More later...

I took the weekend off - kinda.

My friend Dr. Dave Walker, who helped me greatly since I started Dagmar Custom Guitars, asked if I could fix an old Yamaha Grand Auditorium Classical that he bought years ago. The inside label documents it as the 3rd one produced in 1973. She's a beauty with Rosewood back and sides and Cedar top. Just behind the bridge she took a devastating knock and the ultra thin top cracked badly across the grain. I have been performing delicate surgery on this old gal to get her back to playability. The top appears to be domed so splicing in new wood is a total challenge. I'm very pleased with the results so far but the thickness of the top is so bloody thin that there is zero room for error.

First I stabilized the damaged area with Epoxy to fill in and connect the gaps to regain some strength. Once the area was strengthened I formed a router guide around the area and routed down about 1/64". I layed in some Carbon Fiber strands to add strength and then bonded in some fresh Cedar, doing my best to match the grain lines. The stiffness is back and I'm hoping that the repair has brought the bridge back to the original position for the right action height. There are two more severe cracks that run along the grain on the treble side and they have made the area untrue. I'm sure I can splice in some beveled strips of Cedar into these cracks and shape the area back to being fair. More later...

Many moons ago I built a pretty cool bike for my step kid Roxanne. It's a CCM balloon tire bike from the 60's that a coworker gave me - he was cleaning out his garage. This bike was the first step toward the creation of Dagmar Custom Guitars. I built a wooden checkerboard tank for it and it inspired me to start thinking about the wooden fender idea. I'll post pictures tomorrow when she's put back together. So, more later...

I have sent off pletty of letters and I have heard back from a couple of folks who could create some really great networking and media leads.

A visit to Folkway Music in Guelph is planned for Tuesday. Folkway is a premier music store and they have an awesome inventory of vintage and new instruments that I am eager to see. I have not really been able to compare my guitars with other archtops so I'm looking forward to doing so.

I have made contact with a freelance writer in Toronto named Lonny Knapp who is intrigued by my story. I saw one of his stories about Randy Bachman on the aol homepage and tracked him down through his website. Lonny plays mandolin in a cool street folk band called Freeman Dre and the Kitchen Party. They are worth checking out. More later....

I am also trying to hook up with an awesome jazz player named Nathan Hiltz who is also in Toronto. He has played my acoustic Jennie before and really liked her so I'm anxious to let him plug Mary Lou W in. More later...

I have sent a lot of letters out and the waiting to hear back period can be torture. Sometimes I have to resend letters and after the third send off with no response ones confidence can take a bit of a beating. It's not my style to be pushy but what I'm trying to achieve is worth a little discomfort. More later...

The Queen's guitar "Vicky" is humidizing in the shop. I have my cooked maple supplier searching for a piece of back wood. All the parts will be done by the end of March. The photonic pickup is still in development so Vicky will be in waiting for a while to come. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to debut her in Montreal - we shall see. More later...