Official Luthiers Forum!

We had our fretting class today with the added bonus... of a snow storm here in Michigan.....

The class was a great time and everyone did great and four guitars were fretted though out the course of the day.

A sincere thanks to John C., Steve D., Bob I., and Kevin L. for attending and attending in such awful weather as well.

By request I took lots of photos with my IPhone and then ran into difficulties with Photoshop for Macs that according to the web has millions of users pretty...... upset. So I could not use my Photoshop program to edit the pics.

Nonetheless I was able to resize with the IPhone and although the pics are completely unedited beyond resizing I think that you will get the idea.

FYI as I was leaving I got stuck in a elevator...... and could not get out. The emergency phone was answered by someone not in the state of Michigan... and although I knew the name of the parking structure, the street it's on, city, and which elevator I was stuck in... the operator could not locate me to send help. So I dialed 911 and the police and fire department came and the fire department had to break into the elevator to get me out. I took the stairs to my car and then drove two hours home at no more than 25 miles per hour in 6 - 8 inches of snow that had not been plowed yet. I'm happy to be home as you can imagine and about ready to start drinking for the first time in 13 years..... (just kidding about the drinking.... kind of.... ).

Many thanks to everyone for a great day and very fun time.

And Joel I did not forget about you and there is a pic just for you of the Collin's Jaws II Fretting Augmentation Jig (CJFAJ) and yes I just made that up). Feel free to make your own and all we ever ask is that if you turn others on to the jig that you provide attribution to David Collins.

Many thanks.

More pics and sorry that some of them are sideways......

More pics and the necks that you see, bridges too were brought to our class by OLFer Andy Birko who does some of the finest CNC work that I have ever seen.

Andy is an OLF sponsor and his products are second to none and highly recommended!!!! Good seeing you today Andy bro!

Thanks for the pictures Hesh. I wish I had made it out there.
Glad you got out of the elevator! Sounds horrendous. The emergency phone connected to someone out of state is a crackup (now that your out). I'm guessing you were getting a bit chilly in that box!

Looks like a great time, even the snow..... Glad you got home safe Hesh!

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

What an absolute pleasure. Dave and Hesh were truly welcoming hosts. We learned a ton of stuff and had a great time.

I can only assume Hesh got himself stuck in the elevator because there wasn't enough drama during the day

Thanks again guys, and I'm looking forward to the setup class in February.

But could you do something about the snow? Even as the token Canadian, my response was pretty much "wtf?"

Steve

Good stuff, can't wait till April.

Hey David. Yeah it was an interesting.... experience being stuck in the elevator and yes it was getting cold fast.... The emergency operator who answers the elevator phones may have been in India for all I know but she was not in Michigan.....

After a while of not hearing from anyone I called 911 and those folks didn't mess around...... The fire fighters pried the door open and the police told me that this is the forth time this month that that elevator had imprisoned some one and they were kind of hot about it too.... They proactively told me to call the city on Monday and raise hell and since this is a city own parking lot the emergency response costs have to be eaten by the city since I was trapped on their property and at their invitation.....

You've heard the expression never trust a fart? Well one of my lessons from yesterday is never trust the person on the other end of an elevator's emergency call line if your cell service can reach 911....

+1 on that for sure!!

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Why I hate elevators (claustrophobic) and never make plans in the winter.

Hi Hesh,

Just wanted to add my two-cents about the workshop. Just -- wow! It was fantastic. I started at ground zero and wound up doing what I think is a very credible fret job. I actually think that beater guitar I refretted will play better than my Martin, at least after I take your setup workshop. And I have enough confidence in the methods and the skills I learned to tackle the Martin now too. To top it off, the whole day and evening was a blast. (Of course while you were stuck in the elevator I was in the hotel bar with the other guys so maybe that has something to do with my state of happiness.) Glad you got out ok and didn't freeze. Pre-Thanksgiving snow storm, stuck elevator ... can't wait to see what you have planned for Part 2 in February.

--Bob

Yesterday at around 3:00 PM a guy calls me and wants to know how I am holding up in the elevator... Mind you this poor guy had been through the ringer and had received the "rescue me" call from the parking management company the prior evening but he said that his truck was stuck in the snow and that the wrecker was just getting him out now and he was going to be driving to me from DeToilet (Detroit).....

I immediately got the impression that he was a pretty dim bulb so I did not launch as I usually would.... and instead told him that I was out, fine, and I hoped that he has a better time too with the rest of his weekend.....

Moron of the story other than being me is if your cell phone works when stuck in an elevator forget the emergency phone (unless the cell phone won't work) and just call 911. Those fire department boys have little respect for personal property when it's between them and rescuing someone and that's just the way I would hope it to be too.

Bob! You did great my friend and your work was excellent in all respects. Thanks for your kind comments too and Dave and I will be looking at the surveys that you guys completed too today to see where we might improve in our approach.

We wanted these classes to represent REAL value to our students/friends and to us that means that you would have lots of hands-on, something to show for the day when it was over and most importantly the concepts of addressing the entire fret plane as a whole and never individual frets in isolation were driven home and retained as well.

The set-up class that you are coming to in Feb. 2016 (exact date to be determined) will teach and "arm" students with the ability to conceptually set-up most any guitar and in reality set-up the sort of guitar that you brought as your mule. This will make you guys very popular with your guitar playing friends struggling with high nut slots, poor action, fret work, etc.

Folks will be making bone nuts, compensated bone saddles, learning about and doing complete set-ups and some of the nuances that we have to consider about player style, type of music, and a few other things that can pull a set-ups goals from a spec to something more specific and tailored to a specific player.

Students will also learn a very cool method for gluing on bridges with HHG and NO worries about the short open time. In fact with this method we typically can have all clamps in place and that puppy positioned correctly in around 10 seconds or less. HHG is the most desirable glue for gluing on bridges IME but some prefer other choices because of the very short open time.

We will also be talking about HHG, care and feeding, etc. and how the fret work is often the most limiting factor to a great set-up. That's why decent fret work is key to a great guitar.

Thanks again Bob it was a sincere pleasure having you attend and meeting you too. Thanks too for the information on a drug that can prevent in some cases kidney stones - I'm calling my doc/friend today and asking if it might be right for me.