience for both of you .

Sweet!
Hey Fred, did you get much done on your own projects during that lesson?

When Tim was over I would put my stuff out of the way and spend the couple hours with him, I was afraid that doing 2 things at once could be a disaster for one of them. I often got inspired after the visits and got a lot done on my stuff that day. The only problem is when a shop is set up for one person it gets somewhat crowded with 2 working and sometimes I would misplace things when I would make space for Tim, I guess I should be more organized.

It was a great experience and we both learned a lot about guitars and patience, Tim would get in a bit of a hurry sometimes as he wanted to get the guitar ready and be playing it.

Fred

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

Congratulations to both of you. Must make you feel really good to see his results.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Tim, congrats on your 1st. Nice work.

Fred, looks like time well spent.

Paul

amazing.

_________________
"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Looks like Tim has a fine teacher! Good on ya both.

Tim was over today we made a saddle cleaned up the nut and set the action. The guitar is opening up real nice and with the action down close to where it should be, quite nice to play. I am used to a lower action than Tim likes but it is no problem to play at that height. I think he has a guitar to be proud of.

Fred

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

The project that Fred and I started over a year ago was something that I never expected. I badgered him a few times to allow me to come and give him a hand sometime, which he eventually agreed to. It wasn't long before he suggested that i get some wood and we can get some sides bent and a back and top cut. I have always had a tremendous respect for the small shop luthiers out there, and the care and craftsmanship that goes into their work, Haans Brentrup and John Slobod being a few of my favorites. Fred has an overall knowledge of tools, and woodworking, and paired with his patience and encouragement made this an amazing journey for me...something that I will never forget. He and I share the same respect for the craft, as well as the tried and true techniques that have been used by some of the top builders throughout history. I agree with the many marquis performers that have played his guitars and have been blown away by them. He is forever the student, as am i, learning how to do it better every day. I hope that through my project, he also furthered his understanding and abilities. That being said, Thanks very much for all of the comments, and most of the credit, quite obviously, should go to Fred. I hope that he is as proud of it as I am. I hope to sit down with each of my boys one day and plan their own guitar, praying to god they don't pull out photos of a B.C. Rich, or Charvel Jackson, or some such..... Please not that!! The failure! Hah. Anyone has any specific inquiries, i.e. Torch inlay, finish, etc., shoot me an email at timothykshelton@gmail.com. Cheers. Tim

Also, I've forgotten to mention that Fred has 2 projects in the works as we speak. A Brazilian back and sides jumbo, and a wedge cutaway that has a once in a lifetime set of cocobolo that I wish he would stop dilly-dallying with weenie amateurs and get them finished!! Tim

Great job both of you. I love the inlay.
Chuck

Tim took a chance on the getting the torch inlay done by a guy on Ebay that I had dealt with from China who gets stuff made for him somewhere over there. I was shocked at the quality of the work, I had him get me a torch set and the actual inlay work on Tims headplates was not that much more expensive than just getting the pearl set cut. The guy says they are cut and inlayed by hand but they are so well done I think maybe cnc is used. I have bought some bone bridge pins and nut and saddle material from him and they are great.

Tim has been over so many times I think the border gestapo guys must be used to seeing him and I think he probably will soon own a part of the bridge. If he adds up the materials, gas and bridge tolls he could have probably bought another high end Martin cheaper. Now I wonder what he will do with the Dread side set that survived my flood last summer, I have a feeling I may not have seen the last of Tim in my basement.

Fred

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

Curious as to the quality of his work, I ripped down some stock for headpplates and sent them to him. I also provided him with many pictures of torch headplates to use as a reference. I sent him a pair of ebony that I had inlaid in gold MOP, some beautiful cocobolo that I had him inlay in white MOP, and nicely striped bolivian rosewood that he inlaid in abalone. I was very impressed with everything that he did.
Tim