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Showing posts from July, 2011

Guitars, Ukuleles and Old Brown Glue

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A man's wealth is measured by the size of his wood pile. Old New Mexican proverb I ordered some Old Brown Glue a while back and I can't say enough good things about it! Case in point, the tenor ukulele neck heel block that you see to the left of the glue bottle I glued together this afternoon. All I did was apply glue to individual blocks, rubbed the joint together about a minute and then I clamped them together. The blocks stayed aligned and I didn't have to use extra clamps and clamping jigs that you see used in some books on guitar making. I have used fish glue, purchased from Lee Valley, in the past with wonderful results, this Old Brown Glue dries as hard as the fish glue, which is a real plus when gluing on bracing. I probably won't use it to glue on bindings or for rosettes, but I will for everything else. Works in progress-- (When I should really be refinishing 4 guitars that I made a couple of years ago!) Guitar top on the left: Sitka spruce, laure

Master Class with Christopher Parkening, August 1980, Part 2

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Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound, funny, but it's still rock and roll to me. Billy Joel, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me , 1980 I finally found the photo that I was looking for, of me performing on stage at Montana State University way back when. I still haven't found the program from the final recital. I remember that I played an etude by Sor and a lute piece, Wilson's Wilde and maybe an etude by Giuliani. It was quite the experience and I got to met several wonderful players. I had to include the Billy Joe quote, because I remember I first heard that song on the car radio as we were driving by Idaho Falls, Idaho on the way to this class. I had just graduated highschool and was moving out of classical music geekdom, I discovered punk rock and that kids my age were dying their hair pink and spiking it, I thought that Still Rock and Roll to Me was an anthem for those of us who were 18 years old. Back then I wore Wrangler Cowboy cut jeans, denim shirts