Official Luthiers Forum!

We had the pleasure of having a visit from Bob, aka RusRob today at our shop in Ann Arbor.

It was a great time and Bob is every bit the great guy that I thought that he is/was from the OLF.

We gave him a shop tour, discussed his complex purfling scheme for his parlor, and then Bob spent some time going through the 40 - 50 year old German spruce tops that we have.

Bob we are looking forward to seeing you on the 29th too my friend!!!

Here is Bob checking out some spruce:

Aw Gee... if I had of known I was getting my picture taken I would have dressed up...

Hesh, I had a great time on my visit and for those of you that are not coming to the Ann Arbor Guitar Open House you will be really missing out on one of the coolest shops I have been in. The minute I walked in I could feel the history of the shop. From some of the old instruments hanging in the rafters and the way a lot of the artifacts have been preserved by Hesh and Dave it just makes you feel like you stepped back in time. I really enjoyed the visit and picked up a few sets of the 50 year old German Spruce tops I was looking at in the picture. Really nice wood and I am excited to start my next build so I can use it.

Thanks for your hospitality guys I am looking forward to coming back down on the 29th.

Cheers,
Bob

I have a shirt just like that one, Bob. You look great!

One of my very best friends is a Michigander and a most excellent fellow! I've driven through a couple of times (and flown over many more), but never spent much time there. I won't be able to make the event this year, or visit the shop, but... maybe someday. That would be very nice indeed.

_________________
George :-)

Bob: I thought you were dressed up.................................at least that's the way I look when I'm dressed up. Great stuff, looks like a good time was had by all.
Tom

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

Well it is funny because when I was getting ready to leave my wife said to me "Are you really going to wear that?" And I said sure why not, its comfortable... So I thought I was dressed up too but she thought otherwise. When I showed her the picture of me she said "See I told you so"

I went down in my shop last night and sanded the oxidation off of a couple of those tops and I have to say this German Spruce is going to make some really nice guitars. Hesh said to me at one point "this is the what guys are trying to achieve when they bake their tops but this is the natural way to do it" and he is right. It has a really deep tone when tapping them and a LOT of sustain. So I am excited to get on with my next build.

Cheers,
Bob

Hi Bob! that was my first impression too when I was handling this stuff, it reminded me of a freshly baked top, very dry like a potato chip (but still flat...) and very loud to tap and scratch.

And you had Miles Davis looking over your shoulder (in the pic) helping you select your tops too - pretty good karma I think!

Where can I get one of those shirts?

It is beautiful stuff...


Not the pure white that some look for but has a lot of character

Bob

Jimmy's Tall Shop for Men.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Yea, I have to by my shirts that big because of my massive chest and arms....

Don't we all?

_________________
久保
美智え