Luthiers Hands

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Published by Glyphis
The information and advertising set forth herein has been obtained from
sources believed to be accurate. The publisher, however, does not warrant
complete accuracy of such information and assumes no responsibility
for any consequences arising from the use thereof or reliance thereon.
Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement or space
reservation at any time without notice. Publisher shall not be liable for any
costs or damages if for any reason it fails to publish an advertisement. This
publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopied, recorded, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher.
Copyright ©. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
Issue May/June 2015
Published by: Glyphis
Photograph/ Art Work: T.Tan, L.Buendia, J.Kostal, B.Wilborn, C.Jenkins, Bohemian Guitars, C.F.
Holcomb, A.Mcfarlen, C.Pung, L.Stansell, Rebel Ukes.
2
Acoustic Guitars
Leo Buendia | Orchestra Model 4-8
Wilborn Guitars | L Style 9-14
Lame Horse Guitars | Riabhán 15-20
Jason Kostal | Jumbo 22-32
Electric Guitars
Bohemian Guitars | Surfwax 35-39
C.F. Holcomb Guitars | Archer 40-44
Ukuleles
Barron River Ukuleles | 8 String Custom Tenor 45-49
Kula Custom Ukes | Heart to Heart Tenor 50-55
Les Stansell | Myrtle Tenor 56-60
Rebel Ukes | Double Zero-002 61-65
3
Please contact me if you’d like one of
my guitars!
This Orchestra Model has a characteristically full
sound with big sustain (a typical Somogyi-esque
sound). It has warm bass response with well balanced
mids and very rich trebles. It is an outstandingly
expressive instrument that achieves immediate
response with a clear and focused voice. Its wide and
vigorous palette of tones makes this OM perfect for
dynamic players.
Specs:
Model OM Cutaway
Year 2014
Top, Adirondack spruce
Back & sides, Figured Brazilian rosewood
Neck, one piece Honduran mahogany
Bridge, Hand carved Brazilian rosewood
Saddle, 2 1/4” string spacing compensated bone
Nut, 1 3/4” width scalloped and compensated bone
14th fret to the body
Scale length 25”
Body length 19 3/4”
Upper bout 11”
Waist 9 1/4”
Lower bout 15 3/4”
Tuning Machines, Gotoh 510 Series stealth gold with
black buttons
Finish, French Polish
8
Leonardo Buendia
FINE CUSTOM GUITARS
Click here to contact Leo Buendia
Please contact me if you’d like one of
my guitars!
This body shape of this guitar is based on a 1930’s
Gibson L-00, except for the cutaway, of course. It is
x-braced with light, thin, but tall, engelmann braces.
The back is a lamination of cocobolo and engelmann
spruce, to lighten the plate. Despite the interior of
spruce, this guitar has all the prolonged decay and
cathedral-like reverb one would expect from an ultra
dense wood like cocobolo, but the quick response
associated with lighter woods. The top is mastergrade
Engelmann. The sound is very large for a 14 1/4”
lower bout, with deep bronze-y lows, and sweet, thick
trebles.
Specs:
Top: Englemann spruce
Back and Sides: Cocobolo
Low mass englemann/ cocobolo laminate back
Neck: Peruvian walnut mahogany
Bridge: Ebony
Fingerboard: Ebony
Binding: Bloodwood
Purfling: Ebony/bloodwood
Scale: 24.9”
14
Click here to contact Wilborn
Guitars
This guitar is available through
Goodacoustics
Currently available $8000
The Riabhán is a grand concert sized guitar
from Lame Horse instruments available through
Goodacoustics. Riabhán comes from the gaelic for
“striped one”, a reference to the Tiger Myrtle back
and sides. The guitar features a completely adjustable
playing action under full string tension, with
cantilevered neck and a floating heel.
Riabhán is very balanced string to string with
a very complicated, sweet sound when played
fingerstyle with lots of overtones and sympathetic
tones. However, it has good headroom and
responds well to being strummed. The instrument
has very good dynamic range.
Specs:
Scale length: 25 inches
Rear removable access panel
Top: Mastergrade engelmann spruce
Back and sides: Tasmanian tiger myrtle
Neck: 15 piece laminated sinker mahogany
Fingerboard - Macassar ebony
binding - Macassar ebony
Headplate - Gabon ebony
Bridge - Indian rosewood
Bridge pins - ebony
Purfling on body front & back: BWB violin
purfling, abalone
Purfling on headplate and fingerboard: Abalone
Side braces: sinker mahogany with inlay of
reconstituted stone inlay on access panel, truss
rod cover
20
Click here to contact
Goodacoustics
Please contact me if you’d like one of
my guitars!
I have always enjoyed the stark contrast between
black and white, and have wanted to build a quilted
maple Jumbo for a while now using dark ebony as the
contrast. I decided to add some color to the rosette,
back, and endgraft to tie the front and back together.
It is elegant in its simplicity and the clean lines and
minimalist approach appeal to me. I adjusted the tonal
palette to soften some of the maple characteristics
and augment others by changing the way that I
constructed and braced the guitar. It is one of my
favorite guitars that I have created.
Specs:
Overall Length (12 fret): 40.50”
Overall Length (14 Fret): 41.875”
Body Length: 20.438”
Upper Bout Width: 11.25”
Waist: 9.00”
Lower Bout Width: 16.375”
Depth at Neck: 4.00”
Depth at End: 5.00”
Scale Length: 25.25”
German spruce top
Quilted Maple Back and sides
Gaboon ebony binding and fingerboard
Dyed Maple burl inlay pieces
32
Click here to contact Jason Kostal
Check out our sister
magazine, Guitarbench
which is full of indepth
interviews, and even
more features and reviews.
Just click anywhere on
this page!
Since 2005, we have been representing fine luthiers and offering great guitars to players
worldwide. Here are just some
of great builders we work with:
John Greven
Michael Bashkin
Ben Wilborn
Dave Gentner
Jack Spira
Lame Horse Guitars
Behrad Gorgani
Benjamin Paldacci
Please contact me if you’d like a
Bohemian guitar!
List Price: $299
The Surf Wax is the brightest sounding of the
Boho series. The P90 pickup can be as crisp,
mellow and glassy as a calm day at the beach, or
add a little gain and it’ll crush you like the break
on the Banzai Pipeline.
Click here to contact Bohemian
Guitars
Specs:
Model: Surf Wax
Body: Metal hollow body w/ removable back panel.
Basswood skeleton for increased amplification and
structural integrity.
Neck Wood: Maple
Neck type: Bohemian Through-Body
Fretboard: Rosewood
Headstock: Yellow
Finish: Natural
Frets: 21
Nut Width: 1 3/4”
Width at 12th Fret: 2 1/8”
Width at 21st Fret: 2 3/8”
Neck Thickness: 7/8”
Scale Length: 25 1/2”
Hardware: Chrome
Tuners: 3R 3L screw in w/ removable keys
Bridge/Tailpiece: Tune-o-Matic
Pickup: P90
Electronics: Volume, Tone
Switch: None
Self-standing: This model has a built in stand made
from recycled rubber.
Inspired by South Africa. Designed in Atlanta.
Produced in China.
39
Please contact me if you’d like a C.F.
Holcomb guitar!
Prices: from $5,000
The Design process of the Archer was a rare
experience. Dii Martin, guitarist in Ethiopian
funk band , Sun Hop Fat contacted me about
his ideal guitar. The goal was to make a smaller
archtop that was less likely to feedback at high
volumes whilst maintaining the tonal qualities of
an archtop. The neck joins the body at the 18th
fret on the bass side and the 20th fret on the treble
side allowing access to all 24 frets. Most of my
instruments are tailored for specific musicians so I
offer a seemingly endless number of standard and
custom options.
Specs:
Model: Archer
Top: Koa
Back and sides: Koa
Binding: Indian rosewood
Neck Wood: Indian rosewood/ koa
Fingerboard Wood: Ebony
Overlay: Koa with Larry Robinson Inlay
Binding: Indian Rosewood
Scale Length: 25”
Fingerboard Radius: 14”
Number of Frets: 24
Tuners: Gotoh Locking Gold
Bridge: Indian rosewood/ bone saddle
Tailpiece: Indian rosewood and Koa
Strap buttons: Schaller locking
Pickup Model Neck: Lollartron
Pickup Model Bridge: Lollartron
Pot Layout: Master Volume, neck tone, & bridge tone
Finish: Nitrocellulose
44
Click here to contact C.F.
Holcomb guitars
Please contact me if you’d like one of
my ukuleles!
The client requested a slight modification to this 8
string uke in that the octave G strings are spaced a
little wider apart so that with a bit of practice, one
could be played without the other for some musical
pieces.
It was being sent to the center of Australia, so extra
care had to be taken to build it in very dry conditions.
Specs:
Body: Honduran mahogany
Neck: Honduran mahogany
Fret Board: Ebony
Peg Head Veneers: Ebony
Bindings: Cocobolo
Bridge: Cocobolo
Rosette: Spalted mango and Paua shell
Fret Markers: Paua shell
Pickup: K&K Aloha Twin
Tuners: Gotoh stealth in cosmo black
Finish: Semi gloss lacquer
Strings - Worth
Tuned - gG, cC, ee, aa
49
Click here to contact Barron
River Ukes
Currently available
$4000 US dollars
Specs:
Top: Adirondack spruce
Back and sides: Dark spiderwebbed Brazilian
rosewood
Bracing: Adirondack spruce
Neck: Honduran mahogany with mango/ebony
stringer
Bindings: Curly koa
Purfling: Fine line
Scale length: 17”
Fingerboard: Ebony, bound
Headplate (front and back): Ebony, bound
Bridge: Ebony
Tuners: Waverly with koa buttons
Saddle and nut: Vintage bone
Side markers: Bullseye
Rosette: Medallion style with paua/malachite/
mother of pearl palm tree with mauna kea profile
Features:
Diamond volute to headplate transition
Custom inlaid end graft
Red abalone position markers and headstock inlay
Red recon stone heart inlays
Gold alloy kula inlayed at 14th fret
55
Click here to contact Kula
Custom Ukes
Currently available
$2000 US dollars
Built with a strict adherence to the traditional
Spanish/Classical guitar design and using the
highest quality Oregon myrtle and Port Orford
cedar. This instrument is among the first ukuleles
built from a substantial batch of myrtle acquired in
2013 by Stansell Ukuleles.
Stansell Ukuleles are built with the primary
focus on “form following function” and extreme
attention to detail . . . incorporating design only
when it contributes to structural integrity, tone and
playability. .
Specs:
Back and sides: Oregon myrtle
Neck and bracing: Port Orford cedar
Fingerboard, bridge, binding and faceplates: Ebony
Nut and saddle: Bone
Tuning Machines: PegHeds geared
Neck width @ nut: 36mm
String spacing @ nut: 27mm
Neck width @ 14th fret: 47mm
String spacing @ bridge: 42mm
Neck thickness: 19 to 20mm
Hand applied shellac finish
60
Click here to contact Les Stansell
Please contact us if you’d like a Rebel
ukulele!
Natural selection is the process where forms of life
that can adapt to changes in their environment tend
to survive and reproduce. It’s evolution. “Beyond
Natural Selection” is our rebellious philosophy.
We strive to go above and beyond what seems to be
natural laws but in fact it’s never the laws in the first
place. Order emerges from a random and chaotic
world.
Ordinary, traditional, common, normal, typical,
regular, average - we go against them. With the
elements of creativity, The Rebel presents itself when
we free our minds.
Specs:
Model: Double Zero-002, Tenor
Top: Spruce
Back and sides: Brazilian Rrsewood
Neck: Mahogany
Fretboard, fretboard binding, bridge, faceplates:
Ebony
Rosette, binding, joint, heel: Curly Koa
Fretboard and bridge Inlay: Mother of Pearl
Position markers: Mother of Pearl at 3, 5, 7, 15
Headstock Logo: Mother of Pearl (Origami Crane)
Headstock style: Slotted Head
Pickup: L.R. Baggs Five-O
Finish: Hi-gloss mirror-like
Neck width @ nut: 38mm
String spacing @ nut: 28mm
Neck width @ 14th fret: 47mm
String spacing @ bridge: 43mm
65
Click here to contact Rebel Ukes
Do you love ukes?
Check out our sister
magazine, Ukulele
Rhythms which is
bursting with lessons, tab
and indepth interviews!
Just click anywhere on
this page!
Aloha! We offer ukes from builders past and present such as Kawika,
Kerry Char, Steve Grimes, KoAloha, David Aumann, Compass Rose,
Beau Hannam and Les Stansell. Feel free to drop by!
We hope you enjoy this issue of Luthiers Hands.
Please take a moment to share it with a friend;
or better yet, sign up for a subscription. It’s
entirely free, and there are no strings attached.
Just click on this box!
Our Website: www.luthiershands.com
Published by Glyphis
The information and advertising set forth herein has been obtained from
sources believed to be accurate. The publisher, however, does not warrant
complete accuracy of such information and assumes no responsibility
for any consequences arising from the use thereof or reliance thereon.
Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement or space
reservation at any time without notice. Publisher shall not be liable for any
costs or damages if for any reason it fails to publish an advertisement. This
publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopied, recorded, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher.
Copyright ©. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
Issue May/June 2015
Published by: Glyphis
Photograph/ Art Work: T.Tan, L.Buendia, J.Kostal, B.Wilborn, C.Jenkins, Bohemian Guitars, C.F.
Holcomb, A.Mcfarlen, C.Pung, L.Stansell, Rebel Ukes.
68