My Building Philosophy, Approach To Selling Wood, & Bio
Bio
I started building instruments sometime in 1971. While hitch hiking home from University, I stopped by a folk music store in Felton Calif. In the store, Capritaurus , they were selling mountain dulcimer kits. I'm not sure why, but I bought one, assembled it, played it a bit, and eventually sold it to a friend who still has it.
That was the1st and last kit I ever bought. Soon after the sale I began making dulcimers from scratch. After graduation from University in 1973, I left California, headed for Washington. While working there full time for the City of Seattle, I began selling my dulcimers at street fairs. In those days, street fairs were everywhere and there were many craftspeople selling their products. There was nothing from China! Before long I ventured out into making mandolins and in about 1974 I made my first guitars. Lutherie was very different then. No DVD's, no u-Tube, no web searching for ideas or answers.I was totally hooked on luthierie though, and I found my own way of making instruments! One day while working in Seattle in 1975, I met a person on a street corner waiting for the crosswalk light to change. That person, who I only remember as Joe, had a guitar case with him. We talked a bit and he opened his case to show me a guitar he had just made at at guitar building school in Tennessee, The Apprentice Shop. 3 weeks later I had quit my job and was off to Tennessee with my 5 year old son in tow. My 2 teachers there, Mike Lennon and Bruce Scotten were fantastic people. Super motivated and great teachers. From them I learned the foundations of guitar building and repair. That was early 1976 and I've never looked back.
Since that time I've had repair and building shops in Washington State, Texas, and several locations in Hawaii. I've travelled a lot to attend intensive seminars such as archtop guitar building with Tom Ribbecke in Calif., classical building with Jose Romanillos in Spain, inlay with Grit Laskin in Indiana, and many lutherie conventions and symposiums throughout the U.S. I have also been guest lecturer at those U.S. conventions and symposium. Most recently I have been doing something new, teaching lap steel guitar building at steel guitar and Hawaiian music camps throughout Hawaii. I have also helped with organizing ukulele guilds and woodworking on Hawaii Island and Oahu.
Along the way I have repaired thousands, no exaggeration, of instruments of all types. I also continued my building, making guitars, ukuleles, harps, mandolins, dulcimers, as well as some very weird custom orders. My wife Anne and I also ran a wholesale music supply business under the name Hilo Strings. In the 1990's we sought to improve on the then available ukulele string sets. Hilo Strings became a respected name and we sold tens of thousands of sets of strings. A few years ago, although Hilo Strings were still much in demand, we closed that business. We always sought to give our customers the very best service and product we could, and that is not just something I'm saying. We lived the business! We decided not to sell the name or business, because we did not want to see something we had created become what we might not like at the hands of others. We still continue with part of what was Hilo Strings, and we supply wholesale parts like tuning machines, pickups, and custom parts that I make for builders. At 72, I do admit that it's winding down a bit. Hard to change from the routine of a life's work! Possibly more to follow!
That was the1st and last kit I ever bought. Soon after the sale I began making dulcimers from scratch. After graduation from University in 1973, I left California, headed for Washington. While working there full time for the City of Seattle, I began selling my dulcimers at street fairs. In those days, street fairs were everywhere and there were many craftspeople selling their products. There was nothing from China! Before long I ventured out into making mandolins and in about 1974 I made my first guitars. Lutherie was very different then. No DVD's, no u-Tube, no web searching for ideas or answers.I was totally hooked on luthierie though, and I found my own way of making instruments! One day while working in Seattle in 1975, I met a person on a street corner waiting for the crosswalk light to change. That person, who I only remember as Joe, had a guitar case with him. We talked a bit and he opened his case to show me a guitar he had just made at at guitar building school in Tennessee, The Apprentice Shop. 3 weeks later I had quit my job and was off to Tennessee with my 5 year old son in tow. My 2 teachers there, Mike Lennon and Bruce Scotten were fantastic people. Super motivated and great teachers. From them I learned the foundations of guitar building and repair. That was early 1976 and I've never looked back.
Since that time I've had repair and building shops in Washington State, Texas, and several locations in Hawaii. I've travelled a lot to attend intensive seminars such as archtop guitar building with Tom Ribbecke in Calif., classical building with Jose Romanillos in Spain, inlay with Grit Laskin in Indiana, and many lutherie conventions and symposiums throughout the U.S. I have also been guest lecturer at those U.S. conventions and symposium. Most recently I have been doing something new, teaching lap steel guitar building at steel guitar and Hawaiian music camps throughout Hawaii. I have also helped with organizing ukulele guilds and woodworking on Hawaii Island and Oahu.
Along the way I have repaired thousands, no exaggeration, of instruments of all types. I also continued my building, making guitars, ukuleles, harps, mandolins, dulcimers, as well as some very weird custom orders. My wife Anne and I also ran a wholesale music supply business under the name Hilo Strings. In the 1990's we sought to improve on the then available ukulele string sets. Hilo Strings became a respected name and we sold tens of thousands of sets of strings. A few years ago, although Hilo Strings were still much in demand, we closed that business. We always sought to give our customers the very best service and product we could, and that is not just something I'm saying. We lived the business! We decided not to sell the name or business, because we did not want to see something we had created become what we might not like at the hands of others. We still continue with part of what was Hilo Strings, and we supply wholesale parts like tuning machines, pickups, and custom parts that I make for builders. At 72, I do admit that it's winding down a bit. Hard to change from the routine of a life's work! Possibly more to follow!
My Building Philosophy
There are lots of different approaches to instrument making in the 21st century. Increasingly builders are turning to using parts pre-made on CNC and laser devices. You can now purchase pre-made pearl inlay, complete shaped necks, kerfing, fretboards, complete fretted necks, complete finish jobs on the finished instrument, as well as a host of other parts. While all of this can still make for a great instrument, in fact I also make and sell some of these parts for builders, for my own instruments I prefer to do as much of the work as possible in my shop. I do all my inlay by hand, mill all my own parts (often from the tree to completion), do my own designs, make my own molds and jigs, and do my own finishes. I am committed to the work ethic of one craftsman doing as much of the work as possible. This is not a cost effective way to work, but it's what I do and will continue to do as long as I can hold a chisel. I just prefer the centuries old traditions of handwork. My finishes, which take longer to apply than it takes to make an instrument, are all nitrocellulose lacquer. The finish process takes a minimum of 30-45 days. Again, I prefer the traditional finishes to modern polyurethane ones or minimal oil finishes. Unless otherwise specified, all of my instruments have bodies and fretboards bound in wood. I use no plastics for binding.
I build all of my instruments with the future in mind. Almost all instruments will need some kind of repair eventually. They are, after all, fragile in nature. The glues, finishes, and joinery I use will allow future repair persons to correct any damage that may occur.
With that in mind, I warrantee all my work to the original purchaser unless damages are caused by misuse or extremes of temperature and/or humidity.
I never propose that I make the world's best instruments. I think I make good ones and am grateful that some people have felt the same way over my 47 years of building guitars, ukuleles, harps, mandolins, and assorted strange instruments.
I build all of my instruments with the future in mind. Almost all instruments will need some kind of repair eventually. They are, after all, fragile in nature. The glues, finishes, and joinery I use will allow future repair persons to correct any damage that may occur.
With that in mind, I warrantee all my work to the original purchaser unless damages are caused by misuse or extremes of temperature and/or humidity.
I never propose that I make the world's best instruments. I think I make good ones and am grateful that some people have felt the same way over my 47 years of building guitars, ukuleles, harps, mandolins, and assorted strange instruments.
My Approach To Selling Wood
I have been selling instrument wood for almost all my years of building instruments. In days gone by I have sold Maple, yew, Western red cedar, Milo, mango, koa, pheasant wood, Palo escrito, rosewoods, mahogany, Spanish cedar, and redwood, to name a few. Wood sales have always been prompted by my own need, or in reality my own lust, for wood. Small builders like myself often can't compete with larger buyers for the best wood. So, years ago I began selling some wood so that I could purchase larger quantities and get access to the wood I wanted. Those sales have also been naturally part of the income that allows me to continue building. It's not an easy road trying to build instruments for a living.I have lots of experience with wood, and the use of it for all aspects of instrument making. A lot of sellers know a great deal about wood, but I specifically know a lot about the use of wood for making instruments. There is a difference. I reject a significantly larger amount of wood than many sellers, because I know from experience what will happen when you try to make an instrument out of wood that has defects that others may not even notice. I'm not saying that I'm perfect, but I do have a well trained eye for defects that might otherwise go unnoticed. Wood can be outrageously beautiful, but still not good for making instruments.
For further info or questions, feel free to contact me at pegasusguitars@hawaiiantel.net . Enjoy your music!--Bob