Michael Schreiner: Modern Day 19th-Century Luthier

I Once Had A Sick Guitar. Not Just Any Guitar, Mind You. This One Is Truly Special. My Instrument Was Made By The French Builder, René Lacôte, In 1823. Paul Pleijsier In The Netherlands, A Classical And Electric Guitar Player, Also A Researcher Of 19th-century Guitars, Tells Me That Although There Is A Substantial Number In Existence, He Has Cataloged And Documented Only 84 Of These Instruments.By The Early 1800s, Paris Had Become A Center Of Instrument Making And Many Of The Ateliers Churning Out This Newly Popular Instrument Modeled Their Construction After The Instrument’s Coming From Lacôte’s Shop. Of All The Great Instrument Makers Living In Paris At That Time, It Was René Lacôte Who Was Dubbed The “stradivarius Of The Guitar”. He Was A Student And Apprentice To The Famous Pons Family Of Instrument Makers. Joseph Pons, Born In 1776 And Son Of Cesar Pons, Was Commissioned By The Wife Of Napoléon, Empress Marie Louise, To Make A Guitar For Her Favorite Court Musician, Mauro Giuliani.The Many Lacôte Guitars Remaining Today Are All Different, A Fact That Reveals The Master’s Constant Quest To Improve Performance And Playability, Through Developments In Manufacturing Technique, Innovative Features, And Rare Materials.I Found My René Lacôte At A Dealer In Rochester Ny. I Tried About A 6 Or 8 Other 19th Century Guitars, Many Without Labels, And Even A Panormo. You Might Call Panormo The London Rival Of Lacote. The Lacôte Was Not In The Greatest Shape, The Victim Of Numerous Dismal Repairs, And Sporting A Poorly Matched Spruce Patch Under The Bridge. This Was The Result Of A Repair Needed After One Of The Owners Tried To Use Steel Strings On An Instrument That Was Made To Be Played With Gut Strings. The Tension Of The Steel Strings Pulled Off Not Only The Bridge But Most Of The Wood From The Soundboard Below It. It Wasn’t Pretty.

10+ mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Gales Force Warning: Here He Comes...

Read any of my other pieces on GC and you’ll know that I usually open with some sort of elaborate description of the artist I’m writing about – and often end up struggling to reduce their essence into a paragraph or two.

10+ mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Antonio Rey: Two Sides Of Me

Flamenco is one of the most beautiful and challenging forms of music. For your standard run of the mill flamenco guitarist, there are no amps, no pedals, no special effects. Your tone is the end result of fingernail, flesh, and angle of attack on the string. 

9 mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Chelsea Williams: From Street Musician to Studio Recording Artist

Digging in her heels and staying true to her artistic vision: Chelsea Williams bounces back with Boomerang.

7 mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Steve Helgeson MoonStone Guitars

Steve Helgeson has a long history of craftsmanship with his moonstone guitars. The man who pioneered the use of quilted maple in luthiery and supplied esteemed players such as j.J. Cale chose long ago not to go the production route. Instead, Steve has focused on constructing the finest handcrafted instruments from top quality materials, combined with dazzling inlay work. Moonstone provides players with a wide range of selections in acoustic and electric instruments including many baritone scales.

10+ mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Echo Park Guitars

Apprentice to one of the most influential luthiers takes the guitar world by storm.

10+ mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

The Next Ones the Best One an Interview With John Monteleone

The Galloup School of Lutherie is where I found myself as a student in 2006.

10+ mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Gildas Dasviken Absolute Luthier

Coming From A Long Line Of Engineers, He Has Been Working In The Corporate World, And He Has Had A Strong Interest In Building And Customizing Instruments. “dasviken” Comes From The French Dialect “breton” From Brittany (Brittany). Gildas Found It On An Antique Wedding Ring That Read “a Tao Feal Das Viken” (Yours For Eternity). His Books Are Inspired By Classics From The Past And Inspiring For Generations To Come Dasviken Also Builds Pedals And Cabinets, All Of Which Abide By One Of My Favorite Quote Of His “Can You Tell Me About The Acoustic And Sonic Quality Of Plastics? No? Me Neither.”

10+ mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Robben Ford Purple House

In The World Of Blues Guitar, There Are A Million Great Players Yet Few Standout Head And Shoulders Above The Rest Like Robben Ford. Robben Was One Of The Very First And Most Influential Players For Me Personally Since I Was A Young Boy. We Both Grew Up In The Same Rural Area In Northern California’s Coastal Mountains Just Above San Fransisco. He’s A Hometown Hero To Many That Live Here.He Has Given Back To Our Community Greatly Over The Years With Free Local Performances And Even Did An “artist In Residence” Stint At Our Local Junior College (Mendocino College) For A Semester Years Ago. His Brothers Are All Fantastic Musicians As Well And They All Played Together On And Off For Decades As The Ford Brother’s Blues Band. The Amount Of Natural Musical Talent That Runs In The Blood Of The Ford Family Is Astounding To Me. This Assignment Was Finally My Opportunity To Pick The Man’s Brain One On One About His Guitars, Amps, And Pedals. Robben Recently Relocated To Nashville Tn And Is Looking Forward To Spending More Time In The Studio And Less Time On The Road. His Latest Album, Purple House, Was Recorded Much Differently Than His Previous Efforts And You’ll Find Some Very Interesting Information About How He Found The Right Guitars And Amps For This Record Inside This Interview.I Think Many Of You Will Be Very Surprised To Learn That His Telecaster And Dumble Ods Are Nowhere To Be Found On Purple House! This Was A Shock To Me And I Think That It’s A Great Lesson We Can All Learn From The Maestro: Remain Flexible And Always Experiment Even If You Have A $150,000 Holy Grail Dumble Ods That You Need To Put On The Shelf Because It’s Not Working For You!

9 mins read

Guitar Connoisseur

Unvailing Randy Angella

Randy Angella Of Concord California Is A Self-taught Luthier Who Has Been Crafting Classical Guitars Since 1975. He Is Known To Make Some Of The Very Finest Sounding Classical Guitars Available Today. Randy Has Built Instruments For Many Of The World’s Top Classical Guitar Players. His Studies Are Deep Reaching Into Areas Not Necessarily Specific To The Guitar. Randy’s Designs Go Against The Grain Of The Strict Orthodox Rules That So Many Classical Builders Adhere To. Here Are Some Thoughts He Shared With Me During Our Conversations. “thickness Of The Timbers In Many Guitars Are Very Thin And Lightly Formed. The Operating Theory Being The Law Of Conservation Of Energy. A Given Mass Acted On By A Known Quantity Of Energy, Will Be Accelerated Faster As The Mass Decreases. Inversely, Acceleration Decreases As The Mass Increases. Guitar Makers Reason, Therefore, That To Produce Maximum Volume, Lightly Built Instruments Will Provide The Maximum Sound. You Can Build A Guitar Thinly And Light And It Will Have Some Very Loud Notes. The Problem Is That A Guitar Built With Only That Concept In Mind Will Have Great Volume But May Not Have Great Tone. They Are Different Ideas. I Know A Man That Can Yell So Loud You Can Hear Him From 200 Yards Out. But He Can’t Sing. To Build A Guitar That Sings You Have To Go Deeper Into How It Makes Music And What Is Musical Sound, Then Match Them” Randy Explained. So How Does The Man Go About Doing This? Let’s Find Out...

10+ mins read

Guitar Connoisseur