Montreal Guitar Show 2010

The Montreal Guitar Show was top notch! The Dagmar table got it's fair share of attention and I know the after effect will be the best thing for my little guitar company. The show is of all importance to its exhibitors and I can't imagine not being in attendance. With saying that I must gush once again about how thankful I am to have been invited to the 2009 Montreal Guitar Show as a total new comer with less than a year of experience. The invite was literally a dream come true.

Most of the magazines came by my table to check out my wares. I am very thankful for the magazines doing their rounds and to take advantage of covering the sensory overload of content for their readership.

The level of craftmenship was jaw dropping. My table was in a row of some of lutheries living legends. My row from left to right began with Linda Manzer, Judy Threat, Peter Ciluzzi, Me and John Montleonni. The row across was Tony Duggan Smith, George Lowden, Paul Woolson, Michael McCarthy, and Sheldon Shwartz. I don't know how they pick and choose table locations but I felt extremely honoured to be in this section. I encourage all to go to www.montrealguitarshow.com and cruise around the various builders.

Every year Jacques Andre Dupont and Tom Ribbecke co-host a luthiers party. This year the open bar bash was held on the Hyatt's roof top terrace overlooking the main stage of the Montreal Jazz Festival. What an awesome venue!! I LOVE Montreal. That evening was particularly windy and summery warm - perfect for beer drinking. And with all that wind swept hair everyone looked looked their best(baldies too).

I feel very fortunate to have been in the company of my wife, Annette, and our friends Martina and Dr. Andy along with Steve and Melissa Nullmeyer. Steve volunteered to showcase "Jennie" in a mini concert and totally knocked me out! He ripped into some bottleneck slide and riffed on alternative tunings. Premier Guitar Magazine taped the concerts and Joe Coffey snapped a ton on pictures. I'm crossing my fingers Steve will see himself in one of these magazines - especially since he came pro bono. Thank you Steve!! I owe you big!!

I met some other outstanding players too. Kinlock Nelson and Bruce Forman both took time to take my girls for a stroll. Jaw dropping, sensational player's players! Both have website and biographies that are worth taking a gander at.

Its hard to believe that a month has passed.

Dagmar Custom Guitars and the Ontario Arts Council

Its been a while since I have posted. I'm on dial up and to upload pictures is a bloody nightmare.

The Ontario Arts Council guitar has been named Gretchen. I am extremely thankful for being given the opportunity and funding to create this double cutaway electric. It rounds off the Dagmar lineup very nicely. After building her and developing my process further I feel confident that I can build any shape ones imagination can dream up.

Gretchen was met with great excitement at The Montreal Guitar Show and was invited into the pages of an upcoming coffee table book. I will share more details at a later date.

I've been concentrating all of my efforts, since the Montreal Guitar Show, on marketing Dagmar Custom Guitars. Its a tiring and frustrating pursuit.

I have found a lot of opportunities out on the old interweb thingy. Three major blogs have written about "Vicky" the Queen's University photonic guitar and rightly so. After all its the introduction to a brand new "never been done before" state of the art technology. You'd think magazines would be quick to pick up the story. Hmmmm..

The push for August will be to do a series of youtube performance videos. I know this will have the most impact on my marketing plan.

OAC Guitar Entry 6

I get stressed out when I prepare the glue edges of a book matched set of expensive wood. The jointing has to be perfect - dead nuts on - either it's right without compromise or it's wrong. I run the edge through my electric jointer and then put a straight edge to it to see what I have to do to achieve absolute trueness. Also, the electric jointer leaves behind micro scallops which need to be shaved off for acceptability.

I invested in a very expensive jointer planer. She's a real beaut I got from Lee Valley. It has the ability to shave micro thin ribbons off and with a steep blade I can cut through highly figured wood with ease. Operating hand tools is an art form that I am determined to master with efficiency. One thing I've learned is to never get lazy with sharpness. Hone up your blades!

I get into a Samurai state of mind then I get my water stones out. First I clean my shop from top to bottom. I vacuum up every bit of dust and put away every tool into it's proper place. I put only what I need on the bench and I clear my mind and focus on the job at hand. Jointing is a zen thing and when you achieve perfection there is nothing left to say or think about - peace of mind is the result.

If the two halves of the book matched set are forced together with excessive clamp pressure because they are not 100% true then there is a pretty good chance that as the guitar ages and endures various changes in humidity (especially low humidity in the winter) that the wood will split just beyond the glue line.

Carving the curve of the plate is relaxing and enjoyable. This is the one part of the build where I feel myself becoming intimate with the project. This is where I become attached to the guitar - where we start to talk to each other. I carve by eye and never with a pattern because I don't want to become complacent for a second. It may sound like romantic nonsense to some but I let the wood guide me just as much as I work it under my control. The curve should be continuous. I always make sure that there are no lazy runs in the line. What I mean by that is there should never be a single area of flatness. Flat areas are easy to check by laying a straight edge onto the curve. The straight edge should only rest on a pin head sized spot of the curve.

I have also started making my patterns for the sound plate openings in the rim along with the plate's final dimensions. Once everything is cut the sound plates will fit perfectly within the rim's openings.

OAC Guitar Entry 5 The NECK

The neck is just about at the "let is settle" stage. For the peghead veneers I chose three layers: thin dyed black, thicker holly, capped with Ebony. By laminating multiple layers onto the back and down the curve I increase the strength in the curve where the grain is short - it looks attractive too. The top of the fretboard and peghead will be left just black Ebony - I like the minimalistic look and there is already so much going on with the body that I don't want to gunk things up. I have a tendency to over design. Originally I was going to do Mother Of Pearl blocks with lightning bolts in the center. I think a conservative look is going to win more people over in Montreal. I am kinda kicking around the idea of doing something at the 12th fret.

I will be inlaying the Dagmar logo at the top in my usual way.(see post about Vicky to see how it's done)

The nut width will be 1 3/4". The scale length is 25". The fretboard radius is a constant 12" To achieve level and a 12" radius I bought an extruded aluminum radiused sanding block from Stew Mac - well worth the money.

The one picture shows how the tapers are achieved. I have the neck double sided taped to a tapered piece of solid cherry wood. I made this base using the planer. I simply lifted the one side of the wood up by temporarily gluing spacers onto the bottom. The spot glued spaces allowed the cherry wood to travel through the planer at the desired angle. After I simply plucked the spacers off. The taper is slight - something like 3/16 from the 3rd fret to the 12th.
When the neck is double sided taped to the tapered base I run it under my shop built overhead router and I can achieve exact tolerances quickly.

After the neck tapers are done on both the peghead and down it's length I transition sand with a 2" drum sander chucked in my drill. I true it up using a piece of banana board (flexible plywood) as a sanding block. When the transition is perfect I then glue on the veneers.

I have a pattern for the final peghead shape that I made out of 1/4" MDF. I double side tape it to the peghead and run it through the router table. The pattern also has 1/4" holes drilled into it at the machine head (tuners) locations. I set my drill press up with the right size bit and a 1/4" dowel protruding out of the drill press bed, directly under the bit. I slide the corresponding holes onto the dowel and then drill - simple and accurate. All of these tricks are revealed in Robert Benedetto's amazing book "How to build an Archtop Guitar". Anyone who wants to build a guitar should study this book - it's my bible. Bob signed it for me too!

OAC GUITAR ENTRY 4

I am finished faring in the first layer of CF and I have laid down the second "show" layer of light weight CF twill.

The first layer is for 99% of the strength and stiffness needed. The unidirectional CF runs across the woods grain and will ensure that the rim can easily take on the downward force the strings put on to the bridge. The second layer is a light weight twill cloth. It adds a bit more strength to the structure and now there are CF strands running in the direction of the wood's grain - helping to strengthen the bonding of all 86 segments. I call it the Show layer because I can lay big areas down without having to overlap and I hide all the butt joints of the first layer.
Once smoothed out and finished it will look stunning. Also, with CF running in all directions the neck area will be extremely strong and stable.

The picture shows the rim held inside a simple cradle which makes this potentially messy job easier and cleaner. I try to be as neat as possible throughout the entire build - because it counts.

I sleep very well at night knowing that I have made absolutely no compromises in building these guitars. These are my babies and I put everything I got into them.

Claro Flamed Walnut Back

Pretty stuff eh? This beautiful example of Claro Flamed Walnut comes from California. www.woodnut.com
The good folks at Exotic Woods in Burlington, Ontario www.exotic-woods.com, did an awesome job of resawing this blank for me. Now I have to make the call on which is up and which is down.

OAC Guitar Entry 3

The first layer of carbon fiber (CF) has been layed in. I take a lot of care to make sure that I wet the CF out completely. The CF does not change colour or become transparent like fiberglass so you really have to be attentive. I brush epoxy into the fibers with a bristle brush that has been trimmed so the bristles are only about 1/2 inch in length. The brush is stiff and you can gently force the epoxy into the fibers without creating excessive bubbles. I also wet the wood surface of the guitar rim too before I lay in the carbon. I go along three inches at a time. This guitar took 23 3 inch wide pieces of CF exactly. I completed this task last night and this morning I checked things over. I'm always amazed at how stiff and strong CF is. It's really quite amazing!

I cut the pieces a little long and after it has cured I cut the overhang off. This is done with a hack saw blade - cured CF is tuff as hell - like how I imagine dragon scales to be.

I used a metal sanding ball in my drill and ground down all of the ridges and some of the areas where neighboring pieces overlap. I don't want to grind too much because I don't want to lose any of the strength. After I grind the harsh parts down I then get the pneumatic sanding ball out again and scuff the surface with 80 grit. This helps the filling layers of epoxy to bond better.

With West Systems epoxy I can do up to three coats in one day. The wait time between is about 2.5 to 3 hours or until the surface becomes dry yet just slightly sticky. Fill coats are needed to fill in the CF weave and to help level everything out. Once a completely fare surface is achieved I will laminate a layer of lighter CF twill in to give just a bit more strength and to make the surface pretty.

Most of the labour of my guitars is in the sides. The amount of labour I put into the functioning structure of these Dagmars can be compared to the amount of labour a luthier may spend on doing intense inlay art.

Ontario Art Council Guitar

I have been kicking up some serious dust in the secret Dagmar lair. The double cutaway prototype is coming along just dandy and I could not be more pleased with the results so far - it's almost as if I know what I'm doing.

I was able to follow my drafting with extreme accuracy and I'm becoming so in tune with the various angles and segmenting the curve that I can now change the blade angle by eye if the shape starts to wonder a bit off course.

I encounter a minor bit of twist with every guitar. It is something that you have to expect when gluing up 86 precision cut segments by hand. If I'm out by 1000th of an inch that mistake multiplies with every segment. With my previous guitars I have been able to sand the twist out. With this guitar rim I discovered a way to correct the twist by popping the rim in the oven at a low temperature with straight edges clamped to it to achieve trueness. The glue softens just a bit and the rim gives and conforms to the straight edge. I leave the clamps on until she cools and the thud sound of the soft glue disappears.

Today I fared the inside using a pneumatic sanding ball and prepped for tomorrows first lamination of carbon fiber. I'm aiming to have this rim ready for shaping by Monday. I'll have my sound plate patterns done too and I'll glue up the Flame Walnut set for the back. I bought a piece of mahogany for the top wood and may start carving it before the weekend.

At this point I start to flip flop between all of the pieces that make up the guitar; the rim, the top, the back and the neck. All of these parts need to stabilize in the right humidity and it's wise to let the glue in the sound plate wood to cure fully before the final glue up.

I revisit the rim a bit each day after the carbon fiber is laminated in. It's a tedious process to fare the inside surface. So instead of doing it all in one shot I spread the task out over time - a bit each day keeps my sanity intact.

The picture shows the rim with temporary squares of MDF glued on here and there. These are protrusions needed to hook the dozens of elastics around for the final glue up. The last keystone slid right into place and it made me naturally high :)

The First Stages Done on OAC Axe

Unfortunately my wireless internet service if down so now I'm back to dial up. Wahoo!
Needless to say I can't post any pictures but will once my crappy Bell service is back. Any who....

The neck has been roughed out and glued up, tapered and honed true. I have also glued three veneers on the back of the peghead for beauty and strength.

The artist in me has been in the torturous throes of indecision. I have had all sorts of ideas about how this guitar should look. In my previous post I said I was going to do a checkerboard of Cooked Flame Maple and Flame Claro Walnut - well...not any more.

I received the figured walnut from California and it's gorgeous wood but the figure in it is very light compared to the figure in the Cooked Flame Maple. So, I pulled a piece of regular white flame maple out from under my bench and decided that the two contrasting maples will look the best. The figure matches and the colour contrast is very fetching. I'm excited to show the pics.

I will be cutting the segment tomorrow and then gluing her up. Hopefully the body will be finalized by Monday.

OAC Double Cutaway

This past week I have been designing the Ontario Art Council Grant guitar. I asked my lovely wife Annette to be a part of the process. She's an aesthetician by trade so who else would be better to consult on how this "show stopper" guitar should look?

Annette really likes the checkerboard guitars. So we decided that a subtle contrast checkerboard pattered guitar would be tres cool. I found some gorgeous air dried highly figured Claro Walnut, on line, and pressed the "buy it now" button. The sides of this double cutaway will be checkered with highly figured Cooked Flame Maple and the highly figured Claro Walnut. The back plate will be carved from a killer piece of figured Claro Walnut, quarter sawn and book matched. The whole guitar will shimmer in hues of gold and rich browns.

The top wood has not been finalized but I'm thinking I'd like to try Mahogany. I want to finish the top in a solid antique Ivory, like Mary Lou W, and I need a stable wood that is dense/hard enough to anchor all the parts to. I will be using a fixed metal roller bridge and a bigsby B50 tailpiece. Both of these parts are anchored to the top wood so I need it to be robust enough to hold the various screws and inserts.

I have designed this guitar to be like a semi hollow body. Basically it will be a solid body guitar where the pickups and hardware lie. The TV Jones pickups will have a routed cavity with a flooring of wood - this helps fight feedback and creates better sustain. The design uses a sustain block of mass, as just described, but the back plate will be left to vibrate freely - the sustain block is glued to the top wood but does not come in contact with the back plate at all. This kind of design will produce a nice balance of feedback control, tone with plenty of sustain and a bit of airy archtop sound mixed in.

The rim sides will have a 2 1/2" depth with a 17" lower bout. I may reduce the f hole size a touch too - again for the sake of feedback.

The only unknown right now is how the bigsby will perform. Usually for an archtop one would use a hinged bigsby that anchors to the guitar's sides at the tailblock. I would have to have the hinge custom machined and that simply is not in the budget. My concern is having an arched top with a lowish bridge. I need to calculate what an acceptable string break angle should be. This shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

This axe is going to be pretty Bad Ass. Guarowtee!

Visit to Folkway Music

On Tuesday my pal Dr. Dave Walker and I went up to Guelph with my girls to visit Mark and his staff at Folkway Music. It was a pretty great feeling to pull out the guitars one by one and each time get a positive reaction. With out a doubt Mark was taken aback by my approach to guitar construction and even though he is a loyal lover of fine vintage instruments he shared a sincere and enthusiastic interest in what I have created.

Let's back up a bit...

My player friend David Gillis told me a few months back that I should take my guitars up to Folkway and get Mark to check them out because Mark is a fine fretted instrument expert and a straight shooter who does not hold back on offering an honest and sometimes blunt opinion. David said something to the effect of "I think it will be a good experience for you AND if you pass the Mark Test you know your doing things right. He will tell you exactly what he thinks" I immediately conjured up an image of an older, distinguished looking silver haired gentleman. An old music man type that would be stuck on tradition and who may be difficult to win over with a non traditional design. Ya know...a bow tie wearing guy.

When I opened the door to Folkway and approached the front counter a bunch of young guys were sitting at a bench wrapping up their lunch. I locked eyes with the alpha and said "Hi, I'm Pete Swanson of Dagmar Custom Guitars. I'm here to see Mark." I thought for sure I would be told to wait a second and they would go to the back and out would come the man who I had envisioned. Instead the one who I introduced myself to was Mark. He said "I'm Mark!" Man oh man that took me off guard! He's around my age.

I said "Hey! Nice to meet you! I'll just get the guitars from the car and show you what I've got." I brought the axes in and lifted them out of the cases one by one in the order in which they were built. First was Jennie my second checkerboard patterned symmetrical acoustic archtop made of Honduras Mahogany and Flame Maple. He had a very favorable reaction and looked back at his staff and may have even said "Check this thing out!" My nervous system was buzzing and I began to get tunnel vision. I focused on Mark's expression. I definitely remember Mark looking at the guitar in a very direct way with specific objectives. His eyes could have burnt the wings off of a fly. Thank God he started off with positive comments because each one relaxed me and I could feel my nervousness subside. He broke out his inspection mirror and asked my permission to look inside the guitar. I said "Of course." He did and he was genuinely intrigued and impressed. The words "neat" and "cool" entered my ears and I felt my pride begin to brim.

Next to come out was Mary Lou W, my electric inspired by Charlie Christian, made of Cooked Flame Maple with accents of red veneer, Antique Ivory finished top and finished Ebony appointments. Mark was very complimentary on my Ebony Tailpiece design and asked how I made it, at the same time offering the answer himself "table saw and then router?" "Yes, exactly." I said and then I pointed out the metal behind the logo inlay and tailpiece inlay along with the red tinted Epoxy and demonstrated how light seems to reflect out of them. He told me of a builder friend of his who uses tinfoil embedded in his logo design that creates a 3D nugget looking effect. We were getting along great and then the unexpected...

A wee boy, maybe 6 approached the counter, holding up high a tattered $10.00 bill. My first thought was; great timing kid and why aren’t you in school? Mark looked down toward the boy and in a non threatening kid friendly kind of a way asked "Hey buddy can I help you?". The boy uttered an awkwardly cute and quiet request "Can I..Can I... do you have a Banjo pick?" Mark served the boy like the VIP he was - a Folkway Music customer. I helped too because the Banjo pick tray was more accessible to me. I handed the boy his small thumb pick and Mark gave him his change. The transaction made an impression on me. Mark is a good guy, an approachable professional who respects his customers.

Last out was Eve. My prototype single cutaway acoustic made entirely of 50,000 year old Ancient Kauri wood from New Zealand. I personally love the tone of this guitar and I feel as if I made a breakthrough with how to save weight in my design and followed the trend of using a lower break angle to get a sweeter tone and to have it react more on the pianissimo side of touch - something that was shown to me in Montreal. I shared my experience building Eve with Mark and told him that the guitar was at times hell to build and how she fought me every step of the way. It was a total challenge to figure out how to close up her rim. Behind us at the front of the store Mary Lou W was being plugged in and Mark told me to go and listen. I have not really heard her being played through too many amps so I was more than happy to do so.

I should also mention that Mark is a left handed player which also threw me. He can play a right handed guitar with the strings upside down! Again I was impressed because when he strings up his guitar the bass is at the top - crazy that he can play both ways. Any who...

Mary Lou W was plugged into an awesome sounding tube amp and she went for a stroll with one of Mark's leading men. I can't recall this man's name but he played beautifully and said he really grooved on her fat dark sound and string clarity. He also was impressed with how much roll off there was on the tone knob. Jason Lollar makes great pickups! The sound he was getting from the guitar was EXACTLY what I have always wanted to hear her sound like. There was a bit of single coil hum but man she sounded good and absolutely no feedback. The guitar was right in front of the amp too.

After this mini session I returned her to Mark's counter where he had been left alone with Jennie and Eve. He reassured me that he liked my guitars and thought they were the products of some very creative designing and were well crafted. Then out came what I hoped wouldn't – the critique. He told me my nuts needed work. He said the string height was too high at the nut - the playability and string height on the rest of the fretboard was good along with the fret work and leveling. I felt a ping in the bottom of my gut. Awe man...I gently whimpered in side - Even though this is an easy fix I still felt a bit embarrassed (all over 1000ths of an inch). He maybe saw that I was hurt and said "Hey man if that's the only thing that I can find for you to improve upon your doin' all right." He said for my first batch of guitars, let alone for any guitar, that they were finely crafted and I should be proud. However, this did not stop him from laying into Eve. He said out of the three Eve was his least favourite. He said he didn't like her tone as much as the others and then pointed out that the string break angle was too low for his taste. Again he reassured me that tone is and always will be a subjective thing and there is no right or wrong. He then showed me all of Eve's little glitches that I am already well acquainted with and that have already given me a few sleepless nights - the man sees EVERYTHING. Lastly, he made it clear that he thinks water based varnish lacks a certain lustering magic when compared to a traditional French polish or even a nitro. I listened to his opinion but spraying solvent based stuff will never be an option for me and French polish is perhaps in the future once I have time for yet another learning curve. I feel compelled to say, and perhaps it's an ego thing, that everyone that I have ever shown the guitars to have all been impressed with my water based finishes.

All in all it was a great visit! Mark and I traded company shirts and both agreed it was a pleasure. Mark knows very well what a tough slug it is for us luthiers and wished me the best of luck. Dr. Dave took some old school shots of us with his little disposable (lol) for his blog (I forgot my bloody camera!) and I decided right then and there that I will be visiting Mark again. I want him to show me his set up methods and wire up my upcoming Ontario Art Council Grant Guitar. Undoubtedly Mark is a good guy to know and to consult. With his input and involvement I know that I'll be all the more protected from any would be critics.

Any guitar lover would enjoy a visit to Folkway Music. It's a destination location shop and well worth the trip! Folkway Music also hosts performances by various acts and there is a calender of upcoming events on their website. Hmmmmm....a Dagmar Custom Guitars night would be pretty cool - eh Mark?

www.folkwaymusic.com

Dr. Dave has a very popular blog geared toward guitar music of all genres. He generates 500 hits per day! Obviously worth checking out.
http://blog.davewalkermusic.com/

289 is my guess

Roxy's Ride

This bike represents the my first experiments with checkerboard pattern lamination which led to my wooden fender idea which led to the guitars which became Dagmar Custom Guitars which is now my passion.

Hope Roxanne likes it. I know for a fact that this single speed rat rod custom will be the envy of all hardcore cycling Curriers in the Big Smoke. Guarowntee!!!

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...

Marketing 101

I have been rifling off a mountain of letters to various publications and have been an open receptor to any and all promotional opportunities and suggestions.

TShirts are disappearing fast and I am very thankful for that. It's nice to have my promotional budget refuel itself and to finally be able to pass on shirts to people who have helped me out.

I'm stepping out of the shop for the rest of the week to keep hammering away at getting more exposure. I've been having fun testing different concepts on facebook. I'm glad to see people have a sense of humor and are embracing the idea of the whole BAD ASS Boutique angle. I am proud to say that I have increased my fan base on facebook from about 50 to 240 in three short weeks. Every once and a while a mini viral burst will happen and I'll get 10 new fans in a day. I'm at a point now where I'm getting a guaranteed two per day.

I'm finding that making a list and systematically knocking stuff off works best. I'll be going around locally to expand my network and to remind people that I'm still sluggin' away.

Early next week I'll be starting my double cutaway. I want this guitar to be the show stopper in Montreal. My goal is to create a guitar that would make any Gretsch fan shit their pants. She'll be finished in two tone green with TV Jones pickups and a Bigsby tail piece. She will be named after the main character in Lady Morgan's novel The wild Irish Girl, Glorvina. Glorvina is an Irish name meaning sweet voice. I have an awesome endorser in mind and hopefully the timing will be perfect. This plan is completely out of the box thinking and I'm excited about it!

More later.

Fustulant Work

This past week has been dedicated to tap tuning the top plate and getting the heel cap and heel cap thread inserts dealt and done with.

I am beginning to take a journal of notes for my future reference. I can refer to my notes after each guitar is done and make notes what works and what does not along with other observations and innovative thought. For example, when I routed out the treble side braces to resemble I Beams I had my wits about me to break out the scale and do a before and after weigh in. The longest brace originally tipped the scale an 10 grams. After I I Beamed it, it weighed 8 grams. That is a 20 % decrease in weight which is good for the higher frequencies.

The weight of the top plate with the braces glued on and before I scraped the Ebony around the lighting bolts was 220 grams. After scraping the Ebony flush and shaving material off the braces and graduating the top while tap tuning the final weigh in is 210 grams. I put the plate down and have left in alone for now. I'll let it settle and pick it up again and tap and maybe tweak it some more. As it stands I am very happy with the tap and response of the top. There seem to be many different resident frequencies at the various nodes and a nice overall stiffness. When you tap tune a guitar you have to commit what you hear to memory and intuitively judge the sound and vibration - or at least that is my approach. I have developed a feel for how things should feel - stiffness and vibrational response. I understand pitch and I am aware of the ringing sustain but I'm still honing my ear. This top sound real good to me. When I lightly rub my fingertips along the top surface it's loud and spreading. Before the braces where glued in it was hard not to find a node where the top wasn't alive and ringing.

I also bonded the Ebony heel extension on to the rim under the neck pocket. It bonds to the Maple sides with three dowels and Epoxy. The heel extend the neck joint and the bolts anchor the neck down and keep everything perfectly aligned.
The neck is true to the center of the guitar and the geometry to the top plate and bridge location is textbook.

I have also been dressing the frets to level and have decided to dome the fret ends. Doming the ends is something that I've always wanted to try. It look really professional and refined. It's also about three extra hours of fussing.

Help Support the Dream

Help support this young luthier by buying one of the most fashionable shirts on the planet. First Issue Dagmar Custom Guitar TSHIRTs now available on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150413018736

MGS 2010

http://www.salondeguitaredemontreal.ca/btn_exposant_en.aspx

I'll be on display in Montreal again this summer.Click on the link above to see all that the Montreal Guitar Show has to offer. Looking at the confirmed luthiers list I think it's going to be pretty damned fantastic.

Top Plate Lamenting

The top plate is just about done - just some clean up hear and there to do to make it look pretty.

The very top picture shows how I made the treble side braces into I Beams. The treble side will respond better to higher frequencies if it is light or stiff or both. How can I carve the Spruce top to be light and still maintain stiffness. I addressed this conundrum by carved a narrower recurve area (thinnest area at the outside edge of the sound plate) than the bass side and the spruce is also a bit thinner as it approaches the center of the plate where the two halves are joined. The treble side is much shorter than the bass side and therefore lighter. I made the braces shorter too but left them tall and tapered them thinner than the bass side. I also routed out the middle of the braces and made them into I Beams. I didn't loose any stiffness and I shaved about 2.5 grams off the weight.

The Bass side theory is that it will respond better to lower frequencies if it is less stiff or heavy or both. Think about that...the bass side will respond to lower frequencies if it is heavy or not stiff or both. How can you have the Spruce top be less stiff and yet remain heavy. If I carve it heavy than it will be stiff. So, what I did was carve a wider recurve area, when compared to the treble side, at about 1/8" thick and then added longer wider but less tall braces. Now the spruce plate is thinner but with heavy braces that are also more flexible than the treble side if the plate. Also, because the guitar is a single cutaway the bass side of the sound plate is much longer than the treble side and therefore heavier.

The other pictures show how the lightning bolts are cut. I use my MDF plate pattern. I mark out where the bridge location will be and layout the f holes so that their center is in line with the bridge. I cut out the shape into the pattern and then tape the spruce top on to it with double sided tape. With my overhead router I cut the shape out. The pin in the router bed follows the MDF pattern and the cutter, located directly above the guide pin, cuts out the shape in the Spruce.
This procedure always scares me because you work somewhat blindly and it is touch and go when you are routing sharp points - wood sometime doesn't like being cut across the grain while it's vibrating like mad. It's a rush.

I then finish the sharp corners of the lightning bolts with a fresh Exacto knife and hone it up with some sanding and or needle files. The next step is to glue on the solid Ebony binding. The Ebony is all mitered together and adds to the stiffness of the opening which is a good thing because these areas are thin.

What's cookin?

Lil' Poppie Jade asked me to build her her dream house. So I did; a little English Tudor with steep eves. Upon completion I was sure that she would ask if she could sleep in it. Instead she asked if she could fry up some bacon in it. So we installed a fire alarm and then cooked up a whole mess of crispy bacon. Mmmmmmm...bacon, greasy, succulent bacon.

OAC GRANT

Dagmar Custom Guitars has been awarded a Craft Project: Individuals project grant.

The Swanson house is in celebration mode!

The grant money will be used to prototype a full electric double cutaway archtop for display at the 2010 Montreal Guitar Show. I hope to start this guitar by the end of this month so keep watching.

Dagmar Custom Guitars TShirt CONTEST!!!!!!

On March 9th, 2010 Dagmar Custom Guitars will be awarding a first issue Dagmar T Shirt. You can enter by simply signing up as a follower on this blog or drop me a line through my website. Give me your name and some flattery!
www.dagmarcustomguitars.com

These shirts will be available through ebay soon at $16.00 each or two for $30.00 (shipping not included)

Top Plate - Intuitive Acoustic Science

I have slowly and precisely been fitting and carving the Sitka Spruce top plate. The top picture shows the MDF opening pattern with a 1/4" rabit routed around it. The rabit's outer most edge is the dimension of the finished plate. I rout this rabit to be used as a guide to cut on the band saw. After I rout the rabit I glue a 1/4" piece of MDF on the back to stabilize everything and it will also be used for the FHole cutting pattern - you will see what I mean soon 'nuf.

Next, the plate pattern is cut out using the band saw and fitted into the guitar rim opening. I have to sand here and there until the pattern falls into the opening in the rim. It is a fussy procedure and you have to really be aware and use your intuitive at times to read the curve - know the best spot to sand and what parts to leave alone - the rabit's out line is the guide but disappears after some close sanding, creating a bit of a challenge.

If I have too large of a gap in between the MDF pattern and the actual guitar rim opening I sometimes use bondo to build the surface back up for a second chance at perfection. For this guitar the inlay around the rim is going to be 1/16" wide of carbon fiber strands - dead simple, and minimal looking. Carbon Fiber is a very forgiving inlay because it conforms very easily and bends tightly like a dream. It also adds stiffness better than any other inlay. Some luthiers would say "Well how do you get the plate off if you need to do a repair." My answer is "The same way you would take a plate off a guitar with binding - very carefully." The nice thing about my design is that if something catastrophic (crack across the grain) were to happen to the sound plates and they had to be taken off I just trim them off with a dremel and trim to the original opening, then rerout the rabit and make and fit a new plate. It is much easier then trying to preserve a traditional guitar's binding.

After the top curve is defined the back side is carved out and graduated. I do this with my homemade overhead trim router which works very accurately and quickly. If you look close at the 3rd picture you can see the different levels that I have routed to. Generally speaking the middle of the plate is 1/4" thick then a little farther out is an area 3/16" thick and then the outer area is around 1/8" thick. This is where things get really fussy and deadnuts accurate.

How do you voice a plate? Hmmm...with your intuitive, a basic understanding of structural engineering, some physics and a little acoustic vibration science.
When I carve the top plate I use my intuitive and my luthiers eye. I look for the way the plate curve looks and the only considerations are the relationship of the neck angle, scale length and the height of the curve where the bridge is. There is just a small amount of critical geometry but mostly it's by eye - at least that is my approach.

The back carving is much more critical. I think about the equation Force = Mass(Acceleration) F=MA. This equation simply proves that the lighter the instrument the more responsive it will become. One of my themes for this guitar is to save weight everywhere I can. I have taken 1 oz off my tailpiece design, saved a few ozs using a Basswood heel for my neck, saved 1.5 oz and added strength in the neck by laying in Spruce struts, saved about 5oz using lighter tuners and about 9 ozs using Basswood as my glue surface in the rim along with a lighter second layer of carbon fiber and thinning the rim's wood thickness down. 19 ozs of weight savings! That is a major achievement. I predicted a strung weight of 5 lbs 9 ozs for Vicky and I am right on target. By going through this exercise of saving weight I have gained a tremendous amount of insight on my design. I already have ideas for the next guitar where to save weight and how to balance the guitar in the players lap.

Carving the graduations, adding the bracing and tap tuning is what the luthier should never become complacent about. I have strong themes with this part of the guitar and have reflected not only on my own notes but also the science behind frequency vibrations and the relationship between bracing, string tension, vibration dispersal and structural integrity. In a nut shell higher frequencies will vibrate something stiffer and lighter or both and lower frequencies will vibrate something less stiff or heavier or both. This is written about in an article by Jim Blilie in the most recent American Luthierie quarterly.

I have to find a balance when carving the top and bracing. To simplify I have a wider recurve area (less stiff) on the bass side but with heavier bracing - not stiffer bracing - wider for more mass. On the treble side I have a thinner recurve area (more stiff) and will use lighter stiffer bracing. My goal is to get a nice even balance between bass and treble with clear string separation. Archtop guitars do not have the same kind of bass response as a flat top guitar. I want to get close to it without losing the punch the archtop is known for.

More to come...

More Coincidences

I have mentioned that I follow a blog by photographer Matthew Jordan Smith. He writes very positive posts about self promotion along with technical photography techniques. I made a comment under one of his posts and recommended that he check out the book The Answer because it echos the way Matthew writes - positive focusing, visualizing, organizing, working, materializing,

Recently he posts an entry about how he is about to shoot one of the Phds who is in the movie The Secret which is directly related to The Answer!! Weird!!!

I wrote to Matthew and he has not read the book yet but I'm sure he will soon.

And that's all I'll say about that.

As Fair As Fair Can Be

I have been busy with planning more promo projects and I've been loosing my mind sanding and fairing and filling and sanding and fairing and leveling and coating and sanding and triming the inside of Vicky's rim.

The twill carbon fiber looks very pretty. The inside of this axe is something to behold but alas noone will every really see it except through the f holes. Boutique is boutique and like I've said before these guitars are built to be beautiful everywhere - No Exceptions! The bar is high in this market so skimping even on the hidden details is a no no.

Where's Avery

This past weekend the wife and I took the two little ones up to the Big Smoke to spend a night at their big sister's pad. The picture is of my seven year old boy, Avery. I love this composition because Avery blends in perfectly. His age is like camouflage in the adolescent decor of Roxanne's big city apartment.

We had a great time. We went to the Ontario Science Centre and saw the plasticized dead people, aka Body Worlds. Fascinating, the human body is. At least that's what Yoda would say. The OSC has NOT CHANGED at all since I was a wee boy. I couldn't believe it! The same exhibits since forever. It's not exactly cheap to get in and there was a huge lineup. With all that revenue you'd think they would have modernized it a bit. I was hoping that there would be computer interactive stuff and moving mini theaters - NOPE, just all the old stuff from the early eighties. Still fun though for the little ones.

Hey look! There's Roxanne and I. She's my stepdaughter and no I am not a plasticised cadaver!

My Fuzzy Balls or My Noodle?

I laid in the second layer of Carbon Fiber. I custom cut a piece for a tailored fit and then though Hmmmm... what if I put tennis balls in plastic bags and clamped them into the guitar to ensure that no air gaps would appear. I made that thought a reality and my balls worked! I think a pool noodle would be bit better. I'll try my noodle on the other side tomorrow - wrapped in cellophane. My noodle and balls - Who'd thunk it?
Seriously though I think a pool noodle and peel ply would be a terrific way of doing this step. To get nice even pressure everywhere and pull the excess epoxy away would probable save a ton of time, eliminating a lot of the fairing out that I have to do.
Boutique guitars HAVE TO look finished on the inside just as much as the outside friends. HAVE TO!

Strong Like Bull

I'm about 185 lbs. I'm standing on my second attempt at a single cutaway - I didn't like it so it was never finished - abandoned NEVER to be built. BUT LOOK HOW STRONG THESE THINGS ARE!!

The neck, the neck, the neck

I have inlayed the Dagmar logo, drilled the holes for the Waverly tuners and installed the frets.

Everything is looking real nice!

Coincedences

A strange series of coincidences has been occurring. I was recommended a book by a friend who is also a new businessman. The book is called "The Answer" and it's a self help/grow your business guide that explores the law of attraction. The belief is that if you visualize what you want and have a positive focus on your passionate desires that your dreams will unfold before you.

The book mentions the movie "The Secret" more than a few times which is a movie that the authors were involved with that helps promote the law of attraction concept. At times it seems that the book is a vehicle to promote the movie. I told my wife about this and she said "The Secret? We have that movie." "We do?" "Yes, and here it is." I didn't realize it but a couple of our friends had brought it over about a year ago and they were really into it. I put the movie in and the beginning is over the top and totally hokey. It bashes you over the head with the positive focus idea in a very over dramatic way. All in all though I would recommend the book and movie because when you start up a passion driven business it is easy to relate to the concept of making your visualization into a reality. Both book and movie are full of great tips and meditations and I liken it to just plain good common sense. Of course you need positive focus and organized structure and goal setting to make it in business. I like reading these types of books every once and a while - I find them thought provoking. Any who...the writers of Chicken Soup for your Soul are in the movie along with other successful business gurus, psychologists and even physicists.

About 8 years ago I was obsessed with finding myself a 1947 Hudson Pickup truck. I found one in Florida on line. I Googled 1947 Hudson Pickup and saw a line from a book about a land lord that used to drive one around to his rental homes in Florida to collect. Turns out that the line was from a book by Frank McKinney called "Make it Big". I read the book and it's about positive focus and turning your passionate visions and dreams into reality. (sound familiar?) He has 49 steps to follow. It's a well writed book and I was impressed and entertained by Frank's biography. He is involved with lots of charity and community work as well as being a self made millionaire in the world of super high end ocean front real estate. His book made him seem trustworthy. He was a guest on Oprah too!

I contacted Frank about the truck and asked specific questions about it's condition. We went back and forth for a long time. He convinced me it was restorable and in fact he would buy it back once it was restored. At first he asked for $2000.00. Then without asking he dropped the price to $1000.00 only to drop it again to $800.00. I thought he was giving me a break because he liked how I presented myself and how I found his truck on line - he was not advertising it for sale. I bought the truck sight unseen, except for some pictures he had sent in the mail. The truck looked rough but together. I hired a transport to pick the Hudson up to the tune of $1500.00. When the truck was delivered it had literally rattled apart and the paint was holding what was left together. It was a mess, just awful. I felt I had been had. I immediately got in touch with Frank and told him how I felt betrayed. He redeemed himself and sent me my $800.00 back. I was still out the $1500.00 but oh well stupid me - a tough lesson.

Yesterday I found "Make it Big" in a bag that my mom had brought over from my old house that my brother still lives in. I randomly opened it and read a bit. It was a part about how Frank got his first job in Florida digging sand traps at a golf course. He worked with extremely hard working Haitians. But Frank worked just as hard as they and earned the nickname the White Haitian. As we all know Haiti has been in the news big time recently.

I jumped on line and News Googled Frank McKinney. Bam! All these recent stories about Frank pop up. A few stories of how he is organizing a Haiti relief team to fly over and help through his charity The Caring House Foundation and a few press releases of three books that he has just published. The three books are in three different genres. One is about real estate, one about religion, and one child fantasy book. Crazy I thought. I was so happy to see that he is still going hard at what he preaches and teaches. When I bought the truck from him and it appeared as if he dooped me I had no respect for the man - I was happy he sent my money back but felt he was still very misleading.

All of Franks books were published by the same house that published "Chicken Soup for the Soul".

To recap:
I was recommended a book
The book mentions a movie
I have had the movie in my house for over a year and did not know it
The Chicken Soup for Your Soul people are in the movie
I get my book "Make it Big" by Frank McKinney back - I'm reminded about our bad business together
I read a blurb about Haitians in "Make it Big"
I Google Frank McKinney
News about Frank being involved with Haitian Relief
News about his three books being released
The books are published by the same publisher as Chicken Soup for your Soul


Should I write a book?

M is for Mistakes

I have been kicking up a lot of dust in the shop and I have started in on some of the detail work. The picture is obviously the Dagmar logo. To make it is quite a process. First I rout the oval frame into a scrap piece of MDF so that it is about 2.5mm deep. Then I lay Carbon Fiber strands into this one off MDF cast mould. I bake it in the oven and then I release it from the disposable MDF by cutting it out. Next I Epoxy bond a piece of shinny thin metal to the back. As that is allowed to cure I cut out my letters from Mother of Pearl (MOP). Once the letters are ready I mix up a small batch of Epoxy and tint it with one drop of red stain. I pour the red Epoxy into the carbon fiber frame and thinly cover the metal backing. The final step is to set in the DAGMAR letters and then allow the whole thing to cure. The end result in the finished guitar is pretty cool and an original approach to inlay. The metal backing reflects light so the logo looks like a jewel. I let it pop up from the peg head a bit too for added visual impact. It looks very kitsch and kool.

The M, this time around, was my arch nemesis. I broke the first M while cutting it out then the second along with the third and then gave up for the day after the fourth one snapped. I kept my cool and managed to only wake up one member of my house hold with my sailor like rant.

The next day, when I was fresh as a Daisey, I successfully cut out the fifth M. Upon completion a little bird flew to my window sill and sang a gay little tune, the sun shone down just a little harder and my happiness was restored.

A senior work mate of mine used to comfort us young bucks with a great old saying; "If you haven't made a mistake then you haven't made much." I'm proud to say that I have made a ton of mistakes and consequently I have a large body of work behind me. Oh and by the way, A lot of my work will be featured in not one but TWO coffee table books and was also featured in a documentary film called "String of Genius". Please pardon my indulgence but I am proud of what mistakes have done for me.

I look at mistakes as the very middle of the learning curve - the center. The middle of a curve is called the apex. When you're in the apex hit the gas and motor through. Don't get hung up on the frustration of making them. Mistakes are the price of admission to bettering your skills sets, gaining intimate knowledge of something and becoming wise. Mistakes add depth to your eyes. Chicks dig guys with deep eyes. Oh ya...Oh ya....

The Hands of Dagmar

Ladies and Gentlemen it with great pleasure that I introduce you to "The Hands of Dagmar". These are the guys that build the guitars. My three year old daughter, who is also one of my marketing gurus, loves talking to these two characters and has recently named them. The nice looking guy wearing the gold is Bill Loon and the angry looking one is Naughta Table. They have big dreams and seek massive fame this year and knowing how busy they like to be they'll get it. They're also great company for my daughter.

See that cute little face up there? She's the author of the apple joke. They say if you hug and kiss your kids often that you bump up their IQs. If that's true than this little girl's future is blindingly bright. I just hope with all the smothering hugs and kisses that she gets that her brain is not too deprived of fresh oxygen.

I'm happy to say that I have been tremendously busy writing letters and sending off pictures and text about my guitars to a few important people that are helping me make Dagmar Custom Guitars a notable icon of innovation in the world of boutique calibre guitars. I have a very positive feeling about 2010. There are many high impact promotional projects that will soon be launched and I know the effect will help grow my company.

I will be published in two upcoming coffee table books, the documentary "String of Genius" is going to hit the film festival scene soon and Vicky will be the world's first Photonic guitar. I am so thankful for all of these opportunities. It's hard to believe all that has happened in such a short time. Positive focus works.

Visualize

The neck is bolted on and 85% finished. Just a touch more shaping and sculpting to get the lines flowing just so and she's done. I'll get back to finalizing the shaping after I install the frets and inlay my logo.

I'll put the neck aside for now and I'll finish up the tailpiece tomorrow.

My three year old tells me the same joke everyday. Now that I have heard it a million times I get it and it's hilarious. It goes like this:

Knock, Knock
Who's there?
Apple
Apple who?
Apple Joke!

Genius! I'm so proud of my kids!