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Luthier on Luthier with Michael Bashkin

Every month, luthier Michael Bashkin interviews his peers and guitar building heroes for the Luthier on Luthier podcast. Brought to you by the Fretboard Journal magazine.
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Now displaying: 2017
Dec 13, 2017
For episode 13, we talk with acclaimed guitarmaker Rick Turner. Rick has made, designed and worked on instruments for some of the biggest names in music including the Lindsey Buckingham, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, David Crosby, David Lindley and Ry Cooder, just name a few. In addition to his own line of guitars,  Rick also was a founding partner of Highlander pickups, Alembic guitars, Duncan Turner Acoustic research and he holds the patent for the CF guitar neck. Over the course of our conversation, Rick takes us through some his current and past projects, while giving us insights into his thought process and how he takes design inspiration from outside of the guitar world. 
Nov 22, 2017
Jordan McConnell is both an accomplished guitar builder and professional musician who spent 10 years touring with The Duhks. On today's podcast, he tells us how he manages to successfully navigate both careers at the same time and about his current musical projects and guitars. Jordan has had quite the journey from "an aimless high school graduate who mostly cared about punk rock and skateboarding" to being a professional, top-tier luthier.
 
Links:
 
Oct 24, 2017
On episode 11, we sit down with Jeremy Jenkins, who builds Lame Horse Guitars alongside his father Chris. Jeremy tells us how he fell into guitarmaking through his father and how it ended up becoming a full-time career. He talks about his life in the music city of Austin and how the role of music has changed for him over time. We also learn about what makes a bad movie good, and about his many other interests outside of guitars.
 
Want to support Luthier on Luthier? We're auctioning off a Lame Horse Cowboy Ukulele to help support the show. Bid here
 
Links: 
http://www.lamehorse.net/
http://www.badbadnotgood.com/
https://www.facebook.com/WilkinsonsSwing/
 
PS: Don't forget to listen to episode 10 of Luthier on Luthier, where we interviewed Chris Jenkins. 
 
 
Oct 24, 2017
On episode 10, we head to Texas to sit down with Chris Jenkins of Lame Horse Guitars. Along with his son Jeremy, Chris builds uniquely ornamented guitars, gitjoes and ukuleles. On this podcast, he walks us through his first career in accounting (which lasted just sixty days) and then his second career as a veterinarian (which lasted forty years). Along the way, Chris decided to fix the broken neck on Jeremy's bass; he hasn't stopped building since. Chris takes us through the development of his models and his fully adjustable neck joint. Finally we hear the original, not to be believed, story of the cowboy ukulele.
 
Website links:
http://www.lamehorse.net/
http://www.cjenkinsluthier.com/
http://lint.org
 
Don't forget to listen to episode 11, where we talk to Jeremy Jenkins! 
 
PS: Want to support Luthier on Luthier? We're auctioning off a Lame Horse Cowboy Ukulele to help support the show. Details here
Sep 19, 2017
For our ninth episode, I sit down with Dream Guitars founder and owner, Paul Heumiller. If you build or play custom guitars you probably already know Paul's name and that Dream Guitars is one of the top boutique guitar dealers in the world. Paul discusses his philosophy for life and business and how for him they are one in the same. Paul also talks about how Dream Guitars got started and the successful partnerships he has forged with some of today's most collectible builders. Lastly, Paul gives some great advice to new and established builders about competing with your own guitars on the secondary market, and how to avoid burning out.
 
Links:
Aug 14, 2017
For our eighth episode, I talk to luthier John Slobod. John shares his thoughts on why vintage guitars sound the way they do, and how he honors them in his own Martin-inspired instruments. We also go through John's journey from working with Dana Bourgeois and later with Julius Borges before starting his own Circa guitars. In this interview, John also offers some valuable advice to new luthiers.
 
Links:
 
Jul 27, 2017

Our seventh episode of the Luthier on Luthier podcast is a little different from the rest. Rather than interview one builder, I have shorter interviews with several luthiers. Each of these interviews took place at the 2017 GAL (Guild of American Luthiers) Convention in Tacoma, Washington. 

During this podcast, you will hear from Dan Erlewine, Erick Coleman, Chelsea Clark, Jeffery Elliott, Chris Herrod, Steve Marchione, Don Macrostie, Evan Gluck and many others. You’ll also hear an adventurous tale of buffing from Harry Fleishman.  

If your into lutherie and have the chance to attend a guild meeting, I highly recommend it. There were a lot more people I would have liked to talk to but I just ran out of time. I know a lot of guitar builders listen to this podcast and it was great to meet so many of you in person, too.

Links:

http://www.danerlewine.com/
http://www.stewmac.com/
http://marchione.com/
http://www.elliottguitars.com/
http://www.lmii.com/
http://newyorkguitarrepair.com/
https://obrienguitars.com/
http://www.jroadman.com/
http://lichtyguitars.com/
http://www.reddiamondmandolins.com/
http://www.jeffreyyong.com/
http://www.fleishmaninstruments.com/
http://luth.org/
http://www.guitarsandcaffeine.com/

Jun 21, 2017
On Episode 6, I sit down with world-renown guitar maker Michi Matsuda. Originally from Japan and now living in the US, Michi is known for his inventive designs and craftsmanship. We stay mostly in the head-space of guitar making and talk about what is the identity of a guitar and how it affects music. And, I was surprised to learn how free-spirited Michi's approach to guitar making is.    
May 17, 2017

On this month's podcast, I sit down with Dave Bruzza, lead guitarist of the contemporary band Greensky Bluegrass. We follow his career path from an aspiring luthier in Michigan all the way to his career today as a successful professional guitar player. We also dig into his guitar quiver and discuss what he values in each of his acoustics. Bruzza's on-stage gear is ever evolving, which he also discusses. We end up discussing his musical influences, heroes and musical outlook in this detailed interview.

Links Mentioned:
Greensky Bluegrass - http://greenskybluegrass.com/
Lyle Brewer - http://www.lylebrewermusic.com/
Bryan Galloup - http://www.galloupguitars.com/
Santa Cruz - https://www.santacruzguitar.com/
Hipshot - https://www.hipshotproducts.com/
K + K - http://www.kksound.com/
Grace Audio - http://www.gracedesign.com/
Catalinbread  - http://catalinbread.com/
Sensaphonics - https://www.sensaphonics.com/
Jake Robinson - http://www.robinsonguitars.com/

Support Luthier on Luthier via its Patreon page or purchase a Luthier on Luthier t-shirt here.

 

Apr 19, 2017

On episode 4 of the Luthier on Luthier podcast, I interview classical guitar maker John Bogdanovich. John aspired to be a professional classical guitar player but was waylaid by stage fright and went onto another career path before he came to study with renown woodworker James Krenov. His studies with Krenov eventually led him back to the guitar world but this time as a maker. John is also the author of the excellent book Classical Guitar Making, published by Sterling press. In this in-depth interview, John and I cover a lot of ground and he makes no bones about where he sees room for improvement in today's players, guitar makers and their instruments.

https://www.jsbguitars.com/
http://jameskrenov.com/
http://www.bashkinguitars.com
https://www.fretboardjournal.com
 
Mar 17, 2017

Before moving to the United States, Laurent Brondel was a professional musician in France for 20 years. He originally moved to New York and, along the way, Laurent started to work on his own guitars. Laurent eventually found himself in rural Main and, after working for a time at Bourgeois guitars he started building guitars under his own name. For our third episode, Laurent and I talk about this journey and hear his perspectives on the music industry, vintage Martins, his varnish finishes as well as his new electric guitars.

Feb 21, 2017
Burton Legeyt started building guitars without any formal training or apprenticeship.  Instead he came to guitarbuilding through painting, picture framing, metal working and vintage watchmaking equipment. His open-minded approach gives his guitars a distinctive look and feel, even down to the tuning machines. In this interview we cover restoring vintage tooling, his definition of art, why he started (and stopped) shaving braces with a razor blade.
 
 
Feb 20, 2017
Ervin Somogyi is often referred to as the luthier's luthier: His guitars are among the most well-known and sought after custom instruments being made today. Ervin has influenced the custom guitar world, not with his own guitars, but also by training some of today's top builders and by authoring his two-book series the Responsive Guitar. For our debut episode of Luthier on Luthier, Ervin and I cover a lot of topics including what he enjoys most about guitar building, his approach to understanding how guitars work and his thoughts on design.
 
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