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CUSTOM INSTRUMENTS
 The
"Dreamcaster"
This instrument was one of, if not the
most fun (and challenging) that I have had the pleasure to build. It
was started sometime in 2000 and finally was finished in 2003. Of
course I wasn't working on it on a daily basis, but there were a lot of
design issues to deal with. It was built for an amazing
fingerstyle
guitarist named Brian Henke. (please check him out!)
I met Brian one afternoon at a local winery
after he had performed there for a festival. I happened to show
him a
octave mandolin that I had built and he proceeded to tell me of his
visions of this double necked, harp, crazy thing he wanted to have
built for him some day and I guess I was crazy enough to say "I'm your
man!"
Little did I know what I was getting
myself into. I have to thank Brian for letting me have pretty
much full
reign on the design portion of the instrument, as he had the job of
selecting the wood choices
and, well pretty much the whole idea of it.
He even already had the name for it. "The Dreamcaster" This
instrument
was like going to school all over again. I had to teach myself
many new
things about guitar construction. It was very interesting trying to
figure out which part to glue first so that I wouldn't "glue myself
into a corner" so to speak. I also had to worry about the instrument
imploding after I strung it up.
That vision actually haunted me for
sometime after it was completed. Thank God it never
happened!. I have
been very lucky that this instrument has been played at a lot of "high
end" venues, thanks to Brain's guitar wizardry Its been aired on WVIZ
(public television). It has been played many times on WKSU folk
radio
station, the "woodchoppers ball" and best of all, at the Severance Hall
(home of the Cleveland Orchestra).
 The "Fish"
Guitar
The
"Fish" was built in 1999 for a great singer/songwriter and good friend
of mine named Alex Bevan. He has been singing and writing (about
10 or 11 cd's) in the northeast Ohio area for over 30yrs. He is
somewhat of an icon in the folk music world in our area. Alex 's
music is originated a lot around his "all natural" surroundings and he
writes great songs about sailing, canoeing and of course fishing.
One of his recordings is named "Sweet Water Pete" which is what lead me
to t he "Fish".
Alex approached me one day with the idea of
having
a guitar in the shape of a fish. He
performs a lot at local
fishing/party resort area called Putin Bay. He thought it would
be a cool thing to play his "fish songs" on a "fish guitar".
Knowing Alex I could only imagine his fish guitar had to be wearing
sunglasses because he would have to be one cool fish! I can't
thank Alex enough for the opportunity he gave me to design & build
the fish. It was an awesome experience especially because it was
my first commissioned job from a professional musician!. Alex has
been very supportive in helping me with my endeavors by putting a
picture of
the fish on his site and on the back of T-shirts, and CD covers and
most of all by playing the fish in his live performances.
The "Octave
Mandolin" 
I had originally built this instrument for
a musician that had specific ideas about the scale length of this
mandolin, Generally an octave mando has a scale lg. of about
the 21"
range. He wanted to have it about 19" because he tuned it like a
reg. mando and could not reach (without extreme difficulty) the normal
chording positions with a scale lg. of 21". He had been playing a
"Trinity College" octave mando with a capo on the 1st fret, essentially
making it a 19"scale lg. instrument. This mandolin has a
beautiful wood for the back and sides. It is called Goncala Alves
I
believe that it is from South America and everything I read about it
lead me to believe that it would be a good tone wood. I was
right! Its
a little difficult to bend, but fortunately this instrument didn't need
any radical
bends. It has a gorgeous grain pattern and finishes
quite
nicely I intend to use it again in the future for other
instruments. I
wanted this mandolin to have a Celtic feel to it because I relate it
closely to a "irish bozouki", so I bound the top, neck, and back with
red/green/red purfling strips and inlayed a Celtic lover's cross on the
headstock. I found that after I built it that I had a difficult
time
trying to find a case that fit it properly, so I decided to build the
case myself. It turned out great, but I don't think that I want
to get
into the case making business. I tend to over do it a bit.
I will
leave that job to the case pros.
  The "Parlor
Guitar"
This is the
first guitar that I
ever
finished. I say that
because there were a few that were built before this one that never
quite made the final "string up" as we say. I built it sometime in 1995
I experimented with the bolt on neck construction and found, that
although it is a stable form of construction, I did not feel
comfortable with it. I don't use this method any more. I know there
will be people who think otherwise, but I believe the traditional glued
dovetail is a better joint. I will admit it is harder to repair
but I
figure that is why I'm here. This guitar was set up to have nylon
strings like a classical guitar. I started a "sister" guitar to
it that
will have steel strings with a solid headstock, but at this writing it
is not completed. I borrowed the shape from a very old guitar
that my
cousin gave to me many years ago. This little guitar was made
with
mahogany back & sides and has a beautiful birds eye maple. It
has a
surprisingly deep bottom end for it's small stature.
Bass
Guitar
I always love building something new and a
little different than what might be commercially available. The
criteria
for this bass was the customer wanted an EB- 1 Gibson style carved arch
top, semi hollow body. He also wanted a through-the-body neck
configuration to enhance the sustain factor. He also wanted a
highly figured
flamed maple top, and a butternut body to keep some of the weight down.
 
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