N!lstruments (and music)

And here is the finished bass

2011-06-02T16:06:00.001-07:00

I chopped the top off to make it less neck heavy and had to add a teeny piece of wood to make the bridge fit on the body for the 34 inch scale length neck. I'm really happy with the result.

Getting going on a bass

2011-06-02T16:02:00.001-07:00

Just got back from China and a friend called and needed a bass player. I thought it might be fun to build something new for the gig. Here I am getting my stuff laid out and thinking...

The new slide guitar

2009-12-15T14:23:00.000-08:00

This is the final gluing of the main structual parts of a new slide
guitar. If you can imagine it without the gluing clamps it looks
fairly guitar shaped.

Achter Slide views

2009-03-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the Achter Slide in 4 views. It's made mostly with old parts
from broken guitars and basses. The body is made from two 2x4s glued
side to side.

Tavern on Jane block party

2009-03-11T21:57:00.000-07:00

We are really playing a song here. The kid is doing a pretty good job
picking the strings to the beat of the music while I move my slide to
keep him in pitch. The rest of the band couldn't even tell I was
slacking off.

Bracing pattern

2009-03-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

This is the bracing pattern I used to reinforce the spruce top of my
square guitar. All of the thin braces are sruce too. The wide
horizontal piece is maple. It supports the bridge and was later
drilled out for the strings to pass through.

Achter slide repair

2009-03-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

Acht is 8 in German. The Achter slide has 8 strings and 2 pickups so
the sound from the low sounding strings can go to a different amp than
the thinner strings. My original output section was flimsy. I finaly
repaired it with an El Pico coffee can. The can cut and bent very
nicely to form. The metal will also help keep electrical buzzes out of
my sound. One added plus to choosing El Pico besides the fact that the
color matches, is that the coffee is really quite good. Deep and rich
with a vibrant bite. Note the 'extra fine grind' on the can. Now to
get to work on the music.

Yule Dogs 2008

2009-03-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

This is a photo from the Yule Dogs Christmas Show at Mercury Lounge in
NYC. Photo by Jim O'Kelly.

Playing with Ron Caswell

2009-03-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Performing in 2008 at St. Peter's Church. Celebrating the life and
music of the composer Alec Wilder.

First post

2009-03-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

As my first post to the musical part of my site I'm showing a guitar I
built in summer of 2008. The neck is off a Martin travel guitar. The
body was built by me. It has a solid spruce top and thick poplar
sides. It travels well; the back even opens to hold sheet music. More
pictures of that feature later.