Shelley Park builds some of the finest guitars in the Selmer-Maccaferri tradition out of her one-person shop in Vancouver, Canada. Shelley’s obsession with guitar started as a teenager and, by the age of 19, she was learning to build guitars with renowned luthier and player, Michael Dunn. For Episode 60 of the podcast, Shelley discusses the structure, sound and setup of Maccaferri-style guitars, and tells us about her cylinder-top model based on a 1920s Vega guitar. Shelley also talks about business challenges, views on social media, her favorite tools, and much more.
This episode is sponsored by Acoustic Coffee Company, Allied Lutherie and Dream Guitars.
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.
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.